He nodded and smiled at her, but Jimmy was not in the cabin at all. As
she came out Ole Fred came along the alley-way. He leered at her but did
not speak. She hurried into her own cabin, shut the door and pushed the
bolt along instinctively. As she switched on the light she saw a very
small amount of exceedingly dirty water in her basin, and Jimmy's neat
pile of tiny clothes folded on the floor. He was fast asleep in the
lower bunk.

She started to undress in a golden glow of romance, and realized that,
as her clothes came off, her armour was going to stay on, waking and
sleeping, visible only to herself. Then she thought of a small, trivial
thing. She tapped on the partition.

"Are you hungry?" she called quietly.

"Frightfully."

"Go and talk to Knollys. He's very nice. He'll find something for you."

"N-no. I c-can't," he stammered, frightened immediately.

"Then I shall," she said, and, slipping on her dressing-gown, went along
to the saloon. By luck she found Knollys there and he produced bread and
cheese and ship's biscuit from the steward's pantry.

"I imagine you are hungry, miss," he said respectfully when she asked
him to be sure to give her a lot.

"No, I'm not. It's Mr. Farne in Number 8. He hasn't had a meal since he