vessels hugged the docks
securely at anchor. The house was chilly all through and fires were in
order. Some two or three miles below there was a wreck of an East
Indiaman, and for days fragments floated around. Some lives were lost,
and the little girl shuddered over the accounts.

All the foliage began to turn and fall. The late flowers hung their
heads. It had been a beautiful autumn, people said to pay up for the
late spring.

There had been a little discussion about a school again.

"She seems so small, and in some things diffident," Chilian said. "The
winters are long and cold, and she has not been used to them. Cousin
Giles thinks her very delicate."

"She isn't like children raised here, but she's quite as strong as
common. She oughtn't be pampered and made any more finicking than she
is. A girl almost ten. What is she going to be good for, I'd like to
know?"

Cousin Giles had not made much headway with her. He was large and strong
with an emphatic voice, and a head of thick, strong white hair, a rather
full face, and penetrating eyes. He had advised about investments,
though he thought no place had the outlook of Boston. But Salem was
ahead of her in foreign trade.

Chilian Leverett felt very careful of the little girl. For if she died a
large part of her fortune came to him. He really wished it had not been
left that way. There was an East India Marine Society that had many
curiosities--stored in rooms on the third floor of the Stearns building.
It had a wider scope than that and was to assist widows and orphans of
deceased members, who were all to be those "who had actually navigated
the seas beyond Cape of Good Hope, or Cape Horn, as masters or
supercargoes of vessels belonging to Salem." To this Anthony had
bequeathed many curiosities and a gift. There was talk of enlarging its
scope, which was begun shortly after this.

Matters had settled to an amicable basis in the Leverett house. Rachel
had won the respect of Elizabeth, who prayed daily for her conversion
from heathendom and that she might see the claims the Christian religion
had upon her. Eunice and she were more really friendly. She made some
acquaintances outside and most people thought she must be some relation
of the captain's. She had proved herself very efficient in several cases
of illness, for in those days neighbors were truly neighborly.

Cynthia did shrink from the cold, though there were good fires kept in
the house. This winter