Not to that extent. But, of course, I wouldn&rsquo;t have dreamt of asking what was the matter. I had a proper respect for my big brother, I can tell you. But it was all made plain enough a day or two afterwards, when I heard that Miss Maggie Colchester was coming for the voyage. Uncle was giving her a sea-trip for the benefit of her health. </p> <p> &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what could have been wrong with her health. She had a beautiful colour, and a deuce of a lot of fair hair. She didn&rsquo;t care a rap for wind, or rain, or spray, or sun, or green seas, or anything. She was a blue-eyed, jolly girl of the very best sort, but the way she cheeked my big brother used to frighten me. I always expected it to end in an awful row. However, nothing decisive happened till after we had been in Sydney for a week. One day, in the men&rsquo;s dinner hour, Charley sticks his head into my cabin. I was stretched out on my back on the settee, smoking in peace. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Come ashore with me, Ned,&rsquo; he says, in his curt way. </p> <p> &ldquo;I jumped up, of course, and away after him down the gangway and up George Street. He strode along like a giant, and I at his elbow, panting. It was confoundedly hot. &lsquo;Where on earth are you rushing me to, Charley?&rsquo; I made bold to ask. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Here,&rsquo; he says. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Here&rsquo; was a jeweller&rsquo;s shop. I couldn&rsquo;t imagine what he could want there. It seemed a sort of mad freak. He thrusts under my nose three rings, which looked very tiny on his big, brown palm, growling out&mdash; </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;For Maggie! Which?&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;I got a kind of scare at this. I couldn&rsquo;t make a sound, but I pointed at the one that sparkled white and blue. He put it in his waistcoat pocket, paid for it with a lot of sovereigns, and bolted out. When we got on board I was quite out of breath. &lsquo;Shake hands, old chap,&rsquo; I gasped out. He gave me a thump on the back. &lsquo;Give what orders you like to the boatswain when the hands turn-to,&rsquo; says he; &lsquo;I am off duty this afternoon.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;Then he vanished from the deck for a while, but presently he came out of the cabin with Maggie, and these two went over the gangway publicly, before all hands, going for a walk together on that awful, blazing hot day, with clouds of dust flying about. They came back after a few hours looking very staid, but didn&rsquo;t seem to have the slightest idea where they had been. Anyway, that&rsquo;s the answer they both made to Mrs. Colchester&rsquo;s question at tea-time. </p> <p>