gs of all harbours
by special intuition--this impudent little yacht comes and looks round
the corner of every wave, and actually overhauls the high seas till she
finds him, and there the first time he opens his eyes is that sweet,
quaint piece of innocence leaning over him. He is shut up with her for
ten days or so; she is as graceful as a sylph, and has a tender sort of
baby face that's enough to distract a man, and I don't see how he could
possibly leave that vessel without being in love with her, unless some
other woman had already got hold of his heart. No, even if St. George
did not know himself that he cared for her, he ought to have been
allowed time to find it out before any one else spoke. And there is Val
in constant correspondence with her, and as secure as possible!"

Conversation then turned to the Melcombes. Old Augustus spoke uneasily
of the boy, said he looked pale, and was not grown.

"He gets that pallor from his mother," said John. "I should not like to
see any of my children such complete reproductions of either parent as
that boy is of her. Family likeness is always strongest among the
uncultivated, and among lethargic and stupid people. If you go down into
the depths of the country, to villages, where the parents hardly think
at all, and the children learn next to nothing, you'll find whole
families of them almost exactly alike, excepting in size."

His father listened quietly, but with the full intention of bringing the
conversation back to Peter as soon as he could.

"It is the same with nations," proceeded John, "those who have little
energy and no keen desire for knowledge are ten times more alike in
feature, complexion, and countenance than we are. No! family likeness is
all very well in infancy, before the mind has begun to work on the face;
but as a man's children grow, they ought to be less and less alike every
year."

"That little fellow," said the father, "seems to me to be exactly like
what he was a year ago."

"I observe no change."

"Do you think he is an average child, John?"

John laughed. "I think that little imp of mine, Hughie, could thrash
him, if they chose to fight, and he is nearly three years the younger of
the two. No, I do not think he is an average child; but I see nothing
the matter with him."

Grand was not exempt from the common foibles of grandfathers, and he was
specially infatuated in favour of the little Hugh, who was a most
sweet-tempered and audacious c