reaching distance. There was no danger now of her eluding him; but the
grave question arose, what was he to do when he stood face to face with
her. She must not go,--that was fixed. If she once got off in that
ship, she might be safe enough; but what would become of certain projects
in which he was interested,--that was the question. But again, she was
no child, to be turned away from her adventure by cajolery, or by any
such threats as common truants would find sufficient to scare them back
to their duty. He could tell the facts of her disguise and the manner of
her leaving home to the captain of the vessel, and induce him to send her
ashore as a stray girl, to be returned to her relatives. But this would
only make her furious with him; and he must not alienate her from
himself, at any rate. He might plead with her in the name of duty, for
the sake of her friends, for the good name of the family. She had
thought all these things over before she ran away. What if he should
address her as a lover, throw himself at her feet, implore her to pity
him and give up her rash scheme, and, if things came to the very worst,
offer to follow her wherever she went, if she would accept him in the
only relation that would render it possible. Fifteen years old,--he
nearly ten years older,--but such things had happened before, and this
was no time to stand on trifles.

He worked out the hypothesis of the matrimonial offer as he would have
reasoned out the probabilities in a law case he was undertaking.

1. He would rather risk that than lose all hold upon her. The girl was
handsome enough for his ambitious future, wherever it might carry him.
She came of an honorable family, and had the great advantage of being
free from a tribe of disagreeable relatives, which is such a drawback on
many otherwise eligible parties. To these considerations were to be
joined other circumstances which we need not here mention, of a nature to