I was so maddened by this slight, and so thoroughly apprehensive of further trouble from the infernal shade, that I resolved without more ado to sneak out of England and back to America before the deadly blighting thing was aware of my intentions. I immediately left the Savoy, and sought the office of the Green Star Line, secured a room on the steamer sailing the next morning--the _Digestic_--from Liverpool, and was about packing up my belongings, when _it_ turned up again. "Going away, eh?" "Yes," I replied, shortly, and then I endeavored to deceive him. "I've been invited down to Leamington to spend a week with my old friend Dr. Liverton." "Oh, indeed!" he observed. "Thanks for the address. I will not neglect you during your stay there. Be prepared for a shove that will turn your hair gray. _Au revoir._" And he vanished, muttering the address I had given him--"Dr. Liverton, Leamington--Dr. Liverton." To which he added, "I won't forget _that,_ not by a jugful." I chuckled softly to myself as he disappeared. "He's clever, but-- there are others," I said, delighted at the ease with which I had rid myself of him; and then eating a hearty luncheon, I took the train to Liverpool, where next morning I embarked on the _Digestic_ for New York. II--AN UNHAPPY VOYAGE The sense of relief that swept over me when the great anchor of the _Digestic_ came up from the unstrained quality of the Mersey, and I thought of the fact that shortly a vast ocean would roll between me and that fearful spook, was one of the most delightful emotions that it has ever been my good fortune to experience. Now all seemed serene, and I sought my cabin belowstairs, whistling gayly; but, alas! how fleeting is happiness, even to a whistler! As I drew near to the room which I had fondly supposed was to be my own exclusively I heard profane remarks issuing therefrom. There was condemnation of the soap; there was perdition for the lighting apparatus; there were maledictions upon the location of the port, and the bedding was excommunicate. "This is strange," said I to the steward. "I have engaged this room for the passage. I hear somebody in there." "Not at all, sir," said he, opening the door; "it is empty." And to him it undoubtedly appeared to be so. "But," I cried, "didn't you hear anything?" "Yes, I did," he said, candidly; "but I supposed you was a ventriloquist, sir, and was a-puttin' up of a game on me." Here the steward smiled, and I was too angry to retort. And then-- Well, you have guessed it. _He_ turned up--and more vulgar than ever. "Hullo!" he said, nonchalantly, fooling with a suit-case. "Going over?" "Oh no!" I replied, sarcastic. "Just out for a swim. When we get off the Banks I'm going to jump overboard and swim to the Azores on a wager." "How much?" he asked. "Five bob," said I, feeling that he could not grasp a larger amount. "Humph!" he ejaculated. "I'd rather drive a cab--as I used to."