t home, poor boy. I cannot make it out,'
said Vea. 'He says he will tell me the reason once he finds himself in
his own bed at Aunt Berkley's. I wonder who this boat belongs to.'

"'Polly said it belonged to Martha's father,' I replied; 'she told me so
just before they left me to go home.'

"'Polly, I hope, has quite made up her mind not to run away,' said Vea.

"'Oh yes, I think she has given up that idea; indeed, I heard her say to
Rachel she would try to bear it a little longer.'

"'There is Dick returned already,' said Vea; and she scrambled out of
the boat, and ran down to the beach to meet Dick, who was coming from
the doctor's house with a basket containing medicines for the sick boy.

[Illustration: DICK RETURNING WITH THE MEDICINE.]

"'Oh, you are a good boy, Dick,' said Vea. 'How fast you must have
gone!'

"'Well, yes, miss, I did go fast,' said Dick, pleased with Vea's speech
apparently. 'I went by the beach, the tide being out, and it is nigher
that way by a good mile. I would go faster than most folks for the young
master.'

"'Why, has Patrick been kind to you too, Dick!' said Vea, in much
surprise.

"'That he has, miss,' said Dick gratefully. 'When I lost grandfather's
knife, didn't he buy me a new one with the new half-crown his aunt gave
him to spend at the fair! And didn't he let grandfather think he had
broken the glass in the window, when all the time it was me, and nobody
else! And hasn't he often and often brought me a bit of his own dinner
tied up in his handkerchief, or a pie he would find lying handy in the
pantry, when he knowed I'd had nothing for my dinner that day at all!'

"Vea said nothing, but she evidently thought her brother was a very
curious boy, and that she had not understood him at all.

"When Natilie had returned with the things required by the sick boy and
his attendants, Uncle John and I set off home, he promising that we
would return the next afternoon to inquire after Patrick. The sun was
just shedding its last rays of golden light over the sea, lighting it up
with a strange lurid light, which, with the stillness of the scene, and
the great rocks on the coast, left a strange impression on my mind.

"'And you say you have enjoyed yourself, my dear!' said Uncle John,
after we had walked on in silence for some time.

[Illustration: GOING HOME WITH UNCLE JOHN.]

"'Oh, very much indeed, uncle,' I replied. 'I like Vea so much, and
Alfred is such a funny boy. Isn't it