I mean."

"Oh, you wasn't ... weren't?"

"No. Some day I knew I should meet the only girl I could possibly love,
and then I would pour out upon her the stored-up devotion of a lifetime,
lay an unblemished heart at her feet, fold her in my arms and say 'At
last!'"

"How jolly for her. Like having a circus all to oneself."

"Well, yes," said Sam after a momentary pause.

"When I was a child I always thought that that would be the most
wonderful thing in the world."

"The most wonderful thing in the world is love, a pure and consuming
love, a love which...."

"Oh, hello!" said a voice.

All through this scene, right from the very beginning of it, Sam had not
been able to rid himself of a feeling that there was something missing.
The time and the place and the girl--they were all present and correct;
nevertheless there was something missing, some familiar object which
seemed to leave a gap. He now perceived that what had caused the feeling
was the complete absence of Bream Mortimer. He was absent no longer. He
was standing in front of them with one leg, his head lowered as if he
were waiting for someone to scratch it. Sam's primary impulse was to
offer him a nut.

"Oh, hello, Bream!" said Billie.

"Hullo!" said Sam.

"Hello!" said Bream Mortimer. "Here you are!"

There was a pause.

"I thought you might be here," said Bream.

"Yes, here we are," said Billie.

"Yes, we're here," said Sam.

There was another pause.

"Mind if I join you?" said Bream.

"N--no," said Billie.

"N--no," said Sam.

"No," said Billie again. "No ... that is to say ... oh no, no at all."

There was a third pause.

"On second thoughts," said Bream, "I believe I'll take a stroll on the
promenade deck if you don't mind."

They said they did not mind. Bream Mortimer, having bumped his head
twice against overhanging steel ropes, melted away.

"Who is that fellow?" demanded Sam wrathfully.

"He's the son of father's best friend."

Sam started. Somehow this girl had always been so individual to him that
he had never thought of her having a father.

"We have known each other all our lives," continued Billie. "Father
thinks a tremendous lot of Bream. I suppose it was because Bream was
sailing by her that father insisted on my coming over on this boat. I'm
in disgrace, you know I was cabled for and had to sail at a few days'
notice. I...."

"Oh, hello!"

"Why, Bream!" said Billie looking at him as he stood on the old spo