unhappy," said Mimi, cheerfully. "I should, indeed,
feel unhappy if I were left behind in France, or anywhere else, and
if poor papa should go roaming about without any one to care for him.
I am not much; but I know that he loves me dearly, and that he is
very much happier with me than without me. And that is the reason why
I am determined to go with him wherever he goes,--yes, even if he
goes among the savages. Besides, while I am with him, he has a
certain amount of anxiety about me, and this distracts his thoughts,
and prevents him from brooding too much over his own personal
troubles. But O, how I envy you, Monsieur Motier, and O, how I should
love to be going back to France, if dear papa were only going there
too! I shall never be happy again, I know, never, till I am back
again in France."

CHAPTER IV.

MIMI AND MARGOT.

While Claude was doing the honors of hospitality to the guests aft,
the crew of the Parson was fraternizing with the seamen of the
wrecked Arethuse, forward. The first and most important act of
friendly intercourse was the work of Jericho, who put forth all his
skill in preparing for the half-starved sailors a series of repasts
upon which he lavished all his genius, together with the greater part
of the stores of the schooner. To these repasts the seamen did ample
justice, wasting but little time in unnecessary words, but eating as
only those can eat who have been on the borders of starvation. Yet it
may be questioned whether their voracity exceeded that of a certain
melancholy boy, who waited on the banquet, and whose appetite seemed
now even more insatiable in the midst of the abundant supplies which
Jericho produced, than it had been in former days, when eatables had
been less choice and repasts less frequent. In fact, Biler outdid
himself, and completely wore out the patience of the long-suffering
Jericho.

"You jes look heah, you Biler," he said; "you better mind, for I
ain't goin' to stand dese yer goins on no longer. Bar's limits to
eberyting--and dese yer 'visiums has got to be 'commonized, an' not
to be all gobbled up by one small boy. Tell you what, I got a great
mind to put you on a lowns, an' gib you one rore turnip a day, an' ef
you can ketch a fish I'll 'gree to cook it. Why, dar ain't de vessel
afloat dat can stand dis yer. You eat fifty-nine meals a day, an'
more. You nebber do notin' else but eat--morn', noon, an' night."

"Arrah, Jerry, let the b'y ate his fill," s