d the sight and sound of his writhing and groaning, she
fled forward; and, reflecting on this strange and awkward meeting, went
down to her own berth, where, with lucid intervals, she remained helpless
and half stupid for the next three days. On the fourth day, however, she
reappeared on deck quite recovered, and with an excellent appetite. She
had her breakfast, and then went and sat forward in as quiet a place as
she could find. She did not want to see Mr. Meeson any more, and she did
want to escape from the stories of her cabin-mate, the lady's-maid. This
good person would, after the manner of her kind, insist upon repeating to
her a succession of histories connected with members of the families with
whom she had lived, many of which were sufficient to make the hair of a
respectable young lady like Augusta stand positively on end. No doubt
they were interesting to her in her capacity of a novelist; but, as they
were all of the same colour, and as their tendency was absolutely to
destroy any belief she might have in virtue as an inherent quality in
highly developed woman or honour in man, Augusta soon wearied of these
_chroniques scandaleuses_. So she went forward, and was sitting looking
at the "white horses" chasing each other across the watery plain, and
reflecting upon what the condition of mind of those ladies whose
histories she had recently heard would be if they knew that their most
secret, and in some cases disgraceful and tragic, love affairs were the
common talk of a dozen servants' halls, when suddenly she was astonished
by the appearance of a splendid official bearing a book. At first, from
the quantity of gold lace with which his uniform was adorned, Augusta
took him to be the captain; but it presently transpired that he was only
the chief steward.

"Please, Miss," he said, touching his hat and holding out the book in his
hand towards her, "the captain sends his compliments and wants to know if
you are the young lady who wrote this."

Augusta glanced at the work. It was a copy of "Jemima's Vow." Then she
replied that she was the writer of it, and the steward vanished.

Later on in the morning came another surprise. The gorgeous official
again appeared, touched his cap, and said that the captain desired him to
say that orders had been given to have her things moved to a cabin
further aft. At first Augusta demurred to this, not from any love of the
lady's-maid, but because she had a truly British objectio