2 THROUGH CANADA 



topic by day, the dream by night, had faded out of 

 mind for the moment, and a far-away look of yearning 

 sobered the earnest young faces. 



The feeling of detachment became general as 

 the wharf rapidly receded, and the faces that com- 

 prised some heart asset were blurred into unrecogni- 

 tion in the amorphous crowd. Soon a low-lying 

 smudge on the distant horizon marked all that 

 was left of fatherland ; another hour wiped it out, 

 and the great circle of desolation was complete. 



The list of passengers on board the " Empress of 

 Ireland," was a long one. Scarcely a seat was un- 

 occupied at the first dinner in the large saloon. The 

 evening was fine, and the motion of the ship was 

 unfelt. In the night a breeze sprang up, and the 

 morning tables were depleted. The eleven ladies at 

 my table were reduced to two, one survivor wore the 

 badge of the Women's Suffrage Order. There were 

 only two on board, who openly declared themselves 

 at least, in sympathy with the Suffragist movement. 

 One of them breakfasted under apparent physical 

 discomfort and was absent from the next meal. The 

 Spartan endurance of her companion covered the 

 entire journey ; an endurance by no means given to 

 all the members of the sex that enjoyed the privileges 

 for which she was an enthusiastic aspirant. 



In the course of the day, the boy scouts played 

 leap-frog, and practised drill. They 'were the success- 

 ful fifteen out of over three thousand who competed 



