illet. It is an occasion of importance. Opposite to her sits her
brother. Jeff is on her right hand. On the left sits Rose--prettier,
brighter, and more womanly than ever. A gold circlet on one of the
fingers of her left hand proclaims a great fact. A happy smile on her
face proves that her confidence has not been misplaced.

Jeff is nearly as stout and strong as he ever was; of his severe illness
scarcely a trace remains. The doctor does not know what it was, and it
is not to be expected that we should know. Sufficient for us to state
the fact that it is gone.

But our hero is not now a coastguardsman. Listen, and the captain will
explain why.

"Molly, my dear, another cup of your superb tea, to web my whistle
before I begin. It ought to be good, for I know the man that grew it,
and the firm through which it came. Well, now, both you and Rosebud
will nat'rally want to know about the situation which I've obtained for
Jeff. You'll be surprised to hear that he is now Secretary of State to
King Richard Longpurse."

"In other words," interrupted Jeff, with a laugh, "your brother
thinks--"

"If _you_ think, sir," interrupted the captain in his turn, "that King
Richard cannot explain matters in his own words, you had better say so
at once, and I will abdicate in your favour."

"Go on, sire--I submit," said Jeff.

"Well then, Molly, I was about to say, when my secretary interrupted me,
that he and I have at last come to an agreement. After much
explanation, I have got him to understand that a king cannot possibly
manage all his own affairs with his own hands, and that I am forced to
have a secretary, who can at least do the `three R's' pretty well. You
see, although my edication has not been neglected, it still remains a
fact that I can't read without specs, that in cipherin' I am slow--slow,
though sure--and that in the matter of penmanship I am neither swift nor
legible. Therefore, seein' that in such things I don't differ much from
other kings and great men, Jeff has generously consented to refuse the
lucrative sitooation under Goverment, with nothin' partik'lar to do,
which has been offered to him, and to accept the secretary of
state-ship, now at the disposal of King Richard, who will give him at
least as good a salary as Government, and at the same time keep his nose
closer to the grindstone."

"Oh! Jeff," said Rosebud at this point, shaking her finger at her
husband, "I _knew_ there was somethi