u see yonder wreck, on Hemlock Bluff
rocks?"

"To be sure I do."

"Well, when that wreck came ashore, between ten and eleven years ago,
you had been one of the passengers on the boat."

"Me!"

"Yes. I have heard mother tell of it several times. It was a fearful
night and Old Ben, he was our slave then, was out on the bluff watching.
Presently there was the booming of a signal gun--showing the ship was in
distress--and soon the ship came in sight, rocking to and fro, with the
wild waves running over her deck. Not a soul was left on board, captain
and crew having all gone down in the ocean beyond."

"But where did they find me?"

"On the beach. Old Ben heard a cry of pain and ran in the direction of
the sound. Soon he made out the form of a woman, your mother. She had
been hurt by being hit with some wreckage. You were in her arms, and as
Old Ben came up you cried out: 'Jack is hungry. Give Jack some bread and
butter, please.'"

"Yes, yes! I remember something of a storm and of the awful waves. But
it's all dreamy-like."

"You were only three or four years old, and the exposure nearly cost you
your life. Old Ben took you and your mother to the boathouse and then
ran up to the plantation for help. Father went back with him, along with
half a dozen men, and they brought you and your mother to the house. I
remember that time well, for I was nearly seven years old."

"But my mother, what of her?" asked Jack impatiently.

"Poor dear! she died two days later. The physicians did all they could
for her, but the shock had been too great, and she passed away without
recovering consciousness."

"Then she told nothing about me--who I was?"

"No. All she did say while she lived was 'Save my husband! Save my
darling little Jack.'"

"Then my father must have been on the boat with her?"

"Yes."

"And they did not find his body?"

"No, the only bodies recovered were those of sailors."

"Didn't they try to find out who I was?"

"To be sure, but, although father did his best, he could learn nothing.
Your father and mother had taken passage on the ship at the last moment
and their names did not appear on the list at the shipping offices, and
none of the books belonging to the ship itself were ever recovered."

"Perhaps they are on the wreck!" cried Jack, struck by a sudden idea.

"No, the wreck was searched from end to end, and all of value taken
away."

"I'd like to row over and look around."

"You may do so, J