o your coming; and I never shall forget this service,
any more than my father," added the young lady, as she bestowed a
grateful look upon Hop.

"We shall see more of you, gentlemen; and I hope I shall be able to
prove to you that I properly value the service you have rendered. But,
Margie, we are turned out of house and home by the fire."

"But we have saved all our luggage, thanks to these gentlemen! We are
not so badly off as some of the people in the house, who must have lost
everything."

"There are some others here who will have occasion to be thankful for
your arrival; for I don't think anything would have been saved if you
had not taken the lead. But, Margie, we haven't even a carriage to
convey us to a hotel."

"I think I can manage that for you, sir," I interposed. "We can take
you and your trunks into our boat, and convey you to the other side of
the town."

"Thanks; you are very kind. But we are not willing to take up any more
of your time," protested the stranger. "Besides, I don't know where to
go, unless we take the next train for Jacksonville; for yesterday, and
when we arrived a week ago, the hotels and boarding-houses were all
full to overflowing. I only got in where I was by the landlord and his
daughter giving us their rooms, while they went to a cottage of a
friend. Perhaps we had better leave the place at once, for I am sure we
can't find lodgings. I looked the place all over for accommodations."

"But we are too late to leave the place to-night, papa," replied Miss
Margie, and both she and her father seemed to be very anxious about the
situation.

"We shall find some kind of accommodations at the hotels, though it be
nothing better than the servants' rooms. They won't let us sleep in the
streets," added the father, more cheerfully.

"I think I can take care of you for a few days," I interposed; "at any
rate, until you find better quarters."

"Pardon me, sir; but you look like sailors; and you all went up the
posts under the veranda as though you were sailors," added the
gentleman.

"We are sailors, and we belong to a steam-yacht lying at anchor on the
other side of the city," I replied. "We will take you and your daughter
around to her, with your baggage; and then you can make such
arrangements for the future as you desire."

"We thank you; you are very kind, and we accept your offer," said the
gentleman. "The place is so crowded with visitors that it is very
difficult to get anythi