But he didn’t reach the door in time, for she had tried the knob, concluded it was right enough to enter. And a hasty reflection assured me that the picture wouldn’t suffer, anyway, now that it had reached the fixing tray.
The girl, her eyes getting accustomed to the lesser light, caught sight of me, and started; then whirled suddenly upon her father.
“Then we lost, dad?”
“Well, scarcely, Stella!” Stroth put a lightness to his answer, which thinly veiled decided uneasiness. “We[Pg 40] won, and won well. So much so, in fact, that Mr. Grey here is to be our guest for the trip. You see, I just thought it would be a nice thing to kidnap him for company.”
Even in the darkness surrounding us, I could feel his eyes drilling at me, as if defying me to contradict by word or manner.
Silence was my only course, and the girl quickly lifted the suspense by recognizing the introduction. She even stepped forward, and shook my hand, as she said:
“It was great fun, wasn’t it, Mr. Grey? And I was certainly put out when dad made me stick to my stateroom last night, when we were getting under way.”
Here Stroth interrupted:
“You know you were all tired out, dear, and I thought it best that you should——”
“Oh, I knew enough to realize that a captain of a ship has the right of life and death over all aboard,” she bantered, taking me along with her infectious laughter, “and I just obeyed.”