any of these places, as she is sure to have
provisioned for a long voyage, but at any rate I will wait at
Gibraltar until I get the letters, unless I can get some clue that
she has gone up the Mediterranean.

"Of course, if I don't hear of her at Cape Saint Vincent or Tarifa,
I shall try Ceuta and Tangier. If she goes up on the southern side
of the Straits, she may anchor off either, and send a boat in to
get fresh meat and fruit."

"The Royal mail and the mail down the African coast will start, one
tomorrow, the other on Monday, and I will send letters by them to
the islands. They are sure to get there before this craft that you
are in search of, and our agents will be on the lookout for her. It
may not be long before you hear from Madeira, but it may be some
time before you get the other letters, as the craft may be anything
between three weeks and five in getting there. Of course, I shall
mention when she sailed, and they will not write until all chance
of her having arrived is passed."

"Would you kindly give me the addresses of your three agents? I
will wait for the answer from Madeira, but I am afraid my patience
will never hold out until the others can come. It will be giving
the schooner a fearfully long start as it is, and as you may
suppose I shall be almost mad at having to wait and do nothing."

The secretary wrote the three addresses, and, thanking him very
warmly for his kindness and courtesy, Frank went out and despatched
a telegram to the skipper, telling him to engage ten extra hands at
once, and to buy muskets and cutlasses for the whole crew.

"I shall come down by the twelve o'clock train from town. Be at the
steamboat pier to meet me. If all is ready, shall sail at once."

Having despatched this, he drove at once to Lady Greendale's, and
told her that he had learnt that the craft in which Bertha had been
carried off had sailed for the south, probably the Mediterranean,
and that he should start that evening in pursuit.

"It may be a long chase, Lady Greendale, but never fear but that I
will bring her back safely. It will be for you to decide whether
you will continue to remain here, or go down into the country after
a time; but, of course, there is no occasion for you to make up
your mind now. I must be off at once, for I have several things to
do before I catch the twelve o'clock train."

"God bless you, Frank!" she said. "You are looking terribly worn
and fagged."

"I shall be all righ