much we have
heard from the merchants at Macao; but I regret to say, that no accounts
have been received of the arrival of the brig at Singapore, and serious
fears are entertained that some misfortune has happened to her. Either
she has been wrecked, or has been run away with by her crew, or has been
attacked and carried off or destroyed by pirates. The latter conjecture
is but too probable, as, from her small size, those marauders of the sea
are likely, if they have fallen in with her, to have been tempted to
capture her."

"I must go and find them," I exclaimed, jumping up as if I would start
off immediately. "It is too dreadful to think of, to suppose that those
dear ones should be in the power of such ruffians. But why do you talk
of their being carried off by pirates? Is it not just as likely that
the brig may have been wrecked?"

"I wish that I could say so; for then we might hope to discover them on
one of the thousand islands of that thickly-studded sea," was her
answer. "At first we hoped that such might prove the case, and we half
expected to hear of the arrival of our friends on some Chinese junk or
Malay prahu at Singapore; but accounts were afterwards received by two
ships, stating that a brig, exactly answering her description, was seen
steering for the Billiton passage, on the western coast of Borneo; so
that either her crew must have turned pirates, or she must have been in
the hands of the Malays, if the vessel seen was the one supposed. Of
that, however, we can be in no way certain; indeed, the whole
circumstance remains wrapped in the most painful mystery."

"I must solve it, or perish in the attempt," I exclaimed, jumping up,
and walking about the room in a state of agitation more easily conceived
than described. "I must find them--I will find them--nothing shall stop
me in the search. I must consider how I can accomplish the
undertaking."

"You will have many, many difficulties to undergo; I fear they will be
insuperable," observed Mrs Northcote. She said this not to deter me,
but because she was considering how I could possibly perform the work.
"You will, in the first place, require large funds to carry out the
search efficiently. The first difficulty will be to provide them; for,
though we would most gladly aid you, I regret to say that Captain
Northcote has not the means to do so to any extent; and we have great
fears that Sir Charles has left no provision for you."

I stopped i