XI.
THE HOUSEBOAT
CHAPTER I.
"I AM sure of it!"
Inglis laid down his knife and fork. He stared round and round the small apartment in a manner which was distinctly strange. My wife caught him up. She laid down her knife and fork.
"You're sure of what?"
Inglis seemed disturbed. He appeared unwilling to give a direct answer. "Perhaps, after all, it's only a coincidence."
But Violet insisted "What is a coincidence?"
Inglis addressed himself to me.
"The fact is, Millen, directly I came on board I thought I had seen this boat before."
"But I thought you said that you had never heard of the Water Lily."
"Nor have I. The truth is that when I knew it, it wasn't the Water Lily."
"I don't understand."
"They must have changed the name. Unless I am very much mistaken this—this used to be the Sylph."
"The Sylph?"
264
