t seemed impossible to Nan that the lad could be able
to carry it all.

Yet he sauntered ahead quite cheerfully while the other boys turned away
disappointed to wait for the next arrival.

As the girls emerged from the long, tunnel-like entrance into the bright
sunshine of the dock they quickened their steps instinctively. The
steamship _Dorian_, which was to carry them to Florida, was already
waiting for the passengers.

Nan had never seen a harbor like this before, and she gazed with
fascinated eyes out over the glistening water, dotted thickly with craft
of all sizes and descriptions.

There were a great many docks like the kind upon which she and Bess were
standing, and they stretched out into the harbor like so many legs of an
octopus, cleaving the brilliant water with dark ugly gashes.

Over all the bustling harbor was a sense of feverish activity, of
mystery and romance, of adventuring in far, fair lands that set Nan's
blood atingle and made her breath come quickly.

"What are you waiting for?" Bess asked impatiently, and Nan roused from
her reverie with a start.

"I wasn't waiting, I was just looking," said Nan in a soft voice, as
they started up the gangplank that led to the deck of the _Dorian_. "I
never saw anything so wonderful."

"Beg pardon, Miss," said a voice in her ear, and a small hand was laid
upon her arm.

Nan turned quickly and saw that it was their small luggage carrier. In
their preoccupation the girls had both of them forgotten about their
precious bags.

With quick fingers Nan fished in her purse for the necessary quarter,
gave it to the boy and received her bag in return.

"Oh, Bess!" she cried as the boy tipped his cap and started on, "how
could I ever have done such a thing? Why, if I had lost this bag I never
would have dared face Mrs. Bragley again. Never in this wide world!"

"I wish Mrs. Bragley were in Guinea," said Bess crossly. "She and her
old papers are just about going to spoil our trip. They are making you
as nervous as a cat."

"Sh-h, Bess, not so loud," cautioned Nan, as they stepped upon the deck
of the _Dorian_ and handed over the tickets which Papa Sherwood had
secured for them.

It was perhaps fortunate for the girls' peace of mind that they did not
notice two men who were closely behind them. One of the men was fat and
short and had little eyes and a bald head, which he was now mopping
vigorously with a rather soiled handkerchief.

His companion was his