ashamed I am at the
way I have behaved to you all through the voyage--"

"But," I said, "I thought it was agreed that that should be all
forgotten."

"So it shall be," she said, "since you are so generous as to wish it.
But before we entirely relegate the matter to oblivion, I want to
explain that my stupid prejudice against Englishmen is not at all
founded upon experience, for the few Englishmen whom I have met--true,
they have been very few--have all been unexceptionable. I don't know
why it is, but it seems to be the fashion for us Americans to speak and
think of Englishmen as being of a different clay from ourselves,
something infinitely inferior to us in every respect--effete, and all
that sort of thing; and so much is this the case that a good many of us
really come to believe it at last. There! I have made my confession,
cried _peccavi_, and have been forgiven; and I feel ever so much
happier. Now, please tell me about yourself. I want to know whether
you have quite recovered from the effect of your dreadful exertions this
morning. My! I don't believe I shall ever forget how I felt when I
rushed up on deck to find out what all the confusion was about, and saw
you swimming in the water, ever so far away, with Julius hanging over
your shoulder."

CHAPTER FIVE.

WE FALL IN WITH A DERELICT; AND MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT.

That evening, short though it was--for Harper insisted that we should
all retire early--was the most delightful that I had ever spent,
although everybody would persist in talking of what they termed my
"exploit", the ladies telling me over and over again how profound was
their gratitude to me for saving the life of the being who was
evidently, to them, the most important person in the world, while the
men said all sorts of complimentary and flattering things about my
courage in plunging overboard in such a tremendous sea, and so on, so
that my cheeks were aflame with blushes all the time. But the absolute
sincerity of their gratitude and admiration and the friendly warmth of
their feeling toward me were so transparently evident in everything they
said, that despite the feeling of embarrassment that oppressed me, I was
very happy, the more so that nothing was said or even hinted at
concerning a reward for what I had done. For--perhaps because of my
youth--my pride was intensely sensitive; and while I greatly valued
their gratitude and friendship--and I may as well be frank enough to