at on his knees; and everyone else in the
room, except Mr. Hanlon, looked very intently at him. He noticed it, and
glanced around inquiringly, smiling more benevolently than ever.

"How beautiful that would be," he said. "How beautiful! If some of my
dear, dear friends could only have a new heart,--how beautiful!"

"Don't interrupt," said Aunt Amanda. "Freddie, listen to this:

"'If any be Little in stature, against his desire, he shall be Great.'"

Freddie opened his eyes very wide. Would it be possible to be big at
once, without waiting all that long dreary time? How glorious that would
be!

"But this," said Aunt Amanda, "this is the last and the best. I don't
know--whether I can--read it right--" her voice broke, and she blew her
nose and cleared her throat--"but I will try. Oh! do you suppose it
_could_ be true? Would a good Quaker captain, with a sister in New
Bedford, say it if it wasn't true? With the sea raging and both masts
gone, and the ship filling up with water, and----"

"Aunt Amanda," said Toby, "if you don't read the rest of it this
minute----"

"Ah, yes, Toby, I will," said Aunt Amanda. "It must be true, or a good
man like that wouldn't have said it. This is the last part, and the
best:

"'If any be Prevented unjustly of Beauty or of Children or of Love or of
Other like desires, there shall be found for him of these a great Store:
So that there shall be an End of repining, and none in that Place shall
say, Thus and thus might I have been also, had I been but justly
entreated.

"'And so I commit my Body to the sea, and my soul to----'"

"Go on! go on!" cried the company--excepting, of course, Mr. Hanlon.

Aunt Amanda blew her nose again, and laid down the map on the table.
"That's all," she said. "I suppose he didn't have time to finish it."

CHAPTER XI

A MIXED COMPANY IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE

After Aunt Amanda had stopped reading, it was a moment or two before
anyone spoke. "If all those things," said Mr. Toby thoughtfully, "could
be done in that Island, I'd be in favor of going there."

There was a general murmur of assent, and Mr. Hanlon nodded his head.

"Well," went on Mr. Toby, "we'd better make up our minds what we want to
do about it. The Churchwarden ain't had his say yet, what with all these
interruptions, and I move we give him a chance to have his say, right
now. Speak up, Warden; what do you think we ought to do?"

"As I was saying," said the Churchwarden, looking