ted to
follow, and return to shore with the husband she had abandoned. Her mind
must have been poisoned, her judgment perverted, before she could have
left him thus of her own free will; and it would need the light of calm
reason to set things right again. No; John Saltram could scarcely hope to
carry her off by a _coup-de-main_, in the face of the artful schemer who
had evidently obtained so strong an influence over her. That she could
for a moment contemplate this voyage to America with her father, was
enough to demonstrate the revolution that must have taken place in her
feelings towards her husband.

"Slander and lies are very strong," John Saltram said to himself; "but I
do not think, when my dear love and I are once face to face, any power on
earth can prevail against me. She must be changed indeed, if it can; she
must be changed indeed, if anything but a lie can part us."

He had come on board the _Oronoco_ prepared for the worst, and furnished
with a slender outfit for the voyage, hurriedly purchased at a Liverpool
clothier's. He had plenty of money in his pocket--enough to pay for his
own and his wife's return passage; and the thought of this useless
journey across the Atlantic troubled him very little. What did it matter
where he was, if she were with him? The mental torture he had undergone
during all this time, in which he had seemed in danger of losing her
altogether, had taught him how dear she was--how precious and perfect a
treasure he had held so lightly.

The vessel steamed put of the Mersey, and John Saltram, indifferent to
the last glimpse of his native land, was still roaming hither and
thither, in quest of the familiar face he longed with such a passionate
yearning to see; but up to this point he sought for his wife in vain.
Mrs. Holbrook had evidently retired at once to her cabin. There was
nothing for him to do but to establish a channel of communication with
her by means of the stewardess.

He found this official with some trouble, and so desperately busy that it
was no easy matter to obtain speech with her, pursued as she was by
forlorn and distracted female passengers, clamorously eager to know where
she had put that "waterproof cloak," or "Maud," or "travelling-bag," or
"dressing-case." He did at last contrive to enlist her services in his
behalf, and extort some answer to his questions.

"Yes," she told him, "Mrs. Holbrook was on board--state-room number 7.
She had gone to her room at o