Will felt that he could not decline an invitation so heartily given. Accordingly he packed up his shore-going kit, left Harman in temporary command, and went with his new friend ashore. A well-appointed vehicle with a pair of fine horses was waiting for them, and as soon as they were seated they at once started inland. After leaving the town they began to mount, and were soon high among the mountains. The scenery was lovely, and Will, who had not before made an excursion so far into the interior, was delighted with his drive. So much so, indeed, that Mr. Palethorpe gradually ceased speaking of the subject nearest his heart, and suffered Will to enjoy the journey in silence. At last they drove up to a handsome house which was surrounded by a broad veranda covered with roses and other flowers. As they stopped, a girl of fourteen ran out. Will would scarcely have recognized her. She was now dressed in white muslin, and her hair was tied up with blue ribbon, while a broad sash of the same colour encircled her waist. She had now also recovered her colour, which the shock of her adventure had driven from her cheeks, and she looked the picture of health and happiness. “Oh, you dear boy!” she cried out, and to Will’s astonishment and consternation she threw her arms round his neck and kissed him. “Oh, how much you have done for us! If it hadn’t been for you father would have had no one to pet him and scold him. It would have been dreadful, wouldn’t it, daddy?” “It would indeed, my child,” her father said gravely; “it would have taken all the joy out of my life, and left me a lonely old man.” “I have told you before,” she said, “that you are not to call yourself old. I don’t call you old at all; I consider that you are just in your prime. Now come in, Mr. Gilmore, I have all sorts of iced drinks ready for you.” Alice and Will soon became excellent friends. She took him over the plantations and showed him the negro cabins, fed him with fruit until he almost fell ill, and, as he said, treated him more like a baby than as an officer in His Majesty’s service. “The stars don’t look so bright to-night,” Will said, as he stood on the veranda with Mr. Palethorpe on the last evening of his visit. “No, I have been noticing it myself, and I don’t like the look of the weather at all.” “No!” Will repeated in surprise; “it certainly looks as if there was a slight mist.” “Yes, that is what it looks like, but at this time of year we don’t often have mists. I am afraid we are going to have a hurricane; it is overdue now by nearly a month. October, November, and the first half of December are the hurricane months, and I fear that, as it is late, we shall have a heavy one.” “I have seen one since I came out, and then we were at sea and were nearly wrecked. I saw its effects on land, however, for we spent some weeks ashore in consequence of it. The forest was almost levelled. I certainly should not care to see another one.”