der to take from her
mind the objections which delicacy might urge as to her dependent
position. He told her that he had been eminently successful as a
merchant in Charleston, and had amassed so considerable a fortune that
he intended very soon to retire from business; and that he had some
thoughts of settling in one of the northern cities, as his health, and
that of his family, had suffered from the climate. He said that a dear
and only sister, as she was, ought to have no reluctance in sharing the
superfluity of his wealth: she would thereby give far more than she
received. And his brother's orphan should be most heartily welcomed to
his heart and home: she should be taught with his children, and should
share in every respect the situation and prospects of his own little
ones, for he must receive Malcom's child, not as a niece, but as a
daughter. He advised her sailing direct for Charleston, as it would save
all trouble and difficulty: he should be on the wharf to meet her, and
if, as was frequently the case with business men, he was unavoidably
absent, his very attentive partner would be there to greet her, in
company with Mrs. Roscoe.

She accordingly wrote, accepting his kind proposition, and stating that
they should sail in the first vessel bound for Charleston, as she was
anxious to have little Maggie again settled in a home; and the more so,
as her own health was very delicate, and she knew not how long her dear
child might have a mother to watch over her. Then taking leave of the
humble friends, who would gladly have kept them ever in Scotland, Mrs.
Roscoe and her daughter set off for the nearest seaport, where the
shrinking young widow, entirely friendless and unknown, was obliged
herself to make inquiries among the shipping offices and wharves. She
found that no vessel would start for some weeks for Charleston, and she
felt that every day was of consequence to her: but she was at last
relieved of her distress by a bluff, good-natured captain, who told her
that although he didn't hail from Charleston, it was exactly the same
thing; he sailed to Boston, and the two places were as close together as
twin cherries on one stalk, or kernels in a nut, and that he would see
to it she had no trouble in finding her friends. Being a Scotchman, and
partaking of that ignorance of American geography which is so common
both in Great Britain and on the continent, he naturally mistook
Charleston, South Carolina, for which she