, but I have altogether failed to cherish you."

"You have always been good and kind, Alfred," she said softly.

"A man may be good and kind to a dog, Helen; but that is not all that a
wife has a right to expect. I see now that I have blundered miserably. I
cannot change my nature altogether, dear; that is too late. I cannot
develop a fund of energy by merely wishing for it; but I can make the
happiness of my wife and children my first thought and object, and my
own pursuits the second. I thought the loss of our money was a terrible
misfortune. I do not think so now. I feel that I have got my wife again
and have gained two children, and whatever comes of our venture here I
shall feel that the failure of the bank has brought undeserved happiness
to me."

"And to me also," Mrs. Renshaw said softly as she pressed her husband's
hand. "I feel sure that we shall all be happier than we have ever been
before. Not that we have been unhappy, dear, very far from it; still you
have not been our life and centre, and it has been so different since
the voyage began."

"He is not half a bad fellow, after all," Mr. Atherton said, as leaning
against the bulwark smoking his cigar he had glanced across at the
husband and wife seated next to each other talking in low tones, and
evidently seeing nothing of what was passing around them. "He has
brightened up wonderfully since we started. Of course he will never be a
strong man, and is no more fit for a settler's life than he is for a
habitation in the moon. Still, he is getting more like other people. His
thoughts are no longer two or three thousand years back. He has become a
sociable and pleasant fellow, and I am sure he is very fond of his wife
and children. It is a pity he has not more backbone. Still, I think the
general outlook is better than I expected. Taking it altogether it has
been as pleasant a voyage as I have ever made. There is the satisfaction
too that one may see something of one's fellow-passengers after we land.
This northern island is not, after all, such a very big place. That is
the worst of homeward voyages. People who get to know and like each
other when they arrive in port scatter like a bomb-shell in every
direction, and the chances are against your ever running up against any
of them afterwards."

Somewhat similar ideas occupied the mind of most of the passengers that
evening. The voyage had been a pleasant one, and they were almost sorry
that it was over; but