--never fails to appeal strongly to the
minds of women--and savages.

It was not so difficult for him to avoid Lilith Ormskirk, if only that
until that morning he had hardly exchanged a hundred words with her at a
time. Wherefore the upshot of his resolve was noticeable neither by its
object nor by the passengers at large. Holmes, indeed, who, having
recovered from his consternation, had been secretly watching his friend,
was anticipating the fun of seeing the latter fall headlong into the pit
whose brink he had so boldly skirted, so openly derided. But he was
disappointed. Laurence, if he referred to Lilith again, did so in the
same casual, indifferent way as before, nor did he ever terminate any of
his dreamy and seaward-gazing meditations in order to open converse with
her, even with such inducement as solitary propinquity on more than one
occasion.

"By Jove! the fellow is a cross between an icicle and a stone," quoth
Holmes to himself, in mingled wonder and disgust.

It was night--warm, sensuous, tropical night. There was dancing in the
saloon, and the glare from the skylight and the banging of the piano and
chatter of voices gave forth strange contrast to the awesome stillness
of the great liquid plain, the dewy richness of the air, the stars
hanging in golden clusters from a black vault, the fiery eye of some
larger planet rolling and flashing among them as the revolving beacon of
a lighthouse. Here the muffled throb of the propeller, and the rushing
hiss of water as the prow of the great steamer sheared through the
placid surface, furrowing up on either side a long line of
phosphorescent wave. Such a contrast he who stood alone in the darkness,
leaning over the taffrail, could appreciate nicely.

There were quick, light footsteps. Somebody else was walking the deck.
Well, whoever it was, he himself was screened by the stem of one of the
ship's boats swung in and resting on chocks. They would not see him,
which was all right, for he was in a queer mood and not inclined to
talk. After a turn or two, the footsteps paused, then something brushed
his elbow in the darkness, as suddenly starting away, while a
half-frightened voice exclaimed:

"Oh, I beg your pardon. I couldn't see anything in the dark, just coming
up out of the light of the saloon, too. Why, it's Mr. Stanninghame!"

To one who had been out of doors even a few minutes it was not very
dark, for the stars were shining with vivid brilliancy. It nee