On this earth none; but whilst I ponder, I thank God that this earth is not the end of all things. There was a time when I used to think and say that all my happiness lay buried in the grave of Lionne; but I have lived to learn and believe that at the Last Day it shall rise again, with her to bloom, ten thousand times renewed, in heaven! THE END. [Illustration] OLD CONTRAIRY. It was at the close of a sultry day in June, that the passenger vessel, ‘Star of the North,’ coasted the island of Martinique on her way to Barbadoes. The sea was calm as a summer lake, and an ominous stillness reigned in the surrounding atmosphere that made the words of a song, trolled out by a free, manly voice from the forecastle, distinctly heard in every part of the vessel,— ‘Wherever you be, by land or sea, Why, set your heart at rest; For you may be sure, come kill or cure Whatever is, is best!’ ‘Don’t believe it,’ grumbled an old seaman, who was seated on a coil of rope mending a sail. ‘I wish I’d had the ordering of my own life, any way. I’d have soon seen if it was best for me to be situated as I am at this here present!’ He was a fine old man, with rugged but well-cut features and muscular limbs. He had a clear blue eye, and silvery locks that showed he had been a handsome fellow in his day; but something or other had put him out of love with life, and his habitual mood was one of discontent. A passenger, who was pacing the quarter-deck, with a thoughtful countenance, turned at the old sailor’s words and confronted the speaker. ‘Don’t you believe in a Providence that overrules all our actions, Williams?’ he demanded abruptly. ‘Oh yes, Mr Egerton, I believe in Providence fast enough; but when I see want and misery and injustice on every side of me, I cannot help thinking as our actions might be ruled a little straighter for us.’ ‘We are all apt to think the same, but that is because we cannot see the end of the beginning. Perhaps, too, you have never prayed that Providence might extend its fostering care over you?’ ‘You’re mistaken, sir. No man ever prayed more than I used to do. I was a reg’lar conwarted Christian at one time; and a morial example, but ’twarn’t no manner of use. No one never heard nor answered my prayers, and so I left off a saying ’em, and I don’t see as my troubles are a bit the wuss for it, neither. Everybody seems to get much of a muchness in this world, let ’em wear out their marrer bones or not.’