ue, and the security is
better."

The captain was puzzled. "A fortune, Jeff?"

"Yes; but my news will keep. You are too much excited to hear about it
just now. Enough to say that I am much better. Now, if you are wise,
you will go without delay and take some steps about this affair."

"You're right, lad," returned the captain, rising quietly and clapping
on his hat; "so good-bye to 'ee both. I'll soon be back. At present
I'm off to consult my--my--solicitor! though I don't know who he is yet,
more than the man in the moon."

CHAPTER SEVEN.

AN UNQUIET, ADVENTUROUS MORNING IN THE SHELL-CAVE.

"I think," said Jeff Benson one fine morning, as he got up and stretched
himself, "that I feel well enough to-day to get down to the shore
without assistance. You know, auntie, I shall never be able to walk
alone if I give way to laziness, and lean so much on others. I'm like
the babies now, and must be encouraged to try it on my own hook."

He looked at Miss Millet with a half-pitiful smile, for there was
something woefully true in his words, and his good little nurse found it
necessary to go in search of the household keys for a minute or so
before answering.

"Well, Jeff, perhaps you are right and the day is splendid--sunny, calm,
and warm--so you won't be likely to catch cold. Only don't go far, for
you might become tired out. So, promise that you won't go far, and then
I will let you go."

Jeff promised; but of course he did not do exactly as his nurse wished,
for, in such circumstances, the word "far" has a wonderfully varied
significance. At first, leaning on his stick and pausing frequently to
recover strength, he made his way to the shore; but when there, the
invigorating air and the exhilarating sound of ripples on the sand, and
a rest on the rocks, made him feel so much better, that he thought he
might walk the length of the shell-cave without breaking his promise.

He tried, and succeeded, but was so fatigued, when at length he threw
himself on the soft sand at the cave's mouth, that he felt uneasy about
getting home again.

The shell-cave was a favourite nook in a lonely part of the cliffs,
which Jeff had been wont to frequent in his coastguard days, especially
at that particular time when he seemed to expect the revival of the
smuggling traffic near Miss Millet's cottage. He had frequently spoken
of it to Rose as a beautiful spot where innumerable sea-shells were to
be found, and had once