already the news of the robberies upon the ship the night before had spread with inevitable exaggerations and distortions as the story passed from lip to lip. And, as one of the principals in the reports and the obvious friend of the others, she submitted patiently to the unconcealed curiosity and concern which the other passengers began to bestow upon her. She passed unnoticing by the bolder gazes, but smiled and thanked the women who stopped and spoke to her, and who—finding that she was alone—solicitously offered their care.
Facing the second day at sea without newspapers or other interests fresher than those they had brought on board with them, the men especially welcomed gladly the vague promise of some action; and as Miss Varris, in a group of her new-found chaperones, passed by at the end opposite the smoking-room, she could hear the groups within rejoicing vociferously and hazarding high hopes upon the awaited developments.
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