detained in Paris by a severe attack of the old disease, but
finally reached London--whence, having completed their arrangements, they
set off for Southampton, and took passage in the _Trent_, which was
destined subsequently to play a prominent part in the tangled role of
Diplomacy, and to furnish the most utterly humiliating of many chapters of
the pusillanimity, sycophancy, and degradation of the Federal government.

The voyage proved pleasant and prosperous; and, once at Havana, Eric
anxiously sought an opportunity of testing the vaunted efficiency of the
blockade. Unfortunately, two steamers had started the week previous, one to
New Orleans, the other to Charleston; only sailing vessels were to be
found, and about the movements of these, impenetrable mystery seemed
wrapped. On the afternoon of the third day after their arrival, Eric,
wearied with the morning's fruitless inquiry, was resting on the sofa at
the hotel, while Electra watched the tide of passers-by, when Willis,
Eric's servant, came in quickly, and walked up to the sofa.

"Master, Captain Wright is here. I asked him to come and see you, and he is
waiting downstairs."

"Captain Wright?"

"Yes, sir; the captain you liked so much at Smyrna--the one who gave you
that pipe, sir."

"Oh, I remember! Yes--yes; and he is here? Well, show him up."

"Master, from the way he watches the clouds, I believe he is about to run
out. Maybe he can take us?"

"Willis is invaluable to you, Mr. Mitchell," said Electra, as the negro
left the room.

"He is indeed. He is eyes, ears, crutches, everything to me, and never
forgets anything or anybody. He has travelled over half the world with
me--could desert me, and be free at any moment he felt inclined to do
so--but is as faithful now as the day on which I first left home with him."

"Ah, Captain! this is an unexpected pleasure. I am heartily glad to see
you. Miss Grey--Captain Wright. Take a seat."

The captain looked about thirty, possibly older; wore a grey suit and broad
straw hat, and, when the latter was tossed on the floor, showed a handsome,
frank, beaming face, with large, clear, smiling blue eyes, whose steady
light nothing human could dim. His glossy reddish-brown hair was thrust
back from a forehead white and smooth as a woman's, but the lower portion
of the face was effectually bronzed by exposure to the vicissitudes of
climate and weather; and Electra noticed a peculiar nervous restlessness of
manner, as