“Her uncle, the brother of my wife, expected to make the voyage with her, and came to San Francisco for that purpose. He was taken dangerously ill at the hotel, and when I reached there, a few hours ago, he was dead, and my niece was in the care of the landlord’s family. My wife, who is out yonder in a carriage, had prepared to accompany me East to-morrow. Her brother had made no arrangements for taking the little one on the steamer, so I was forced into this unusual application.”
While the gentleman was making this explanation, the captain was holding the child in his arms, and admiring 7 the beautiful countenance and loveliness of face and manner.
“She does look exactly like my poor little Inez,” was his thought, as he gently placed her on her feet again.
“If we take her to Japan, what then?”
“Her parents will be in Tokio, waiting for her. You, as captain, have the right, which no one would dare question, of taking her into your cabin with you, and I will compensate you in any manner you may wish.”
“What is her name?” asked Captain Strathmore.
“Inez.”
“She shall go,” said the sailor, in a husky voice.