92 THE FAIR STRANGER. 



'Boyle's horse turned' out what he was repre- 

 sented to be ; certainly as good a steed as I ever 

 crossed. 



' Months had rolled on, when I received a letter 

 enclosing one hundred dollars, stating that the 

 sender was in Arkansas, that he feared he had killed 

 my mare, and that the old hound had followed 

 him to the river, where he had left the horse. 



' For the next two or three days on board I 

 occasionally saw him, but neither by word nor look 

 did he suggest that we had ever met before. On 

 each of these occasions he was gambling, while a 

 whisky-bottle stood at his elbow beside a large 

 sum of money, his adversary invariably being the 

 repulsive stranger who accompanied the lady pre- 

 viously alluded to. 



' My time was fully occupied, for she was 

 constantly on deck. The captain had introduced 

 us, and we talked over every subject we could 

 think of. I learned that she was married, her com- 

 panion being her husband. When they arrived in 

 New York they intended to be very gay and happy ; 

 going to the opera and theatre, night after night, 

 and to no end of parties and balls given in her 

 honour by sundry rich relations. 



'Within twenty-four hours after our introduction 

 we were friends, and in as many more we were 

 intimate ; her husband never j oined her at meals, or 

 came near her in fact, she might just as well 

 have been without him, possibly better. 



