The Castaways | Page 5

"Is this your first experience of shipboard, Miss Onslow?"

"This will be my third voyage to India, Mr Conyers," she answered,
with an air of surprise at my temerity in addressing her, and such proud,
stately dignity and lofty condescension that I caught myself thinking:
"Hillo, Charley, my lad, what sort of craft is this you are exchanging
salutes with? You will have to take care what you are about with her,
my fine fellow, or you will be finding that some of her guns are
shotted!"
But I was not to be deterred from making an effort to render myself
agreeable, simply because the manner of the young lady was almost
chillingly distant, so I returned:
"Indeed! then you are quite a seasoned traveller. And how does the sea
use you? Does it treat you kindly?"
"If you mean Am I ill at sea? I am glad to say that I am not!" she
replied. "I love the sea; but I hate voyaging upon it."
"That sounds somewhat paradoxical, does it not?" I ventured to
insinuate.
"Possibly it does," she admitted. "What I mean is that, while I never
enjoy such perfect health anywhere as I do when at sea, and while I
passionately admire the ever-changing beauty and poetry of the ocean
and sky in their varying moods, I find it distinctly irksome and
unpleasant to be pent up for months within the narrow confines of a
ship, with no possibility of escape from my surroundings however
unpleasant they may be. There is no privacy, and no change on board a
ship; one is compelled to meet the same people day after day, and to be
brought into more or less intimate contact with them, whether one
wishes it or not."
"That is undoubtedly true," I acknowledged, "so far, at least, as meeting
the same people day after day is concerned. But surely one need not
necessarily be brought into intimate contact with them, unless so
minded; it is not difficult to make the average person understand that
anything approaching to intimacy is unwelcome."

"Is it not?" she retorted drily. "Then I am afraid that my experience has
been more unfortunate than yours. I have more than once been obliged
to be actually rude to people before. I could succeed in convincing
them that I would prefer not to be on intimate terms with them."
And therewith Miss Onslow ever so slightly turned herself away from
me, and addressed herself to the contents of her plate with a manner
that seemed indicative of a desire to terminate the conversation.
I thought that I already began to understand this very charming and
interesting young lady. I had not the remotest idea who or what she was,
beyond the bare fact that her name was Onslow, but her style and her
manners--despite her singular hauteur--stamped her unmistakably as
one accustomed to move in a high plane of society; that she was
inordinately proud and intensely exclusive was clear, but I had an idea
that this fault--if such it could be considered--was due rather to training
than to any innate imperfection of character; and I could conceive
that--the barrier of her exclusiveness once passed--she might prove to
be winsome and fascinating beyond the power of words to express. But
I had a suspicion that the man who should be bold enough to attempt
the passage of that barrier would have to face many a rebuff, as well as
the very strong probability of ultimate ignominious, irretrievable defeat;
and as I was then--and still am, for that matter-- a rather sensitive
individual, I quickly determined that I at least would not dare such a
fate. Moreover, I seemed to find in the drift of what she had said--and
more particularly in her manner of saying it--a hint that possibly I
might be one of those with whom she would prefer not to be on terms
of intimacy.
"Well," thought I, "if that is her wish, it shall certainly be gratified; she
is a surpassingly beautiful creature, but I can admire and enjoy the
contemplation of her beauty, as I would that of some rare and exquisite
picture, without obtruding myself offensively upon her attention; and
although she has all the appearance of being clever, refined, and
possessed of a brilliant intellect, those qualities will have no irresistible
attraction for me if she intends to hide them behind a cold, haughty,
repellant manner." And therewith I dismissed her from my mind, and

addressed myself to the skipper, "This new ship of yours is a
magnificent craft, Captain," said I. "I fell incontinently in love with her
as the waterman was pulling me off alongside. She is far and away the
most handsome ship I have ever set eyes on."
"Ay," answered Dacre heartily, his whole face