Lord Norman sung them a roystering sea song with a spirited chorus, which the men caught up, and shouted with keen enjoyment. He was kept at the piano singing and playing until he was nearly hoarse; and when he gave in, Taffy seized him and perched him upon the top of the instrument, and called for three cheers, which were given with such heartiness that Dan MacGrath glanced at the tin roof apprehensively.
Laughing and blushing, Norman got off the piano, and made his way out into the open air. As he passed through the door-way he brushed against something, and saw that it was Esmeralda. She wore a short skirt, and had thrown a red shawl over her head.
“Ralda—I mean, Miss Howard!” he stammered, with a note of glad surprise in his voice.
She shrunk back a little, and looked round as if about to fly; then, as though she were ashamed of the impulse, she faced him, and regarded him steadily. The moon shone down full upon her face, and its beauty kept him silent for a moment. In her rough dress and gypsy-like shawl she looked a totally different person to the young lady he remembered in the Redfern habit and Heath hat.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he said at last. “Have you been quite well?”
“I’m always well,” she said.
“I asked because I haven’t seen you about,” he said.
She looked down and made no response.
“Have you been outside, listening, long?” he asked.