slowly
back to the bench.

CHAPTER XVI

A CHARGE TO KEEP

When Dan Webster took his seat at the dinner table, that evening, he
found a printed copy of the passenger-list beside his plate, and his
neighbours were a-flutter with the excitement of seeing their names in
type. Dan, turning to the letter V, found that the names of Ignace Vard
and his daughter were not there. Doubtless the change from second-class
to first was responsible for the omission, and yet, at the back of his
mind was a vague feeling of uneasiness which he was wholly unable to
explain. Chevrial had impressed him, and yet one objection to that
gentleman's misgivings seemed to him unanswerable: if the Vards had been
changed from second-class to first with any ulterior object, the
authorities in charge of the ship must be in the plot, and that was
manifestly absurd.

Yet his determination to seek Miss Vard at the first moment and advise
her to be cautious did not waver. He knew, from the printed
announcements of the company, that the first-cabin dinner was not a
table-d'hote served at a fixed hour, as in the second-cabin, but an a la
carte meal, served from six to nine, as at a fashionable restaurant; so
he loitered restlessly about for half an hour after he left the table;
then, deciding that he had waited long enough, he approached the ladder
which led to the first-class promenade. But a uniformed figure which
stood at the foot of the ladder stopped him.

"Beg pardon, sir," it said, "are you first-class?"

"No; I am second."

"Did you wish to see the purser or some officer of the ship?"

"No; I wished to _see_ one of the passengers."

"In that case, I fear I cannot let you pass, sir. It is against the
rules."

"Oh, is it?" said Dan, all his suspicions revived with double force, and
he bit his lip in perplexity.

"I am sorry, sir; but I am here to enforce the rules."

"Oh, I understand," said Dan.

"You might get your stateroom steward to take a message," the man
suggested.

"But I want to _see_ the person."

"The person can come to you. There is no rule against first-class
visiting second. First-class has the run of the ship."

"I see," said Dan. "Thank you," and he went away to think it over.

Mechanically he threaded his way through the crowd on the promenade,
climbed up to the boat-deck, and sat down on the well-remembered bench.
Some of the others were occupied, but this one was empty; perhaps the
others were becomin