"Where are the ladies?" he asked.

"Mrs. Crayford is coming this way, sir. She was just behind you when you
came in."

"Is Miss Burnham with her?"

"No, sir; Miss Burnham is down on the beach with the passengers. I heard
the young lady asking after you, sir."

"Asking after me?" Crayford considered with himself as he repeated the
words. He added, in lower and graver tones, "You had better tell Miss
Burnham you have seen me here."

The man made his salute and went out. Crayford took a turn in the
boat-house.

Rescued from death in the Arctic wastes, and reunited to a beautiful
wife, the lieutenant looked, nevertheless, unaccountably anxious and
depressed. What could he be thinking of? He was thinking of Clara.

On the first day when the rescued men were received on board the
_Amazon_, Clara had embarrassed and distressed, not Crayford only, but
the other officers of the Expedition as well, by the manner in which she
questioned them on the subject of Francis Aldersley and Richard Wardour.
She had shown no signs of dismay or despair when she heard that no news
had been received of the two missing men. She had even smiled sadly to
herself, when Crayford (out of compassionate regard for her) declared
that he and his comrades had not given up the hope of seeing Frank and
Wardour yet. It was only when the lieutenant had expressed himself in
those terms and when it was hoped that the painful subject had been
dismissed--that Clara had startled every one present by announcing that
she had something still to say in relation to Frank and Wardour, which
had not been said yet. Though she spoke guardedly, her next words
revealed suspicions of foul play lurking in her mind--exactly reflecting
similar suspicions lurking in Crayford's mind--which so distressed
the lieutenant, and so surprised his comrades, as to render them quite
incapable of answering her. The warnings of the storm which shortly
afterward broke over the vessel were then visible in sea and sky.
Crayford made them his excuse for abruptly leaving the cabin in which
the conversation had taken place. His brother officers, profiting by his
example, pleaded their duties on deck, and followed him out.

On the next day, and the next, the tempest still raged--and the
passengers were not able to leave their state-rooms. But now, when the
weather had moderated and the ship had anchored--now, when officers
and passengers alike were on shore, with leisure time at their
disp