RenovatedcertainlythesaloonoftheFerndalewastoreceivethe”strangewoman。”Themellownessofitsold-fashioned，tarnisheddecorationwasgone。AndAnthonylookingroundsawtheglitter，thegleams，thecolourofnewthings，untried，unused，verybright——toobright。Theworkmenhadgoneonlylastnight；andthelastpieceofworktheydidwasthehangingoftheheavycurtainswhichloopedmidwaythelengthofthesaloon——divideditintwoifreleased，cuttingofftheafterendwithitscompanion-wayleadingdirectonthepoop，fromtheforepartwithitsoutletonthedeck；makingaprivacywithinaprivacy，asthoughCaptainAnthonycouldnotplaceobstaclesenoughbetweenhisnewhappinessandthemenwhosharedhislifeatsea。Heinspectedthatarrangementwithanapprovingeyethenmadeaparticularvisitationofthewhole，endingbyopeningadoorwhichledintoalargestateroommadeoftwoknockedintoone。Itwasverywellfurnishedandhad，insteadoftheusualbedplaceofsuchcabins，anelaborateswingingcotofthelatestpattern。Anthonytilteditalittlebywayoftrial。”Theoldmanwillbeverycomfortableinhere，”hesaidtohimself，andsteppedbackintothesaloonclosingthedoorgently。Thenanotherthoughtoccurredtohimobviousunderthecircumstancesbutstrangelyenoughpresentingitselfforthefirsttime。”Jove！Won’thegetashock，”thoughtRoderickAnthony。
Hewenthastilyondeck。”Mr。Franklin，Mr。Franklin。”Thematewasnotveryfar。”Oh！Hereyouare。Miss……Mrs。Anthony’llbecomingonboardpresently。Justgivemeacallwhenyouseethecab。”
Then，withoutnoticingthegloominessofthemate’scountenancehewentinagain。Notafriendlyword，notaprofessionalremark，orasmalljoke，notasmuchasasimpleandinane”fineday。”Nothing。
Justturnedaboutandwentin。
Weknowthat，whenthemomentcame，hethoughtbetterofitanddecidedtomeetFlora’sfatherinthatprivacyofthemaincabinwhichhehadbeensocarefultoarrange。WhyAnthonyappearedtoshrinkfromthecontact，hewhowassufficientlyself-confidentnotonlytofacebuttoabsolutelycreateasituationalmostinsaneinitsaudaciousgenerosity，isdifficulttoexplain。Perhapswhenhecameonthepoopforaglancehefoundthatmansodifferentoutwardlyfromwhatheexpectedthathedecidedtomeethimforthefirsttimeoutofeverybody’ssight。Possiblythegeneralsecrecyofhisrelationtothegirlmighthaveinfluencedhim。Trulyhemaywellhavebeendismayed。Thatman’scomingbroughthimfacetofacewiththenecessitytospeakandactalie；toappearwhathewasnotandwhathecouldneverbe，unless，unless-