omes! After all, though, he may _not_ come!'

'Let us find out,' said Mark; 'surely there's some way of finding
out.'

'Oh yes,' said Caffyn. 'I dare say they can tell us at the offices.
We'll have a cab and drive there now, and then we shall know what to
do. Leadenhall Street, isn't it?'

They walked sharply across to the Bayswater Road, where they could get
a hansom; and as they drove along towards the City, Mark's hopes began
to rise. Perhaps Holroyd was not on board the 'Coromandel'--and then
he tried to prepare himself for the contrary. How should he receive
Vincent when he came? for of course he would seek him out at once.
The desperate idea of throwing himself on his friend's mercy occurred
to him; if he could be the first to tell Holroyd the truth, surely he
would consent to arrange the matter without any open scandal! He would
not wish to ruin him so long as he received his own again. Both Caffyn
and Mark were very silent during that long and wearisome drive, with
its frequent blocks in the crowded City thoroughfares; and when they
arrived at last at the courtyard in front of the offices, Mark said to
his companion, '_You_ manage this, will you?' for he felt quite
unequal to the task himself.

They had to wait some time at a broad mahogany counter before a clerk
was at liberty to attend to them, for the office was full of people
making various inquiries or paying passage money. Mark cursed the
deliberation with which the man before them was choosing his berth on
the cabin plan submitted to him; but at last the precautions against
the screw and the engines and the kitchens were all taken, and the
clerk proceeded to answer Caffyn's questions in the fullest and most
obliging manner. He went with them to the telegram boards by the
doors, and after consulting a despatch announcing the 'Coromandel's'
departure from Gibraltar, said that she would probably be at Plymouth
by the next evening, or early on the following morning.

'Now find out if _he's_ on board her,' said Mark; and his heart almost
stopped when the clerk came back with a list of passengers and ran his
finger down the names.

'V. B. Holroyd--is that your friend? If you think of meeting him at
Plymouth, you have only to see our agents there, and they will let you
know when the tender goes out to take the passengers ashore.'

After that Mark made his way out blindly, followed by Caffyn. 'Let us
talk here; it's quieter,' said the latter when they wer