One night, toward the last, they were at the stern of the great ship, watching her grind the solid blackness of the ocean into phosphorescent foam.

They talked on these occasions of everything conceivable, and had the air of having no secrets from each other.

But it was on Roderick's conscience that this air belied him, and he was too frank by nature, moreover, for permanent reticence on any point.
"I must tell you something," he said at last.

"I should like you to know it, and you will be so glad to know it.

Besides, it 's only a question of time; three months hence, probably, you would have guessed it.