"Yes," she said; "I believe it was my employer you knew."

He did not follow this lead.

"Are you supposed to sit up all night and watch the animals for her?"
he asked.

"Only for an hour or two. The steamboat people refused to have them in
the saloon, and the maid should have relieved me. She was tired,
however, with packing and running errands all day, and I thought I'd
let her sleep a while."

"Then it can't be much of an intrusion if I try to make you more
comfortable. Let me move your chair nearer the deckhouse, where you'll
be out of the wind; but I'll first see if I can find another rug."

He left her without waiting for a reply, and, returning with a rug,
placed her chair in a sheltered spot; then he leaned against the
railing.

"So you are Mrs. Keith's companion," he observed. "It strikes me as
rather unfeeling of her to keep you here in the cold." He indicated
the baskets. "But what's her object in buying these creatures?"

"Caprice," Millicent smiled. "Some of them are savage, and they cost a
good deal. I can't imagine what she means to do with them; I don't
think she knows herself. One of them, however, has been growling all
day, and as it's apparently unwell it mustn't be neglected."