now were skirting. The hues of autumn had been
shaken down over mile after mile of wide forest which appeared in a
panorama of russet and gold and red, to grow the more resplendent
when they should arrive opposite the high bluffs which line the
stream almost to the town of Wheeling.

Below these upper reaches, then the least settled and wildest
portion of the country along the Ohio, the river flattened and
widened, the current becoming more gentle, and the shores, though
not yet wholly cleared of their forests, presenting here and there
scenes of rural rather than of savage beauty. Civilization had not
as yet taken full hold along this rich valley. The old town of
Marietta, the cities of Louisville and Cincinnati, the villages
huddled at mouths of such rivers as came down from the Virginia
hills, or the larger settlements marking points near the
debouchments of slower streams like the Muskingum and Wabash, which
crossed the flatter lands beyond, made the chief points of traffic
and of interest in those days of west bound travel.

On the upper deck or along the rails of the lower deck, many
passengers were gazing out at the varying pictures of the passing
shores. Not so the young officer, erstwhile accosted as jailer of
a woman, later hinted to be something else than jailer. With eyes
cast down, he spent most of his time pacing up and down alone. Yet
it was not an irresolute soul which reposed beneath the half-frigid
exterior. He presently arrived upon a plan of action.

The public, too, had its rights, he concluded, and the woman as a
woman had her rights also to her good fame. He must not harm her
name. Best then, to disarm suspicion by playing the game wholly in
the open. The midday meal now being announced by loud proclamation
of the boat's gong, he turned, and soon rapped at the door of room
nineteen.

Jeanne, the tearful but faithful maid who shared her mistress'
fortunes, by this time had done what she could to mend her lady's
appearance. The traces of travel had been quite removed, by virtue
of the contents of such valises as they had with them. Good health
and youth, as well as good courage, fought for Josephine St. Auban,
as well as good sense and a philosophy of travel learned by
experiences in other lands. If indeed she had not slept, at least
her face did not betray that fact. Her color was good, her eye was
clear. Her dark hair, brushed low over the temples in the fashion
of the day, w