"No reason, except that you put my chair just where it is, and I didn't dare to move it."
Missy frowned; it reminded her that she had heard it stated by this gentleman, that he was afraid of her.
"A plague upon it, what have I said now," he thought.
"I am watching that boat," went on Miss Rothermel, letting drop his remark about the chair, as if it had not been worth answering. "Do you see how she is shilly-shallying there in the mouth of the harbor? There is a good breeze to bring her in, and she will lose it, if she doesn't look out. A little while ago she ran in—crept along the Neck a way, then stood out again, and now, nobody can guess what she means to do, except that she evidently doesn't want to go away. I have been watching her since five o'clock."
"Whose boat is it?" asked Mr. Andrews. "Does she belong about here?"
"No, I am sure not; I think I know all the boats that belong in the harbor, and she has an odd, unfamiliar look."
"Let's have a look at her through my glass," said Mr. Andrews; and he got up and went back to his boat-house, returning with a telescope. "This will show us the whites of our enemy's eyes," he said, adjusting it on its stand, by the beach gate. Missy got up eagerly, and went up to it. It was some moments before she got it fitted to her eye, and then a moment more before she found her craft.
"Ah! here she is," she cried. "It's a capital glass. It's almost like boarding her; it really is uncanny. There is a woman on board, and two men; and see—they have a glass! And—well, I could affirm they are looking at us. See, see, Mr. Andrews! Oh, what a funny effect! It is as if we were staring at each other across a parquet."
"Well," said Mr. Andrews, taking her place at the glass, "it is as if the opposite box didn't like being stared at, and were pulling down their curtains, and putting their fans before their faces. Upon my word, they have gone about, and are getting out of reach of our glass, just as fast as they can."
All the party were now as much interested as Missy had been. Miss Varian clamored to be told exactly what course the little vessel took; Goneril, who happened to be behind her chair, had some unnecessary comment to offer. Mrs. Varian even watched her breathlessly.