"On with the dance, let joy be unconfined!" For the captain is on the
bridge, the engineer is beneath; we have stout walls, and a ceaseless
sentry-go. In the intervals of the dance wine passes, and idle things are
said beside the draped and cushioned capstan or in the friendly gloom of
a boat, which, in the name of safety, hangs taut between its davits. Let
this imitation Cleopatra use the Cleopatra's arts; this mellow Romeo
(sometime an Irish landlord) vow to this coy Juliet; this Helen of
Troy--Of all who walked these decks, mantled and wigged in characters not
their own, Mrs. Falchion was the handsomest, most convincing. With a
graceful swaying movement she passed along the promenade, and even envy
praised her. Her hand lay lightly on the arm of a brown stalwart native
of the Indian hills, fierce and savage in attire. Against his wild
picturesqueness and brawny strength, her perfectness of animal beauty,
curbed and rendered delicate by her inner coldness, showed in fine
contrast; and yet both were matched in the fine natural prowess of form.
With a singular affirmation of what had been, after all, but a
sadly-humourous proposal, I had attired myself in a Greek
costume--quickly made by my steward, who had been a tailor--and was about
to leave my cabin, when Hungerford entered, and exclaimed, as he took his
pipe from his mouth in surprise: "Marmion, what does this mean? Don't you
know your duties better? No officer may appear at these flare-ups in
costume other than his uniform.
Pages:
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135