racious, and as, perhaps, she was aware that
her voice would drown that of her husband, she proposed to our hero to
walk in the garden, and in a few minutes they took their seats in a
pavilion at the end of it. The old lady did not talk much Spanish, but
when at a loss for a word she put in an Italian one, and Jack understood
her perfectly well. She told him her sister had married a Spanish
nobleman many years since, and that before the war broke out between the
Spanish and the English, they had gone over with all their children to
see her; that when they wished to return, her daughter Agnes, then a
child, was suffering under a lingering complaint, and it was thought
advisable, as she was very weak, to leave her under the charge of her
aunt, who had a little girl of nearly the same age; that they were
educated together at a convent near Tarragona, and that she had only
returned two months ago; that she had a very narrow escape, as the ship
in which her uncle, and aunt, and cousins, as well as herself, were on
board, returning from Genoa, where her brother-in-law had been obliged
to go to secure a succession to some property bequeathed to him, had
been captured in the night by the English; but the officer, who was very
polite, had allowed them to go away next day, and very handsomely
permitted them to take all their effects.

"Oh, oh," thought Jack; "I thought I had seen her face before; this then
was one of the girls in the corner of the cabin--now, I'll have some
fun."

During the conversation with the mother, Donna Agnes had remained some
paces behind, picking now and then a flower, and not attending to what
passed.

When our hero and her mother sat down in the pavilion she joined them,
when Jack addressed her with his usual politeness.

"I am almost ashamed to be sitting by you, Donna Agnes, in this ragged
dress--but the rocks of your coast have no respect for persons."

"We are under great obligations, signor, and do not regard such
trifles."

"You are all kindness, signora," replied Jack; "I little thought this
morning of my good fortune--I can tell the fortunes of others, but not
of my own."

"You can tell fortunes!" replied the old lady.

"Yes, madam, I am famous for it--shall I tell your daughter hers?"

Donna Agnes looked at our hero, and smiled.

"I perceive that the young lady does not believe me; I must prove my
art, by telling her of what has already happened to her. The signora
will then gi