was plain that
she had something which she very much wanted to say, something about
the strange steamer. The Queen's curiosity increased. She thought for
a moment of turning back to the palace. There she would find Smith and
he would interpret for her. Then she remembered Smith's odd mistake in
translating his own German in the morning. She determined not to ask
his help. Kalliope, hopeless of explaining herself in Megalian, fell
back on her small store of English words. She kept on saying "Mucky
ship," which conveyed nothing at all to the Queen, except the obvious
fact that the steamer was there. She also repeated the words "Once
more."

At last, when the boat was getting near the steamer, Kalliope made a
great effort.

"It--is--once more," she said.

The Queen jumped to a possible meaning of her words. The steamer, that
steamer had been in the harbour of Salissa before, had been perhaps
about some business similar to that which occupied her now. Kalliope,
her eyes on the Queen's face, saw that she was making herself
understood. She nodded delightedly, turned round on her seat and
pointed to the steamer.

"It--is--once more."

Then she began to sing, softly at first, louder as she became sure of
herself, until her voice rang clear across the water. Her song had no
words, but the tune was that which she had sung to the Queen in the
cave on the day when she first saw the cisterns. It was the tune of
the hymn "Glorious things of thee are spoken."

Three or four men were leaning over the ship's bulwarks, looking at
the Queen's boat. They heard Kalliope's voice, and they joined in the
hymn. A boat lay in the mouth of the cave, supporting part of the long
hose. There were four men in her. They also joined in the hymn. They
sang words, German words. The Queen listened intently, trying to hear
what the words were.

Captain von Moll, standing on the bridge of the steamer, shouted an
order. The men stopped singing abruptly. Kalliope finished the tune by
herself and then laughed.

"It--is--once more," she said.

The Queen understood. The ship had been in the harbour before. The
crew had gone about some work, like that which she saw them doing.
While they worked they had sung that hymn tune. The Queen frowned with
perplexity. Then suddenly she recollected. She had been in the choir
at school. She had sung hymns every morning at prayers. The fat German
governess, an exile from the Fatherland and deeply sentimental, use