could no longer be seen, the vessel began to rock and plunge in the
waves, and the great steamer was fairly at sea.

Do you suppose that Annie cried all the voyage? Bless you, no! It was
not in her to be sorrowful long. In a very little while her tears dried,
smiles came back, and the trustful brown eyes were as bright as ever.
Everybody on board noticed the dear little girl and was kind. The
Captain, who had little girls of his own at home, would walk with her on
the deck for an hour at a time, telling her stories which he called
"yarns," and which were very interesting. The old sailors would coax the
little maiden amidships and tell her "yarns" also, about sharks and
whales and albatrosses. One of them was such a nice old fellow. His name
was "Jack," and he won Annie's affections completely, by catching a
flying-fish in a bucket and making her a present of it. Did you ever see
a flying-fish? Annie's did not seem at all happy in the bucket, so she
threw him into the sea again, but none the less was she pleased that
Jack gave him to her. She liked to watch the porpoises turn and wheel in
the water, and the gulls skim and dive; but most of all she delighted in
the Mother Carey's chickens, which on stormy days fluttered in and out,
rocking on the waves, and never seeming afraid, however hard the wind
might blow. Going to sea was to Annie as pleasant as all the other
pleasant things in her life. She would have laughed hard enough had
anybody asked whether unpleasant things had never happened to her, and
would have said "No!" in a minute.

The voyage ended at Liverpool. Annie felt sorry and homesick at leaving
the vessel, as travellers are apt to do. But pretty soon a gentleman
came on board, and a pretty little boy. It was Mr. Grant and Rupert,
come down to meet her, and they were so pleasant and so glad to see
Annie that she forgot all her home-sickness at once.

"What a funny carriage," she exclaimed, when, after they had all landed,
Mr. Grant helped her into a cab.

"It's a Hansom," explained Rupert. "Papa engaged one because I asked
him. It's such fun to ride in 'em, I think. Don't they have any in
America where you live?"

"No,--not any carriages at all where I live," replied Annie, nestling
down among the cushions,--"only mule carts and--wheelbarrows--and--oh,
yes--Major Randolph had an ambulance. There were _beau_-tiful carriages
in New York though, but I didn't see any like this."

"Don't you like it?"

"