Excerpt from The Captains Room, Etc Perhaps the most eventful day in the story of which I have to tell, was that on which the veil of doubt and misery which had hung before the eyes of Lal Rydquist for three long years was partly lifted. It was so eventful, that I venture to relate what happened on that day first of all, even though it tells half the story at the very beginning. That we need not care much to consider, because, although it is the story of a great calamity long dreaded and happily averted, it is a story of sorrow borne bravely, of faith, loyalty, and courage. A story such as one loves to tell, because, in the world of fiction, at least, virtue should always triumph, and true hearts be rewarded. Wherefore, if there be any who love to read of the mockeries of fate, the wasting of good women's love, the success of craft and treachery, instances of which are not wanting in the world, let them go elsewhere, or make a Christmas tale for themselves; and their joy bells, if they like it, shall be the funeral knell, and their noels a dirge beside the grave of ruined and despairing innocence, and for their feast they may have the bread and water of affliction. The name of the girl of whom we are to speak was Alicia Rydquist, called by all her friends Lal; the place of her birth and home was a certain little-known suburb of London, called Rotherhithe. She was not at all an aristocratic person, being nothing but the daughter of a Swedish sea-captain and an English wife. Her father was dead, and, after his death, the widow kept a captains boarding-house, which of late, for reasons which will presently appear, had greatly risen in repute. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.