e
seed it done myself--that the seal-hunters o' the north do their work
wi' clubs; so, if one man can kill a seal wi' such a thing, I don't see
why another shouldn't."

And, truly, there was some reason for this covert boast; for Joe,
besides possessing arms of prodigious power, had cut and shaped for
himself a knotted club which might have suited the hand of Hercules
himself.

It turned out that Bob Massey's satisfaction at being left behind that
day was not altogether the result of regard for female society. While
he was sauntering back to the camp, after his comrades had left, he
congratulated himself aloud on having at last a chance of making his
experiment without being laughed at during the trial. "That is--if
Nellie has got enough of line made."

At that moment Nell was busy with the line in question, and at the same
time doing her best to comfort Mrs Mitford--Mrs Hayward being engaged
in preparing dinner; by no means a difficult duty, which the women
undertook day about.

"Keep up your spirits, dear Peggy," said Nell, in that sweet, cosy
tone--if we may say so--which played such havoc in Bob's bosom at the
time when she was known as the coxswain's bride. "I feel _sure_ that
your dear husband will return to us. No doubt, some sort o' misfortune
has come to him; but he's such a sensible, handy man, is John, that I
can't help feelin' he'll come back to us; an' when I _feel_ anything
very strongly, d'ee know, I've almost always found it come true. Do you
believe in strong feelin', Peggy?"

Poor Mrs Mitford, who had been sitting with her hands clasped in her
lap, and an utterly woebegone expression on her pale face, raised her
head with a troubled look on being thus directly appealed to.

"Believe in strong feelin's, Nellie? I should just think I do. Not to
mention my own feelin's--which are so strong that I never felt nothink
like 'em before--any one who has been married to my John must know well
what st-strong--oh! no, I shall never see 'im again; dear Nellie, don't
tell me," she said, beginning to cry. "I know--I know--"

"There, now--there's a good soul. Don't go off again. Look! D'ee know
what this is for?"

As she spoke, Nellie held up a ball of what appeared to be twine, and
her companion--whose mind resembled that of a child, in that it could be
easily diverted--said no, she didn't know what it was for, and that she,
(Peggy), had seen her making it when the men were off excursioning, and