乔讲述了哈克斯和维格船长的经历。原本幸福的两个家庭由于一次意外事故发生了彻底改变。哈克斯的儿子带着维格的一儿一女出海发生意外，三个孩子全部丧生。两对夫妻离开海边来到偏僻的米尔维尔，维格的妻子生下乔后不久离世。维格在一次投资失败后，心脏病突发离世……"As a young man，my father was a successful sea captain，"said the boy，"and，before he was thirty，owned a considerable interest in the ship he sailed.Thomas Hucks was his boatswain，—an honest and able seaman in whom my father became much interested.Hucks was married，and his wife was an attendant in the employ of Hugh Carter，a wealthy ship chandler of Edmunton，the port from which my fathers ship sailed.Thomas had some dif？culty in enjoying his wife's society when on shore，because old Carter did not want him hanging around the house；so Captain Wegg good—naturedly offered to intercede fora him.
"Carter was a g r u ff b and disagreeable man，and，although my father had been a good customer，he refused his request and threatened to discharge Nora，which he did.This made Captain Wegg angry，and he called upon Mary Carter，whose especial attendant Nora had been，to ask her to take the girl back.Mary was a mild young lady，who dared not oppose her father；but the result of the interview was that the sea captain and Mary Carter fell mutually in love.During the next two or three years，whenever the ship was in port，the lovers frequently met by stealthc at the cottage of Mrs.Hucks，a little place Thomas had rented.Here my father and mother were ？nally married.
"Meantime Nora had a son，a fine young chap，I'veheard；and presently my mother，who had a little fortune of her own，plucked upa enough courage to leave her father's roof，and took up her abodeb in a pretty villa on the edge of a bluff overlooking the sea.Nora came to live with her again，bringing her child，and the two women were company for one another while their husbands were at sea.
"In course of time my mother had two children，a girl and a boy，and because the Hucks boy was considerably older than they，he took care of them，to a great extent，and the three youngsters were always together.Their favorite playground was on the beach，at the foot of the bluff，and before young Tom was ten years old he could swim like a duck，and manage a boat remarkably well.The Wegg children，havingsomething of their mother's timid nature，perhaps，were not so adventurous，but they seldom hesitated to go wherever Tom led them.
"One day，while my mother was slightly ill and Nora wasattending to her，Tom disobeyed the commands that had been given him，and took his younger companions out on the ocean for a ride in his boat.No one knows how far they went，or exactly what happened to them；but a sudden squallc sprang up，and the children being missed，my mother insisted，ill as she was，in running down to the shore to search for herdarlings.Braving the wind and drencheda by rain，the two mothers stood side by side，peering into the gloom，while brave men dared the waves to search for the missing ones.The body of the girl was ？rst washed ashore，and my mother rocked the lifeless form in her arms until her dead son was laid beside her.Then young Tom's body was recovered，and the horror was complete.
"When my father arrived，three days later，he not onlyfound himself bereaved of b the two children he had loved so tenderly，but his young wife was raving with brain fever，and likely to follow her babies to the grave.During that terrible time，Nora，who could not forget that it was her own adventurous son who had led all three children to their death，went suddenly blind—from grief，the doctors said.
"My father pulled his wife back to life by dint of careful nursing；but whenever she looked at the sea she would scream with horror；so it became necessary to take her where the cruel sound of the breakers could never reach her ears.I think the grief of Thomas and Nora was scarcely less than that of my own parents，and both men had suffered so severely that they were willing to abandon the sea and devote their lives to comforting their poor wives.Captain Wegg sold all his interests and his wife's villa，and brought the money here，where he established a home amid entirely different surroundings.He was devoted to my mother，I have heard，and when shedied，soon after my birth，the Captain seemed to lose all further interest in life，and grew morose and unsociable with all his fellow—creatures.
"That，young ladies，is the story of what Thomas andNora call their 'great trouble'；and I think it is rightly named，because it destroyed the happiness of two families.I was born long after the tragedy，but its shadow has saddened even my own life."When the boy had finished，his voice trembling withemotion as he uttered the last words，his auditors were much affected by the sad tale.Patsy was positively weeping，and the Major blew his nose vigorously and advised his daughter to "dry up an'be sinsible."Beth's great eyes stared compassionately at the young fellow，and even Louise for the moment allowed her sympathy to outweigh the disappointment and chagrin of seeing her carefully constructed theory of crime topple over like the house of cardsa it was.There was now no avenger to be discovered，because there had been nothing to avenge.The simple yet pathetic story accounted for all the mystery that，in her imagination，enveloped the life and death of Captain Wegg.But—stay！
"How did your father die？"she asked，softly.
