velope addressed to her mother.

With wondering eyes the girl peered into the envelope. Her hands shook
as she drew forth several closely written sheets of paper. Unfolding
them she saw only the salutation, "Beloved"; then she turned to the
signature. It read, "Your devoted husband, Robert Morton."

Madge gazed in fascination at her father's clear, bold handwriting. If
it were in the least indicative of character, her father must have been
a good man and true. Undoubtedly he had proved himself an honor to the
Navy and the Flag he had sworn to serve. She experienced a curious
thrill of satisfaction at this thought. Tearing her eyes from the
beloved name, she went back to the first page of the letter and began
to read, but when she reached the end of the second page she cried out
in anguish, and, laying her curly head on the dressing table, sobbed
heart-brokenly.

"I can't bear it!" she wailed. "O Father, Father! how could they be so
cruel?" After a few moments she raised her head with a long, quivering
sigh, and went on with the letter. When she had finished it, she took
up the little black book. Her tears fell fast as she perused its pages.
It was her father's log book and contained, besides the notes
concerning his last fateful voyage as a naval officer, memoranda of his
personal life aboard ship as well.

Over the last half dozen pages--the record ended abruptly--Madge's
grief burst forth anew. After she had finished she sat for a long time
holding the little book against her cheek. The distant ringing of the
supper bell brought her to a realization of her surroundings. Tenderly
she laid the book and the letter in the secret drawer that had held
them so faithfully, inviolate from the eyes of the world; then, locking
the drawer she withdrew the key, and, taking from a box on the dressing
table a slender gold chain, her only bit of ornament outside her
mother's jewelry, Madge opened the catch and hung the key upon it.

"It will be safe there," she said half aloud. "But now I have a secret
worth keeping until I find the man who spoiled my father's life. And
when I do"--Madge's red lips set in a determined line--"I'll make him
tell the truth about Father to the whole world."

CHAPTER III

AN UNEXPECTED MEETING

Although the prospect of the coming visit to Old Point Comfort filled
Madge and Eleanor with a delightful sense of their own importance, they
still had certain misgivings as to what might be expect