ing by, and he touched his hat again, this
time to Mrs. Cliff.

"The other lady is very sea-sick! I heard her groaning fearfully as I
passed her door."

"Oh, I must go down to Willy," said Mrs. Cliff. "And, Captain, you and I
will have to breakfast together."

As Mrs. Cliff opened the door of Willy Croup's state-room, a pale white
face in the lower berth was turned towards her, and a weak and trembling
voice said to her, "Oh, Sarah, you have come at last! Is there any way
of getting me out of this horrible little hole?"

For two days Mrs. Cliff and Captain Burke breakfasted, dined, and supped
by themselves. They had head-winds, and the sea was very rough, and
although the yacht did not make the time that might have been expected
of her in fair weather, she did very well, and Burke was satisfied. The
two stewards were kept very busy with the prostrate and dejected members
of the Synod, and Mrs. Cliff and the stewardess devoted their best
efforts to the alleviation of the woes of Willy, which they were glad to
see were daily dwindling.

They had rounded Cape Hatteras, the sea was smoother, the cold wind had
gone down, and Willy Croup, warmly wrapped up, was sitting in a steamer
chair on deck. The desire that she might suddenly be transferred to
Plainton or to heaven was gradually fading out of her mind, and the blue
sky, the distant waves, and the thought of the approaching meal were
exercising a somewhat pleasurable influence upon her dreamy feeling,
when Captain Burke, who stood near with a telescope, announced that the
steamer over there on the horizon line was heading south and that he had
a notion she was the _Antonina_, the vessel on which Shirley had sailed.

"I believed that we could overhaul her!" said he to Mrs. Cliff. "I
didn't know much about her sailing qualities, but I had no reason to
believe she has the speed of this yacht, and, as we're on the same
course, I thought it likely we would sight her, and what's more, pass
her. We'll change our course a little so that we will be closer to her
when we pass."

Mrs. Cliff, who had taken the glass, but could not see through it very
well, returned it to the Captain and remarked, "If we can go so much
faster than she does, why can't we take Mr. Shirley on board when we
catch up to her?"

"I don't know about that," said Burke. "To do that, both vessels would
have to lay to and lose time, and she might not want to do it as she's a
regular steamer, and carries