ious vessels which
had brought-up there, she was not to be seen; and on inquiring on shore
we could gain no tidings of her. Papa now thought, or hoped, as he had
at first supposed, that she had got safely into Saint Mary's.

Of course our cabins had not been improved by being occupied by so many
passengers. We therefore slept on shore, that our bedclothes might be
washed and the cabin cleaned; and we had also to replenish our stock of
provisions, which had been almost exhausted. Papa's first care was to
arrange an outfit for little Nat, as he had only the garments he wore.
We soon had him rigged out in a regular sailor's suit, with a piece of
crape round his arm, for we could find no black clothes ready. He
frequently asked for his papa and mamma, as well as for his Aunt Fanny.

"You must not expect to see them, my boy," answered papa; "but we will
take care of you; and Harry here will give you your lessons, as I dare
say you do not wish to be idle."

"Oh yes, I like lessons. Aunt Fanny used to teach me," answered Nat;
"but if she doesn't come back soon I should like to learn of Harry."

I gladly promised to be his tutor while he remained on board, and felt
not a little proud of the position. I at times fancied that he had a
suspicion of what had happened to his friends. The first time we were
alone together he looked up into my face, while the tears sprang into
his eyes, as he said, "Do you know, Harry, that I am afraid that the sea
washed papa and mamma and Aunt Fanny and dear Reuben and Mary away? I
don't like to ask, because I am afraid of anybody telling me that I
shall never see them again."

I had not the heart to say that his suspicions were correct, so I at
once got out a book and said, "Come, Nat, you shall read to me, then I
will read to you, and then we will talk about what we have read." I did
the same whenever he again mentioned the subject.

Saint Ives itself was soon seen. There is a church standing so close to
the sea that when there is a strong wind it is almost covered with
spray. Most of the inhabitants are engaged in the pilchard and herring
fishery.

We made an excursion along the coast to visit the ruins of the church of
Perranzabuloe, supposed to be the most ancient in Britain. It had for
centuries been covered up by the sand. We had left Nat under the charge
of the landlady, and engaged a boat to carry us round to visit these
interesting ruins. After a long pull we landed up