nearer, as for more detailed examination, retaining hold upon her elbow.
His face was tantalisingly close to hers, and Jenny involuntarily turned
her head away, not coquettishly, but through embarrassment at a mingling
of desire and timidity.

"Is that the word?" he asked. "You look all right, my dear."

My dear! She knew that the words meant more to her than they did to him,
so carelessly were they uttered; but they sent a shock through her. How
Jenny wished that she might indeed be dear to Keith! He released her,
and she followed him, laden, backwards and forwards until the table was
cleared. Then he unscrewed the table legs, and the whole thing came
gently away in his hands. There appeared four small brass sockets
imbedded in the carpet's deep pile; and the centre of the room was
clear. By the same dexterous use of his acquaintance with the cabin's
mechanism, Keith unfastened one of the settees, and wheeled it forward
so that it stood under the light, and in great comfort for the time when
they should sit to hear his story.

"Now!" he said. "We'll have a breather on deck to clear your old head."


iii

By this time the moon was silvering the river, riding high above the
earth, serenely a thing of eternal mystery to her beholders. With the
passing of clouds and the deepening of the night, those stars not
eclipsed by the moon shone like swarmed throbbing points of silver. They
seemed more remote, as though the clearer air had driven them farther
off. Jenny, her own face and throat illumined, stared up at the moon,