“Drowned, Cousin Peregrine?”

“No, no.  Though I can tell you we were as anxious for them as for Giovanni now.  But when they had crossed the first water-mountains, and gone down into the water-valleys beyond, they were quite out of sight of the crowd on the deck of the ship, daylight though it was.”

“I retract everything I ever said,” cried Mamma impetuously.

“And not only could we not see them, but they could not see the man they were risking their lives to save.  Those crested mountains which hid them from us hid him from them.”

“What did you do?”

“Men were sent up the masts to look out from such a height that they could look over the waves. They could see both Giovanni and the boat, and as they were so high up the men in the boat could see them.  So the men on the masts kept their eyes on Giovanni, and the men in the boat kept their eyes on the men on the masts, and steered their course according to the signals from the look-out.”

“And they saved him?”

“Yes, they brought him back; and if we cheered when they went away, you may believe we cheered when they got safe to the ship’s side again.”

“And who was Giovanni? and did he get all right?”

“Giovanni was one of the sailors, an Italian.  He was a fine young fellow, and appeared to think nothing whatever of his adventure.  I remember he resolutely refused to go below and change his clothes till he had helped to haul up the boat.  With his white teeth shining through a broad grin, he told us in his broken English that he had been overboard every voyage he had taken.  He said he didn’t mind anything except the swooping and pecking of the albatross.  They obliged him to dive so constantly, to keep his eyes from their beaks.”

“Was it a comber washed him overboard?”

“No.  He was mending the jib-boom, and lost his hold and fell into the sea.  He really had a very narrow escape.  A less active swimmer might easily have been drowned.  I always think, too, that he had an advantage in the fact that the water was warm.”

“I am so glad the nasty albatross were disappointed.”

“The nasty albatross were probably disappointed when they found that Giovanni was not a piece of spoilt pork.  However, they set their beautiful wings, and went their way, and we set our sails, and went our way, which was to Adelaide, South Australia.”

COUSIN PEREGRINE’S TRAVELLER’S TALES.

JACK OF PERA.

(Founded on Fact.)

“Cousin Peregrine, oughtn’t we to love our neighbour, whether he’s a nice neighbour or a nasty neighbour?”

“Certainly, Maggie.”

“But need we when he’s a nasty next-door neighbour?” asked Fred, in such rueful tones that Cousin Peregrine burst out laughing and said, “Who is your nasty next-door neighbour, Fred, and what has he done?”