So it was when they had been a fortnight at sea.  They had left home in mid-winter; but now they were in the tropics, near the line, and everything was sultry, sleepy, and warm.  Flying-fishes were jumping from the waves on to the deck, and when the dusk of night was come, the passengers would stand by the hour together watching the phosphorus on the water.  The Southern Cross had shown itself plainly, and possessed the heavens in conjunction with the Bear.  The thick woollen drawers which had been so carefully prepared, were no longer in use, and men were going about in light pantaloons and linen jackets,—­those on the quarter-deck at first beautifully clean and white, while our friends of the second cabin were less careful.  The women, too, had got quit of their wraps, and lounged about the deck in light attire.  During the bright hours of the day the aristocrats, in the stern, were shrouded from the sun by a delightful awning; but, forward, the passengers sought the shade of the loose idle sails, or screened themselves from the fierce rays as best they might among the hatchways and woodwork But it was when the burning sun had hidden himself, when the short twilight had disappeared, and the heavens were alive and alight with stars, that all the world of the ship would be crowded on the upper deck.  There they would remain, long after the lamps below had been extinguished, some of them sleeping through the whole night in the comparative coolness of the air.  But it was from eight, when tea would be over, till midnight, that the hum of voices would be thickest, and the tread of those who walked for their exercise the most frequent.

At such times Caldigate would be often alone; for though he had made acquaintances, and had become indeed intimate with some of those around him, he had never thrust himself into the life of the ship as Shand had done.  Charades were acted in the second cabin, in which Shand always took part,—­and there were penny readings, at which Shand was often the reader.  And he smoked much and drank somewhat with those who smoked and drank.  The awe at first inspired by his university superiority and supposed rank in the world had faded almost into nothing, but by Caldigate, unconsciously, much of this had been preserved.  I am not sure that he did not envy his friend, but at any rate he stood aloof.  And, in regard to Mrs. Smith, when he saw her walking one evening with Shand in the sweetly dim light of the evening, with her hand upon Shand’s arm, he made up his mind that he would think no more about her.

They had been at sea just a fortnight when this happened.  And in about a quarter of an hour after this resolve had been formed Mrs. Smith was standing by him and talking to him.  A ball was being held on the quarter-deck, or rather, as there was in truth no quarter-deck to the Goldfinder, on that clean, large, luxurious expanse devoted to the aristocracy in the after-part of the vessel.  From among the second-class passengers,