Now his opportunity to see them had actually come.  He already knew much of the kind of places and people they were going among.

Three thousand miles across the open sea lay the Marquesas Islands, the first group they hoped to visit, and it was for that port their schooner, the Casco, turned her head when she was towed out of the Golden Gate at dawn on the 28th of June.

Besides the family and a servant, Valentine Roch, who had been with them since Bournemouth days, the party consisted of the skipper, Captain Otis, who was well acquainted with the Pacific, a crew of four deck-hands, and a Japanese cook.

The Casco was a fore-and-aft schooner, ninety-five feet in length, of seventy tons’ burden.  “She had most graceful lines and with her lofty masts, white sails and decks, and glittering brass work, was a lovely craft to the eye as she sat upon the water.”

“I must try to describe the vessel that is to be our home for so long,” Mrs. Stevenson, senior, wrote to her sister at Colinton.  “From the deck you step down into the cockpit, which is our open air drawing room.  It has seats all around, nicely cushioned, and we sit or lie there most of the day.  The compass is there, and the wheel, so the man at the wheel always keeps us company....  At the bottom of the stairs on the right hand side is the captain’s room.  Straight ahead is the main—­or after—­cabin, a nice bright place with a skylight and four portholes.  There are four sofas that can be turned into beds if need be, and there are lockers under them in which our clothes are stored away.  Above and behind each sofa is a berth concealed by white lace curtains on brass rods, and in these berths we three women are laid away as on shelves each night to sleep.

“Opposite the entrance is a mirror let into the wall, with two small shelves under it.  On each side of this is a door.  The one to the right leads ... to Lloyd’s cabin, and beyond that again is the forward cabin, or dining room.  The door to the left opens into ...  Louis’ sleeping-room.  It is very roomy with both a bed and a sofa in it, so that he will be very comfortable....

“The dining room has a long table and chairs.  Between the doors a very ugly picture of fruit and cake.  Louis would fain cover it up if we could spare a flag with which to do it.  The doors at the further end lead to the pantry and galley and beyond these are the men’s quarters.”

No expense had been spared in building the Casco to make her comfortable.  She was intended, however, for cruising in the California waters and was hardly suited to the rough handling she received during the squally weather of the next few months.  Fortunately she stood the test well and her passengers suffered few discomforts.

Once under way and settled for living, the trip proved quite uneventful.  The long days were spent on deck reading or working, and Stevenson began to gather material for a book on the South Seas.  The ship’s life suited him admirably; every strange fish and new star interested him, and he grew stronger hourly in the warm air.