onky, "'ow long d'ee think little Mouse will go on at his
present rate o' heavin'?"

"I can't say," answered the stray, with a serious air; "I ain't studied
the 'uman frame wery much, but I should say, 'e'll bust by to-morrow if
'e goes on like 'e's bin doin'."

A tremendous sound from little Mouse, who lay in a neighbouring bunk,
seemed to justify the prophecy.

But little Mouse did not "bust." He survived that storm, and got his
sea-legs on before the next one.

The voyage, however, was on the whole propitious, and, what with
school-lessons and Bible-lessons and hymn-singing, and romping, and
games of various kinds instituted and engaged in by the Guardian, the
time passed profitably as well as pleasantly, so that there were,
perhaps, some feelings of regret when the voyage drew to an end, and
they came in sight of that Great Land which the Norsemen of old
discovered; which Columbus, re-discovering, introduced to the civilised
world, and which, we think, ought in justice to have been named
Columbia.

And now a new era of life began for those rescued waifs and strays--
those east-end diamonds from the great London fields. Canada--with its
mighty lakes and splendid rivers, its great forests and rich lands, its
interesting past, prosperous present, and hopeful future--opened up to
view. But there was a shadow on the prospect, not very extensive, it is
true, but dark enough to some of them just then, for here the hitherto
united band was to be gradually disunited and dispersed, and friendships
that had begun to ripen under the sunshine of Christian influence were
to be broken up, perhaps for ever. The Guardian, too, had to be left
behind by each member as he was severed from his fellows and sent to a
new home among total strangers.

Still there were to set off against these things several points of
importance. One of these was that the Guardian would not part with a
single boy until the character of his would-be employer was inquired
into, and his intention to deal kindly and fairly ascertained. Another
point was, that each boy, when handed over to an employer, was not to be
left thereafter to care for himself, but his interests were to be
watched over and himself visited at intervals by an emissary from the
Beehive, so that he would not feel friendless or forsaken even though he
should have the misfortune to fall into bad hands. The Guardian also
took care to point out that, amid all these leave-takings and