a little
picturesque figure on the commonplace, modern steamer, the romance of
life which we are apt to associate only with the young, added its charm
to the thoughts of the woman of many years. The beauty of the world,
the joy of it, the great hopes of it, all filled her soul to
overflowing, for she believed her journey would bring light and
happiness to Ebben Owens. This had been the desire of her young life,
and would now be granted to her in her old age. Yes! Sara's heart was
full of joy and gratitude, for she knew neither doubt nor fear.

CHAPTER XXI

THE MATE OF THE "GWENLLIAN"

"There!" said Mrs. Jones next morning, as she gave Sara's toilet a
finishing touch, consisting of sundry tugs of adjustment to the red
mantle and an encouraging pat on the shoulders; "there! go 'long with
you now and find your precious Gethin, and give him a good scolding
from me. Tell him he is the last man in the world I would expect to
desert an old friend as he has done lately. There! the sight of such a
tidy, fresh-looking little country woman will do our pale-faced town
people good. Oh, anwl! I wish my Tom was alive; he'd have piloted you
straight to the _Gwenllian_. He knew every ship that came into the
docks. His heart was with the shipping though he could do nothing but
look at them, poor boy!" and drying her eyes with her apron she
dismissed Sara, who started with a brave heart.

Up the grimy, uninteresting Bryn Street, which the bright morning
sunlight scarcely improved, and soon into a wide, busy thoroughfare
where hurrying footsteps and jostling crowds somewhat disconcerted her.

The gay shops, especially the fruit shops, interested her greatly, as
well as the vehicles of every description, from the humble
costermonger's to the handsome broughams bearing their wealthy owners
to their offices for the day; the prettily-dressed children who toddled
beside their busy mothers to their early shopping; and, above all, the
strains of a brass band which was enlivening the morning hours with its
familiar _repertoire_. Each and all were a revelation of delight to
the simple peasant. Straight from the gorse and heather, a woman
exceptionally endowed with the instincts of a refined nature, one whose
only glimpses of the world had been gathered from the street of a small
provincial town, was it to be wondered at that to her the varied sights
and sounds around her seemed like the pageantry of a dream?

"'Tis a blue