ead of acting like a sensible man, and throwing Frank
overboard, Captain Kirke was fool enough to listen to his story. He made
the most of his misfortunes, you may be sure. He was half starved; he
was an Englishman lost in a strange country, without a friend to help
him; his only chance of getting home was to sneak into the hold of an
English vessel--and he had sneaked in, accordingly, at Hong-Kong, two
days since. That was his story. Any other l out in Frank's situation
would have been rope's ended by any other captain. Deserving no
pity from anybody, Frank was, as a matter of course, coddle d and
compassionated on the spot. The captain took him by the hand, the crew
pitied him, and the passengers patted him on the back. He was fed,
clothed, and presented with his passage home. Luck enough so far,
you will say. Nothing of the sort; nothing like luck enough for my
despicable son.

"The ship touched at the Cape of Good Hope. Among his other acts of
folly Captain Kirke took a woman passenger on board at that place--not
a young woman by any means--the elderly widow of a rich colonist. Is it
necessary to say that she forthwith became deeply interested in Frank
and his misfortunes? Is it necessary to tell you what followed? Look
back at my son's career, and you will see that what followed was all
of a piece with what went before. He didn't deserve your poor father's
interest in him--and he got it. He didn't deserve your attachment--and
he got it. He didn't deserve the best place in one of the best offices
in London; he didn't deserve an equally good chance in one of the best
mercantile houses in China; he didn't deserve food, clothing, pity, and
a free passage home--and he got them all. Last, not least, he didn't
even deserve to marry a woman old enough to be his grandmother--and he
has done it! Not five minutes since I sent his wedding-cards out to the
dust-hole, and tossed the letter that came with them into the fire. The
last piece of information which that letter contains is that he and his
wife are looking out for a house and estate to suit them. Mark my words!
Frank will get one of the best estates in England; a seat in the House
of Commons will follow as a matter of course; and one of the legislators
of this Ass-ridden country will be--MY LOUT!

"If you are the sensible girl I have always taken you for, you have long
since learned to rate Frank at his true value, and the news I send you
will only confirm your contemp