e caught in the
equinoctial gales. David promised me faithfully to be back before the
eighteenth. Dear me! how the wind blows! The very sound of it is enough
to chill one's heart. What a stormy sea! I hope they will not sail till
the day after to-morrow.'

"Now, I felt a certain conviction in my own mind that they had sailed,
and were at that moment on the sea; but, I must confess, I apprehended
no danger. It might be that her fears hindered me from indulging fears
of my own.

"'Don't alarm yourself needlessly, dear Mother,' said I, kissing her
cold, pale cheek. 'The _Nancy_ is a new ship,--the lads brave,
experienced sailors. There is not the least cause for uneasiness. They
have weathered far worse gales before now. They have, father says, the
wind and tide in their favour. It is moonlight now o' nights; and I hope
we shall see them merry and well before morning.'

"'God grant you may be right, Betsy! A mother's heart is a hot-bed of
anxiety. Mine feels as heavy as lead. My dreams, too, were none of the
brightest. I thought I was tossing in an open boat, in just such a
stormy sea all night; and was constantly calling on David to save me
from drowning; and I awoke shrieking, and struggling with the great
billows that were dragging me down.'

"'Who cares for dreams?' I said. Hers, I would have it, was one of good
omen; for though she fought with the storm all night, she was not
drowned. So it would be with the lads: they might encounter a gale, and
get a severe buffeting, but would arrive safe at last.

"'I wish it may be so,' she said, with a sigh. 'But I felt just the
same sinking at the heart the night my husband was killed, when there
appeared no cause for uneasiness.'

"I remained all day with the old lady, trying to raise her spirits. She
paid very little attention to all my lively chat; but would stand for
hours at her back-window, that commanded a view of the bay, gazing at
the sea. The huge breakers came rolling and toiling to the shore,
filling the air with their hoarse din. A vessel hove in sight, running
under close-reefed topsails, and made signals for a pilot.

"'Ah!' I exclaimed joyfully; 'that is Captain Penny's old ship,
_Molly_. If she has rode out the gale, you may dismiss your fears about
the _Nancy_. They have launched the pilot-boat. See how she dances like
a feather on the waves! Why, Mother dear,' I cried, turning to Mrs.
Arthur, who was watching the boat, with the large tears trickling d