was one of extreme melancholy.

Before embarking Heideck had discharged his faithful servant. Morar
Gopal, with tears in his eyes, had begged him to take him with him, but
Heideck was afraid that the European climate would be the death of the
poor fellow. Besides, he would have been obliged to part with him on
active service. So he gave him a hundred rupees--a fortune for Morar
Gopal.

The great steamer moved slowly out of the basin of the harbour, past
English merchantmen and the white ships of war, which had brought troops
and war material.

As the Caledonia, continually increasing her speed, made her way through
the outer harbour, Heideck saw some twenty men-of-war in the roadstead,
including several large ironclads. English troops from Malta were being
landed in boats from two transports, the decks of which glistened with
arms.

The Caledonia proceeded with increasing rapidity into the open sea. The
city and its lighthouses disappeared in the distance, the blue mountains
of the mainland and of the island were lost in a floating mist. A long,
glittering, white furrow followed in the wake of the steamer.

It was a wonderful journey for all whom a load of anxiety had not
rendered insensible to the grandeur of Nature. Heideck, happy at being
at last on the way home, enjoyed the beauty of sea and sky to the full.
The uneasy doubts which sometimes assailed him as to his own and Edith's
future were suppressed by the charm of her presence. Her impetuosity
caused him perpetual anxiety, but he loved her. Ever since she had
declared that she would never leave him she had been all devotion
and tenderness, as if tormented by a constant fear that he might
nevertheless one day cast her off.

So they sat once again, side by side, on the promenade deck. The
azure billows of the sea splashed round the planks of the vessel. The
boundless surface of ocean glittered with a marvellous brilliancy, and
everything seemed bathed in a flood of light. The double awning over the
heads of the young couple kept off the burning heat of the sun, and a
refreshing breeze swept across the deck beneath it.

"Then you would land with me at Brindisi?" asked Heideck.

"At Brindisi, or Aden, or Port Said--where you like."

"I think Brindisi will be the most suitable place. Then we can travel
together to Berlin."

Edith nodded assent.

"But I don't know how long I shall stay in Berlin," continued Heideck.
"I hope I shan't be sent to join my re