"Hullo!" he cried; "not so well?" "Oh, it's horrid!" I cried excitedly. "How can people be so stupid!" "Why, what is the matter?" "I felt quite ashamed of myself," I cried. "I had no sooner got on deck than the men began to cheer. I did not know then that it was meant for me, but directly after the captain came up and shook hands with me." "Very civil of him," said my brother-officer, drily. "Oh yes, if he had only meant it civilly; but then the chief officer came up, and a lot of passengers, and they all shook hands, and there was quite a crowd, and before I knew what was going to happen, I found a pack of ladies had come up, and one, a very stout little woman, called me her dear boy, and kissed me, and two others took out their handkerchiefs and began to cry." Captain Brace laughed unpleasantly, and I grew hotter. "Why, you are quite the hero of the day, Vincent," he said grimly. "It's horrid!" I cried pettishly. "I declare I wouldn't have done it if I had known what they meant to do. Such nonsense!" "Ah, you are talking nonsense, boy. Bah! take no notice. They'll forget it all in a few hours. People soon get over these hysterical displays." I sat down sulkily on one of my cases, while he went on coolly arranging his shaving tackle, night things, and the boots and shoes. "I like him less and less," I said to myself, as I sat and watched him, while, as I fancied, he treated me in the most cavalier of ways, only speaking now and then; but when he did speak it was to ask me some question about myself, and each time he made me think how young and inexperienced I was, for he appeared to be getting to know everything, while he was still quite a stranger to me. "Yes," he said at last, "I have heard of Colonel Vincent--a brother-officer of mine once met him at dinner somewhere up the country. I was in quite a different part." "Then you have been out in India before?" I cried eagerly. "I?" he said, with a faint smile. "Oh yes. I was out there seven years--quite an apprenticeship. I was just such a griffin as you when I went out first, but a couple of years older." "Griffin!" I thought; and I felt I disliked him more and more; just, too, as I was warming up to him a little, and thinking he was improving. We were silent for a time, and I waited for him to speak, which he did at last, but in a forced, half-bantering way. "You'll find it pretty hot, squire," he said; "and sometimes you'll wish your uniform back at the tailor's. It is terribly hot at times." "Yes, I've heard so," I said, with my curiosity getting the better of my annoyance. "Tell me something about the country." "Eh? About the country? Ah! Of course you, in your young enthusiasm, are full of romantic fancies." "Oh, I don't know," I replied haughtily.