was,
however, considerably touched, and upbraided myself for not having
hitherto done justice to the depth and sincerity of nature which
underlay her external frivolity. I expressed this self-condemnation to
Denny Swinton, but he met it very coldly, and would not be drawn
into any discussion of the subject. Denny was not wont to conceal
his opinions, and had never pretended to be enthusiastic about my
engagement. This attitude of his had not troubled me before, but I was
annoyed at it now, and I retaliated by asseverating my affection for
Beatrice in terms of even exaggerated emphasis, and her's for me with
no less vehemence.

These troubles and perplexities vanished before the zest and interest
which our preparations and start excited. Denny and I were like a pair
of schoolboys off for a holiday, and spent hours in forecasting what
we should do and how we should fare in the island. These speculations
were extremely amusing, but in the long run they were proved to be,
one and all, wide of the mark. Had I known Neopalia then as well as
I came to know it afterward, I should have recognized the futility of
attempting to prophesy what would happen there. As it was, we spun our
cobwebs merrily all the way to Rhodes, where we arrived without event
and without accident. There we picked up Hogvardt, and embarked in the
smart little steam yacht which he had hired for me. A day or two was
spent in arranging our stores and buying what more we wanted, for we
could not expect to be able to procure anything in Neopalia. I was
rather surprised to find no letter for me from the old lord, but I had
no thought of waiting for a formal invitation, and pressed on the hour
of departure as much as I could. Here, also, I saw the first of my new
subjects, Hogvardt having engaged a couple of men who had come to him,
saying they were from Neopalia and were anxious to work their passage
back. I was delighted to have them, and fell at once to studying them
with immense attention. They were fine, tall, capable-looking fellows,
and they, too, with ourselves, made a crew more than large enough for
our little boat; for both Denny and I would make ourselves useful on
board, and Hogvardt could do something of everything on land or water,
whilst Watkins acted as cook and steward. The Neopalians were, as they
stated, in answer to my questions, brothers; their names were Spiro
and Demetri, and they informed us that their family had served the
lords of Neo