NEW NOVELS. THE DUCHESS OF POWYSLAND. By GRANT ALLEN. 3 vols. CORINTHIA MARAZION. By CECIL GRIFFITH. 3 vols. A SONG OF SIXPENCE. By HENRY MURRAY. 1 vol. SANTA BARBARA, &c. By OUIDA. 1 vol. IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. By AMBROSE BIERCE. 1 vol. TRACKED TO DOOM. By DICK DONOVAN. 1 vol. COLONEL STARBOTTLE’S CLIENT, AND SOME OTHER PEOPLE. By BRET HARTE. 1 vol. ADVENTURES OF A FAIR REBEL. By MATT. CRIM. 1 vol. IN A STEAMER CHAIR. By ROBERT BARR. 1 vol. THE FOSSICKER: a Romance of Mashonaland. By ERNEST GLANVILLE. 1 vol. London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 214 Piccadilly, W. ALONE ON A WIDE WIDE SEA VOL. I. PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON ALONE ON A WIDE WIDE SEA BY W. CLARK RUSSELL AUTHOR OF MY SHIPMATE LOUISE ‘THE ROMANCE OF JENNY HARLOWE’ ETC. [Illustration] IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. I. London CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1892 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME CHAPTER PAGE I. PIERTOWN 1 II. A BOATING TRIP 39 III. ‘WHO AM I?’ 76 IV. ALPHONSE’S CONJECTURES 111 V. ON BOARD ‘NOTRE DAME’ 135 VI. A TERRIBLE NIGHT 193 VII. CAPTAIN FREDERICK LADMORE 225 VIII. A KIND LITTLE WOMAN 262 ALONE ON A WIDE WIDE SEA CHAPTER I PIERTOWN In the West of England stands a city surrounded by hills. Its streets are wide, its shops fine and plentiful, and there are many handsome and some stately terraces of houses in it. In the heart of the city a gem of ecclesiastical architecture rears its admirable tower, and this fine old structure is known everywhere as the Abbey Church. How am I to convey to one who has never beheld them the beauties of the scene when viewed from some commanding eminence--say on a rich autumn afternoon whilst the sun paints every object a tender red, and before the shadows have grown long in the valley? Orchards colour the landscape with the dyes of their fruit and leaves. White houses gleam amidst trees and tracts of vegetation. The violet shadow of a cloud floats slowly down some dark green distant slope. In the pastures cattle are feeding, and the noise of the barking of dogs ascends from the river-side. Rows and crescents of buildings hang in clusters upon the hills, blending with the various hues of the country and lending a grace as of nature’s own to the scene. The river flows with a red glitter in its breast past meadows and gardens and nestling cottages.