"
The boy ran to him for an instant.
"I may look you up to-night," he said. "Dad is in Chicago, and won't
be here till the morning. You remember we passed the _Switzerland_
after breakfast, and she signaled that she was steaming with the port
engine only?"
"Yes."
"Well, her trouble was known by wireless, and there is a man on board
whom dad has to meet. This chap is important. I am not."
"My dear fellow, don't think of leaving your friends on my account this
evening," and Curtis, without looking around, showed that he had
noticed the befurred elderly lady and two very pretty daughters who
were taking Howard Devar under their elegant wings.
"Oh, that's my aunt, and two of my cousins. I have dozens of 'em,
dozens of cousins, that is. Anyhow, old sport, don't wait in after
7.30; just leave word where you may be about eleven."
No further protest by Curtis was possible, because Devar's present
behavior was of the whirlwind order. He seemed to own as many trunks
as cousins, and a lantern-jawed Customs official was gloating over them
already. Perhaps Curtis felt a faint whiff of surprise that his young
friend had not introduced him to his relatives, but it vanished
instantly. Steamer acquaintance is a nebulous thing at the best; in
that respect, the land is more unstable than the sea.
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