Part 23 (1/2)

I suppose about twentyfruitlessly at the s, when I heard the sound of oars and voices outside I threw the cotton-waste into the fo'c'sle, ht on hy was just rounding up alongside, Davies sculling in the bows, facing hirey tae skirt, the latter, to be frigidly accurate, disclosing a pair of workman-like rubber boots which, _ Her hair, like his, was spangled with moisture, and her rose-brown skin struck a note of delicious colour against the sullen Stygian background

'There he is,' said Davies Never did his 'meiner Freund, Carruthers,' sound so pleasantly in my ears; never so discordantly the 'Fraulein Dollmann' that followed it Every syllable of the four was a lie Two honest English eyes were looking up into lish hand--is this insular nonsense? Perhaps so, but I stick to it--a brown, firm hand--no, not so very sreasons, apart frolish, but I believe that if I had had none at all I should at any rate have congratulated Geriarism By her voice, when she spoke, I knew that she must have talked German habitually from childhood; diction and accent were faultless, at least toanting

She came on board There was a hollow discussion first about time and weather, but it ended as we all in our hearts wished it to end None of us uttered our real scruples Mine, indeed, were too new and rudis about tea and waran to think about my compact with Davies

'Just for a fewher up She gazed round the deck and rigging with profound interest--a breathless, hungry interest--touching to see

'You've seen her before, haven't you?' I said

'I've not been on board before,' she answered

This struckas odd; but then I had only too few details from Davies about his days at Norderney in September

'Of course, _that_ is what puzzledto thedifferent'

Davies had belayed the painter, and now had to explain the origin of the mizzen This was a cumbrous process, and his hearer's attention soon wandered from the subject and became centred in him--his was already olden opportunity for the discerning onlooker It was very brief, but I rets, did a little heartfelt penance, told myself I had been a cynical fool not to have foreseen this, and faced the new situation with a sinking heart; I am not ashamed to admit that, for I was fond of Davies, and I was keen about the quest

She had never been a guilty agent in that attempt on Davies Had she been an unconscious tool or only an unwilling one? If the latter, did she know the secret ere seeking? In the last degree unlikely, I decided But, true to the co aside ly, or nearly as strongly, let us say, froain information from such a source It was not our fault if by her own conversation and behaviour she gave us some idea of how matters stood Davies already knew more than I did

We spent a few er questions about our build and gear and seaworthiness, with a quaint mixture of professional acue alone that day?' she asked Davies, suddenly

'Oh, it was quite safe,' was the reply 'But it's much better to have a friend'

She looked at me; and--well, I would have died for Davies there and then

'Father said you would be safe,' she reht And at that turned to so She found the cos of that hateful centre-board had a peculiar fascination for her Was this the e did it in England?

was her constant query

Yet, in spite of a superficial freedom, ere all shy and constrained The descent beloas a welcome diversion, for we should have been less than human if we had not extracted some spontaneous fun from the humours of the saloon I went down first to see about the tea, leaving the for lish lifeboat They soon followed, and I can see her now stooping in at the doorway, treading delicately, like a kitten, past the obstructive centre-board to a place on the starboard sofa, then taking in her surroundings with a tiht at all the priy amenities of our den She explored the cavernous recesses of the Rippingille, fingered the duck-guns and the miscellany in the racks, and peeped into the fo'c'sle with dainty awe Everything was a source of merriment, from our cramped attitudes to the painful deficiency of spoons and the 'yachtiness' (there is no other word to describe it) of the bread, which had been bought at Bensersiel, and had suffered from incarceration and the climate This fact came out, and led to some questions, while aited for the water to boil, about the gale and our visit there The topic, a pregnant one for us, appeared to have no special significance to her At theshe showed no emotion of any sort; on the contrary, she went out of her way, frouessed, to show that she could talk about him with dispassionate detachment

'He came to see us when you were here last, didn't he?' she said to Davies 'He often cooes with father to Me for money out of an old wreck'

Yes, we had heard about it

'Of course you have Father is a director of the coreat interest in it; they took -bell once'

I murmured, 'Indeed!' and Davies sawed laboriously at the bread She must have misconstrued our sheepish silence, for she stopped and drew herself up with just a touch of hed aloud at this transient little coold?' said Davies at last, with husky sole had to be said or we should defeat our own end; but I let him say it He had not my faith in Meot--'

'You ; 'Coold'

('There's self-denial!' I said to myself)