The strange surname struck her; it was "Bennydeck." Not a common name, and not a name which seemed to be altogether unknown to her.

Had she heard her father mention it at home in the time of her early childhood?
There were no associations with it that she could now call to mind.
She read the letter.

It addressed her father familiarly as "My dear Roderick," and it proceeded in these words:-- "The delay in the sailing of your ship offers me an opportunity of writing to you again.

My last letter told you of my father's death.

I was then quite unprepared for an event which has happened, since that affliction befell me.