The two physicians paced the full length of the promenade deck. The air
was mild. The ship was moving quietly, as if its great body took delight
in pushing onward through none but low waves. It was surprising to see
how gay the life on deck was. They were constantly raising their hats and
making way for somebody. The stewards had carried the news of the good
weather down to the passengers in their stuffy cabins, and all the
seasick travellers had come crawling on deck. There was much talking and
laughing. Each moment brought fresh surprise over the galaxy of merry
women that had kept themselves stowed away in the _Roland's_ interior. It
was just an ordinary Saturday afternoon in January; yet suddenly an
atmosphere of festivity prevailed not to be outdone by a Christmas eve.
Hans Füllenberg passed by. He was cracking jokes for everybody's benefit
and flirting desperately with his Englishwoman, who had recovered from
her seasickness. She had found a friend, a woman in a fur cap and coat,
with a magnificent crown of light hair, like a Swedish woman's. She
seemed to be greatly amused by Füllenberg's poor jokes and poor English.
He had abstracted her muff and was alternately conveying it to his
stomach, his heart, and--this very passionately--his mouth. The young
American jackanapes was promenading with his Canadian, who looked very
haughty and blasé, yet much fresher. The delicate creature seemed to be
shivering with cold, though she was wearing an elegant coat of Canadian
sable, which reached to her knees. Frederick greeted the clothing
manufacturer, whom his steward had helped up on deck. He had been lying
in his cabin more dead than alive, and his steward had been feeding him
on nothing but Malaga grapes.
Ingigerd was holding court on the port side in front of her cabin, the
door to which stood open, it flattering her vanity to have the many
promenaders see and envy the privilege she was enjoying.
"If it is agreeable to you, Doctor Wilhelm, let us remain this side of
the Rubicon. That little girl slightly bores me. By the way, can you tell
me how I came to bring down on myself that shout when I entered the
smoking-room and that man's vulgar remark? To be sure, as a physician and
free-thinker it's a matter of indifference to me."
"Oh," said Wilhelm, trying by an air of lightness to appease Frederick,
"this is all it was. Füllenberg probably saw you coming out of Miss
Hahlström's cabin, and said something in the smoking-room. You know
his mischievous way."
"I'll box his ears," said Frederick.
"The trouble is, the little girl is making herself generally conspicuous.
The worst rumours are afloat about her. All men seem alike to her,
whether stewards, firemen, sailors, or cabin-boys. And that greasy
Achleitner! I assure you, all over the ship, in the forecastle, among the
stewards when they polish the silver, and in the officers' cabins, they
do nothing but titter and laugh at her and Achleitner and anybody falling
under suspicion on her account."
"Don't you think that's slander?"
"Why, you and I are physicians. I don't care a fig one way or the other."