For weeks afterwards he rememdered only events and scenes long past and distant-and believed that his father, and all his brothers and sisters were yet alive. He called upon them by their names to come and kiss him-on them, who had all along been buried in the dust. But his soul struggled itself into reason and remembrance-and he at last said, "Mother, did some accident befal me yesterday at my work down the glen ?-I feel weak, and about to die!"

The shadows of death were indeed around him-but he lived to be told much of what had happened-and rendered up a perfectly unclouded spirit into the mercy of his Saviour. His mother felt that all her prayers had been granted in that one boon-and when the coffin was born away from the shieling, she remained in it with a friend, assured that in this world there could for her be no more grief.

And there in that same shieling, now that years have gone by, she still lingers, visited as often by her poor neighbours as she wishes-for to the poor, sorrow is a sacred thing-who, by turns, send one of their daughters to stay with her, and cheer a life that cannot be long, but that, end when it may, will be laid down without one impious misgiving, and in the humility of a Christian's faith.

DISASTERS OF JOHNNY ARMSTRONG.

JOHNNY ARMSTRONG, the hero of our tale, was, and, for aught we know to the contrary, still is, an inhabitant of the town of Carlisle. He was a stout, thickset, little man, with a round, good-humoured, ruddy countenance, and somewhere about fifty years of age at the period to which our story refers. Although possessed of a good deal of natural shrewdness, Johnny was, on the whole, rather a simple sort of person. His character, in short, was that of an honest, well-meaning, inoffensive man, but with parts that certainly did not shine with a very dazzling lustre. Johnny was, to business, an ironmonger, and had, by patient industry and upright dealing, acquired a small independency. He had stuck to the counter of his little dingy shop for upwards of twenty years, and used to boast that, during all that time, he had opened and shut his shop with his own hands every day, not even excepting one. The result of this steadiness and attention to business was, as has been already said, a competency.

Fortunately for Johnny, this propensity to stick fast-which he did like a limpet-was natural to him. It was a part of his constitution. He had no desire whatever to travel, or, rather, he had a positive dislike to it—a dislike, indeed, which was so great that for an entire quarter of a century, he had never been three miles out of Carlisle. But when Johnny had waxed pretty rich, somewhat corpulent, and rather oldish, he was suddenly struck, one fine summer afternoon, as he stood at the door of his shop with his hands in his breeches pockets, (a favorite attitude) with an amiable and ardent desire to see certain of his relations who lived in Brechin, in the north of Scotland; and-there is no accounting for these things-on that afternoon, Johnny came to the extraordinery resolution of paying them a visit-of performing a journey of upwards of a hundred miles, even as the crow flies. It was a strange and a desperate resolution for a man of Johnny's peculiar temperament and habits; but so it was. Travel he would, and travel he did. On the third day after the doughty determination just alluded to had been formed, Johnny, swathed in an ample brown great coat, with a red comforter about his neck, appeared in the stable yard of the in where most of the stage coaches that passed through Carlisle put up. Of these there were three one for Dumfries, one for Glasgow, and one for Edinburgh-the latter being Johnny's coach; for his route was by the metropolis. We had almost forgotten to say that Johnny, who was a widower, was accompanied on this occasion by his son, Johnny junior, an only child, whom it was his intention to take along with him. The boy was about fourteen years of age, and though, upon the whole, a shrewd enough lad, for his time of life, did not promise to be a much brighter genius than his father. In fact he was rather lumpish.

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On arriving at the inn yard-it was about eight o'clock at night and pretty dark, being the latter end of SeptemberJohnny Armstrong found the coach apparently about to start, the horses being all yoked; but the vehicle happened to be in charge of an ostler-not of either the guard or driver, who had both gone out of the way for an instant. Desirous of securing a good seat for his son, Johnny Armstrong opened the coach door, thrust the lad in, and was about to follow himself, when he discovered that he had forgotten his watch. On making this discovery, he banged to the coach door without saying a word, and hurried home as fast as his little, thick, short legs would allow him, to recover his time-piece. On his return, which was in less than five minutes, Johnny himself stepped into the vehicle, which was now crowded with passengers, and, in a few seconds, was rattling away at a rapid rate towards Edinburgh. The night was pitch dark, not a star twinkled; and it was not until Johnny arrived at his journey's end-that is, at Edinburgh-that he discovered that his son was not in the coach, and had never been there at all. We will not attempt to describe Johnny's amazement and distress of mind on making this most extraordinary and most

alarming discovery. They were dreadful. In great agitation, he inquired at every one of the passengers if they had not seen his son, and one and all denied they ever had. The thing was mysterious and perfectly inexplicable.

"I put the boy into the coach with my own hands," said Johny Armstrong, in great perturbation, to the guard, half-crying as he spoke.

"Very odd," said the guard.

"Very odd, indeed," said Johnny.

"Are you sure it was our coach, Mr. Armstrong ?" inquired the guard.

"The emphasis on the word our was startling. It evidently meant more than met the ear; and Johnny felt that it did so, and he was startled accordingly.

"Your coach? he replied, but now with some hesitation of manner. "It surely was. What other coach could it be?"

Why, it might have been the Glasgow coach," said the guard; "and I rather think it must have been. You have made a mistake, sir, be assured, and put the boy into the wrong coach. We start from the same place and at she same hour, five minutes or so, in or over."

The mention of this possibility, nay, certainty-for Johnny had actually dispatched the boy to Glasgow-instantly struck him dumb. It relieved him, indeed, from the misery arising from a dread of some terrible accident having happened the lad, but threw him into great tribulation as to his fate in Glasgow without money or friends. But this being, after all, comparatively but a small affair, Johnny was now, what he had not been before, able to pay attention to minor things.

"Be sae guid," said Johnny to the guard, who was on the top of the coach, busy unloosing packages, as haun me doun my trunk."

"No trunk of yours here, sir," said the guard. You'll have sent it away to Glasgow with the boy."

"No, no," replied Johnny, sadly perplexed by this new misfortune. "I sent it wi' the lass to the inn half an hour before I gaed mysel."

Oh, then, in that case," said the guard, "ten to one it's away to Dumfries, and not to Glasgow."

And truly such was the fact. The girl, a fresh-caught country lass, had thrown it on the first coach she found, saying her master would immediately follow-and that happened to be the Dumfries one. Here, then, was Johnny safely arrived himself, indeed at Edinburgh; but his son was gone to Glasgow, and his trunk to Dumfries-all with the greatest precision imaginable. Next day, Johnny Armstrong, being extremely uneasy about his boy, started for Glasgow on board one of the canal passage-boats while the lad, being equally uneasy about his father, and, moreover, ill at ease on sundry other accounts, did precisely the same thing with the difference of direction-that is, he started for Edinburgh by a similar conveyance; and so well-timed had each of their respective departures been, that, without knowing it, they passed each other exactly half way between the two cities. On arriving at Glasgow, Johnny Armstrong could not, for a long while, discover any trace of his son; but, at length, succeeded in tracking him to the canal boat- which led him rightly to conclude that he had proceeded to Edinburgh. On coming to this conclusion, Johnny again started for the metropolis, where he safely arrived about two hours after his son had left it for home, whither, finding no trace of his father in Edinburgh, he had wisely directed his steps. Johnny Armstrong, now greatly distressed about the object of his paternal solicitude, whom he vainly sought up and down the city, at last also bent his way bomewards, thinking, what was true, that the boy might have gone home; and there, indeed, he found him. Thus nearly a week had been spent, and that in almost constant travel, and Johnny found himself precisely at the point from which he had set out. However, in three days, after having, in the mean time, recovered his trunk, he again set out on his travels to Brechin;

for his courage was not in the least abated by what had happened but on this occasion unaccompanied by his son, as he would not again run the risk of losing him, or of exposing himself to that distress of mind on his account of which he had been before a victim. In the case of Johnny's second progress, there was "no mistake" whatever of any kind-at least at starting. Both himself and his trunk arrived in perfect safety, and in due time, at Edinburgh.

Johnny's next route was to steam it to Kirkaldy from Newhaven. The boat started at six A. M.; and, having informed himself of this particular, he determined to be at the point of embarkation in good time. But he was rather late, and, on finding this, he ran every foot of the way from Edinburgh to the steamboat, and was in a dreadful state of exhaustion when he reached it; but by his exertions, he saved his distance, thereby exhibiting another proof that all is not lost that's in danger. An instant longer, however, and he would have been too late, for the vessel was just on the eve of starting. Johnny leapt on board, or rather was bundled on board; for Johnny, as already hinted, was in what is called good bodily condition-rather extra, indeed-and was, moreover, waxing a little stiff about the joints; so that he could not get over the side of the boat so cleverly as he would have done some twenty years before. Over and above all this, he was quite exbausted with the race against time which he had just run. Seeing his distressed condition, and that the boat was on the point of sailing, two of the hands leapt on the pier, when the one seizing him by the waistband of the breeches, and the other seizing him by the breast, they fairly pitched him into the vessel; throwing his trunk after him. As it was pouring rain, Johnny, on recovering his perpendicular, immediately descended into the cabin, and, in the next instant, the boat was ploughing her way through the deep. For two hours after he had embarked it continued to rain without intermission; and for these two hours he remained snug below without stirring. At the end of this period, however, it cleared up a little, and, in a short while thereafter, became perfectly fair. Having discovered this, he ascended to the deck, to see what was going on. The captain of the vessel was himself at the helm: he, therefore, sidled towards him, and, after making some remarks on the weather and the scenery, asked the captain, in the blandest and civilest tones imaginable, when he expected they would be at Kirkaldy. The man stared at Johnny with a look of astonishment, not unmingled with displeasure; but at length said

"Kirkaldy, sir! What do you mean by asking me that question? I dont know when you expect to be at Kirkaldy, but I don't expect to be there for a twelvemonth at least."

"No!-'od, that's queer!" quoth Johnny, amazed in his turn; but thinking, after a moment, that the captain meant to be facetious, he merely added—“ I wad think, captain, that we wad be there much about the same time."

Ay, ay, may be; but, I say, none of your gammon, friend,' said the latter, gruffly, and now getting really angry at what he conceived to be some attempt to play upon him, though he could not see the drift of the joke. "Mind your own business, friend, and I'll mind mine."

This he said with an air that conveyed very plainly a hint that Johnny should take himself off, which, without saying any more, he accordingly did. Much perplexed by the captain's conduct, he now sauntered towards the fore part of the vessel, where he caught the engineer just as he was about to descend into the engine.room. Johnny tapped him gently on the shoulder, and the man, wiping his dripping face with a handful of tow, looked up to him, while Johnny, afraid to put the question, but anxious to know when he really would be at Kirkaldy, lowered himself down, by placing his hands on his knees, so as to bring his face on a level with the person he was addressing, and, in the mildest accents, and with a countenance beaming with gentleness, he popped the question in a low, soft whisper, as if to deprecate the man's wrath. On the fatal inquiry being made at him, the en

gineer, as the captain had done before him, stared at Johnny Armstrong, in amazement, for a second or two, then burst into a horse laugh, and, without vouchsafing any other reply, plunged down into his den.

"What in a' the earth can be the meanin o' this?" quoth Johnny to himself, now ten times more perplexed than ever. "What can there be in my simple, natural, and reasonable question, to astonish folk sae muckle ?"

This was an enquiry which Johnny might put to himself, but it was one which he could by no means answer. Being, however, an easy, good-natured man, and seing how much offence in one instance, and subject for mirth in another, he had unwittingly given, by putting it, he resolved to make no further inquiries into the matter, but to await in patience the arrival of the boat at her destination-an event which he had the sense to perceive would be neither forwarded nor retarded by his obtaining or being refused the information he had desired to be possessed of. The boat arrived in due time at the wished for haven, and Johnny landed with the other passengers; the captain giving him a wipe, as he stepped on the plank that was to convey him ashore, about his Kirkaldy inquiries, by asking him, though now in perfect good humour, if he knew the precise length of that celebrated town; but Johnny merely smiled and passed on.

On landing, Johnny Armstrong proceded to what had the appearance of, and really was, a respectable inn. Here, as it was now pretty far in the day, he had some dinner, and afterwards treated himself to a tumbler of toddy and a peep at the papers. While thus comfortably enjoying himself, the waiter having chanced to pop into the room, Johnny raised his eye from the paper he was reading, and, looking the lad in the face

"Can ye tell me, friend," he said, "when the coach for Dundee starts?

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There's no coach at all from this to Dundee, sir," replied the waiter.

"No!" said Johnny, a little nonplused by this information "That's odd."

The waiter saw nothing odd in it.

“I was told," continued Johnny, "that there were twa or three coaches daily from this to Dundee."

"Oh, no, sir," said the lad, coolly, "you have been misinformed; but, if you wish to go to Dundee, sir," he addeddesirous of being as obliging as possible-"your best way is to go by steam from this to Newhaven, and from that cross over to Kirkaldy!!!"

At this fatal word, which seemed doomed to work Johnny much wo, the glass which was about to raise to his lips fell on the floor, and went into a thousand pieces.

"Kirkaldy, laddy!" exclaimed Johnny Armstrong, with an expression of consternation in his face which it would require Cruikshanks' art and skill to do justice to-" Gude hae a care o' me, is this no Kirkaldy?"

"Kirkaldy sir!" replied the waiter, no less amazed than Johnny, though in his case it was at the absurdity of the inquiry -"oh, no, sir," with a smile-"this is Alloa !!!"

Alloa it was, to be sure; for Johnny had taken the wrong boat, and that was all. On embarking, he had made no inquiries at those belonging to the vessel, and, of course, those in the vessel had put none to him-and this was the result. He was comfortably planted at Alloa, instead of Kirkaldy, which all our readers know lies in a very different direction; and this denouement also explains the captain's displeasure with his passenger, and the engineer's mirth. At the moment this extraordinary eclaircissement took place between Johnny Armstrong and the waiter of the King's Arms, there happened to be a ship captain in the room-for it was the public one; and this person who was a goodnatured fellow, at once amused by, and pitying Johnny's dilemma, turned towards him, and inquired if it was his intention to go any further than Dundee.

Johnny replied that it was-that he intended going to Brechin.

"Oh, in that case," said the captain, "you had better just go with me. In an hour after this, I sail for Montrose, which is within eight miles of Brechin, and I'll be very glad to give you a cast so far, and we shan't differ about the terms. Fine, smart little vessel mine, and, with a spanking breeze from the west, or sou-west, which we'll very likely catch about the Queensferry, I'll land you in a jiffey within a trifle of your journey's end-a devilish sight cleverer, I warrant you, than your round about way of steaming it and coaching it, and at half the money too." Johnny Armstrong was all gratitude for this very opportune piece of kindness, and gladly closed with the offer- the captain and he taking a couple of additional tumblers each, on the head of it, to begin with. We say to begin with; for it by no means ended with the quantity named. The captain was a jolly dog, and loved his liquor, and was, withal, so facetious a companion, that he prevailed on his new friend to swallow a great deal more than did him any good. To tell a truth, which, however, we would not have known at Carlisle, Johnny Armstrong. who had the character of a sober man, got, on this occasion, into a rather discreditable condition, and, in this state, he was escorted by the captain-who stood liquor like water cask-to the vessel, and was once more embarked; but it was now on board the Fifteen Sisters of Skatehaven. On getting him on board, the captain, seeing the state he was in, prudently bundled him down into the cabin, and thrust him into his own bed, where he immediately fell into a profound sleep, that extended over twelve mortal hours. At the end of this period, however, Johnny awoke; but it was not by any means of his own accord, for he was awakened by a variety of stimulants, or rousers, if we may be allowed to coin a word for the occasion, all operating at once. These were, a tremendous uproar on the deck, a fearful rolling of the vessel, the roaring of wind, and the splashing, dashing, and gurling of waves; and, to crown all, a feeling of deadly sickness. When he first opened his eyes, he could not conceive where he was, or what was the meaning of the furious motion that he felt, and of the tremendous sounds that he heard. A few minutes cogitation with himself, however. solved the mystery, and exposed to him his true position. In great alarm-for he thought the vessel was on the eve of going down-Johnny Arm. strong rolled himself out of his bed, and crawled in his shirt up the cabin ladder. On gaining the summit, he found himself confronted by the captain, who, with a very serious face, was standing by the helm.

"Are-are-are-we-near-Mon-trose, captain?" inquired Johnny, in a voice rendered so feeble by sickness and terror, that it was impossible to hear him a yard off, amidst the roaring of the winds and waves; for we suppose we need not more explicitly state, that he was in the midst of a storm-and has pretty a one it was as the most devoted admirer of the picturesque could desire to see.

"What?" roared the captain, in a voice of thunder, at the same time stooping down to catch his feeble interrogatory. Johnny repeated it; but, ere he could obtain an answer, a raking wave, which came in at the stern, took him full on the breast as he stood on the companion ladder, with his bust above the level of the deck, sent him down héels over head into the cabin, and, in a twinkling, buried him in a foot and a half of water on the floor, where he lay for some time at full length, sprawling and floundering admist the wreck which the sudden and violent influx of water had occasioned. On recovering from the stunning effects of his descent—for he had, amongst other small matters, received a violent contusion on the head-Johnny for an instant imagined that he had somehow or other got to the bottom of the sea. Finding, however, at length, that this was not precisely the case, he arose, though dripping with wet, yet not very like a sea god, and having denuded himself of his only garment, his shirt, crawled into his bed, where he now determined to await quietly and patiently the fate that might beintended for him, and this fate, he had no doubt, was suffocation by drowning.

"Very extraordinar this," said Johnny Armstrong to himself as he lay musing in bed on the perilous situation into which he had so simply and innocently got "very exrraordinar, that I couldna get the length o' Brechin without a' this uproar, and confusion, and difficulty, and danger; this knocking about frae place to place, half drooned and half murdered. Here have I been now for mair than a week at it, and it's my opinion I'm no twenty mile nearer't yet than I was, for a' this kick up. Dear me," he went on, soliloquizing, "I'm sure Brechin's no sic an out o' the way place. The road's straught, and the distance no great. Then, how, in the name o' wonder, is it that I canna mak it out like ither folk, let me do as I like?"

Thus cogitated Johnuy Armstrong as he lay on his bed of sickness, sorrow, and danger. But his cogitations could in no way mend the matter, nor, though they could, was he long permitted to indulge in them; for that mortal sickness under which he had been before suffering, but which the little incident of the visit from the wave, with its consequences, had temporarily banished, again returned with tenfold vigour, making him regardless of all sublunary things-even of life itself. In this state of supineness and suffering did Johnny lie for three entire days and nights--for so long did the storm continue with unabated fury--the vessel having, for some four-and-twenty hours previously, been quite unmanageable, and driving at the mercy of the winds and waves. A drreadful crash, however, at length announced that some horrible crisis was at hand. The vessel had struck, and, in a few seconds more, she was in a thousand pieces, and her unfortunate crew, including Johnny Armstrong, were struggling in the waves. From this instant, he lost all consciousness; and, when he again awoke to life, he found himself lying on the seabeach; but how he had come there he never could tell, nor could he at all conjecture by what accident his life had been saved, when all the rest in the ill-fated vessel had perished; for Johnny was indeed, the only person that had escaped. On coming to himself, he started to his feet, and gazed around him with a bewildered look, to see if any object would present itself that might help him to guess where he was. But his survey affording him no such aid to recognition, he began to move inland, in the hope of meeting with somebody who could give the information desired; and in this he was not disappointed—that is, he did meet somebody; but the appearance of that somebody surprised Johnny "pretty cousiderably," He had a high-crowned hat on, such as Jobuny had never seen in his life before; and enormous pair of breeches; and a pipe a yard long in his mouth. His tout ensemble, in short, was exceeding strange in Johnny Armstrong's eyes. Nevertheless, he accosted him.

Can ye tell me, freen, how far I may be frae Brechin?" he inquired.

The stranger shook his head, but made no reply. "I'm sayin, frieen," repeated Johnny in a louder tone, thinking that his frieud, as he called him, might possiby be dull of hearing, "can ye tell me if I'm onything near Brechin?"

The stranger again shook his head, but still said nothing. Johnny was confounded. At length, however, after puffing away for some seconds with a suddenly increased energy, he slowly withdrew his pipe from his mouth, and delivered himself of what sounded to Johnny's ears very much like this, spoken with great rapidity.

"Futra butara rap a ruara dutera muttera purra murra footra den, Preekin, humph."

Of this, Johnny, of course, could make nothing, no more than the reader can, further than recognising in the word Preekin, a resemblance to the name of the town be so anxiously inquired after; and he was sorely perplexed thereat. Neither could he at all comprehend what sort of a being he had fallen in with.

I dinna understand a word o' what ye say, freen,” at length said Johnny, staring hard at the stranger, with open mouth. "Umph!" said the latter; and he again withdrew his pipe from his mouth, and again sent a volley of his dutera mutteres"

about Johnny's ears, to precisely the same purpose as before. Finding that it was of no use making any further attempt at conversation, Johnny passed on, not doubting that he had met either with a dummy or a madman. But what was Johnny's amazement, when, shortly afterwards-meeting a womau, whose dress, in its own way, was equally odd and strange with that of the person he had just left-he was answered, (that is, to his queries again about Brechin,) in the same gibberish in which the former had responded to him.

"What can be the meanin o' this?" said Johnny to himself, in great perplexity of mind, as he jogged on, after leaving the lady in the same unsatisfactory way as he had left the gentleman. "Whar in a' the earth can I bae gotten to, that naebody I meet wi' can understan a word o' plain English, or can speak themsels ony thing like an intelligible language?"

He now began to think that he had probably got into the Highlands; but, although this supposition might account for the strangeness of the language he had heard, it would not, he perceived, tally very well with the enormous breeches which the gentleman he had met with wore, and which he had seen from a distance others wearing; knowing, as he did very well, that the national dress of the Highlanders was the kilt, of which the trousers in question were the very antipodes. There was another circumstance, too, that appeared to Johnny at variance with his first conjecture-namely, that he might have got into the Highlands. Where he was, there were no high lands-not an eminence the height of mole-hill. On the contrary, the whole country, as far as his eye could reach, seemed one vast plain. Though greatly puzzled by these reflections, Johnny jogged on; and his progress at length brought him to a respectable looking farm-house.

"Od," said Johnny, "I'll surely get a monthfu' o' sense frae somebody here, and fin' out whar I am."

In this Johnny certainly did succeed; but not much to his comfort, as the sequel will shew. The first person he addressed on approaching the house, was a little girl, who, when he spoke, stared at him in the greatest amazement, then rushed screaming into the house. This proceeding brought brought out several young men and women, to whom Johnny now addressed himself; but the only answer he obtained was a stare of astonishment similar to the child's, and then a general burst of laughter. At length, one of the girls went into the house, and brought out a jolly-lookg elderly man, who, from certain parts of his dress, seemed to be in the seafaring way.

"Vell, mine freend, vat you vant?" said this person, who spoke broken English-"vere you come from?"

"I cam last frae Alloa," said Johnny, "and I want to ken, sir, if I'm onything near to Brechin."

"Preekin! vere dat?"

"Od, I thocth everybody in Scotland kent that," said Johnny, smiling.

"Ah! maybe Scotlan, mine friend, but no Hollands," replied be of the broken English.

"I dinna ken whether they ken't in Holland or no," said Johnny-"that's a country I'm no in the least acquaint wi', but I'm sure it's weel aneuch kent in Scotland."

"Ah! maybe Scotlan, but no Hollands, my freend," repeated the man, smiling in his turn; "but you vas in Hollands." "Never in my life," said Johnny earnestly.

No, no," replied the man, impatiently, "you vas no in Hollands-but you vas in Hollands."

Johnny could make nothing of this; but it was soon cleared up by the person adding, 'You vas in Hollands now-dis moment.' We will not even attempt to describe Johnny's amazement, horror, and consternation on this announcement being made to him; for we feel how vain it would be, and how far short any idea we could convey would be of the reality. Ye

"Heaven hae a care o' me. "Holland!" said Johnny. surely dinna mean to say that I'm in Holland the noo?"

"To be sure I vas in," said the Dutchman, smiling at Johnny's ludicrous perturbation. "Mine Got, did you not know you vas in Hollands? Vere you coome from, in all de vorlds, you not know dat?"

"I tell't ye already," replied Johnny, with a most rueful countenance, "that I cam last frae Alloa. But ye're surely no in earnest, freen," he added, in a desperate hope that it might, after all, be but a joke, "when ye say that I'm in Holland?" Ah! sure earneest-no doubt-true," said the Dutchman, now laughing outright at Johnny's perplexity.

As in the former case, we presume we need not be more explicit in saying that Johnny had actually been wrecked on the coast of Holland.

Weel, weel," said the Brechin voyager, with an air expressive more calmness and resignation than might have been expected, "this does cowe the gowan! How, in Heaven's name am I ever to fin' my way hame again? Little did I think I was ever to be landed this way amang savages."

Johnny Armstrong, it will be here observed, could have been no great reader-otherwise, he never would have applied the term savages, to so decent, industrious, and civilized a people as the Dutch. The Dutchman, who was a kind, good-natured fellow -taking no offence whatever at Johnny's unbecoming expression, because, probably, he did not understand it, and compassionating his situation-now invited him into the house, where, having succeeded in conveying to the whole household, through the medium of the speaker of broken English, the story of his misfortunes, he was treated with much hospitality. With these kind people, Johnny Armstrong remained for about a weekfor they would not allow him to go sooner-when, having entirely recovered from the effects of his sea voyage and shipwreck, he proceeded to Rotterdam; being accompanied and assisted in all his movements by his benevolent host, Dunder Vander Dunder, of Slootzsloykin. On arriving at Rotterdam, a passage was engaged for Johnny on board one of the Leith packets or regular traders, in which he was next day snugly deposited; and in an hour after he was again braving the dangers of the ocean. For some time all went on well on this occasion with him, and he was beginning to feel comfortable and even happy, from the prospect of being soon again in his native land, and from the superior accommodations of the vessel in which he was embarked-far surpassing, as they did, those of the unfortunate Sisters of Skatehaven. His present ship was, in truth, a remarkable fine one, and altogether seemed well adapted for encountering the elements. The weather, too, was moderate, and the wind fair; so that a quick and pleasant passage was confidently anticipated by all on board, including Johnny Armstrong. All these agreeable circumstances combined, made him feel extremely comfortable and happy; and, in the exuberance of his feelings, and from the exciting sense of having at length triumphed over his misfortunes-it might almost be said his fate-Johnny even began to joke and laugh with those whom he found willing to laugh and joke with him. It was while in this happy frame of mind, and as he stood luxuriously leaning over the bulwark of the vessel, that the captain suddenly espied a little, smart, cutter-looking craft, sailing exactly in the same course with themselves, and evidently endeavouring to make up with them.

"What can the folk be wanting?" quoth Johnny Armstrong, taking an interest in the approaching barge. His question however, was one which nobody could answer. In the mean time, the little vessel, moving with great velocity, was fast nearing them, when the captain now convinced that those in her desired to have some communication with him, arrested his own vessel's way, and awaited their coming. In a very few minutes, the little cutter was alongside, and two men leapt from her to the deck of the packet, when one of them, approaching the captain, told him that they were messengers, that they had a warrant