t present, sir. She and the master leave for
England on Friday in the _Orizaba_."

"What!" I cried, almost forgetting myself in my astonishment. "You don't
mean to say that Miss Wetherell goes to England in the _Orizaba_?"

"I do, sir. And I do hear she's goin' 'ome to be presented at Court,
sir!"

"Ah! Thank you. Will you give her my card, and say that I hope she is
none the worse for her fright last evening?"

He took the card, and a substantial tip with it, and I went back to my
cab in the seventh heaven of delight. I was to be shipmates with this
lovely creature! For four weeks or more I should be able to see her
every day! It seemed almost too good to be true. Instinctively I began
to make all sorts of plans and preparations. Who knew but what--but
stay, we must bring ourselves up here with a round turn, or we shall be
anticipating what's to come.

To make a long story short--for it must be remembered that what I am
telling you is only the prelude to all the extraordinary things that
will have to be told later on--the day of sailing came. I went down to
the boat on the morning of her departure, and got my baggage safely
stowed away in my cabin before the rush set in.

About three o'clock we hove our anchor and steamed slowly down the Bay.
I had been below when the Wetherells arrived on board, so the young lady
had not yet become aware of my presence. Whether she would betray any
astonishment when she did find out was beyond my power to tell; at any
rate, I know that I was by a long way the happiest man aboard the boat
that day. However, I was not to be kept long in suspense. Before we had
reached the Heads it was all settled, and satisfactorily so. I was
standing on the promenade deck, just abaft the main saloon entrance,
watching the panorama spread out before me, when I heard a voice I
recognized only too well say behind me:

"Good-bye to you, dear old Sydney. Great things will have happened when
I set eyes on you again."

Little did she know how prophetic were her words. As she spoke I turned
and confronted her. For a moment she was overwhelmed with surprise,
then, stretching out her hand, she said:

"Really, Mr. Hatteras, this is most wonderful. You are the last person I
expected to meet on board."

"And perhaps," I replied, "I might with justice say the same of you."

She turned to a tall, white-bearded man beside her.

"Papa, I must introduce you to Mr. Hatteras. You will remember I told
you ho