Ross Kingman was a good-hearted young man. He worked on the farm, at the ship-yards on the other side of the river, and occasionally made a fishing or a coasting voyage. All he earned was contributed to the support of the family. The farm was mortgaged up to its full value; and guilty as his father was, the pride of Ross would not permit the family to be broken up, for that would send his parents to the almshouse. Mary was his own sister, and to her he was wholly devoted. He had often advised her to seek a home elsewhere; but thus far she had assisted in the support of the family, and had borne her cross with what fortitude she could command. Mr. Buckstone heard the substance of this story from the lips of Mary herself. In her grief she was glad of a friend. She listened to his kind words with gratitude; and now that Eugene Hungerford, as she fully believed, could be no more to her, she hardly shrank from the attentions of the artist. He went back to his hotel in the evening. He came the next day, and the next, and the next,--every day,--till he returned to the city. Captain Kingman, sober, remembered his interference in the quarrel, and savagely drove him from the house; but Mary met him in other places. CHAPTER VI. A STRANGE STORY. Eugene and his friend dined on the Ledge, and discussed plans and projects for the future. No doubt they enjoyed the dinner, the sea air having given them sharp appetites, and the conversation was very interesting, for they were in full sympathy with each other. Dick desired to know whether his friend had made any progress in his love affair, and Eugene, fully believing that he had said enough to make an impression upon the mind and heart of Mary, assured him that he had taken his first step, and had accomplished all that could be expected in one brief interview. They returned to the cottage, and the evening was devoted to the contemplated European tour, in which Eugene was to be accompanied by his mother and sister. It was arranged that the family should depart about the first of September. The next day, the young men tried the trout in the brooks, and continued for a week to divide their time between the sea and the land--riding and walking, fishing, gunning, and sailing. Although it was vacation to the lawyer, and the hours were given up to amusement, the future, with its stupendous projects, could not be avoided; and when the week was ended, the details of the enterprise before them had been so well elaborated that it only remained to do what had been agreed upon.