"If so, I should consider myself to be the cause of their death!" "No, I don't think it was, laddie," replied Fritz, to cheer him, the lad being greatly distressed at the thought of having occasioned the catastrophe.

"You see, the ship must have been coming from the other side of the headland, whose height would shut all view of our valley entirely from the sea." "Well, I only hope so," replied Eric, only half consoled.

"I'm afraid, however, the people on board took the flame of the burning grass to be some beacon to warn them." "In that case, they would have kept away from it, of course," said Fritz decidedly; "so, no blame can be attached to you.

The wind, you see, was blowing a gale from the north-east; and, probably, they were driving on before it, never thinking they were near Inaccessible Island, nor believing that there was such a place anywhere within miles of them, or land at all, for that matter, till they should reach the South American coast!" "Perhaps so," rejoined Eric, in a brighter tone; "but then, again, they might have thought the light to be a ship on fire, and, in going out of their way to lend assistance, they possibly met with their doom, eh ?" "Ah, that would be sad to believe," said Fritz.

"However, I don't think we should worry ourselves over the dispensations of providence.