Cynthia had been looking out of the window. "How queer it all is!" she said. "I think I do not quite like it. And how funny one feels. I want to go this way;" and she swayed from side to side. "The motion of the vessel," interposed Rachel. "I have heard it took days to get over it." Meanwhile, downstairs Elizabeth had studied her Cousin Chilian. "The child is not at all pretty," she began rather sharply. "And her mother was considered a beautiful young woman, I believe." "Yes; but a long voyage and shipboard living may not be conducive to the development of beauty. And children seldom are at that age." "The Goodell children are pretty, I am sure, with their fine complexions. And the Bates girls. She has a furtive sort of look. Oh, I hope she isn't deceitful and untrue. Those heathen nations, I believe, are given largely to falsehood, and she has lived among them so long without any mother's care. It seems as if a pretty girl like Alletta Orne might have found some one at home to marry and reared her child in a Christian land." "Do not let us begin by borrowing trouble. It always comes fast enough." "And I can foresee that we shall have plenty of it. Well, I suppose it must be endured. There! my bread is light enough to go in the oven--running over, likely as not." So, when they came downstairs, Miss Elizabeth was in the kitchen, immersed in her baking interest. A large gray cat lay curled up on a cushion. Cynthia went straight over to it, but it glanced at her with wild eyes, jumped down, and disappeared through the doorway. "Oh!" she exclaimed in accents of disappointment, glancing up at Chilian. "Pussy is not used to children. He always runs away from them. But I think he will like you when he gets acquainted." She turned to the window with a swelling heart. It seemed so cold and strange. It was better on shipboard, she thought. She had come to know the sailors quite well and Missy had grown to be a great favorite with them. There was always something cheerful going on. They sang songs in their loud clear voices, or whistled merry tunes. They danced as well. She was quite used to the dancing-girls at Calcutta, and when they were at Hong Kong or other ports. But the Indian girls pleased her best.