John did hear the wind howl, and he had heard it before, and it did not disturb his bright vision of life on the wave: on the contrary, he rather liked its music. He suggested, in reply, that the coast of South Carolina or the mouth of the Mississippi would be a warmer and pleasanter place to spend the winter than the cold hills of New England. While they were debating the question, a loud knock at the front door interrupted the discussion; and John bolted the balance of his supper, while his mother went to answer the summons. “Does Captain Somers live here?” inquired a gentleman at the door. “Yes, sir, he does; but he is away from home now,” replied Mrs. Somers. “Won’t you walk in, sir?” “Thank you: I wish to see his son, John Somers,” added the stranger, as he followed Mrs. Somers into the little front parlor. “Yes, sir: I’ll call him,” said she, as she glanced nervously at the shoulder-straps which the gentleman wore; for the “foul anchor” on them indicated that he was an officer in the navy. Leaving the lamp in the parlor, she returned to the kitchen, where John had just swallowed his second cup of tea, and was at that moment thinking, that, on board a man-of-war, he should drink his “slops” out of a tin cup, and not indulge in the luxury of plates, knives, and forks. “There’s a gentleman wants to see you, John,” said his mother; and her heart was full of misgivings, and that foul anchor still haunted her imagination; and she could not persuade herself that the officer had not come to carry off her boy, and ship him in the navy. “Wants to see me?” exclaimed John, who was not in the habit of receiving many visitors through the front door. “Yes, and he is an officer in the navy.” “What can he want of me?” “Don’t you know who he is, John?” asked the anxious mother, who had more than half suspected that there was a plot to rob her of her remaining son. “I don’t; I haven’t the least idea, mother.” “Well, don’t keep him waiting, John, whatever he wants; but I hope you won’t do anything without consulting me?” “Of course not, mother,” replied John, as he left the room. Mrs. Somers sat down in a chair near the parlor-door, and tried to hear what the stranger said; for she was very nervous and uneasy. She could not make out what the gentleman wanted: so she concluded that the small lamp she had left in the parlor would not afford sufficient light on the subject of the meeting; and she lighted a large kerosene lamp, and carried it into the apartment herself. The conversation did not seem to be interrupted by her appearance; and she therefore concluded that the officer and her son were not engaged in any plot or conspiracy against the peace and comfort of the present head of the Somers Family. “Madam, perhaps I ought to speak to you as well as to your son about the object of my visit,” said the officer, as Mrs. Somers deposited the lamp on the mantel-piece.