"Morning," he said. "You're devilish early and musical, Kestern."
Paul laughed. "Come and see the sunrise, Major," he said. "It'll cheer you up. We're having tea on deck."
Then the other visibly brightened. "Good," he cried with alacrity. "I'll tub later. Shan't be a jiffy." And he disappeared into his cabin to get rid of his impedimenta.
On the boat-deck, then, the four gathered. Muriel dispensed tea, assisted by the Major, and lit cigarettes. Ursula and Paul drew a little apart. She leant a hand on the davits of one of the boats, and Paul stood back a little by her side.
Brown and orange and yellow and burnt brick-red, the sandstone hills and sandy wastes grew startlingly and swiftly clear as they watched. The new sun rose over the desert, over the rocky hills, a great golden orb, instantly alive. Magically the shadows drew off the sea or faded in its depths; the blue of it lightened, grew transparently clear, translucent. "Look," said Ursula, in a half whisper, and pointed down.
Paul took a step forward, and peered where she indicated. In the still water a great shark followed by a small replica of itself moved lazily through the watery world about it. Its gentle sinuous movements were scarcely noticeable; it glided by undisturbed with just fanning tail. Slate-grey, mottled with black, it was so near the surface that one could fancy one saw its wicked little eye inspecting the silent monster of the ship lying there at its ease so invulnerable and great.
"It's gone," said Paul. "My first shark! Even it was beautiful, Ursula."
"But that faery town," said the girl softly, who had raised her eyes from the sea.
White and picturesque, with the green of palms flecked here and there upon it, Port Suez sparkled in the now risen sun. With its tumbled flat-roofed houses, its occasional minaret, its fringe of gardens, it was a painted thing, a bit of the veritable East, for all the heat and dust and smells and commonplaceness of day in its streets.
Paul stood motionless by her side, gazing. "Do you suppose we can go ashore?" he asked at length.