instincts of his craft and calling,
cared little for the past, and took but small interest in the horse that
was not likely to be soon of use to him; while Jack, with all a sailor's
energy, worked away manfully, and assisted the grooms in every way
he could. It was at the end of a very active morning, that Jack was
returning to the house, when he saw L'Estrange's pony-chaise at the
door, with black Nora in the shafts, as fresh and hearty to all seeming
as though she had not carried her heavy owner through one of the
stiffest runs of the season only the day before.

"Is your master here, Bill?" asked Jack of the small urchin, who barely
reached the bar of the bit.

"No, sir; it's Miss Julia has druv over. Master 's fishing this
morning."

Now Julia L'Estrange was a very pretty girl, and with a captivation of
manner which to the young sailor was irresistible. She had been brought
up in France, and imbibed that peculiar quiet coquetry which, in its
quaint demureness, suggests just enough doubt of its sincerity to be
provocative. She was dark enough to be a Spaniard from the south of
Spain, and her long black eyelashes were darker even than her eyes.
In her walk and her gesture there was that also which reminded one of
Spain: the same blended litheness and dignity; and there was a firmness
in her tread which took nothing from its elasticity.

When Jack heard that she was in the house, instead of hurrying in to
meet her he sat moodily down on the steps of the door and lighted his
cigar. "What's the use?" muttered he, and the same depressing sentence
recurred to him again and again. They are very dark moments in life in
which we have to confess to ourselves that, fight how we may, fate must
beat us; that the very utmost we can do is to maintain a fierce struggle
with destiny, but that in the end we must succumb. The more frequently
poor Jack saw her, the more hopelessly he felt his lot. What was
he--what could he ever be--to aspire to such a girl as Julia? Was not
the very presumption a thing to laugh at? He thought of how his elder
brother would entertain such a notion; the cold solemnity with which he
would ridicule his pretensions; and then Temple would treat him to some
profound reflections on the misery of poor marriages; while Marion would
chime in with some cutting reproaches on the selfishness with which, to
gratify a caprice,--she would call it a caprice,--he ignored the just
pretensions of his family, and the i