. I was more with Miss Kitty than I had expected, for the
captain and his wife very frequently, after indulging in potations long
and deep, fell asleep in the cabin. On such occasions she used to make
her escape on deck. She never seemed tired of watching the flying-fish
skimming over the ocean, or the dolphins swimming by, or the sea-birds
which passed in rapid flight overhead, or watching the magnificent
frigate-bird as it soared on high, and then shot down into the ocean to
grasp its finny prey.

Sometimes, however, I used to wonder what she could be looking at when
Edward Falconer was by her side gazing with her over the ocean. To be
sure, there were the stars glittering above, or the moon with her path
of silvery light cast across the vast expanse of water, and she and he
seemed never tired of gazing at it. Sometimes on such occasions she
held me by her hand, and seemed always to wish to have me near her. I
at first was not able to understand what she and the young mate were
talking about, but in time, as I learned more English, I perhaps
comprehended more than they supposed.

"I have been a wild, wayward, careless fellow, Kate," I heard Mr
Falconer say one evening as he stood by Miss Kitty's side. "Instead of
remaining at college, and taking advantage of the opportunities I
possessed of rising in the world, I spent all my means, and then, to the
grief of an excellent father, shipped on board a merchantman as a sailor
before the mast. My knowledge of mathematics soon enabled me to become
a better navigator than the captain himself, while I rapidly acquired a
knowledge of seamanship, as from having been accustomed all my life to
boating and yachting, I was at once perfectly at home. I soon became a
mate, but I spent all my pay, and was glad to ship on board the
_Dolphin_, the first vessel I could find which had a vacant berth. Had
I known the character of the master and the officers with whom it was to
be my lot to associate, I should certainly, as you may suppose, have
avoided her. I had already found, like the prodigal son, that I had dry
husks alone to eat, and bitterly mourning my folly, had, even before the
ship sailed, contemplated returning home on the first opportunity and
seeking my father's forgiveness, when you came on board and I began to
breathe a new existence."

"You need not tell me more, Edward," said Kitty. "I cannot bear the
thoughts of having prevented you from doing what you consid