return good profit on the price I paid for them."

"And you have met with no accidents or adventures, Reuben?"

"Not more than is useful. We had a fight with some Moorish pirates,
who coveted the goods with which, as they doubtless guessed, we
were laden; but we beat them off stoutly, with a loss of only six
men killed among us. We had bad weather coming up the Portugal
Coast, and had two men washed overboard; and we had another stabbed
in a drunken brawl in the street. And besides these there are, of
course, many who were wounded in the fight with the Moors and in
drunken frays ashore; but all are doing well, and the loss of a
little blood will not harm them, so our voyage may be termed an
easy and pleasant one.

"That is well," the merchant said, in a tone of satisfaction. "We
cannot expect a voyage like this to pass without accident.

"And how are you, Roger?" he asked, turning to the boy, who was
standing near the door with his cap in his hand, until it should
please his elders to address him.

"I am well, I thank you, Master Diggory. It is seldom that anything
ails with me. I trust that Mistress Mercy and my cousins are well."

"You had best go upstairs, and see them for yourself, Roger. Your
father and I have weighty matters to talk over, and would fain be
alone."

Roger was glad to escape from the merchant's counting house and,
bowing to his cousin, went off with a quiet step; which, after he
had closed the door behind him, was changed into a rapid bound as
he ascended the stairs.

"Gently, Roger," Mistress Beggs said, as he entered the room where
she and her two daughters were sitting, at work. "We are truly glad
to see you, but you must remember that we stay-at-home people are
not accustomed to the boisterous ways of the sea."

The reproof was administered in a kindly tone, but Roger colored to
the hair; for indeed, in his delight at being back again, he had
forgotten the manners that were expected from a lad of his age, on
shore. However, he knew that, although Mistress Beggs was somewhat
precise in her ways, she was thoroughly kind; and always treated
him as if he were a nephew of her own, rather than a young cousin
of her husband's. He therefore recovered at once from his momentary
confusion, and stepped forward to receive the salute Mistress Beggs
always gave him, on his return from his voyages.

"Dorothy, Agnes, you remember your Cousin Roger?"

The two girls, who had remained seated at their