r accommodation, but
Bluebell availed herself of it with the frankest _nonchalance_, and, in
the conversation that ensued, lost her place in the first rush of diners,
who, at the ringing of the bell, instantly occupied every vacant chair.

"They seem to be having a very good time," observed Fleda, who had picked
up some Americanisms.

Somewhat aghast at his daughter's precocity, the Colonel stepped out on
the deck, and, with grave dignity, offered Bluebell his arm to conduct
her to his seat, which, quite unconscious of his disapprobation, she
accepted with civil indifference.

And the young subaltern lit a cigar to console himself for the withdrawal
of the clear blue eyes that looked so deep under the shadow of the
umbrella, and tried to find as much piquancy in the "funny book" he had
recently purchased at the St. Michael's book-stall, while the good ship
went ploughing on, past wooden villages, brown houses picked out with
white, and perhaps here and there a little orange-frocked child giving a
characteristic dash of colour.

Then, as the sun sank lower, the most gorgeous hues came into the sky.
But, while every one was on deck gazing on its almost tropical vividness,
a film stole between, a shivering dampness pervaded the air, and soon a
dense fog drove the chagrined passengers back into the saloon.

The captain went to his bridge, and the tea-bell rang soon after. People
were beginning to talk sociably to their neighbours, and a mild hilarity
reigned, when a violent concussion, followed by a sudden cessation of the
paddles, caused a general rush from the table.

Bluebell, in the act of receiving the second supply of coffee, was
aroused from her immediate bewilderment by a scalding _douche_ down her
neck--the waiter, a young German with heart disease painted on his livid
lips and pasty complexion, having held the coffee-pot suspended
topsy-turvy for an instant, and then fallen in a fit on the floor.

All the men had crowded on deck, and it soon became known that they had
run into a log raft, which, though no lives were lost had been nearly
swamped, and much injured by the collision. The "St. Michael," too, had
received a bulge, which rendered a little tinkering at the first port
desirable.

The first alarm of the passengers being lulled, and the panic having
subsided into the excitement of a danger passed, public interest became
concentrated on the young waiter, who still lay in a death like swoon,
till, eve