William hovered about, adjusting pillows and rugs. Now and then his eye
dropped to the wharf and picked out, casually, a figure that moved in
the crowd. "There--that's a leetle mite easier, ain't it?"

The young man nodded almost fretfully. "I'm all right, Uncle William.
Don't you fuss any more." He leaned forward, looking toward the wharf.
"Who is that?"

Uncle William pushed up his spectacles and peered. "I don't seem to see
anybody," he said truthfully. He was gazing with some painstaking in the
opposite direction.

"Not there. Look!--She's gone!" He sank back with a sigh.

"Somebody you knew, like enough?" The question was indifferent.

"I thought it was--her."

"She, now! She wouldn't be likely to be down here this time o' day."

"No, I suppose not. It was just a fancy."

"That's all. You comf'tabul?"

"Yes--" a little impatiently.

"That's good. Now we're off." Uncle William beamed on the water that
billowed before and behind. He went off to find the captain.

When he came back, the young man had ceased to look toward the shore. "I