They drew nearer and the captain read aloud: "'Beneath this stone moulders the body of William Burrows, late commander of the United States brig Enterprise, who was mortally wounded on the 5th of September, 1813, in an action which contributed to increase the fame of American valor, by capturing his Britannic Majesty's brig Boxer, after a severe contest of forty-five minutes. Æ. 28. A passing stranger has erected this memento of respect to the manes of a patriot, who, in the hour of peril, obeyed the loud summons of an injured country, and who gallantly met, fought, and conquered the foeman.'"
"And that one on the pillars, papa—whose is it?" Elsie asked, as her father paused with a slight sigh.
"That is the tomb of Midshipman Waters," he said. "We will go nearer and read its inscription: 'Beneath this marble, by the side of his gallant commander, rest the remains of Lieutenant Kervin Waters, a native of Georgetown, District of Columbia, who received a mortal wound, September 5, 1813, while a midshipman on board the United States brig Enterprise, in an action with his Britannic Majesty's brig Boxer, which terminated in the capture of the latter. He languished in severe pain, which he endured with fortitude, until September 25, 1813, when he died with Christian calmness and resignation, aged eighteen. The young men of Portland erect this stone as a testimony of their respect for his valor and virtues.'"
"Twenty days to suffer so," sighed Elsie. "Oh, it was dreadful!"
Max and Evelyn stood near, side by side.
"Dreadful indeed!" Evelyn sighed, in low quivering tones as they turned away. "Oh, Max! I wish you did not belong to the navy!"
"Why, dearest?" he asked in tender tones. "It is not only in the navy that men die suddenly and of injuries; and many a naval officer has lived to old age and died at home in his bed. And we are under the same Protecting Care on the sea as on the land."
"Yes, that is a cheering thought," she said, "and since you love the sea, it is wrong and selfish in me to regret your choice of a profession. And I could not be induced to resign my sailor lover for any landsman," she added, with a charming blush and smile.
That evening, joining her father, as she so often did, in his quiet promenade of the deck before retiring for the night, Lucilla spoke of their visit to the cemetery, and said, "I have always been so glad that you left the navy, papa, so that we could have you always at home with us, and I am gladder still when I think that if we should have another war you will not be in danger of such a fate as that which befell Burrows and Blyth."