tion, the seaman proceeded to
cut down some tobacco, and looked remarkably grave and solemn as if "it"
were not only a puzzler but an alarmingly serious puzzler.

"Yes, it's the biggest puzzler as ever I comed across," said he, filling
his pipe--for John, when not roused, got on both mentally and physically
by slow stages.

"Niver know'd its equal," he continued, beginning to smoke, which
operation, as the pipe did not "draw" well at first, prevented him from
saying anything more.

It was early morning when Bumpus said all this, and the mariner was
enjoying his morning pipe in a reclining attitude on the grass beneath
Alice Mason's favourite tree, from which commanding position he gazed
approvingly on the magnificent prospect of land and sea which lay before
him, bathed in the light of the rising sun.

"It _is_ wery koorious," continued John, taking his pipe out of his
mouth and addressing himself to _it_ with much gravity--"_wery_
koorious. Things _always_ seems wot they isn't, and turns out to be wot
they didn't appear as if they wasn't; werry odd indeed, it is! Only to
think that this here sandal-wood trader should turn out for to be
Henry's father and the widow's mother--no, I mean the widow's husband,--
an' a pirate, an' a deliverer o' little boys and gals out o' pirates'
hands--his own hands, so to speak--not to mention captings in the Royal
Navy, an' not sich a bad feller after all, as won't have his liberty on
no account wotiver, even if it was gived to him for nothin', and yet wot
can't git it if he wanted it iver so much; and to think that Jo Bumpus
should come for to lend hisself to--Hallo! Jo, back yer tops'ls!
Didn't Henry tell ye that ye wasn't to convarse upon that there last
matter even with yerself, for fear o' bein' overheard and sp'ilin' the
whole affair? Come, I'll refresh myself."

The refreshment in which Jo proposed to indulge was of a peculiar kind
which never failed him--it was the perusal of Susan's love-letter.

He now sat up, drew forth the precious and much soiled epistle, unfolded
and spread it out carefully on his knees, placed his pipe very much on
one side of his mouth, in order that the smoke might not interfere with
his vision, and began to read.

"`_Peeler's Farm_,' ah! Susan darlin', it's Jo Bumpus as would give all
he has in the world, includin' his Sunday clo'se, to be anchored
alongside o' ye at that same farm! `_Sanfransko_.' I misdoubt the
spellin' o' that word, S