Jane did not say any thing in reply to this, but she thought that she and Rollo, at least, did not deserve such censures, for they had certainly not been noisy or troublesome. Presently Jane saw the beautiful girl, who has been already spoken of, rise and come toward them. She was very glad to see this, for now, thought she, we have a friend coming. The young lady came walking along carelessly toward them, and when she came near she looked at them a moment, and then said, in a pert and forward manner,-- "What are you sitting here for, children, so long, all alone? Where is your father?" "My father is in Liverpool, I suppose," said Rollo. "Well, your mother, then," said the young lady, "or whoever has the care of you?" "My mother is in Liverpool, too," said Rollo "and there is nobody who has the care of us on board this ship." "Why, you are not going to cross the Atlantic all by yourselves, are you?" said the young lady, in a tone of great astonishment. "Yes," said Rollo, "unless we find somebody to be kind enough to help us." "La! how queer!" said the young lady. "I am sure I'm glad enough that I am not in your places." So saying, the beautiful young lady walked on. All the beauty, however, which she had before possessed in Jane's eyes was entirely dissipated by this heartless behavior. Both Jane and Rollo, for all the rest of the voyage, thought her one of the ugliest girls they had ever seen. It was some minutes after this before any other person approached the children. Jane observed, however, that the other young lady--the one who had appeared to her so plain--looked frequently toward her and Rollo, with an expression of interest and kindness upon her countenance. At length she rose from her seat, and came across the cabin, and sat down by Jane's side. "May I come and sit by you?" said she to Jane. "You seem to be all alone." "Yes," said Jane; "we don't know any body in this ship." "Not any body?" said the young lady. "Then you may know me. My name is Maria. But your father and mother are on board the ship, are they not?" "No," said Rollo. "There is not any body on board this ship that belongs to us." Maria seemed very much astonished at hearing this, and she asked the children how it happened that they were sent across the Atlantic alone. Upon which Rollo, in a very clear and lucid manner, explained all the circumstances of the case to her. He told her about his father being sick in England, and about his having sent for him and Jane to go to England and meet him there. He also explained what Mr. George's plan had been for providing them with a protector on the voyage, and how it had been defeated by the accident of the loss of the trunk. He also told her how narrowly they had escaped having the trunk itself left behind. He ended by saying that there were several of his father's friends on board, only he did not know of any way by which he could find out who they were.