Before he could even raise his eyes
to her she cried out "Ah! Here's papa" in a sharp tone of relief, but
directly afterwards she looked to me as if she were holding her breath
with apprehension. I was so interested in her that, how shall I say it,
her exclamation made no connection in my brain at first. I also noticed
that she had sidled up a little nearer to Captain Anthony, before it
occurred to me to turn my head. I can tell you my neck stiffened in the
twisted position from the shock of actually seeing that old man! He had
dared! I suppose you think I ought to have looked upon him as mad. But
I couldn't. It would have been certainly easier. But I could _not_. You
should have seen him. First of all he was completely dressed with his
very cap still on his head just as when he left me on deck two hours
before, saying in his soft voice: "The moment has come to go to
bed"--while he meant to go and do that thing and hide in his dark cabin,
and watch the stuff do its work. A cold shudder ran down my back. He
had his hands in the pockets of his jacket, his arms were pressed close
to his thin, upright body, and he shuffled across the cabin with his
short steps.
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