It was a precious visit for them both, though her cough and emaciation and strange pallor with the feverish scarlet flush made his heart stop beating when he first saw her. But it was from that—from the terrible thing it meant—that he could now be the one to save her. And he told her about the invention he was going to sell for a great deal of money, and how after that everything would be done for her—everything—the most wonderful medical care and the most beneficial place in the world. He was magnificently happy in telling her this, and she was quietly elated with him, rejoicing to the utmost of her small strength. But before her happiness could be completed she had to ask if he would be with her, and be made confident that he would. He assured her that it was so, that though he might not be able to go with her when she went, because of the business he would have to finish up, he would come as soon as he could possibly do it—the very minute he could get away. * * * * * The steamer _North Land_ upon which the Messrs. Harker & Pentecost had already made two trips—one over and one back—made fast to the India wharf in Boston on the tenth morning after their former visit to Haworth, which brought it to the 30th day of August—the expiration date of the option. The voyage had been quiet and uneventful, the partners not pushing themselves in the least, though enjoying brief chats with some of the officers and having cigars with Captain Snow and one or two others in his cabin after dinner. When they were asked how it was coming out about the invention they were trying to get hold of—the one they’d referred to on the last trip over—Mr. Pentecost gave them some further particulars about young Haworth and his extraordinary genius; and as there seemed to be quite a little interest in the matter, he briefly described what it was they were trying to get hold of—a combination gas and compressed-air engine. He spoke, too, of an idea they had of trying to get the young inventor on a contract to work under their direction for five years.