CHAPTER XVI
I got an opportunity of tackling Colonel Race on the following morning. The auction of the sweep had just been concluded, and we walked up and down the deck together.
“ How’s the gipsy this morning? Longing for land and her caravan?”
I shook my head.
“ Now that the sea is behaving so nicely, I feel I should like to stay on it for ever and ever.”
“ What enthusiasm!”
“ Well, isn’t it lovely this morning?”
We leant together over the rail. It was a glassy calm. The sea looked as though it had been oiled. There were great patches of colour on it, blue, pale green, emerald, purple and deep orange, like a cubist picture. There was an occasional flash of silver that showed the flying fish. The air was moist and warm, almost sticky. Its breath was like a perfumed caress.
