A moment later another thought came to him which was a delight, and that was that with every revolution of the screw he was drawing nearer to his Grace.  When an hour later he retired to his state-room he hummed a song as he went, and the throbbing of the machinery and the wash of the seas against the ship’s beam made his lullaby, as the long roll of the steamer rocked him to sleep.

As before stated, Sedgwick had written his wife fully at Port Natal.  Two days after he left, the steamer from the North came in.  It remained five days, and then started North again.  Its mails were eighteen days in reaching London.

Grace was looking for a letter from Port Natal, when Sedgwick’s cable from Melbourne reached her.  She could not quite comprehend the matter until, a day later, his letter came, and the next day his second cable, announcing that he was just about to sail for San Francisco.  That day she did what she had not done since she left school—­got a map of the world and studied it until she put her finger on a spot between Sidney and New Zealand, and said:  “He is there now,” and bent and kissed the place on the map.

That evening she went over from her home to call upon Jack and Rose.  There she found a gentleman who, with his wife and daughter, were going to sail two days later for Australia, via New York and San Francisco.  Their names were Hobart.  Grace had known them ever since her father had moved to London.  They were talking of their proposed journey, when the young lady said gaily:  “Mrs. Sedgwick, come along with us as far as New York, or San Francisco at least.”  At this the father and mother together seconded the invitation.

“Do you really mean it?” said Grace.

“Indeed we do,” said all three.

“And when do you sail?” asked Grace.

“Early, day after to-morrow.  That is, we leave here early and sail at noon,” said Mr. Hobart.  “We have two full staterooms engaged.  You can room with Lottie”—­the young lady’s name—­“and be companion for us all.”

“I will be ready day after to-morrow morning,” said Grace, seriously.

“Not in earnest?” said Rose.

“In sober earnest,” said Grace.

“To New York?” said Browning.

“To New York, and may be farther,” was the reply.

“As far as Ohio, I guess,” said Jack.

“May be as far as Ohio,” said Grace, and she smiled as she spoke.

The Hobarts were delighted, but Jack and Rose looked serious.

“It is a long way, Gracie,” said Jack.

“A fearfully long way,” said Rose.

“Suppose, Rose, that Jack was as far away, would you think it a long way to go to see him?” asked Grace.

“O, Gracie!  No, no,” said Rose.

“When did you hear last from your husband?” asked Hobart.

“This afternoon,” said Grace.

“And how long, Grace, before he will be in England?” asked Jack.