The Waif of the Cynthia by Jules Verne — Read

The information which Dr. Schwaryencrona had received was not very / important, but it sufficed to start his inquiries in a new direction.

He had learned the name of the ex-director of the Canadian / Transportation Company, it was Mr. Joshua Churchill. But they did not / know what had become of this gentleman since the dissolution of the / company. If they could succeed in finding him, he might be able to give / them some information about the old records of the company; perhaps / there might have been a list of the passengers by the "Cynthia," and the / baby might have been registered with his family or with the persons who / had charge of him. But their investigations proved very unsatisfactory. / The solicitor who had formerly had the books in his possession as the / receiver of the company about ten years before; did not know what had / become of Mr. Churchill. For a moment Dr. Schwaryencrona consoled / himself with a false hope. He remembered that the American newspapers / usually published a list of the passengers embarking for Europe, and he / sent for a number of old gazettes to see if he could find the / "Cynthia's" list; but he was soon convinced that this was a fruitless / effort. He discovered that the practice of publishing the names of / passengers on European steamships was of comparatively recent date. But / the old gazettes were of one use to him, they gave the exact date of / sailing of the "Cynthia," which had left on the 3d of November, not from / a Canadian port as they had at first supposed, but from New York, to go / to Hamburg.