humbly, "though
I'd have 'spected it was t'other way. But I s'pose the skinny ones was
so hungry that the fat ones hadn't a chance wid 'em. However, it don't
matter. What I was goin' to say was that a good man, called Joseph,
went to Fair-ho an' 'splained all his dream to him. Now, if Joseph
could do dat, why shouldn't Waroonga 'splain my dream to me?"

"Because I's not Joseph, Ebony, an you're not Pharoah," returned
Waroonga promptly.

Tomeo and Buttchee turned looks of inquiry on Ebony as if to say, "What
d'ye say to that, you nigger?" But the nigger said nothing for some
moments. He seemed not to have viewed the matter in that light.

"Well, I don'no," he said at last with a deep sigh, "I t'ought I'd get
hold ob suthin' when I kitch hold ob dat dream. But, I do b'lieve
myself, dat part of it means dat Zeppa hims git on an island, anyhow."

"If my dear father got upon _anything_, it must have been an island,"
said Orlando sadly.

"That's troo," remarked Mrs Waroonga. "Keep your mouth shut, my
da'lin'."

She referred to her brown baby, which she placed with some violence on
her knee. It is well to remark here that little Zariffa had been
supplied with a coal-scuttle bonnet proportioned to her size, made by
her mother out of native straw, and that she did not wear anything else
in the way of costume.

After Ebony's dream had been thoroughly discussed in all its bearings,
and viewed in every possible point of relation to their great sorrow,
the council adjourned, as usual, to various duties about the flourishing
little village, and Orlando went to lay the result before his mother,
who, although she could not believe these deliberations would end in
anything practical, found it impossible, nevertheless, to resist the
influence of so much faith and strong hopefulness, so that she was
somewhat comforted, as it were, in spite of herself. Time flew by, and
upwards of three years elapsed without anything happening at Ratinga
Island to throw a single ray of light on the fate of the lost man.

During that period, however, much that was interesting and encouraging
occurred to comfort the heart of the native missionary and the sorrowing
Marie Zeppa. In the first place they received several visits from the
mission-vessel, with small supplies of such luxuries as sugar, tea, and
coffee for the body, and, for the spirit, a few bundles of tracts and
books printed in the native tongue, among which, you may be sure,