"I daresay I startled you a little, dear old fellow, coming in upon you without a moment's notice, when you fancied I was at the Antipodes.

But, you see, I hunted you up directly I was free." "You have done well out yonder, I hope, Gilbert ?" "Yes; everything has gone well enough with me in business.

But my coming home has been a dreary one." "How is that ?" "Captain Sedgewick is dead, and Marian Nowell is lost." "Lost! What do you mean by that ?" Mr.Fenton told his friend all that had befallen him since his arrival in England.
"I come to you for counsel and help, John," he said, when he had finished his story.
"I will give you my help, so far as it is possible for one man to help another in such a business, and my counsel in all honesty," answered John Saltram; "but I doubt if you will be inclined to receive it." "Why should you doubt that ?" "Because it is not likely to agree with your own ideas." "Speak out, John." "I think that if Miss Nowell had really loved you, she would never have taken this step.

I think that she must have left Lidford in order to escape from her engagement, perhaps expecting your early return.

I believe your pursuit of her can only end in failure and disappointment; and although I am ready to assist you in any manner you wish, I warn you against sacrificing your life to a delusion." "It is not under the delusion that Marian Nowell loves me that I am going to search for her," Gilbert Fenton said slowly, after an interval of silence.