“Also, one very promising little girl, an orphan, two years old, almost white; can take care of herself; promises to be very pretty; has straight, brown hair, regular features, first-rate figure. Warranted sound and healthy. Amateurs who would like to train up a companion to their tastes will find this a rare opportunity to purchase.”
Not pausing to indulge the emotions which these cruel words awoke, Vance went in search of Ripper & Co. The firm had been broken up more than ten years before. Not one of the partners was in the city. They had disappeared, and left no trace. Were any of their old account-books in the warehouse? No. The building had been burnt to the ground, and a new one erected on its site.
“Where next?” thought Vance. “Plainly to Natchez, to see if I can learn anything of Davy and his wife.”
CHAPTER XXV.
MEETINGS AND PARTINGS.
“I hold it true, whate’er befall,—
I feel it when I sorrow most,—
’Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.”
Tennyson.
It being too late to take the boat for Natchez, Vance proceeded to the St. Charles. The gong for the fire o’clock ordinary had sounded. Entering the dining-hall, he was about taking a seat, when he saw Miss Tremaine motioning to him to occupy one vacant by her side.