vicinity of the shore so long, that I begin to feel quite impatient."

"To-night, madam, we shall be on shore. I cannot offer you very good
quarters at first, but you shall find conveyance to Sierra Leone
shortly, from whence you can sail for England."

"We have to thank you for much kindness, sir," she continued,
gratefully.

"Nay, madam, necessity and duty to my owners has rendered it imperative
for me to approach the coast cautiously, and hence a delay I could not
avoid."

"You are too honest and manly a spirit, sir," said the mother, frankly,
"to be engaged in such a trade. Ah, sir, why not turn your talents to a
more fitting purpose? The field of commerce is extensive, and such as
you need not look for command."

"Madam, your daughter has already caused me to behold my position in a
very different light from what I did when I cleared my ship from the
last port."

"I rejoice, Captain Ratlin, to hear you say so," was the frank rejoinder
of the mother, as she extended her hand to him, and which he pressed
respectfully.

"She is thus frank and open with me," reasoned the young commander to
himself, "because she has no reason for restraint; but were I to tell
her that I loved her child, that she was already so dear to me that I
would relinquish all things for her, that face, so friendly in its