s may seem very strange; but remembering the long
ride, and the fright they had been in, and that now they felt safe, we
can hardly wonder. At any rate, it was the middle of the afternoon
before Colonel Brenton--I think I have never given him his title
before--made his appearance on deck, to the great astonishment of the
captain and all the other people, who knew him more or less. He told
the captain what had happened, saying at the end he would pay him
double the usual passage money to Holland, where he meant to stay for
a while; and at this the rough man really turned pale.

"Holland, _Holland_!" said he; "do you not see we're going down the
Channel? We are bound direct for America."

The story says that Colonel Brenton was almost beside himself, and
offered large sums of money to be taken back, or to France; but the
captain would not consent, saying that they had made good progress,
and it was late in the year. The ship would come back in the spring,
and he must content himself.

Those of the ship's company who knew our friends had great wonderings
at their having turned Puritans, until they knew the true state of
affairs. Must not it have been dreadful news to Mistress Brenton, and
was it not really a dreary prospect--a dreary journey in that frail
ship, and at the end a cold, forlorn country? and all the stories of
the Indians' cruelties to the settlers came to her mind. They could
not, in all probability, return for many months. No one whom she cared
particularly for would be there to welcome them. Polly did not take it
very much to heart, though she cried a little because she was not to
go to Holland, which she had heard so much of from her grandmother and
Dorothy. It was a great many days before they gave up their hope of
falling in with some vessel to which they might be transferred; and
the first two weeks were sunshiny and pleasant, with a good wind. But
soon it grew bleaker and colder, and they suffered greatly. All
through the pleasant days, Polly had been having a very enjoyable
time. There were several children on board, and they had games around
the deck and in the cabin.

It was delightful to have the kitten, who had a cord tied around her
neck; and when she was not in Polly's arms, she was generally anchored
for safety in the cabin. Every day she had part of her little
mistress's dinner; and though she missed the garden, and the dead
leaves that nestled about the walks, and made such nice plaything