man before, she absolutely idolised
him now. Something of the feeling must have betrayed itself on her fair
face, for Jeff made a step towards her, as if under an irresistible
impulse to seize her hand.

But at that moment he experienced an agonising sensation of pain, and,
staggering backwards, sat down--almost fell--upon the sofa.

"Nothing--nothing," he replied, to the anxious inquiries of Miss Millet.
"Only a little pain, caused by the rap I got from that mast. Come now,
auntie, don't fuss about me, but sit down and hear what the captain has
got to say."

CHAPTER FIVE.

MISS MILLET RECEIVES A SURPRISE, ROSEBUD A DISAPPOINTMENT, AND OUR HERO
ANOTHER BLOW.

Miss Millet was one of those cheery, unselfish, active-minded women who
are not easily thrown off their balance--deranged, as the French say--by
untoward circumstances.

The arrival of any two friends at two in the morning would have failed
to disturb the good nature or weaken the hospitality of that amiable
creature. Her joy, therefore, at the sudden, though untimely,
appearance of her brother and friend was not marred by selfish
considerations; and although she was eager to bear what the captain had
to say, she would not let him begin until he and Jeff had retired to an
attic chamber and put on dry habiliments.

How male attire came to be so handy in a spinster's house is easily
accounted for by the fact that her regard for the memory of her departed
father was so great as to have induced her to leave his hat and stick in
the passage in their wonted places after his death, and to leave
undisturbed the chest of drawers which contained the greater part of his
wardrobe. Nothing short of absolute necessity would have induced Miss
Millet to disturb these sacred relics; but she knew that death might
result from sitting in drenched clothes, and her well-balanced mind at
once pointed out that here was a case which demanded a sacrifice. She
therefore bowed to the inevitable, and handed her brother the key of the
chest of drawers.

As the late Mr Millet had been a large man, the result was that her
visitors were admirably fitted out--the only disadvantage being that the
captain had to turn up the legs of the trousers and the cuffs of the
coat.

Meanwhile Miss Millet lighted a gas-stove, which she had always ready
for invalid purposes, and Rose arranged the table, so that when their
visitors returned to the parlour, they were greeted with the sight of