tless had much to do with the failure of the schooner to find the
steamer, since it threw out all possibility of calculating where the
larger craft could be.

"Now, if we have no more vessels trying to run into us," muttered the
captain, as he resumed his place on the bridge, "we stand a chance of
reaching Japan after all, without calling on our sails to help us."

But, standing at his post, with everything going well, his thoughts
naturally reverted to the strange mischance by which little Inez
Hawthorne was lost to him.

"I don't believe Captain Bergen or his mate, Abe Storms, would
knowingly take off the child in that fashion, though the girl was
enough to tempt any one to steal her. There is something about the
whole business which I don't understand. We ought to have found each
other, though, if he is still hunting for me. This second breakage of
the shaft will tend to keep us apart."

The long voyage of the steamer to Japan terminated without any
incident worth the recording, and Captain Strathmore naturally became
anxious to meet the parents of Inez, though sorrowing very much over
the story he would be forced to tell them. But no one appeared at
Tokio to claim the child, and the wondering captain proceeded to make
inquiries.

It was easy to obtain from the church authorities a list of the names
of the Christian missionaries in Japan, and they were scanned
carefully by the captain, who was given such assistance by the
officials themselves that there could be no mistake. Among them was no
one by the name of Hawthorne. It was plain then that deception had
been used when the man in San Francisco declared that the parents of
Inez were missionaries in Japan.

As day after day passed and the steamer _Polynesia_ was gradually
prepared for her return voyage to California, there was one strong,
harrowing conviction which forced itself upon the distressed captain:

"Had Inez not been stolen from the steamer, no one would have come to
claim her, and she would have been mine."

His heart thrilled at the thought of how close he had come to
obtaining such a priceless prize for his possession, and then he
added, as if to cheer himself:

"Never mind; the earth is far and wide. She is alive somewhere upon
its face, and at some time, at heaven's own pleasure, she and I shall
meet again."

Brave and rugged Captain Strathmore! Was the spirit of prophecy upon
you when you muttered the cheering words?

CHAPTER VII