'I think I am an exceptional passenger in that way,' replied the girl. 'I always enjoy the early morning at sea. I like to get as far forward on the steamer as possible, so that there is nothing between me and the boundless anywhere. Then it seems as if the world belongs to myself, with nobody else in it.' 'Isn't that a rather selfish view?' put in Kenyon. 'Oh, I don't think so. There is certainly nothing selfish in my enjoyment of it; but, you know, there are times when one wishes to be alone, and to forget everybody.' 'I hope I have not stumbled upon one of those times.' 'Oh, not at all, Mr. Kenyon,' replied his companion, laughing. 'There was nothing personal in the remark. If I wished to be alone, I would have no hesitation in walking off. I am not given to hinting; I speak plainly--some of my friends think a little too plainly. Have you ever been on the Pacific Ocean?' 'Never.' 'Ah, there the mornings are delicious. It is very beautiful here now, but in summer on the Pacific some of the mornings are so calm and peaceful and fresh, that it would seem as if the world had been newly made.' 'You have travelled a great deal, Miss Longworth. I envy you.' 'I often think I am a person to be envied, but there may come a shipwreck one day, and then I shall not be in so enviable a position.' 'I sincerely hope you may never have such an experience.' 'Have you ever been shipwrecked, Mr. Kenyon?' 'Oh no; my travelling experiences are very limited. But to read of a shipwreck is bad enough.' 'We have had a most delightful voyage so far. Quite like summer. One can scarcely believe that we left America in the depth of winter, with snow everywhere and the thermometer ever so far below zero. Have you mended your deck-chair yet, sufficiently well to trust yourself upon it again?' 'Oh!' said Kenyon, with a laugh, 'you really must not make fun of my amateur carpentering like that. As I told you, I am a mining engineer, and if I cannot mend a deck-chair, what would you expect me to do with a mine?' 'Have you had much to do with mines?' asked the young woman. 'I am just beginning,' replied Kenyon; 'this, in fact, is one of my first commissions. I have been sent with my friend Wentworth to examine certain mines on the Ottawa River.' 'The Ottawa River!' cried Edith. 'Are you one of those who were sent out by the London Syndicate?' 'Yes,' answered Kenyon with astonishment. 'What do you know about it?' 'Oh, I know everything about it. Everything, except what the mining expert's report is to be, and that information, I suppose, you have; so, between the two of us, we know a great deal about the fortunes of the London Syndicate.' 'Really! I am astonished to meet a young lady who knows anything about the matter. I understood it was rather a secret combination up to the present.' 'Ah! but, you see, I am one of the syndicate.' 'You!'