CHAPTER III

A REVIEW OF THE PAST FOURTEEN MONTHS


The Guardian-Mother had sailed from New York about fourteen months before
she appeared in the waters of the Arabian Sea. She was a steam-yacht of 624
tons burden, owned by Louis Belgrave, a young man who had just entered his
eighteenth year. His native place was Von Blonk Park, in New Jersey, most
of whose territory had been the farm of the young gentleman's grandfather,
who had become a millionaire by the sale of his land.

The terrors of the War of the Rebellion had driven the old man to convert
his property into gold, which he had concealed so effectually that no one
could find it. His only son, more patriotic than his father, had enlisted
in the loyal army, and had been severely wounded in the brave and faithful
discharge of his duty, and returned to the home of his childhood a wreck of
his former self.

His father died during his absence, and Paul Belgrave, the soldier, was his
sole heir. His physical condition improved considerably, though he never
ceased to suffer from the effects of his wound. The homestead of his
father, which had not been sold with the rest of his land, afforded the
invalid a sufficient support; and he married Maud Nashwood, the only
daughter of one of the small magnates of Von Blonk Park, which had now
become a thriving town, occupied mainly by business men of New York.