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BEN HOLDEN'S MARRIAGE.
299
And ere we bid farewell to Steve, we must say this thing of him: he has amply redeemed all his promises; and there is not to-day in all the merchant-service a safer, bolder, or more trusted captain than Stephen Benson. Also, so many of his own dreams have been realized. He has sailed his ship to Indian seas and Mediterranean cities, and to tropical South American harbors, and found time, without neglecting his legitimate business, to make a good many interesting observations on animal and vegetable life, and to collect all kinds of beautiful and singular specimens in this pretty home on the New Jersey coast.
