Why, she wondered, had he not come to see her again? She should
have liked to bid him "Good-bye," and had half a mind to send him a note
and tell him of her going. This, on second thoughts, however, she had
decided not to do; for one thing, she did not know his address,
and--well, there was an end of it.
Could she by the means of clairvoyance have seen Eustace's face and heard
his words, she would have regretted her decision. For even as that great
vessel plunged on her fierce way right into the heart of the gathering
darkness, he was standing at the door of the lodging-house in the little
street in Birmingham.
"Gone!" he was saying. "Miss Smithers gone to New Zealand! What is
her address?"
"She didn't leave no address, sir," replies the dirty maid-of-all-work
with a grin. "She went from here two days ago, and was going on to the
ship in London."
"What was the name of the ship?" he asked, in despair.
"Kan--Kon--Conger-eel," replies the girl in triumph, and shuts the door
in his face.
Poor Eustace! He had gone to London to try and get some employment, and
having, after some difficulty, succeeded in obtaining a billet as reader
in Latin, French and English to a publishing house of good repute, at a
salary of L180 a year, he had hurried back to Birmingham for the sole
purpose of seeing Miss Augusta Smithers, with whom, if the whole truth
must be told, he had, to his credit be it said, fallen deeply, truly, and
violently in love.
Pages:
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67