were not taken up with the news of the day.

Any interest they might feel in me, provided it had nothing to do with a
certain pocket, they were welcome to: but the little man was apparently
not of the same mind concerning himself. His nervously twitching hand on
the upholstered seat-arm which separated his place from mine attracted
my attention, which was then drawn up to his face. He was so sickly
pale, under a kind of yellowish glaze spread over his complexion, that I
thought he must be ill, perhaps suffering from train sickness, in
anxious anticipation of the horrors which might be in store for him on
the boat. Presently he pulled out a red-bordered handkerchief, and
unobtrusively wiped his forehead, under his checked travelling cap. When
he had done this, I saw that his hair was left streaked with damp; and
there was a faint, purplish stain on the handkerchief, observing which
with evident dismay he stuffed the big square of coarse cambric hastily
into his pocket.

"The little beast must dye his hair," I thought contemptuously. "Perhaps
he's an albino, really. His eyes look like it."

With that, he threw a frightened glance at me, which caused me to turn
away and spare him the humiliation of knowing that he was observed. But
immediately after, he made an effort to pull himself together, picking
up a book he had laid down to wipe his forehead and holding it so close
to his nose that the printed page must have been a mere blur, unless he
were very near-sighted. Thus he sat for some time; yet I felt that no
look thrown by the other two was lost on him. He seemed to know each
time one of them peered over the newspaper; and when at last the train
slowed down by the Admiralty Pier all his nervousness returned. His
small, thin hands, freckled on their backs, hovered over one piece of
luggage after another, as if he could not decide how to pile the things
together.

Naturally I had not brought my man with me on this errand, therefore I
had let my suitcase go into the van, that I might have both hands free,
and I had nothing to do when the train stopped but jump out and make for
the boat. Nevertheless I lingered, folding up a newspaper, and tearing
an article out of a magazine by way of excuse; for it was not my object
to be caught in a crowd and hustled, perhaps, by some clever wretches
who might be lying in wait for what I had in my pocket. It seemed
impossible that anyone could have learned that I was playing messenge