ed it might be a long time before she should become heiress
to my property.

"'Who knows?' she said, laughing; 'perhaps I may die first.'

"'That is possible,' I said, 'but not probable. In the course of nature,
I ought to die many years before you; and sailors are proverbially
short-lived.'

"'Oh, nonsense!' she replied, 'you are so salted and tanned that you
will last fifty years yet.'

"She then skipped gaily into the next room and brought out a bottle of
ale, to reward me, as she said, for being good. She poured out a glass
for each of us, and we drank to each other's good health. In about half
an hour I became very sick; I vomited and retched terribly, while my
bowels seemed to be on fire. The weather was very warm, and I attributed
my illness to some fruit I had eaten, which the ale had disagreed with.
I suffered agony all night, but toward morning I became quieter and the
pain gradually left me.

"At daylight I casually glanced at my ring, and I was surprised to see
that the stone had turned to a creamy white--a sure sign that my life
was in danger. You will call me foolish and superstitious, I know, but I
cannot help it. A belief in the virtues of this ring is a part of my
very nature, and it has always been an unerring guide to me. This ring
invariably predicts my good or bad fortune." And so speaking, the
Captain held the ring out for me to see it.

I looked him straight in the face, expecting to see some signs of
insanity, or at least monomania, in his eyes, but there were none. He
was evidently perfectly rational, and this belief was apparently as
natural to him as a belief in a hereafter, or in any other religious
doctrine, is to other people. After a short pause, as I glanced at the
ring, he continued:

"Now, you can see nothing strange in that stone, Mr. Pinkerton, but I
can. From its appearance I can obtain warning of approaching good or bad
fortune. Away out at sea, when a storm is coming, the stone turns black;
when enemies are near me it turns the color of blood; and when I am in
danger of death, it becomes a creamy white.

"My father once saved the life of a Sepoy soldier, and, as a mark of
gratitude, the latter presented my father with three rings of wonderful
powers. The Sepoy said that he had obtained them from a Hindoo hermit,
far out in the jungle. I have long tried to find other rings possessing
the same qualities, but have never succeeded. One of these rings was
buried with my mother