any of my readers to try it for themselves, I trust they will not meet
with disappointment or find my picture overdrawn.

M.F.





CHAPTER I.

"How happy they,
Who from the toil and tumult of their lives
Steal to look down where naught but ocean strives."

--_Byron._


"Well, captain, for how long have you Uncle Sam's permission to stay on
shore this time?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, as the family at Ion sat about the
breakfast-table on the morning after Captain Raymond's arrival.

"Just one month certain, sir, with the possibility that the leave of
absence may be extended," was the reply, in a cheery tone; "and as I
want to make the very most of it, I propose that our plans for a summer
outing be at once discussed, decided upon, and carried out."

"I second the motion," said Mr. Dinsmore. "Are all the grown people
agreed? The consent of the younger ones may safely be taken for
granted," he added, with a smiling glance from one to another.