e Mary. Robert had been good to him and had given him
tobacco, and Duaterra adored Mary, and called her his Mocking Bird. The
Maoris plundered and burnt the ship after they had murdered the crew,
but they were kind to Robert and Mary, and built a native house for
them. Here they lived for four years, for they had no opportunity to
escape. Robert married the chief's daughter and settled down as a member
of the tribe, but he became very anxious about little Mary. He knew that
Duaterra looked upon her as his prospective bride, and he could not bear
to think of the lovely child ever becoming the wife of a savage.

"One day a marvelous opportunity occurred for sending Mary home. A ship
put in to obtain fresh water, and on the vessel happened to be an old
friend of Robert's, named John Morris, actually the brother of Betty
Morris, Mary's former nurse. Robert told John the whole story and begged
him to take the little girl to England, and deliver her into Betty's
hands. He paid for her passage with the money which Mr. Howard had given
him as a bribe, and which, as he could not use money in New Zealand, he
had kept buried in the ground. Mary was carried on board ship when she
was fast asleep at night, and poor Robert cried like a child at parting
from her. John Morris proved a faithful friend. He took Mary to London,
and sent a message to his sister Betty who was then living in
Devonshire. When she arrived she was able to identify her nursling, and
to tell John that Mr. Dallas had arrived from Calcutta and had offered a
large reward for the recovery of his niece. So Mary was placed under the
guardianship of her mother's brother, who took good care both of her and
her estates, and the wicked uncle was so overcome with shame, when the
story of his crime got about, that he went crazy and ended his days in a
lunatic asylum."

"And the best place for him, too!" commented Jess. "He must have been a
brute. I dare say things like that really _did_ happen before there were
daily papers to publish photos of lost children, and when the Maoris in
New Zealand were still savages. Look here, my hearties! Do you realize
it's 5.35? We've got exactly ten minutes to clear up before Rachel
arrives on the rampage."

"Gracious! Help me out of these duds! Rachel would never let me hear
the end of it if she caught me as a May Queen. I know her sarcastic
tongue," squealed Peachy. "Thanks just fifty thousand times for my
birthday party. It's been abso