CHAPTER IX. 
FROM VICTORIA TO SITKA. 
HEN Mrs. Dutton, Florence, and Cliloe found 
themselves on the deck of the good ship St. 
Elias, leaving the hills of the United States blue 
and misty on the horizon, and coasting along Vancouver 
Island with all fore-and-aft sails set, on a fair west-north- 
west wind, they felt that the adventurous portion of their 
trip had fairly begun. 
Of course, they had had no summer' s-day excursion 
thus far. The two ocean voyages had been arduous, and 
the ladies had often felt the need of a male escort on 
their long and tedious journey. Still, they had not struck 
off from the regular lines of travel, and many of their 
own sex had been their companions on shipboard. Now, 
on the contrary, they were the only ladies aboard ; they 
were off the steam routes, and were bound for a wild and 
desolate country. Had it not been for the near prospect 
of meeting her husband and sons, Mrs. Dutton would 
have felt undeniably homesick, as she leaned against the 
rail on the quarter-deck of the St. Ellas, and watched the 
headlands of Cape Flattery melt into the clouds that hung 
along the southern horizon. 
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