An Anxious Wife. 199 



some care. When he had to be lifted up on his feet 

 again the pain was very great. But what is that to 

 an enthusiast ? 



On reaching Christiania he had written home to 

 his wife to say what had happened to him, for they 

 had an understanding that when they wrote to each 

 other they were to state matters actually as they 

 were, so that they need not have the least suspicion 

 that things were either more or less than what was 

 represented, and to this agreement they claim to 

 have always strictly adhered. The difficulty in such 

 an arrangement rests not so much with the good 

 faith of the high contracting powers as with the 

 feebleness of language which cannot ensure that the 

 words used will even denote, much less connote, to 

 her who reads exactly what he who wrote intended. 



In the present instance, although Mrs. Robertson 

 could implicitly rely on what her husband told her, 

 she was doubtful what might be the result, and lost 

 no time in travelling from Glasgow to Christiania. 

 .She reached London early in the morning. The 

 steamer was not to start till the afternoon. Never- 

 theless she was anxious to go on board at once, 

 which the agent of the North Star line, though most 

 .anxious to oblige and assist her, did not think could 

 be managed. He went with her to the docks to see 

 what was possible, and the difficulty was overcome, 

 .an old fellow who took her luggage muttering as he 

 went along, " Nothing is impossible for ladies, nothing 

 impossible for the ladies." 



On the voyage a fellow-passenger in the ladies' 

 cabin, being much disgusted with the narrowness of 



