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Accident or Destiny?
A Thrilling Incident on an Atlantic Liner
by J. Lawrence Hornibrook
TAKEN FROM "THE HARMSWORTH MAGAZINE," VOLUME II, FEBRUARY - JULY 1899
We were all assembled at dinner in the saloon of the mail steamer Dominion, His Excellency the newly-appointed Governor-General of Canada occupying the seat of honour on the captain's right.
The dinner passed off in brilliant style, and dessert had already been placed before us. Suddenly I became aware of an abrupt lull in the conversation, as if the attention of the company had been arrested in the midst of the chatter and laughter. What had caused it I was at a loss to understand. From my seat at the captain's table I glanced around the spacious saloon, and immediately saw what had occasioned this sudden suspension of the conversation.
Coming slowly down the centre of the saloon, between the long line of crowded tables, was a woman, upon whom all eyes were turned. The instant I beheld her I ceased to wonder at the abrupt silence. It was not so much the beauty of her refined and somewhat saddened face that struck the beholder: it was the queenlike carriage, the pose of her shapely head, and the unconscious grace of her every movement.
I was so intent upon watching her, so wrapt up in contemplation of her beautiful form, that I had eyes for nothing else. It was Frampton, an old college friend, who was seated next me at the table, who drew off my attention in another direction. Leaning eagerly towards me, he whispered in my ear, "Good heavens, Whitaker, look at the captain!"
And truly, as I faced round towards the head of the table, the sight t