whence he himself has long quaffed the highest inspiration!
"There they are!" shouted James.
"Here they come!" exclaimed Miss Mary Marston.
"They have made good time, the lazy dogs, for once!" said I.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" echoed the silvery cadences of Nettie Brown, who seemed about to dance to the music of her own merry voice.
"I hope"——began the dove-like murmur of a fair invalid: she ceased, and her dewy eyes told all she would have said.
"God grant us good news!" said our venerable compagnon de voyage, fervently, a shade of anxiety clouding his usually benignant countenance.
"Ladies, excuse me! I beg you to remember that they may not bring anything—let me prepare you for a disappointment!" These words were uttered, with apparent reluctance, by a young man, whose pale face and dark melancholy eyes seemed to lend almost prophetic emphasis to his warning tones.