is coming in she will pass out there."

"Yes, but too far out for you to see her, Mary."

"Never mind; bring me the glasses. It will help to pass the weary hours
of waiting."

Mr. Hamilton brought her a pair of marine glasses, and rearranging the
cushions behind her head with a tender hand, he left her eagerly
scanning the horizon for some sign of a passing steamer.

When he returned from the telegraph office she called to him eagerly:

"Look, Edward, just off the point. There is a steamer."

"Yes, probably a collier."

"But she seems to be headed this way."

"They go up the sound to New York."

"But might she not be the--the----"

"No, Mary; she would have to head out around Cape Cod to make Boston."

"I know, I know, but perhaps she may land him here."

"That would take her out of her course and mean the loss of time. Her
captain would not do that."

For fifteen minutes more, Mrs. Hamilton watched the steamer in silence
and then she turned again to her husband, and said:

"She is not going up the sound, Edward; she is headed in here." Mr.
Hamilton took the glasses and scanned the steamer.

"She does seem to be headed this way."

"It is the _Mariella_, Edward."

Mrs. Hamilton spoke in a low tone of deep conviction. Her husband looked
at her anxiously.

"You are trying to make coincidences fit your wishes, Mary," he said.
"Do not build up false hopes; the disappointment will be too much for
your worn nerves."

"I shall not be disappointed, Edward; see, she is headed straight in
now."

"It is strange," said Mr. Hamilton, beginning himself to take an
interest in the steamer, which was now certainly headed almost for the
cottage.

"Quick, Edward, the glasses; I can see people on her decks."

Mrs. Hamilton rose from her chair as she spoke and almost snatched the
glasses from her husband's hands in her eagerness. For a long time she
stood like a statue with the glasses trained on the steamer, and then
suddenly she took a white shawl from her shoulders and waved it wildly
above her head.

"It is Harry," she cried, sobbing with excitement, as she thrust the
glasses into her husband's hands. "See, they have seen us, too, and
Harry is waving his hat."

Her overwrought nerves could not stand the excess of joy and she sank
into her husband's arms.

Mr. Hamilton carried her into a big room that overlooked the water and
placed her gently on a lounge. When she recovered consciousness and
opened her e