In the midst of this new life aboard ship, so novel and so beautiful,
Mrs. Harris's heart would have been happy had her over-worked husband and
Gertrude sat beside her at the table. Very little of this life is enjoyed
without the unwelcomed flies that spoil the precious ointment.
After the lunch Alfonso and his friends had time to examine a little
further the great steamer that was to float them to the Old World. When
his party hurriedly entered the dining-saloon, the grand staircase was
entirely overlooked. How wide and roomy it was, and how beautifully
carved and finished, especially the balustrade and newel posts, the whole
being built of selected white oak, which mellows with age, and will
assume a richer hue like the wainscoting in the famous old English abbeys
and manor houses.
Again the Harris party was on deck, final words hastily written were in
the steamer's mail bag, and a sailor stood ready to pass it over the
ship's side to the pilot's little boat, waiting for orders to cut loose
from the "Majestic."
The engines slacked their speed, the pilot bade the officers good-bye,
and accompanied the mail bag to his trusted schooner. No. 66 was painted
in black full length on the pilot's big white sail.
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