same with
Beast Boomsby," added Owen, as he turned up the street to his
destination.

I had been made the victim of a plot, and taught to believe that my
father, Sir Bent Garningham, was dead. The little steamer Sylvania was
my own property, for I had earned it by saving the lives of her
original owner and his family. Pike Carrington, my father's solicitor
in England, had induced the son of my father's younger brother to make
an attempt to get me "out of the way."

The villain had acted more for his own interest than for that of my
cousin. They had called in my old enemy Captain Parker Boomsby, and
sent him to Florida in one steamer, while Owen went with me in the
Sylvania. My friend Robert Washburn, the mate of the steam-yacht, had
discovered the plot, and we had been on our guard night and day to meet
any treachery.

Captain Boomsby claimed me and all that I had, when he learned that my
father was dead. He had done his best to obtain the steam-yacht, but
his unfortunate habit of drinking too much whiskey had defeated his
plan. In his attempt to destroy me he had taken the life of the
solicitor.

On our voyage, "going South," we had encountered a heavy gale in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. Owen Garningham, my cousin, had been swept from
the hurricane-deck of the Sylvania by the raging sea. At the risk of my
own, I had saved his life. This act had conquered him, and he no longer
took any interest in the plan to destroy me, if he had ever thought of
anything so bad as this. He became my strong friend, and had no further
desire to rob me of my father's estate, or to obtain the title, for
which he cared more than I did.

The Shepards were a family we first met at a regatta in Portland
Harbor. Owen had become deeply interested in Miss Edith, the daughter,
and, at his invitation, the family had come most of the way to Florida
in the steamer. We had been up the Ocklawaha River to Lake Griffin, and
up the St. Johns as far as any steamer could go. My father, who had
left me at college in Montomercy, to attend to his affairs in England,
had been called to India on business. His absence was the opportunity
for the conspirators, and they destroyed our letters.

When I learned that my father was not dead, I had written to him. He
had followed me up the St. Johns, and appeared in time to save me from
the bullet of one of Captain Boomsby's agents. He learned the whole
truth from me, and at once cancelled the charter by which my c