r child to my care, and every day I have had
renewed pleasure in watching his progress in all the studies that
he has undertaken. His intelligence is as remarkable as his heart
is generous. Erik is truly one of nature's nobleman, and the
parents who have lost such a son, if they knew the extent of their
misfortune, would be objects of pity. But it is very doubtful
whether his parents are still living. As we agreed, I have spared
no efforts to discover them. I have written to several persons in
England who have an agency for making special researches. I have
had advertisements inserted in twenty different newspapers,
English, Irish, and Scotch. Not the least ray of light has been
thrown upon this mystery, and I have to confess that all the
information which I have succeeded in procuring has rather tended
to deepen the mystery.

"The name 'Cynthia,' I find in very common use in the English navy.
From Lloyd's office, they inform me, that there are seventeen
ships, of different tonnage, bearing this name. Some of these ships
belong to English ports, and some to Scotland and Ireland. My
supposition concerning the nationality of the child is therefore
confirmed, and it becomes more and more evident to me that Erik is
of Irish parentage. I do not know whether you agree with me on this
point, but I have already mentioned it to two of my most intimate
friends in Stockholm, and everything seems to confirm it.

"Whether this Irish family are all dead, or whether they have some
interest in remaining unknown, I have not been able to discover any
trace of them.

"Another singular circumstance, and which I also think looks still
more suspicious, is the fact that no shipwreck registered at
Lloyd's, or at any of the marine insurance companies, corresponds
with the date of the infant's arrival on your coast. Two vessels
named 'Cynthia' have been lost, it is true, during this century;
but one was in the Indian Ocean, thirty-two years ago, and the
other was in sight of Portsmouth eighteen years ago.

"We are therefore obliged to conclude that the infant was not the
victim of a shipwreck.

"Doubtless he was intentionally exposed to the mercy of the waves.
This would explain why all my inquiries have been fruitless.

"Be this as it may, after having ques