cture of
the box of Reginald Maltravers suddenly springing upright and hopping
towards him on one end with a series of stiff jumps that would send
drops of moisture flying from the cracks and seams and make the ice
inside of it clink and tinkle. And the mournful Elmer, now drowsing
callously over his charge, was not an invitation to be blithe. If
Cleggett himself were so affected (he mused) what must be the effect of
the box of Reginald Maltravers upon sensibilities as fine and delicate
as those of a woman like Lady Agatha Fairhaven?

"Could I--if I might----" Lady Agatha hesitated, with a glance towards
the cabin. Cleggett instantly divined her thought; for brief as was
their acquaintance, there was an almost psychic accord between his mind
and hers, and he felt himself already answering to her unspoken wish as
a ship to its rudder.

"The cabin is at your service," said Cleggett, for he understood that
she wished to dress for dinner. He conducted her, with a touch of
formality, to his own room in the cabin, which he put at her disposal,
ordering her steamer trunks to be placed in it. Then, taking with him
some necessaries of his own, he withdrew to the forecastle to make a
careful toilet.

It might not have occurred to another man to dress for dinner, but
Cleggett's character was an unusual blend of delicacy and strength; he
perceived subtly that Lady Agatha was of the nature to appreciate this
compliment. At a moment when her fortunes were at a low ebb what could
more cheer a woman and hearten her than such a mark of consideration?
Already Cleggett found himself asking what would please Lady Agatha.

CHAPTER VIII

A FLAME LEAPS OUT OF THE DARK

Kuroki announced dinner; Cleggett entered the captain's mess room of
the cabin, where the cloth was laid, and a moment later lady Agatha
emerged from the stateroom and gave him her hand with a smile.

If he had thought her beautiful before, when she wore her plain
traveling suit, he thought her radiant now, in the true sense of that
much abused word. For she flung forth her charm in vital radiations.
If Cleggett had possessed a common mind he might have phrased it to
himself that she hit a man squarely in the eyes. Her beauty had that
direct and almost aggressive quality that is like a challenge, and with
sophisticated feminine art she had contrived that the dinner gown she
chose for that evening should sound the keynote of her personality like
a leitmotif in