'Good-night, Helga!' said I.
'Good-night, Hugh!' she answered.
'You will find a bolt to your door, Miss Nielsen,' called the Captain. 'Oh, by the way,' he added, 'I do not mean that you shall undress in the dark. There is an opening over your door; I will hang the lantern amidships here. It will shed light enough to see by, and in half an hour, if that will not be too soon, Punmeamootty will remove it. Good-night, Mr. Tregarthen!'
He left me, after hanging up the lantern by a hook fixed in a beam amidships of the corridor. I waited until his figure had disappeared up the steps of the hatch and then called to Helga. She heard me instantly, and cried, 'What is it, Hugh?'
'Did not you want to say something to me just now?' I exclaimed.
She opened the door and repeated, 'What is it, Hugh? I cannot hear you!'
'I thought you wished to speak to me just now,' said I, 'but were hindered by the Captain's presence.'
'No, I have nothing to say,' she answered, looking very pale in the frolic of shadows made by the swinging lantern.
'Why did you stroke down my arm? Was it a rebuke? Have I offended you?'
'Oh, Hugh!' she cried; then exclaimed: 'Could not you see what I meant? I acted what I could not speak.'