"ANN FOLLOWED GINGERLY IN THEIR WAKE" 69




MILDRED'S INHERITANCE


As the good ship _Majestic_ went steaming away from the Irish coast, one
sunny September morning, three pretty college girls leaned over the
railing of the upper deck, watching the steerage passengers below. With
faces turned to the shore which they might never see again, the
lusty-throated emigrants were sending their song of "Farewell to Erin"
floating mournfully back across the water.

"Oh, look at that poor old grandmother!" exclaimed one of the girls.
"There; that one sitting on a coil of rope with a shawl over her gray
head. The pitiful way she looks back to land would make me homesick,
too, if I were not already on my way home, with all my family on board,
and all the fun of the sophomore year ahead of me. Let's go down to the
other end of the deck, where it is more cheerful."

They moved away in friendly, schoolgirl fashion, arm in arm, intent
only on finding as much enjoyment as possible in every moment of this
ocean voyage. A young English girl, dressed in deep mourning, who had
been standing near them, followed them with a wistful glance; then she
turned to look over the railing again at the old woman on the coil of
rope.