ithout, such was not the case indoors at
the vicarage.

A telegram had been received from Uncle Jack, saying that he and Teddy,
having reached London in safety, would be down by the afternoon train;
so, all in the house were in a state of wild excitement at meeting again
those they had thought lost for ever.

Even the vicar was roused out of his usual placidity, although Uncle
Jack's letter from Valparaiso had told all about the wonderful escape of
the survivors of the _Greenock_; while, as for Miss Conny, who was now a
perfectly grown-up young lady of eighteen, all her sedateness was gone
for the moment and she was every bit as wild as the rest.

"Dear me, I'm sure the afternoon will never come!" exclaimed Cissy,
walking to the window after arranging and re-arranging the flowers in
the vases on the little table in the centre of the drawing-room and on
the mantel-piece for about the one-and-twentieth time. "It's the
longest day I ever knew."

"Don't be so impatient, dear," said Conny, trying to appear cool and
tranquil as usual, but failing utterly in the attempt as she followed
Cissy to the window and looked out over the lawn; "the time will soon
pass by if you'll only try and think of something else but the hour for
the train to come in."

"You're a fine counsellor," cried Cissy laughing, as she watched Conny's
hands nervously twisting within each other. "Why, you are as bad as I
am, and can't keep still a moment! Only Liz is calm--as if nothing had
happened or was going to happen. I declare I could bang her, as Teddy
used to say, for sitting there in the corner reading that heavy-looking
book. I believe it must be a treatise on metaphysics or something of
that sort."

"Mistaken for once, Miss Ciss," said the student, looking up with a
smile. "It's a volume of travels telling all about the Pacific Ocean
and Easter Island, where Teddy and Uncle Jack stopped so long with the
natives; so, it is very interesting."

"Well, I'd rather for my part wait and hear about the place from our own
travellers," rejoined Cissy impatiently. "I do wish they would come! I
think I will go and see how Molly is getting on with the dinner. I'm
sure she'll be late if somebody doesn't look after her."

"You had better leave her alone, Cissy," remonstrated Conny. "Molly,
you know, doesn't like being interfered with; and, besides, it is very
early yet, for they can't be here before three o'clock at the earliest."

"Oh, she w