"The lil gel has done her best, Ay know," said his host.

"A year I think you said you were going out for," said Captain Owen.

"Well, I hope to be away only eight or nine months; certainly not
longer than a year," said Cardo.

And while the two old sea captains bade their last good-byes and good
wishes to each other, Cardo slipped out to find Valmai, who had quietly
disappeared.

She was sitting on the old red sofa in the little back parlour in an
abandonment of grief.

"Oh! Cardo, Cardo, it has come! Now in reality it has come!"

Cardo drew her towards him.

"Cheer up, darling," he said. "You'll be brave for my sake, won't you?"

"Yes," she said, trying to check her sobs, "this is the last time I am
going to be weak and childish. To-morrow I will be strong and brave
and womanly. You will see, Cardo, a bright, courageous wife to cheer
her husband at parting, and to bid him look forward with hope to
meeting again. Oh! I know quite well what I ought to be."

"You are perfection in my eyes, f'anwylyd--that is what makes the
parting with you so cruel. Gwynne Ellis was quite right when he said
that it would be much harder to part with a wife of a week than a
sweetheart of a year."

CHAPTER XI.

THE "BLACK DOG."

During the next few weeks, Cardo Wynne was generally to be seen pacing
the deck of the _Burrawalla_, playing with the children or chatting
with some of the passengers. He walked up and down, with his hands
sunk deep in his pockets, and cap tied firmly under his chin, for there
was a pretty stiff breeze blowing, which developed later on in the
voyage into the furious gales and storms which made that autumn so
memorable for its numerous wrecks and casualties. Cardo was a great
favourite on board, his frank and genial manner, the merry twinkle of
his eye, and his tender politeness to the very old or the very young
had won all hearts. With good-natured cheerfulness he entered into the
plans and pastimes of the youthful part of the community, so that he
had made a favourable impression upon all, from the cabin boy to the
captain, and from the old general, who seldom left his berth, to the
big black retriever, who was making his third voyage with his master to
the Antipodes.

"Always a pleasant smile on his face when you speak to him," said one
of the ladies to a friend one day; "but I think he has a rather sad
look sometimes, when he is pacing up and down with his hands in his
pockets."