saw the arrival of the _Cotopaxi_ at Liverpool, and
as, of course, it had been known for several days beforehand that
certain survivors from the _Everest_ were on board her, and as, thanks
to frequent wireless communications with her, the time of her arrival
was known almost to a minute, and had been made public, the landing
stage was packed with people when the ship drew alongside, most of them,
it is true, animated by nothing more than mere morbid curiosity to gaze
upon those who had recently passed through a very terrible experience,
but among them were a few who had come down to welcome back to life the
relatives or friends who had escaped. And among these were Mr James
McGregor, the manager of the Mount S.S. Company; and with him, Grace
Cavendish, the purpose of the latter being, of course, to welcome her
brother, while Mr Mcgregor's business was to see that Dick did not
prematurely fall into the hands of the reporters. Dick and Earle, being
both destitute of baggage, were among the first to cross the gang plank,
landing together; and thus it came about that Earle naturally saw Grace
Cavendish, and was introduced to her, with results that may hereafter be
disclosed. And it is significant that whereas Earle's original
intention had been to proceed direct to London he now somewhat surprised
Dick by informing him that he intended to take up his abode in the
Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, for the present.

The events of the ensuing two months, during which period the judicial
inquiry into the loss of the _Everest_ was prepared for and carried out,
have very little to do with this story, and they may, therefore, be
dismissed in a few words. It was, of course, only natural that Mr
McGregor, in his capacity of manager to the company owning the lost
liner, should have frequent and long interviews with Dick and Earle, for
the purpose of eliciting information upon various points connected with
the disaster, as they were raised by the company's counsel, and those
interviews soon resulted in the development of a strong mutual
friendship between the trio, in consequence of which Dick and Earle
became frequent visitors at the manager's house overlooking Prince's
Park. And, quite as naturally, it soon came about that Dick informed
Mr McGregor of Earle's proposal, and invited the manager's opinion as
to the effect which his acceptance of it would have upon his future
prospects. The result was that, after the three had fully talke