ad sharply against
the berth above him. "Has this been going on long?"

"Ever since the voyage started."

"I think you might have told me," said Eustace reproachfully. "I told
you my troubles. Why did you not let me know that this awful thing had
come upon you?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, old man, during these last few days I had a
notion that your mind was, so to speak, occupied elsewhere."

"Who is she?"

"Oh, a girl I met on board."

"Don't do it!" said Eustace Hignett solemnly. "As a friend I entreat you
not to do it. Take my advice, as a man who knows women, and don't do
it!"

"Don't do what?"

"Propose to her. I can tell by the glitter in your eye that you are
intending to propose to this girl--probably this morning."

"Not this morning--after lunch. I always think one can do oneself more
justice after lunch."

"Don't do it. Women are the devil, whether they marry you or jilt you.
Do you realise that women wear black evening dresses that have to be
hooked up in a hurry when you are late for the theatre, and that, out of
sheer wanton malignity, the hooks and eyes on those dresses are also
made black? Do you realise...?"

"Oh, I've thought it all out."

"And take the matter of children. How would you like to become the
father--and a mere glance around you will show you that the chances are
enormously in favour of such a thing happening--of a boy with spectacles
and protruding front teeth who asks questions all the time? Out of six
small boys whom I saw when I came on board, four wore spectacles and had
teeth like rabbits. The other two were equally revolting in different
styles. How would you like to become the father...?"

"There is no need to be indelicate," said Sam stiffly. "A man must take
these chances."

"Give her the miss in baulk," pleaded Hignett. "Stay down here for the
rest of the voyage. You can easily dodge her when you get to
Southampton. And, if she sends messages, say you're ill and can't be
disturbed."

Sam gazed at him, revolted. More than ever he began to understand how it
was that a girl with ideals had broken off her engagement with this man.
He finished dressing, and, after a satisfying breakfast, went on deck.

Sec. 2

It was, as he had said, a glorious morning. The sample which he had had
through the porthole had not prepared him for the magic of it. The ship
swam in a vast bowl of the purest blue on an azure carpet flecked with
silver. It was a morning which impe