Ruth regarded him with amused eyes.
"Why, you're quite excited," she said.
"Ah," answered Ernie. "We're Hammer-men, him and me. That's enough. Quite enough." He disappeared down the shaft with a knowing and consequential air, hushing her with lordly hand.
The Captain rang for his hot water.
Ruth took it him.
He turned round as she entered and flashed his eyes at her curiously.
"Will you help me unpack?" he said quietly. "I haven't brought a man."
She knelt beside the suit-case, while he stood at the chest of drawers.
She handed him his clothes, and he arranged them orderly and with an unerring precision that appealed to her methodical mind.
His clothes were beautiful too: so fine, so fresh, so like himself, Ruth thought. She handled the silken shirts, when his back was turned, and stroked the flimsy vests.