eck
(close it was beside the steeper one which led up to the higher and
more costly portions of the ship) she was not far behind them,
trailing, watchful, terrified by the ship's mighty warning whistle
which reverberated in the dock-shed till her teeth were set a-chatter
in an agony of fear of the mere noise.

At this point she nearly lost her self-control and let her quarries
see her, for Herr Kreutzer, in his hurry and excitement, dropped one
of his small hand-bags. Almost she sprang to pick it up for him,
through mere working of her strong instinct to serve him. Indeed, she
would have done so had it not been for a tall and handsome youth.

This young man's eyes, M'riar had been noting, had been closely fixed
upon the lovely face of Anna, doubly lovely, flushed as it now was by
the excitement of the start of a great journey. He sprang forward,
picked up the handbag and presented it to the old German with a frank
good-fellowship of courtesy which took not the least account of the
mere fact that he, himself, was on the point of stepping to the
gang-plank leading to the first-cabin quarters, while Kreutzer,
obviously, was about to seek the steerage-deck. M'riar, with her
sharp, small eyes, noted that the youth, strong, graceful, tall,
sun-burned and distinctly wholesome of appearance, did not look at
Kreutzer, as he did the little service, but at Anna.

"Reg'lar toff!" she muttered, gazing at him with frank admiration,
quite impersonal.

An instant later she saw that when he turned back from the rough,
unpainted gang-plank to the steerage-deck to the more exclusive
bridge, railed, hung with canvas at the sides and carpeted with red,
which led to the first-cabin quarters, a lady seized his arm with a
proprietary grasp and spoke a little crossly to him because he had
delayed to do this tiny service for the pair of steerage passengers.

"Rg'lar cat!" said M'riar, estimating her as quickly as she had
appraised the youth. "She's 'is mother, but she's catty. Dogs 'ud 'ate
'er, Hi'll go bail."

Her attention was absorbed, then, by the great problem of getting by
the officer who examined steerage-tickets, without being seen by
Kreutzer and his daughter.

"W'ere's yer luggage?" asked the officer.

"Luggage! Huh!" said M'riar. "W'at would _Hi_ want o' _luggage_? Think
Hi'm a hactress startin' hout hon tour?"

"Tykes six poun' ten to land on t'other side," the officer went on,
suspiciously. "'Yn't got that, nyther, 'ave