Since the second year I have owned a pretty little brig of seven hundred tons, called the "Mignon." She is built of oak, double-planked, and copper-fastened; and all the interior fittings were done to suit me.

She is, in fact, an additional piece of property.
A sea-life and the active habits required by my business have kept me in good health.

To tell you all this is the same as telling it to my two daughters and my dear wife.

I trust that the wretched man who took away my Bettina deserted her when he heard of my ruin; and that I shall find the poor lost lamb at the Chalet.

My three dear women and my Dumay! All four of you have been ever present in my thoughts for the last three years.