ngenuity could not have devised an
instrument better fitted to complete the destruction of the young
mystic's moral nature than a Mississippi steamboat, such as he found
lying at the wharf. He had been subjected to the fascination of love,
now he was to be tried by that of money. It is by a series of such
consecutive assaults upon every avenue of approach to the soul that it
is at last reduced to ruin.

Pepeeta was radiant with joy as they embarked. "How happy I am!" she
cried. "It seems as if I had left my old life and the old world behind
me!"

"And I am happy to see you glad," answered the wretched youth, whose
heart lay in his bosom like lead and whose conscience was writhing with
a torture of whose like he had never even dreamed. They embarked
unknown and unobserved; but as soon as the first confusion had passed,
their singular beauty and unusual appearance made them the cynosure of
every eye.

"Who is that splendid fellow?" women asked each other, as David passed
with Pepeeta on his arm, while under their breaths men swore that his
companion was the loveliest woman who had ever set foot on a Mississippi
steamer.

The pilot forgot to turn his wheel and the stevedores to put out the
gang plank when she stood looking at them. Love, and her freedom, had
transfigured her. She was radiant with health, happiness and hope, and
entered into the novelty and excitement of this floating world with the
ardor of a child.

All was gaiety and animation oh board the vessel. People from countries
widely separated mingled with each other and chatted with the greatest
freedom on every subject of human interest. Acquaintances were made
without the formality of an introduction, and it was not long before the
two adventurers were drawn into conversation.

"I have traveled all over the world," said a gentleman of foreign air,
"but I have never seen anything so picturesque as this boat. Look at the
variegated colors and styles of these costumes, at the manifold types of
countenance, at the blending of races--black and white and red! Listen
to the discordant but altogether charming sounds, the ringing of the
great bell, the roar of the whistle, the splash of the paddlewheels,
the songs of the negroes, and the clatter of dishes in the cabins! It is
a hurly-burly of noise! Then what varied scenery, what constant
excitement at the landing, what a hodge-podge, a pot-pourri of
merchandise! There is nothing like it in the world."

"Wai