Volume Three—Chapter Nineteen.
A Strange Encounter.
It had been hard work to persuade her, but Mrs Hallam had consented at last to rest quietly in the embryo hotel, while Bayle obtained the necessary passes for her and her daughter to see Hallam. This done, he took the papers and letters of recommendation he had brought and waited upon the governor.
There was a good deal of business going on, and Bayle was shown into a side room where a clerk was writing, and asked to sit down.
“Your turn will come in about an hour,” said the official who showed him in, and Bayle sat down to wait.
As he looked up, he saw that the clerk was watching him intently; and as their eyes met, he said in a low voice:
“May I ask if you came out in the Sea King?”
“Yes; I landed this morning.”