I.

THE DEEP SEA.

Such a pleasant bustle, as the passengers came streaming into the cabin!
Everyone seemed to have made or met some friend, with the exception of a
few shy-looking, lonesome persons, and Molly devoutly hoped that these
would find some congenial souls before very long and not be so forlorn.
She and her mother had made such a fine beginning in the way of pleasant
acquaintances that she wished the same good luck to all on board.

Their seats were next to the Captain, with Mr. Kinsella and Pierce
opposite. The Captain was just what a captain ought to be: big and
hearty, blond and bearded, with a booming laugh. "Like a Viking of old,"
whispered Molly to her mother.

"Good sailor, madam?" asked the Captain of Mrs. Brown.

"A Mississippi steamboat is the only test I have given myself so far,
but my daughter and I are hoping we will prove good sailors," answered
his neighbor. "We are evidently expected to be sick by our friends, as
several of them have sent us remedies. Champagne from one, crystallized
ginger from another and a box of big black pills from a third that look
for all the world like shoe buttons."

"Well, don't trust to any of them. If you are sick, get on deck all you
can and don't waste your champagne on seasickness, but get ginger ale,
which is much cheaper and quite as effective," boomed the Captain with a
laugh that made the glasses rattle.

Molly wished they would stop talking about seasickness! The food looked
good. A plate of cream celery soup had just been placed in front of her.
It seemed all that celery soup should be, but a qualm had suddenly
arisen in her soul, (at least she called it her soul,) and she decided
to let the soup go and wait for the next course.

"Uncle Tom, I have met an old friend of yours on board; also an
acquaintance of my own from the Art Students' League," said Pierce as
soon as the business of eating was well under way.

"Is that so? I'll bet on you for nosing around to find out things! Who
is the gentleman?" inquired Mr. Kinsella.

"Gentleman much! It's a lady, and a very beautiful lady at that, who
complimented you greatly by saying you looked like me," laughed the boy.
"Her name is Mrs. Huntington."

"Huntington? I know no one of that name that I can remember. She must be
some casual acquaintance who has slipped from my memory."

"Well, maybe,--anyhow, she called you Tom. Her daughter, Miss Elise
O'Brien, is my friend."

Mr. Kinsella's face fl