tints of
her skin seemed to gain in colour in the dancing light. Mr Murray
hitched his chair a degree nearer, and spoke in a lower voice:

"I say... You don't know any one on board?"

"Not yet. No."

"How would it be if--what would you say to fixing up a steamship
flirtation?"

Katrine straightened herself with a jerk.

"I _beg_ your pardon! I don't quite understand--"

"Oh, it's simple enough. Always do it myself on a long voyage. Much
more satisfactory and amusin' than just trustin' to luck... Spot some
one you like, and agree to sit together on deck, be partners at sports,
moon about,--_under_ the moon!--confide your woes, comfort and soothe,
sentimentalise a bit--especially towards the end--"

Katrine threw him a glance, beneath lids haughtily dropped.

"Tha-anks. It sounds very interesting. And then--?"

"Oh, then?" Mr Murray twisted his moustache. "Then--you're there, you
know, and er--you say good-bye!"

"Very interesting!" commented Katrine once more, "but I'm afraid I can't
play. The idea doesn't thrill me, and besides I have a--friend coming
on board at Port Said, who will naturally expect some attention."

"Rotten luck!" sighed Mr Murray, and for sixty seconds on end looked
seriously downcast. "But of course," he added thoughtfully, "if it were
only to Port Said--"

"Just so. It would be a pity to break the continuity of your scheme.
You have had quite a long voyage already. How is it that you have not
already--" Katrine stopped short, as an expression of discomfiture
flitted over the handsome face, and altered the character of her
enquiry. "May I ask how _many_ others you have asked before me?"

"Not--many!" stammered Mr Murray ingenuously. His gaze wandered
uneasily round the deck, and Katrine's following his, met a pair of
mischievous brown eyes set in a plump girlish face. The eyes were fixed
upon herself with an expression of such interest and curiosity as told
its own tale, and Katrine hastily lowered her white umbrella.
Simultaneously the plump girl lowered her own, but it shook! Austin
Murray, looking from one wobbling frame to the other, chewed his
moustache in disgust.

"Perhaps," he explained stiffly, "I am too ambitious. One needs must
love the highest... There are, of course, a dozen girls who would be
only too glad--"

"Then," said Katrine hastily, "pray lose no time in securing one of the
number. If you don't, they may be snapped up. Don't let me detai