The alien mass of hot water pouring into the Pacific at the isthmus, when no longer propelled by the easterly winds, resumes its original impetus of rotary direction, and streams, sweeping northward, along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington, bringing in its further extension warmth to British America and Alaska. By this amelioration of its climate, Alaska has specially profited. Its numerous mineral resources have been more exhaustively explored, and the wealth of its boundless areas promises returns beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. “The convulsions which were so dismally foretold, in the social and political fabric of this country, never occurred. They were quite lost sight of in the wonderful happenings of the world, and the trite aphorism that the spirit of discontent is best overcome by an appeal to the spirit of curiosity, obtained an almost ludicrous illustration in the subsidence of every murmur of schism and contention, as the amazement grew over the upset of the temporalities of the world, as the earth readjusted its members for another, let us hope, long and uneventful slumber. “For myself, perhaps I should deprecate your censure by an apology. It is true, I did not follow the fortunes of my country, though with my mind I ardently canvassed and considered them. The very interests which brought me to this land were English, and my superintendence and success with them, has in a few ways made the survival of not a few Englishmen possible at this crisis. Really, my best place of helpfulness was here. Jim has been with me, and has proved invaluable, and that poor woman, whom I told you about meeting in Victoria Park, the night before we saw the great procession of evacuation, was found by me, and now Jim is her husband. There’s nothing shocking about it. Her first husband died of consumption. It was a foregone conclusion. Jim showed himself a big-hearted friend, and the girl learned to think the world of him. And when she was alone, what could have been better from any point of view than that she should have married him? “And for me, Mrs. Thomsen, there is peace, too.” Leacraft moved to the doorway of the broad hall that divided the spacious house. He pushed it open, and as the light from the interior fell upon his face, the visitors saw the smile of an abiding happiness upon the thoughtful countenance, and Agnes Ethel Thomsen utter a prayer of thankfulness that _he_ had found contentment. * * * * * * Transcriber’s note: Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book. Many, but by no means all, simple typographical errors were corrected. Unpaired quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unpaired. Page 5: Transcriber removed redundant book title. Page 257: “with central and periphera, agitation,” was printed that way.