yes
fill with tears. "If we do not see or hear from them by this time
to-morrow night, we may begin to be anxious; but till then there is
really no need."

"There, Zoe, you have an opinion that is worth something, the captain
being an experienced sailor," remarked Betty. "So thry to be aisy, my
dear, and if ye can't be aisy, be as aisy as ye can!"

Zoe laughed faintly at Betty's jest; then, with a heroic effort, put on
an air of cheerfulness, and contributed her full quota to the sprightly
chat on the homeward walk.

She kept up her cheerful manner till she had parted from the rest for
the night, but wet her solitary pillow with tears ere her anxiety and
loneliness were forgotten in sleep.

Her spirits revived with the new day, for the sun rose clear and bright,
the sea was calm, and she said to herself, "Oh, surely the Edna will
come in before night, and Ned and I will be together again!"

Many times that day both she and his mother scanned intently the wide
waste of waters, and watched with eager eyes the approach of some
distant sail, hoping it might prove the one they looked and longed for.

But their hopes were disappointed again and again; noon passed, and the
Edna was not in sight.

"Mamma, what can be keeping them?" sighed Zoe, as the two stood together
on the brow of the hill, still engaged in their fruitless search.

"Not necessarily anything amiss," Elsie answered. "You remember that
when they went it was quite uncertain whether they would return earlier
than to-night; so let us not suffer ourselves to be uneasy because they
are not yet here."

"I am ashamed of myself," Zoe said. "I wish I could learn to be as
patient and cheerful as you are, mamma."

"I trust you will be more so by the time you are my age," Elsie said,
putting an arm about Zoe's waist and drawing her close, with a tender
caress. "I still at times feel the risings of impatience; I have not
fully learned to 'let patience have her perfect work.'

"There is an old proverb, 'A watched pot never boils,'" she added, with
sportive look and tone. "Suppose we seat ourselves in the veranda yonder
and try to forget the Edna for awhile in an interesting story. I have a
new book which looks very interesting, and has been highly commended in
some of the reviews. We will get papa to read it aloud to us while we
busy ourselves with our fancy-work. Shall we not?"

Zoe assented, though with rather an indifferent air, and they returned
to the hou