weighs heavily on me.
Andrew, you are young and healthy, and may Heaven preserve your life for
many years! I have no great claim on you, but Andrew, as you hope
Heaven will watch over you, do you keep an eye on my boy. Do for him
the best you can. I have seen enough of you to know that you will act
wisely and kindly. I do not desire to have him pampered and spoiled by
riches, if I could give them, but I cannot bear the thought of his being
left friendless and in poverty to fight his way through this often hard
and cruel world. You will see to this, Andrew? I am sure you will."

"I will, Captain Page; I promise you," I answered, and I took his cold
clammy hand.

Poor Natty was all this time sobbing violently. The truth that he was
going to lose his father burst upon him, and that father had ever been
kind and indulgent.

"That is well, that is well," murmured Captain Page. "I trust to you to
be his human protector, and to One"--and he turned his eyes upward--"who
will ever be a Friend of the fatherless."

The captain said a good deal more, and made various arrangements about
Natty. Desiring me to get some papers from his desk, he showed me how I
could obtain the little property he was likely to leave.

"I wish I could see the brig safely brought to an anchor," he observed
after a long silence. "It is a nasty coast at best. With a breeze we
could work off it, but while this calm lasts we cannot help ourselves
from being carried wherever the current takes us, till we get into water
shoal enough for anchoring. I shall be happier when once we can bring
up, for if we do not, we may, when we little expect it, be driven on
shore; and let me tell you, Andrew, what with the surf and the sharks,
few of us are likely to escape with our lives. I know this coast well,
and a sandy beach, exposed to the whole sweep of the Atlantic, is even
more dangerous than a rocky shore. It must be time again to heave the
lead. Go on deck, Andrew, and see how things are."

I found the passengers seated under an awning, which the mate had rigged
at their request. He himself was walking up and down the deck, coming
the officer in fine style, and endeavouring to make himself agreeable to
the young ladies. He evidently anticipated the moment when he should
have the command; indeed, he seemed to fancy himself the master already.
When I told him that the captain desired me again to heave the lead, he
appeared not to hear me, but co