endless sea, we saw a ship becalmed.

I suppose I swooned.

When I recovered my senses, the cutter was creeping under her lee, and
the crew were throwing us a rope.

"The women first," said somebody in a cheerful voice. "And after them
send up the wounded man."

And soon kind, pitying faces were bending over us. And very tender hands
were feeding Sylvia and me.

"They've had a pooty consid'able squeak, I guess," said the cheerful
voice.

And somebody answered, "That's so."

We had been picked up by an American schooner.

A STRANGE VISITOR.

BY MAUD HEIGHINGTON.

The Priory was a fine, rambling old house, which had recently come into
Jack Cheriton's possession through the death of a parsimonious relative.

Part of the building only had been kept in repair, while the remainder
had fallen into decay, and was, in fact, only a picturesque ruin.

The Cheritons' first visit to their newly acquired property was a sort
of reconnoitre visit. They had come from Town for a month's holiday,
bringing with them Thatcher--little Mollie's nurse--as general factotum.

They had barely been in the house an hour when a telegram summoned
Thatcher to her mother's deathbed, and a day or two later urgent
business recalled Jack to Town.

"I'll just call at the Lodge and get Mrs. Somers to come up as early as
she can this morning, and stay the night with you, so you will not be
alone long," he called as he hurried off.

His wife and Mollie watched him out of sight, and then returned to the
breakfast-room--the little one amusing herself with her doll, while her
mother put the breakfast things together.

Millicent Cheriton was no coward, but an undefinable sense of uneasiness
was stealing over her. The Priory was fully half an hour's walk from the
Lodge, which was the nearest house. Still further off, in the opposite
direction, stood a large building, the nature of which they had not yet
discovered.

Jack had never left her even for one night since their marriage--and
now she had not even Thatcher left to bear her company.

"Mrs. Somers will soon be here," she said in a comforting tone to
Mollie, who, however, was too intent upon her doll to notice, and
certainly did not share her mother's uneasiness.

Meanwhile, Jack had reached the Lodge and made his request to Somers,
the gamekeeper.

"I'm main sorry, sir, but the missus thought as you would want her at
eleven--as usual, so she started off early to get her mark