on, that he had no painful duty in regard to the captain to
perform, he soon forgot all about the matter in the more engrossing
consideration of his great business enterprise. When he entered the
cottage, his mother very naturally asked him where he had been; and he
gave her all the details of his interview with Mr. Rodman. Mrs. Ramsay
was more cheerful than she had been before since the death of her
husband, and they discussed the subject till bed time. Donald had
seventy-two dollars in his pocket, including his fees for measuring the
yachts. It was a new experience for him to keep anything from his
mother; but he felt that he could not honorably tell her what had passed
between the captain and himself. He could soon work the money into his
business, and he need keep it only till Monday. He did not feel just
right about it, even after he had convinced himself that he ought not to
reveal Captain Shivernock's secret to her; but I must add,
confidentially, that it is always best for boys--I mean young men--to
tell their mothers "all about it;" and if Donald had done so in this
instance, no harm would have come of the telling, and it might have
saved him a great deal of trouble, and her a great deal of anxiety, and
a great many painful doubts. Donald thought his view was correct; he
meant to do exactly right; and he had the courage to do it, even if
thereby he incurred the wrath and the vengeance of the strange man.

I have no doubt, from what indications I have of the character of Donald
Ramsay, that he tried to learn his Sunday School lesson, tried to give
attention to the sermons he heard, and tried to be interested in the
good books he essayed to read on Sunday; but I am not sure that he
succeeded entirely, for the skeleton frame of the Maud would rise up in
his imagination to cloud the vision of higher things, and the
remembrance of his relations with Captain Shivernock would thrust itself
upon him. Yet it is a great deal even to try to be faithful in one's
thoughts, and Donald was generally more successful than on this
occasion, for it was not often that he was excited by events so stirring
and prospects so brilliant. A single week would be time enough to
accustom the young boat-builder to his occupation and restore his mental
equilibrium.

The light of Monday morning's sun was very welcome to him; and when only
its light gleamed in the gray east, he rose from his bed to begin the
labors of the day. His father had e