Page:Frank Stockton--Adventures of Captain Horn.djvu/259

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN economy and prudence must have been terribly shaken. This very journey to New York would probably cost twenty dollars!

When Mrs. Cliff entered Edna's room in a New York hotel, the latter was startled, almost frightened. She had expected her visitor, for she had had a telegram, but she scarcely recognized at the first glance the pale and haggard woman who had come to her.

"Sick!" exclaimed poor Mrs. Cliff, as she sank upon a sofa. "Yes, I am sick, but not in body, only in heart. Well, it is hard to tell you what is the matter. The nearest I can get to it is that it is wealth struck in, as measles sometimes strike in when they ought to come out properly, and one is just as dangerous as the other."

When Mrs. Cliff had had something to eat and drink, and had begun to tell her tale, Edna listened with great interest and sympathy. But when the good lady had nearly finished, and was speaking of her resolution to confide everything to Mr. Perley, Edna's gaze at her friend became very intent, and her hands tightly grasped the arms of the chair in which she was sitting.

"Mrs. Cliff," said she, when the other had finished, "there is but one thing for you to do: you must go to Europe with us."

"Now!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "In the steamer you have engaged passage in? Impossible! I could not go home and settle up everything and come back in time."

"But you must not go home," said Edna. "You must not think of it. Your troubles would begin again as soon as you got there. You must stay here and go when we do." 245