the West Ingees, and I hope he is not a man to overlook his
instructions."

"Will Roswell be obliged to stop in the West Indies, uncle?"

"Sartain--if he obeys his orders; and I think the young man will do
_that_. But the business there will not detain him long,"--Mary's
countenance brightened again, at this remark,--"and, should you be right,
we, may still look for him in the next ninety days."

Mary remained silent for a short time, but her charming face was
illuminated by an expression of heartfelt happiness, which, however, the
next remark of her uncle's had an obvious tendency to disturb.

"Should Gar'ner come home successful, Mary," inquired the deacon,
"successful in all things--successful in sealing, and successful in that
other matter--the West Ingee business, I mean--but successful in all, as I
daily pray he may be,--I want to know if you would then have him; always
supposing that he got back himself unchanged?"

"Unchanged, I shall never be his wife," answered Mary, tremulously, but
firmly.

The deacon looked at her in surprise; for he had never comprehended but
one reason why the orphan and penniless Mary should refuse so
pertinaciously to become the wife of Roswell Gardiner; and that was his
own want of means. Now the deacon loved Mary more than he was aware of
himself, but he had never actually made up his mind to leave her the
heiress of his estate. The idea of parting with property at all, was too
painful for him to think of making a will; and without such an instrument,
there were others who would have come in for a part of the assets, "share
and share alike," as the legal men express it. Of all this was the deacon
fully aware and it occasionally troubled him: more of late than formerly,
since he felt in his system the unerring signs of decay. Once had he got
so far as to write on a page of foolscap, "In the name of God, Amen;" but
the effort proved too great for him, and he abandoned the undertaking.
Still Deacon Pratt loved his niece, and was well inclined to see her
become the wife of "young Gar'ner," more especially should the last return
successful.

"Unchanged!" repeated the uncle, slowly; "you sartainly would not wish to
marry him, Mary, if he was _changed!_"

"I do not mean changed, in the sense you are thinking of, uncle. But we
will not talk of this now. Why should Roswell stop in the West Indies at
all? It is not usual for our vessels to stop there."

"No, it is not. If Gar'ner stop