her and looked
round, he thought he should never get to speak to anyone throughout
the voyage. However, he had scarcely settled himself when a gentleman
in a naval uniform, next to him, made the remark:

"Well, youngster, what do you think of all this? I suppose it is all
new to you?"

"It is, sir. It seems very strange, at first, but I suppose I shall
get accustomed to it."

"Oh, yes. You will find it pleasant enough, by and bye. I am the
ship's doctor. The purser has been telling me about you and your
mother.

"I made one voyage with your father. It was my first, and a kinder
captain I never sailed with. I heard, from the purser, that there
seems to be a chance of his being still alive, and that your mother is
going out to try and find out something about him. I hope, most
sincerely, that she may succeed in doing so; but he has been missing a
long time now. Still, that is no reason why she should not find him.
There have been instances where men have been kept for years by some
of these rascally natives--why, goodness only knows, except, I
suppose, because they fear and hate us; and think that, some time or
other, an English prisoner may be useful to them.

"Your mother looks far from strong," he went on, as he glanced across
Dick to Mrs. Holland, who was talking to a lady on the other side of
her. "Has she been ill?"

"No, sir. I have never known her ill, yet. She has been worrying
herself a great deal. She has waited so long, because she did not like
to go out until she could take me with her. She has no friends in
England with whom she could leave me. She looks a good deal better,
now, than she did a month ago. I think, directly she settled to come
out, and had something to do, she became better."

"That is quite natural," the doctor said. "There is nothing so trying
as inactivity. I have no doubt that the sea air will quite set her up
again. It performs almost miracles on the homeward-bound passengers.
They come on board looking pale, and listless, and washed out; at the
end of a month at sea, they are different creatures altogether."

The purser had taken pains to seat Mrs. Holland, at table, next to a
person who would be a pleasant companion for her; and the lady she was
now talking to was the wife of a chaplain in the army. She had, a year
before, returned from India in the Madras, and he knew her to be a
kind and pleasant woman.

Dick did not care for his cabin mates. They were young fellows of
a