She knew he had lately gone to Tasmania; suppose he should
return in that very ship? More unlikely things had happened. She was at
times very weary of her continual monotonous round, though she had been
fortunate enough to have got a very exceptional engagement, and had been
with Mrs. Somerset's children almost ever since she and her husband had
parted.
As Norah sat and knitted, looking out to sea and wondering where her
husband was, he, at the very moment, was pacing up and down the deck of
the _Minerva_. They had so far had a prosperous journey, fair winds, and
a calm sea. Some of the invalids were improving, and even able to come
to table, for sea air is a wonderful life-giver. But there were others
who would never see England. It was a day of intense heat in the Red
Sea, and even at that early season of the year there was not a breath of
air.
Amongst those who had been carried up out of the stifling cabin was one
whose appearance arrested Captain Wylie's attention, as he took his
constitutional in the lightest of light flannels. He could not but be
struck by the appearance of the young man. He had never seen him before,
but he looked so fragile that the young officer's kind heart went out to
him. He was lying in an uncomfortable position, his head all twisted and
half off the limp cabin pillow.
Something in the young face, so pathetic in its youth, with the ravages
of disease visible in the hectic cheek, and harsh, rasping cough,
touched the strong young officer.
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