it all come from, and where it wuz all goin'
to. And at night he would lay on his little shelf and "wonner" what
the wind wuz sayin'; one night he spoke out kinder in rhyme, sez he:
"Grandma, do you know what the wind is sayin?" And I sez:

"No, dear lamb; what is it sayin'?" It has sounded dretful, kinder
wild and skairful to me, and so it had to Josiah, I knew by the sithes
he had gin. Sez Tommy, it sez:

"Don't be afraid my little child,
God will take care of you all the while."

And I sez, "Thank you, Tommy, you've done me good." And I noticed that
Josiah seemed more contented and dropped off to sleep real sweet,
though he snored some. Sometimes Tommy would "wonner" what seasickness
wuz like, if it wuz any like measles, but didn't find out, for he
wuzn't sick a day, but wandered about the great ship, happy as a king,
making friends everywhere, though Robert Strong remained his chief
friend and helper. Dorothy wuz more beautiful than ever it seemed to
me, a shadow of paleness over her sweet face peeping out from the
white fur of her cunning little pink hood, makin' her look sweeter
than ever. There wuz two or three handsome young men on board who
appreciated her beauty, and I spoze the gold setting of her charming
youth. But Miss Meechim called on Robert Strong to help protect her,
which he did willingly enough, so fur as I could see, by payin' the
most devoted attention to her himself, supplying every real or fancied
want, reading to and with her, and walking up and down the deck with
her, she leanin' on his arm in slippery times.

"Dear boy!" said Miss Meechim, "how lovely he is to me. He would much
rather spend his time with the men in the smoking and reading room,
but he has always been just so; let me express a wish and he flies to
execute it. He knows that I wouldn't have Dorothy marry for all the
world, and had it not been for his invaluable help I fear that she
would have fallen a prey to some man before this."

"She is a pretty girl," sez I, "pretty as a pink rosy."

"Yes," sez she, "she is a sweet girl and as good as she is beautiful."

[Illustration: There wuz the usual variety of people on the ship.--Page
84.]

There was the usual variety of people on the ship. The rich family
travelin' with children and servants and unlimited baggage; the party
of school girls with the slim talkative teacher in spectacles, tellin'
'em all the pints of interest, and stuffin' 'em with knowledge gradual
b