at that hour and the
morning light gay; one had an extravagant sense of good omens and
propitious airs. I forget what we spoke of first, but it was because I
felt these things pleasantly; and not to torment my companion nor to test
her, that I couldn't help exclaiming cheerfully after a moment, as I have
mentioned having done the first day: "Well, we're getting on, we're
getting on!"

"Oh yes, I count every hour."

"The last days always go quicker," I said, "and the last hours--!"

"Well, the last hours?" she asked; for I had instinctively checked
myself.

"Oh one's so glad then that it's almost the same as if one had arrived.
Yet we ought to be grateful when the elements have been so kind to us," I
added. "I hope you'll have enjoyed the voyage."

She hesitated ever so little. "Yes, much more than I expected."

"Did you think it would be very bad?"

"Horrible, horrible!"

The tone of these words was strange, but I hadn't much time to reflect
upon it, for turning round at that moment I saw Jasper Nettlepoint come
toward us. He was still distant by the expanse of the white deck, and I
couldn't help taking him in from head to foot as he drew nearer. I don't
know what rendered me on this occasion particularly sensitive to the
impression, but it struck me that I saw him as I had never seen him
before, saw him, thanks to the intense sea-light, inside and out, in his
personal, his moral totality. It was a quick, a vivid revelation; if it
only lasted a moment it had a simplifying certifying effect. He was
intrinsically a pleasing apparition, with his handsome young face and
that marked absence of any drop in his personal arrangements which, more
than any one I've ever seen, he managed to exhibit on shipboard. He had
none of the appearance of wearing out old clothes that usually prevails
there, but dressed quite straight, as I heard some one say. This gave
him an assured, almost a triumphant air, as of a young man who would come
best out of any awkwardness. I expected to feel my companion's hand
loosen itself on my arm, as an indication that now she must go to him,
and I was almost surprised she didn't drop me. We stopped as we met and
Jasper bade us a friendly good-morning. Of course the remark that we had
another lovely day was already indicated, and it led him to exclaim, in
the manner of one to whom criticism came easily, "Yes, but with this sort
of thing consider what one of the others would do!"

"O