bet," I returned, with all the emphasis I dared give; though
perhaps it was not enough to tear up a deep-rooted impression; albeit
the seed had been sown for but four-and-twenty hours.

So ended the lesson for the first day.

It was not an easy lesson for me. But I regret nothing.

XIII

"Look here," said the Mariner next morning, rapping on my door at the
hotel, "how soon could we start for Katwyk?"

"I thought the expedition was given up," I answered, "as nobody spoke of
it last night."

"Not in your presence, but my worthy aunt rejoices in a sitting-room,
and we met there--some of us--to discuss the expedition. The girls
_think_ they're keen to go, but it's a case of hypnotism. _She_ wants a
thing, and in some curious way, known only to herself, she gives others
the impression that they are wanting it frantically."

"I've noticed that," said I.

"Oh, you have? Well, she's a wonderful woman. I daren't dwell upon the
things she's got out of me already, or ask myself what she'll get before
the play's finished. That sitting-room, for instance, I suppose it will
end in her always having one. Did you observe Tibe's collar? It cost
twenty-five dollars, and the queer part is that I _offered_ it to her. I
thought at the time I wanted him to have it. Now, I ask you, as man to
man, is it _canny_? And she has a traveling-bag with gold fittings. I
presented it under the delusion that I owed it to her as my--temporary
relative. Heavens, where is this to end? Not at Katwyk, with the Rhine.
But we've got to go there. Anything to please her."

Strange to say, the hypnotic influence must have stolen up from her
ladyship's room on the floor below, and along the corridor to mine, for
I found myself thinking: "She rather likes me, and can be useful, if she
dominates the two girls in this way. I must do my best to keep her on
my side."

No doubt this was the form the influence took, but I made no struggle
against it. On the contrary, I assured Starr that the expedition to
Katwyk would be a good expedition; that I would be dressed in ten
minutes; that I didn't mind about breakfast, but would have a cup of
coffee with Hendrik; that if the party came on board "Lorelei" in half
an hour, they would find her ready.

"All right, I'll tell them," said he. "I did want to stop and see a few
pictures, for it seems a burning shame to leave the town where Gerard
Douw, and Steen, and lots of other splendid chaps were born, without