Lost And Saved ; Or, Nellie Powers, The Missionary's Daughter.

" Tell us about dafc yere ghost , Mr . Peter , " said Dave Blackmail . " That's it , Peter , give us the yarn , till we discombobilate the Greek Philosopher who says as how he knows the world is flat , " said Sam Watson and several of the crew together . " It's not much of a yarn , " began Peter , " but at the time I felt very much worked up about it . It was somewhat in this way . It was about my first goin' to sea ; we

wore unloadin' in Melbourne , ancl young Josh Snozzles was in the hold slingin' barrels of pork . Just as he had partly si ung a couple of barrels , the cook sung out , 'Eight bells , ' which was grub , you know , and we all knocked off . Josh , careless like , left the barrels just as he had 'em 'an hurried out to tho fok-sail to feed . When we were ordered into the hold again some fellers what got there first were hoistin' away on the fall , an' Josh , supposui' it had all been fixed , said nothin ' , but went right clown in the hold under the barrels those fellers was hoistin' up , an' before he knew anything one of ' em slipped out of the shng au' come down on his head . We jeicked him up , but he never come to , and died along iu the-afternoon . Now I felt very bad about it , shipmates , because he came

from the same place as I did , and was the sole support of his widowed mother . When we were Ieavin' the dock she came to me an ' , says she , ' Mr . Dibble , you knows Joshyis the only boy I ' ve got , an' as he takes naturally to the ssa , it ' s not in my heart to say him nay or go against him ; but I wants to ask you to look after him , an' see that no harm comes to him . ' ' Ill do it , Mrs . Snozzles , ' said I , ' an' I'll bring him home to you as sound as a rock from this a twelvemonth , now you see if I don't . ' Says she , ' Mr . Dibble leaves him to

, I you , an' you will look out for Mm ? ' Says I again , 'In course I will , and if ever I comes home again I'll bring Joshy with me ; ' an' we sailed away , she shaking her hand to Joshy , tellin' him to look out for hisself , an' saydn' to me , ' Now remember , Mr . Dibble ; ' an' you can imagine that I felt bad . He had such a good disposition , I naturally took to him . He hadn't been aboard three weeks before he showed us it was no use try-in' to beat him tyin' up a sail . He coidd get over the riggin ' he would hand

bke Jacko , an' , reef , an' steer with . the best of us . Says I , when I saw him out on the royal yard , ' There ' s a boy what will rise in his profession . ' So you see I was interested in him personally , an' when I saw him lyin' there dead in the fok-sail , with his face as white as our mam-top-gahant-sail , ancl his hair matted with blood , I thought of his poor old mother who woidd be expectra' him home , ancl I wanted to know what I was goin' to tell her when she asked me where Joshy was . That ' s what stuck me , shipmates , what should I tell her' ?"

Here a drop of water in the shape of a tear trickled out of Peter ' s eye , ancl , Mowing one of the long wrinkles on his face , dropped off on his hand , as he went on to say in a husky voice , — _ "We sailors couldn't bear to bury him up in the sand , so we wrapped him up in some sail cloth an' carried him outside of the harbour , where we tied some weights to the sack an' gently dropped him into the sea . When I heard the

splash of young Snozzles , shipmates , I felt as bad as though I was harpooned , an' that ' s worse than I ever felt before in my life . I ' ve heard a good many of ' em . splash , but none of ' em affected me like this one . When we were on our way home , although we had head winds , I didn't seem to be in much of a hurry . Every night I dreamed I saw young Snozzles standin' over the hatchway with the big gash in his head , an' a splashing sound would be ringin' in my ears . I begun to get worriech

My appetite was goin ' , an' I was fast comin' to a sbadder . Things kept goin ' on in this way until-one night—it was a dark night , my friends—I was ou the look-out , an' I was walkin' along by the hatch , with my face towards the sea , when somethin' says to me , ' Peter , look at the batch . ' I did look , an' the sight I saw made me sh tit my mouth tight to keep my heart from juinpin' overboard ; my blood stopped goin' altogether , an ' lay feet an' fingers began to get as cold as ice— ' what forcompanions' ? Wh

an , y , because right before me , over the hatchway , as plain as Tom is this minute , stood young onozzles . He was rigged hi white throughout , an' as I stood lookin' at him , with every hair on my bead as stiff as a capstan bar , I heard his . old mother sayin ' , 'Now , Mr . Dibble , be is the only hoy I ' ve got , you will bring him home to his mother safe , won't