Chapter 24 - Page 2

Paul Powis, however, though he maintained a cheerful air, and the
knowledge that he had been so instrumental in saving the party lightened
his heart of a load, and disposed him even to gaiety, was not without some
lingering remains of uneasiness. He remembered the boats of the Dane, and,
as he thought it more than probable Captain Truck had fallen into the
hands of the barbarians, he feared that the latter might yet find the
means to lay hands on themselves. While he was at work fitting the
rigging, and preparing a jigger, with a view to render the launch more
manageable, he cast frequent uneasy glances to the northward, with a
feverish apprehension that one of the so-long-wished-for boats might at
length appear. Their friends he no longer expected, but his fears were all
directed towards the premature arrival of enemies from that quarter. None
appeared, however, and Saunders actually lighted a fire on the bank, and
prepared the grateful refreshment of tea for the whole party; none of
which had tasted food since morning, though it was now drawing near night.

"Our caterers," said Paul, smiling, as he cast his eyes over the repast
which Ann Sidley had spread on the roof of the boat, where they were all
seated on stools, boxes, and trunks, "our caterers have been of the
gentler sex, as any one may see, for we have delicacies that are fitter
for a banquet than a desert."

"I thought Miss Eve would relish them, sir," Nanny meekly excused herself
by saying; "she is not much accustomed to a coarse diet; and mamerzelle,
too, likes niceties, as I believe is the case with all of French
extraction."

Eve's eyes glistened, though she felt it necessary to say something by way
of apology.

"Poor Ann has been so long accustomed to humour the caprices of a petted
girl," she said, "that I fear those who will have occasion for all their
strength may be the sufferers. I should regret it for ever, Mr. Powis, if
_you_, who are every way of so much importance to us, should not find the
food you required."

"I have very inadvertently and unwittingly drawn down upon myself the
suspicion of being one of Mr. Monday's _gourmets_, a plain roast and
boiled person," the young man answered laughingly, "when it was merely my
desire to express the pleasure I had in perceiving that those whose
comfort and ease are of more account than any thing else, have been so
well cared for. I could almost starve with satisfaction, Miss Effingham,
if I saw you free from suffering under the extraordinary circumstances in
which we are placed."

Eve looked grateful, and the emotion excited by this speech restored all
that beauty which had so lately been