m she had heard so much? and was he there on the ship with her,
and would he know by and by that she was there and come to see her? Then
she remembered Neil, and her promise to let no one know who she was,
lest he should be disgraced. So when Miss Grey sat down beside her, and
taking the hot hands in hers, said to her, "Please tell me what I can do
for you, and pardon me if I ask your name," she sobbed piteously:

"No, no--oh, no! I promised never to let it be known that I was here,
_I_ am not ashamed, but he is, and I can tell only this--I am very poor
and am going to America to earn my living. I had no money for a
first-class ticket, and so I came in here. They are very kind to me,
Jennie and Mrs. Goodnough. I am going out with her. Are you an
American?"

"Yes; I am Miss Grey, from Allington, I will help you if I can," was
the reply, and then Bessie's tears fell faster, as she cried:

"Thank you, no. You must not talk to me. You must not come again. Please
go away, or I shall break my promise to Neil."

The name dropped from her lips unwittingly, and Miss Grey repeated it to
herself, trying to remember why it seemed so familiar to her, and as she
thought and looked wonderingly at the tear-stained face, the impulsive
Jennie broke in:

"An' plaze yer ladyship, if you'll go away now and lave Miss Bessie to
be aisy for a little, I'm sure she'll see you again."

"Bessie! Neil!" Miss Grey repeated aloud, and then she thought of Grey's
friend, Neil McPherson, and remembered there was a cousin Bessie of whom
she, too, had heard. Could this be she? Impossible; and yet so strong an
impression had been made upon her that as she passed out and met Mrs.
Goodnough, who, she knew, had the young lady in charge, she said to her:

"I hope you will let me know if I can do anything for Miss McPherson."

"Did she tell you her name?" Mrs. Goodnough asked, in surprise, for
Bessie had confided to her the fact that, as far as possible, she wished
to be strictly incognito on the ship.

Miss Lucy was sure now, and with her thoughts in a tumult of perplexity
and wonder, she hurried away to the state-room of her nephew.

CHAPTER VIII.

GREY AND HIS AUNT.

Grey had been very sick the entire voyage. Since the day when he heard
that Bessie was dead he had lost all interest in everything, and though
he went wherever his aunt wished to go, it was only to please her, and
not because he cared in the least for anything he saw. From F