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158 the uprightness of their character, gained for them the good wishes of all classes.

After exchanging the greetings of the morning, Bella teasingly said:—"How is it, Captain, that sailors always look more serious and concerned in beautiful weather when so near land, and within a short distance of port. I really believe you would prefer being in the middle of the ocean, with a gale of wind. I hope Mrs. McLean is no worse, since we have such delightful weather; why do you look so anxious?"

"I am happy to see you look so cheerful, Miss McKay, but at the same time I must confess that you have partly guessed the cause of my seriousness, Mrs. McLean is indeed not so well; she is much more restless and feverish than I have seen her during the voyage, and although the distance to port is not great, I doubt whether she will live to see it.

"Nonsense, Captain, you will soon see her on deck with me to enjoy this delightful scene."

"You are, indeed, very attentive, but I fear your benevolence and kind attentions will fail this time; but, did you ever believe in dreams, Miss McKay?"

"Surely, Captain, you have long ago forgotten our Highland superstitions, and are not influenced by such nonsense now."

"You may smile my dear friend, and I assure you I always placed as little faith in dreams as anyone; but last night's has made such an impression on my mind that I cannot shake it off—everything appearing so real."

"And pray, Captain, what was the substance of your dream, may I ask?"

"Well, as I see you are a non-believer, I will relate it. I thought that a tearful hurricane overtook us, which drove the vessel ashore, and as soon as we escaped the waves we became the victims of savages, who destroyed all but you. Now, ridiculous as you may think this, I hope you will not mention it to my wife, as I have not told her a word of it for fear of increasing her restlessness. But, bye-the-bye, Miss McKay, don't these white, rocks remind you of some of the ruined castles in the Highlands?"