r, instead of taking the
lodgings for another term, he removed to his yacht, in the harbor, and
slept on board for two nights.

The wind was now fair, and the stores were on board, but he gave no
orders to the sailing-master to weigh anchor. On the third day, the
cause of the coolness, whatever it was, appears to have been removed,
and he returned to his lodgings on shore. Some of the more inquisitive
among the townspeople observed soon afterward, when they met him in the
street, that he looked rather anxious and uneasy. The conclusion had
probably forced itself upon his mind, by this time, that he must decide
on pursuing one of two courses: either he must resolve to make the
sacrifice of leaving the girl altogether, or he must commit the villainy
of marrying her.

Scoundrel as he was, he hesitated at encountering the risk--perhaps,
also, at being guilty of the crime--involved in this last alternative.
While he was still in doubt, the father's coasting vessel sailed into
the harbor, and the father's presence on the scene decided him at last.
How this new influence acted it was impossible to find out from the
imperfect evidence of persons who were not admitted to the family
councils. The fact, however, was certain that the date of the father's
return and the date of Mr. James Smith's first wicked resolution to
marry the girl might both be fixed, as nearly as possible, at one and
the same time.

Having once made up his mind to the commission of the crime, he
proceeded with all possible coolness and cunning to provide against the
chances of detection.

Returning on board his yacht he announced that he had given up his
intention of cruising to Sweden and that he intended to amuse himself by
a long fishing tour in Scotland. After this explanation, he ordered the
vessel to be laid up in the harbor, gave the sailing-master leave of
absence to return to his family at Cowes, and paid off the whole of
the crew from the mate to the cabin-boy. By these means he cleared
the scene, at one blow, of the only people in the town who knew of the
existence of his unhappy wife. After that the news of his approaching
marriage might be made public without risk of discovery, his own common
name being of itself a sufficient protection in case the event was
mentioned in the Scotch newspapers. All his friends, even his wife
herself, might read a report of the marriage of Mr. James Smith without
having the slightest suspicion of who the bride