"
Something more than a month had gone by and Major and Mrs. Vernon, the
latter fully restored to health and the most sweet and beautiful of
brides, stood upon the steamship _Benin_, and as the sun sank, looked
their last upon the coast of Western Africa.
"Yes, dear," Alan was saying to his wife, "from first to last it has
been a very queer story, but I really think that our getting that Asiki
gold after all was one of the queerest parts of it; also uncommonly
convenient, as things have turned out."
"Namely that you have got a little pauper for a wife instead of a great
heiress, Alan. But tell me again about the gold. I have had so much to
think of during the last few days," and she blushed, "that I never quite
took it all in."
"Well, love, there isn't much to tell. When that forwarding agent, Mr.
Aston, knew that we were in the town, he came to me and said that he
had about fifty cases full of something heavy, as he supposed samples of
ore, addressed to me to your care in England which he was proposing to
ship on by the _Benin_. I answered 'Yes, that was all right,' and
did not undeceive him about their contents. Then I asked how they had
arrived, and if he had not received a letter with them.
Pages:
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409