willing, before many
years have passed away. Be a good girl, and whatever you do don't forget
your poor old daddy, who will be thinking of you always, wherever you
may be."

He put me into the friendly arms of Madame Montpellier, who was crying
for sympathy, and ran down the companion-ladder as if he were afraid to
look back. The little launch drew off, the great screw began to revolve
slowly, and the ship started eastward in a train of silvery light,
leaving my happy home behind, and taking me to a new and untried world,
where my future was all before me.

CHAPTER II

MY COUSINS

"There's a new foot on the floor, my friend,
And a new face at the door, my friend."

I came to England with the swallows, and I think I felt as much a bird
of passage as they; more so, indeed, for all the young swallows had been
reared under northern skies and were but returning home, while I was as
yet a stranger in a new land. My uncle met me at Liverpool, where I had
a terrible parting from Madame Montpellier, who had been very good to me
on the voyage, and who seemed my last link with the past; and we set out
at once upon the long journey to London. I liked my uncle, he reminded
me much of my father; there was a merry twinkle in his eye, and a
kindliness in his voice which seemed to call for some response, so I
made a desperate effort to check my flowing tears and take an interest
in the various things he pointed out to me from the window of the
railway-carriage. The green fields and hedgerows, the picturesque
villages and churches, the smooth rivers and the quiet pastoral scenery
as we steamed through the midlands were all new to my wondering eyes,
but to watch them from the fast express, as they appeared to whizz
rapidly by, made my head ache, and I had curled myself up in a corner
and subsided comfortably to sleep long before London was reached.

I am afraid my arrival must have been a bitter disappointment to my
little cousins, of whom the elder ones were waiting in the hall to
welcome me when our cab drove up. I was so utterly weary with my
journey, and I felt so forlornly shy at the sight of so many strange
faces around me, that, forgetting both my manners and my good
intentions, I burst into a flood of tears, and refused all comfort.

"Better put her to bed," said my aunt briskly; "she's tired out, and
it's no use worrying her. After a thorough night's rest she'll be more
ready to make friends with us."