as snow, yet the floor itself was sanded with white sand, and there were
one or two square wooden boxes, also filled with sand, for the use of
those who smoked. When I add that, opposite to the fireplace, there was
a set of drawers of walnut wood, with an escritoire at the top, upon the
flat part of which were a few books neatly arranged, and over it an old
fashioned looking-glass, divided at the sides near to the frame into
sections, I believe that I have given a catalogue of the whole
furniture. When I followed Bramble into the room, a little girl of
about nine or ten years old ran into his arms, as he stooped down to
receive her. She was a pretty child, with a very fair skin and rosy
cheeks, her hair and eyes of a very dark brown, almost approaching to
black; but she was not, in my opinion, near so pretty as my sister
Virginia. As Bramble kissed her, she exclaimed, "Oh, father, I am so
glad you are come home! Mrs Maddox has been in bed ever since you
left; her leg is very bad indeed."

"Whew!" whistled, Bramble, "I'm sorry to hear that of the old lady; and
how have you got on without her assistance?"

"Why, don't you think I'm very tidy, father?" said she, looking round
the room.

"Yes, Bessy, you are very tidy; and it's a pleasure to come home to a
tidy clean house. Here is a companion for you. I told you he was
coming, and you know his name."

"It's Tom Saunders, isn't it, father?"

"Yes, that's his name, for want of a better--so I leave you to make
friends, while I go up and see the poor old lady."

"You look cold and pale, are you not well?" was the first question of
little Bessy.

"I'm cold, and not very well," replied I; "I have not been used to
knocking about on board ship."

"Very true; I forgot you had never been at sea before. Come to the
fire, then, and sit in father's big chair."

"I never knew that your father had been married. I thought Peter
Anderson said that he was a bachelor."

"And so he is," replied Bessy. "I'm not his daughter, although I call
him father."

"Indeed! then whose daughter are you? and who is the old lady upstairs?"

"The old lady upstairs is the widow of the pilot with whom father served
his time. Her husband was lost at sea, and she keeps father's house.
Father picked me up at sea, and has taken care of me ever since."

"Then you don't remember your own parents?"

"No, I recollect nothing till I found myself in this house. Father says
I'm a Dutchman,