aptain of my ship. If he had not been I do not think I should ever have
been able to find you, for I did not know that it was an island upon
which we were shipwrecked; but he did, and under Providence, I have
everything to thank him for."

"Beg pardon," said a voice at this part of Colonel Carleton's narrative,
and turning their eyes in the direction of the door they saw standing
there the muscular, well-knit figure, the pleasant face and bright eyes
of Captain Trefethen.

"Beg pardon," he repeated, "but I heard what the Colonel said about me,
and I want to say, that if he had not cut off the leather belt he wore
and let all his gold fall into the ocean, that I might have the leather
to chew when I was famishing with hunger on the mast, I must have died;
and I feel that under Providence I have everything to thank him for. I
made up my mind then never to leave the Colonel till I saw him moored in
a safe harbor. In a few days," Captain Trefethen continued, "everything
will be ready for the good ship 'Ada' to sail for Virginia, and as I do
not suppose the Colonel will want to take another voyage of discovery, I
will leave you all there, as I intended to come back to these parts
myself and settle on an island about forty miles down this bay. It has a
queer Indian name, 'Monhegan' they call it. Captain John Smith, who is
now ranging this coast, told me about it. He seems to have a fancy for
Indian names. I shall never forget how he sung the praises of an Indian
girl the night before he set out on his present voyage. 'Pocahontas,' he
called her. Here is some fruit and a few little things for the ladies,"
he continued, placing a box upon one of the tables and leaving the room.

When Colonel Carleton was again left with his wife and child and Miss
Vyvyan, he resumed his conversation, and answered all the anxious and
rapid inquiries of Mrs. Carleton. "Yes," he said, "I assure you again
that I left all the family in Virginia perfectly well. Your father
attended to my estates during my absence, and by his wisdom in managing
them, he has increased their value sevenfold. Your sister Julia was
married two years ago, and she has an excellent husband."

"Excellent husband," echoed Cora, "What kind of thing is that? Mama and
Anna never told me about the excellent. Where do you find it, is it a
bird; can it sing; may I have one?"

Cora was about to propound further questions regarding an excellent
husband when the merry peals of laug