“Nothing dangerous; a little rough, perhaps; but with congenial company, such as I trust you will find,” and his eyes gleamed with kindly merriment, “you will hardly mind that.  Good-by, Miss Carleton; bon voyage; and if I can ever in any way serve you as a friend, do not fail to command me,” and before she could reply he had vanished in the crowd.  She looked in vain for any trace of him; then turning to glance at his companion of a moment before, discovered that he had disappeared also.

A moment later the great ocean liner glided majestically out from the harbor amid prolonged cheers and a final flutter of farewells; but she was well out upon the tossing waves ere Miss Carleton turned from watching the receding shore to join her friends, as yet having found no solution of the problem perplexing her, nor even the meaning which she felt must be concealed in the words of the detective.

They had not been out many hours before it became evident that Mr. Thornton’s unfavorable predictions regarding their journey were likely to be fulfilled.  The sea was decidedly “choppy” and the motion of the boat anything but exhilarating.

When the hour for dinner arrived, Mr. Thornton, his daughter, and Miss Carleton were the only members of their party to venture forth to the dining-saloon, the others preferring to have a light repast served in their own apartments.  The captain, having discovered in Mr. Thornton an old-time friend, had ordered seats for him and his party at his own table, and the young ladies, finding their appetites rather an uncertain quantity, had plenty of opportunity for observing their fellow-passengers, particularly an Anglomaniac of the most pronounced type, in the person of a callow youth seated opposite them, whose monocle, exaggerated collar, and affected drawl afforded them considerable amusement.

“Winifred,” said Miss Thornton, as they were leaving the dining-saloon, “do you see that young Englishman at the farther table?”

Her cousin glanced carelessly in the direction indicated, noting the fine, athletic figure seated, back towards them, at some distance, attired in heavy English tweed.

“Yes.  What of him?”

“Nothing in particular; only the sight of him is such a relief, you know, after that wretched caricature at our table.”

“Poor little harmless dudelet!” mused Winifred, with a smile; “his self-complacency will be short-lived whenever he meets Isabel.  She will simply annihilate him with one of those glances of hers!”

At Miss Carleton’s suggestion, they went on deck; but Edith grew so rapidly ill that her cousin assisted her below to their own elegant suite of apartments, which adjoined, on one side, those occupied by Mrs. Mainwaring and her daughter, while on the other was comfortable state-room belonging to Mrs. Hogarth.

Finding Mrs. Mainwaring and Isabel already reduced to a state of abject helplessness which required the attendance of both maids as well as of the stewardess, Miss Carleton left Edith in Mrs. Hogarth’s care, and, wrapping herself warmly, again went on deck.  The wind was increasing and she found the decks nearly deserted, but the solitude and the storm suited her mood just then, and, wrapping her rug closely about her, she seated herself in a comparatively sheltered place, alone with her own thoughts.