very sleepless night, and he remained till nearly four o'clock turning
it over in his mind. The loss of the _Grosvenor_ Indiaman had occurred
long before he was born; he was acquainted with the outline of what had
taken place, and had been told, when a child, that a relation of his
family had perished; but although the narrative had, at the time, made
some impression upon his young mind, he had seldom, if ever, heard it
spoken of since, and may have been said to have almost forgotten it. He
was therefore not a little surprised when he found how great an
influence it had upon his grand-uncle, who had never mentioned it to him
before; indeed it had escaped Alexander's memory that it was his
grand-uncle's only surviving daughter who had been lost in the vessel.

Alexander Wilmot was warmly attached to the old gentleman; indeed he
would have been very ungrateful if he had not been, for it was
impossible that any one could have been treated with more kindness and
liberality than he was by Sir Charles. It was but the week before, that
he had expressed a wish to travel on the continent, and Sir Charles had
immediately given his consent that he should remain abroad, if he
pleased, for two years. When he approved, however, of Alexander's plans,
he had made a remark as to his own age and infirmity, and the probable
chance that they might not meet again in this world; and this remark of
his grand-uncle left such an impression upon Alexander, that he almost
repented having made the request, and had been ever since in a state of
indecision as to whether he should avail himself of his grand-uncle's
kindness and disregard of self shown toward him in thus having granted
his permission.

The conversation with Sir Charles had brought up a new idea in his mind;
he had witnessed the anxiety and longing which his good old relation had
shown about the fate of his daughter; he had heard from his own lips how