o see me. Be brave now, and wish me a good
voyage. Good-bye, my own little girl." And he was obliged to put her
from him. She was led down the gangway by Mr. Forester; blinded by her
tears, she could not see the way before her. People crowded behind them,
there was much shouting of good-byes, the clatter of gangways being
withdrawn, a straining and creaking of ropes, a throbbing of engines,
and the great ship began to move--stealthily, it seemed to Marjory, as
though it knew the heartaches it was causing, and felt ashamed of its
part in tearing so many people away from their friends.

"Come, cheer up, Marjory," urged Mrs. Forester. "Give your uncle a smile
to take with him. Wave your handkerchief--quick! they're off!"

Marjory's kind friends stayed with her until nothing more could be seen.
She watched the tall, bent figure standing at the rail until it merged
into the misty outline of the ship. She strained her eyes to the very
last, and then she turned away, white and trembling and tearful.

"I didn't know I should care so much," she whispered half apologetically
to Mrs. Forester.

"You see, you are such good friends with your uncle now, dear, that it
is very hard to part with him, I know; but cheer up, and look forward to
his coming home. It won't be very long."

Blanche had thoroughly enjoyed her visit to the docks. Mr. Forester had
taken her over the ship; she had seen the saloons and staterooms, and
had been on to the captain's bridge, and thought it great fun. She was
sorry for Marjory's trouble, but she could hardly see the reason for its
intensity. She had often been parted from her father for more than two
months, which was all the time the doctor expected to be away. Dr.
Hunter never made much fuss over Marjory that she could see--"Nothing
like daddy does over me," she reflected. Still, it was very sweet of
Marjory to care so much.

Yes, Marjory did care. She had grown to love dearly the silent, stern
man who had been father and mother to her. He was gone. Her life would
be strangely empty without him, and she would count the days until he
came back to her.

CHAPTER XX.

THE DOCTOR'S DISAPPOINTMENT.

"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises."--SHAKESPEARE.

Dr. Hunter attended the most important meetings of the Congress of
Scientists which was being held in New York. He was quite unprepared for
the reception that was given him there. Of a very quiet and retirin