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Page 14
"Anything out of the common?" he repeated. "Nothing that I know
of, except sailing for the Arctic seas. That's out of the common,
I suppose--isn't it?"
"Has anybody spoken to you since last night? Has any stranger
followed you in the street?"
Frank turned in blank amazement to Mrs. Crayford.
"What on earth does she mean?"
Mrs. Crayford's lively invention supplied her with an answer on
the spur of the moment.
"Do you believe in dreams, Frank? Of course you don't! Clara has
been dreaming about you; and Clara is foolish enough to believe
in dreams. That's all--it's not worth talking about. Hark! they
are calling you. Say good-by, or you will be too late for the
boat."
Frank took Clara's hand. Long afterward--in the dark Arctic days,
in the dreary Arctic nights--he remembered how coldly and how
passively that hand lay in his.
"Courage, Clara!" he said, gayly. "A sailor's sweetheart must
accustom herself to partings. The time will soon pass. Good-by,
my darling! Good-by, my wife!"
He kissed the cold hand; he looked his last--for many a long
year, perhaps!--at the pale and beautiful face. "How she loves
me!" he thought. "How the parting distresses her!" He still held
her hand; he would have lingered longer, if Mrs. Crayford had not
wisely waived all ceremony and pushed him away.
The two ladies followed him at a safe distance through the crowd,
and saw him step into the boat. The oars struck the water; Frank
waved his cap to Clara. In a moment more a vessel at anchor hid
the boat from view. They had seen the last of him on his way to
the Frozen Deep!
"No Richard Wardour in the boat," said Mrs. Crayford. "No Richard
Wardour on the shore. Let this be a lesson to you, my dear. Never
be foolish enough to believe in presentiments again."
Clara's eyes still wandered suspiciously to and fro among the
crowd.
"Are you not satisfied yet?" asked Mrs. Crayford.
"No," Clara answered, "I am not satisfied yet."
"What! still looking for him? This is really too absurd. Here is
my husband coming. I shall tell him to call a cab, and send you
home."
Clara drew back a few steps.
"I won't be in the way, Lucy, while you are taking leave of your
good husband," she said. "I will wait here."
"Wait here! What for?"
"For something which I may yet see; or for something which I may
still hear."
"Richard Wardour?"
"Richard Wardour."
Mrs. Crayford turned to her husband without another word. Clara's
infatuation was beyond the reach of remonstrance.
The boats of the _Wanderer_ took the place at the landing-stage
vacated by the boats of the _Sea-mew_. A burst of cheering among
the outer ranks of the crowd announced the arrival of the
commander of the expedition on the scene. Captain Helding
appeared, looking right and left for his first lieutenant.
Finding Crayford with his wife, the captain made his apologies
for interfering, with his best grace.
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