the day and half the night
were given to the narrative of the young commander's adventures. They
were all supremely happy.

Peace had come, and the whole North was ringing with the rejoicings of
the people. Thousands upon thousands had laid down their lives in the
army and the navy in their devotion to their country, and were laid in
graves far from home and kindred, or committed to the silent depths of
the ocean.

They had won Peace and A Victorious Union.

It was far otherwise in the South, though Peace spread her mantle over
the whole united nation. Her people had fought valiantly, and made
sacrifices which no one beyond their borders can understand or
appreciate. If the devotion and self-sacrifice of the South, the bravery
and determination with which her sons fought, and the heroism with which
they suffered and died, were the only considerations, they deserved
success. But thirty years of peace have made the South more prosperous
than ever before, and her people enjoy the benefits of the Victorious
Union.

[Illustration: "Amid the cheers and applause of the ship's company."
Page 356.]

Homer Passford, like thousands of others in the South, was a ruined man
at the close of the war. He had lost his plantation, and he and his
family had nowhere to lay their heads. But he was a true Southerner,
and he did not regret or repent of what he had done for what he called
his country. His brother chartered a steamer to bring the family to
Bonnydale, but only for a friendly visit. The reunion was a happy one;
and neither brother was disposed to talk politics, and those of the
North did not indulge in a single "I told you so!" in the presence of
their defeated relatives. They were the same as they had been before the
war; and it is needless to say that Horatio generously helped out Homer
financially; and now he is as wealthy and prosperous as ever before.

When it came to disposing of the vessels that were no longer needed for
the navy, Christy bought the St. Regis, for in a moderate way compared
with his father he was a rich man. On the day he was twenty-one years
old, Bertha Pembroke became his wife; and Paul Vapoor became the husband
of Florry Passford on the same occasion. Over a year had elapsed since
the war, and the St. Regis had been entirely reconstructed in her
interior, and furnished in the most elegant manner.

Her first mission was a voyage to Mobile to bring the family of Uncle
Homer to the wedding. I