194 DOGGED JACK.

 The old sailor shook his head.
 "They say a morning dream comes true," he
 answered.
 "0 Joe, Joe! do you think I'll never see father
 again ?" cried the boy in an agony.
 "Maybe he'll not be quite dead before you get
home," suggested Joe consolingly.
 But Jack, when he found his friend prove such a
Job's comforter, turned sadly away.
 Notwithstanding the captain's hope that the
"Egeria" would have finished her voyage by the
afternoon, she was not in harbour at Westcoast until
seven that evening.
 Jack, having paid his adieus to the captain and
all on board, and bade an affectionate farewell to his
friend Joe, was one of the first to spring across the
gangway, and reach the land.
 The ground seemed to melt under his feet as he
bounded along, so delightful did it feel to be at
liberty again, instead of being imprisoned on board a
few yards of deck. For the first hour of his walk he
felt comparatively light-hearted, but as the daylight
died more fully away, and a great harvest moon arose
in the sky, the remembrance of his dream, which had
somewhat faded away during the bustle of the day,
came to his mind more and more. Every tree, hill,
and stream that he passed, he seemed to feel he had