"I am sorry to hear that. I presume your father has been ill most of the
way?"

"My father?" cried the other, looking at her questioner.

"Yes, I did not see him at the table since the first day."

"Oh, he has had to keep his room almost since we left. He is a very poor
sailor."

"Then that must make your voyage rather unpleasant?"

The blonde young lady made no reply, but, taking up the book which Miss
Earle was reading, said, "You don't find Mr. Morris much of a reader, I
presume? He used not to be."

"I know very little about Mr. Morris," said Miss Earle, freezingly.

"Why, you knew him before you came on board, did you not?" questioned
the other, raising her eyebrows.

"No, I did not."

"You certainly know he is junior partner in the establishment where you
work?"

"I know that, yes, but I had never spoken to him before I met him on
board this steamer."