A bit of carelessness on the girl's part, that was all.

He would return it.

Mechanically he put the crumpled bit of cambric in his coat pocket before going on deck.
He had guessed that he would be alone.

The promenade was deserted.
Through the ghost-white mist of morning he saw the rows of empty chairs, and lights burning dully in the wheel-house.

Asian monsoon and the drifting warmth of the Japan current had brought an early spring to the Alexander Archipelago, and May had stolen much of the flowering softness of June.