wonder----"
He broke off, and Millicent Graham studied him as he stood in the
moonlight. She did not think he recognized her, and perhaps he was
hardly justified in supposing that his timely aid at the gangway
dispensed with the need for an introduction, but she liked his looks,
which she remembered well. She had no fear of this man's presuming
too far; and his surprise when she mentioned Mrs. Keith, had roused
her interest.
"Yes," she said; "I believe it was my employer you knew."
He did not follow this lead.
"Are you supposed to sit up all night and watch the animals for her?"
he asked.
"Only for an hour or two. The steamboat people refused to have them
in the saloon, and the maid should have relieved me. She was tired,
however, with packing and running errands all day, and I thought I'd let
her sleep a while."
"Then it can't be much of an intrusion if I try to make you more
comfortable. Let me move your chair nearer the deckhouse, where
you'll be out of the wind; but I'll first see if I can find another rug."
He left her without waiting for a reply, and, returning with a rug, placed
her chair in a sheltered spot; then he leaned against the railing.
"So you are Mrs. Keith's companion," he observed. "It strikes me as
rather unfeeling of her to keep you here in the cold." He indicated the
baskets. "But what's her object in buying these creatures?"
"Caprice," Millicent smiled. "Some of them are savage, and they cost a
good deal. I can't imagine what she means to do with them; I don't
think she knows herself. One of them, however, has been growling all
day, and as it's apparently unwell it mustn't be neglected."
"If it growls any more, I'll feel tempted to turn yonder hose upon it, or
try some other drastic remedy."
"Please don't!" cried Millicent in alarm. "But you mustn't think Mrs.
Keith is inconsiderate. I have much to thank her for; but she gets very
enthusiastic over her hobbies."
"Do you know whether she ever goes down to a little place in
Shropshire?"
"Yes; I have been with her. Once she took me to your old home." The
color crept into Millicent's face. "You don't seem to remember me,
Lieutenant Blake."
Blake had learned self-control and he did not start, though he came near
doing so as he recalled a scene in which he had taken part some years
earlier.
"It would have been inexcusable if I had forgotten you," he responded
with a smile. "Still, I couldn't quite place you until a few moments ago,
when you faced the light. But you were wrong in one thing: I'm no
longer Lieutenant Blake."
She appreciated the frankness which had prompted this warning, and
she saw that she had made a tactless blunder, but she looked at him
steadily.
"I forgot," she said; "forgive me. I heard of--what happened in
India--but I knew that there must have been some mistake." She
hesitated for a moment. "I think so now."
Blake made a sudden movement, and then leaned back against the
railing.
"I'm afraid that an acquaintance which lasted three or four minutes
could hardly enable you to judge: first impressions are often wrong,
you know. Anyway, I don't complain of the opinion of gentlemen who
knew more about me."
Millicent saw that the subject must be dropped.
"At our first meeting," she said, "I had no opportunity for thanking you;
and you gave me none tonight. It's curious that, while I've met you only
twice, on both occasions you turned up just when you were needed. Is
it a habit of yours?"
Blake laughed.
"That's a flattering thing to hint. The man who's always on hand when
he's wanted is an estimable person."
He studied her with an interest which she noticed but could not resent.
The girl had changed and gained something since their first meeting,
and he thought it was a knowledge of the world. She was, he felt,
neither tainted nor hardened by what she had learned, but her fresh
childish look which suggested ignorance of evil had gone and could not
come back. Indeed, he wondered bow she had preserved it in her
father's house. This was not a matter he could touch upon; but presently
she referred to it.
"I imagine," she said shyly, "that on the evening when you came to my
rescue in London you were surprised to find me--so unprepared; so
incapable of dealing with the situation."
"That is true," Blake answered with some awkwardness. "A bachelor
dinner, you know, after a big race meeting at which we had backed
several winners! One has to make allowances."
Millicent smiled rather bitterly.
"You may guess that
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