in England. Now I think, with
your permission, I'll retire. It's after eleven, and there's something
about these fjords that never fails to make me sleepy. Good-night,
_mon cher ami_, and pleasant dreams to you."

Browne bade him good-night, and when the other disappeared into the
companion, returned to his contemplation of the shore. The night was
so still that the ripple of the wavelets on the beach, half a mile or
so away, could be distinctly heard. The men had left the smoking-room;
and save the solitary figure of the officer on the bridge, and a hand
forward by the cable range, Browne had the deck to himself. And yet he
was not altogether alone, for his memory was still haunted by the
recollection of the same sweet face, with the dark, lustrous eyes, that
had been with him all the evening. Do what he would, he could not
endow the adventure of the afternoon with the common-place air he had
tried to bestow upon it. Something told him that it was destined to
play a more important part in his life's history than would at first
glance appear to be the case. And yet he was far from being a
susceptible young man. The training he had received would have been
sufficient to prevent that. For upwards of an hour he remained where
he was, thinking and thinking, and yet never coming any nearer a
definite conclusion. Then, throwing away what remained of his cigar,
he bestowed a final glance upon the shore, and went below to his cabin,
to dream, over and over again, of the adventure that had befallen him
that afternoon.

Whatever else may have been said of it, the weather next morning was
certainly not propitious; the mountains surrounding the bay were hidden
in thick mist, and rain was falling steadily. After breakfast the male
portion of the party adjourned to the smoking-room, while the ladies
engaged themselves writing letters or with their novels in the
drawing-room below.

Browne alone seemed in good spirits. While the others were railing at
the fog, and idly speculating as to whether it would clear, he seemed
to derive a considerable amount of satisfaction from it. About ten
o'clock he announced his intention of going ashore, in order, he said,
that he might confer with a certain local authority regarding their
proposed departure for the south next day. As a matter of politeness
he inquired whether any of his guests would accompany him, and received
an answer in the negative from all who happened to be i