Pacific. The captain is sitting in his
cabin, reading and writing some letters. By-and-by he lays down his
pen, and wheeling his chair around, gives utterance to his thoughts,
as he has grown in the habit of doing of late.

"I shall keep in harness till I die, for idleness would take me off
in a short time. I have striven to do my duty to God and my
fellow-man--and though much sorrow has come to me, yet I shall never
murmur nor complain, when I see so much around me and know that no
race and no place in society is exempt from it.

"Years ago I placed away my beloved wife in the distant New England
hills, and then when the fair bud which she left behind blossomed,
that, too, was gathered by the angels and I was left alone.

"The darling son upon whom I centered all my hopes was a wild, wayward
boy, and he left my roof and has never come back again. Whether he is
or is not, I cannot tell, but I fear that, if he still treads the
earth, he is sowing the wind and will reap the whirlwind. I have
striven to forget that I was ever afflicted in being the parent of
such a child. But alas, the roots of affection are planted so deep
that it is hard to withdraw them.

"Then there came to me a second Inez, and I loved her as I did the
first. Just as she nestled around my heart, she was taken away in the
most surprising manner. I believed then that I should see and clasp
her again in my arms. But the years have come and gone, and still she
comes not to me. Ah! could I but hear the music of that voice--could I
but feel those dimpled arms about my neck as I used to do----Helloa!"

Just then Fred Sanders walked briskly into the cabin, doffed his hat,
made a bow, laughed and said:

"Helloa, pop! how are you?"

Captain Strathmore gasped, stared and replied:

"No--no--no--Fred. Is that you, my own boy?"

And Fred laughed, and then, with tears in his eyes, leaped forward and
threw his arms about the old captain's neck and cried like a child,
while the parent, fondly caressing him, cried too, and for a minute
neither could speak an intelligible word.

"Pop," finally said the youth, raising his head and sitting upon the
strong knee, "I have been a bad boy. I have brought trouble to you,
but I have come thousands of miles to ask your forgiveness and to try
to cheer your declining years."

"What are you talking about declining years for, you young rascal? I
never was so strong and hearty in my life. You have made me twenty
years yo