y started and drew a long breath.

'Bless him, he ain't here,' chuckled old Kiah; 'he's off the Spanish
coast, missy, along o' Lord Nelson and our captain. You come again,
young master, and I'll tell you the rest.' And then he would hobble
himself to the gate to let them out. 'Never tell me,' he said, as Pete
hurried to do it instead and Patty to give him her arm, 'I'm not quite
useless yet, no more I am; I told the captain he'd find me doing a
hand's turn when he came home. I've got one leg and a hand and a half
the Frenchies left me, and I'll make something of them if I'm not much
mistaken.'

All the way home Betty talked eagerly about the old sailor, where he
had been, what he had seen, the great men he had known. Godfrey said
not a word and asked no questions, and yet Angel was sure he thought of
nothing else all the evening. But he told none of his thoughts until
just before he was going to say his prayers. Then he said suddenly:

'Aunt Angel, that man is a very useful man; he must have been the
usefullest man that could be when his leg was on.'

Then, leaning on her lap as he did when he was excited, he went on:

'When you want something, you ask God for it, don't you, Aunt Angel?'

'We ask that we may have it if God pleases,' said Angel reverently.

'Yes,' said Godfrey, 'and I am going to ask, if it pleases Him, to call
me into the state of being a useful sailor.'

[Illustration: Chapter IV tailpiece]

[Illustration: Chapter V headpiece]

CHAPTER V

THE WRONG END

'You won't say, what is it I want? but, what is it I've got to do?
What have I got to do or to bear, and how can I do it or bear it best?
That's the only safe point to make for, my lad; make for it and leave
the rest.'--J. H. EWING.

For the next few days Betty and her nephew spent most of their spare
time on Hezekiah's bench under the kitchen window at the Place. Betty
talked of nothing but naval battles, but Godfrey still said very
little, and after that Sunday night never spoke again of being a
sailor. Angel wondered, for it was not like Godfrey, who generally had
plenty to say; but she noticed sometimes, when Betty was telling Kiah
Parker's stories, that Godfrey's face took that strange resolute set
that surprised her so much when he first came. It gave her new ideas
about her little nephew, and showed her that, under all his liveliness
and fancy, there was a strong will which it would be very hard to alter