"What a pretty kitten! Whose is it, waiter?"
The waiter put the cage down upon a side table, and then carried a plate of meat to the place, and put it in the cage. Jane and Rollo went to see. While the kitten was eating her meat, the waiter said that he would go and get some milk for her. He accordingly went away again; but he soon returned, bringing a little milk with him in a saucer. The kitten, having by this time finished eating her meat, set herself eagerly at the work of lapping up the milk, which she did with an air of great satisfaction.
"There!" said the waiter, "bring her out here whenever she is hungry, and I will always have something for her. When you come at meal times, you will see me at the table. If you come at any other time, and you don't see me, ask for Alfred. My name is Alfred."
Jane and Rollo both said to Alfred that they were very much obliged to him, and then, observing that nearly all the passengers had left the dining saloon and had returned to the cabin, they determined to go too. So they went back through the same passage way by which they had come.
There were two principal cabins in the ship, the ladies' cabin and the gentlemen's cabin. The ladies' cabin was nearest to the dining saloon, the gentlemen's cabin being beyond. A number of ladies and gentlemen turned into the ladies' cabin, and so Rollo and Jane followed them. They found themselves, when they had entered, in quite a considerable apartment, with sofas and mirrors all around the sides of it, and a great deal of rich carving in the panels and ceiling. Several splendid lamps, too, were suspended in different places, so hung that they could move freely in every direction, when the ship was rolling from side to side in rough seas. Rollo and Jane took their seats upon one of the sofas.
"Well, Rollo," said Jane, "I don't know what we are going to do next."
"Nor I," said Rollo; "but we can sit here a little while, and perhaps somebody will come and speak to us. It must be right for us to sit here, for other ladies and gentlemen are sitting in this cabin."
Jane looked about the cabin on the different sofas to see if there were any persons there that she had ever seen before. But there were none.
Among the persons in the cabin, there were two who particularly attracted Jane's attention. They were young ladies of, perhaps, eighteen or twenty years of age, but they were remarkably different from each other in appearance. One was very beautiful indeed. Her hair was elegantly arranged in curls upon her neck, and she was dressed quite fashionably. Her countenance, too, beamed with an expression of animation and happiness.
The other young lady, who sat upon the other end of the same sofa, was very plain in her appearance, and was plainly dressed. Her countenance, too, had a sober and thoughtful expression which was almost stern, and made Jane feel quite disposed to be afraid of her. The beautiful girl she liked very much.