CROSSING THE CHANNEL.
The sea is calm, and clear the sky—only a few clouds scudding by: The Passengers look bright, and say, "Are we not lucky in the day!" The Mate stands in the wheelhouse there, and turns the wheel with watchful care:Steering to-day is work enough; what must it be when weather's rough? Look at him in his sheltered place—he hasn't got a merry face— 'Tis not such fun for him, you know, he goes so often to and fro. Nellie and Father, looking back, glance at the vessel's lengthening track— "How far," says Nellie, "we have come! good-bye, good-bye, dear English home!" Dennis and Rose and Mabel, walking upon the deck, are gaily talking— Says Mabel, "No one must forget to call my new doll 'Antoinette'; Travelling in France, 'twould be a shame for her to have an English name." Says Dennis, "Call her what you will, so you be English 'Mabel' still." Says Rose, to Dennis drawing nigher, "I think the wind is getting higher;" "If a gale blows, do you suppose, we shall be wrecked?" asks little Rose.
