I was struck by the entire absence of books of
travel and scientific works.
I spent part of the afternoon in the drawing-room playing a large
instrument of the gramophone type. There were several hundred records--
from grand opera, violin solos by Kreisler, and the Gilbert and Sullivan
operas, to rag-time and the latest comic songs.
Before the time came to dress for dinner I had met the captain and some
of the officers of the yacht. They were all very civil; and my own
experience as a sailor enabled me to see that they were highly efficient
men. I was a good deal puzzled, however, by something peculiar but very
elusive in their attitude toward me, something which I had at once
detected in the manner of my cabin-steward.
With their courtesy was mingled a certain flavor of curiosity tinged
with amusement, which, so far from being offensive, was distinctly
friendly, but which, nevertheless, gave me a vague sense of uneasiness.
In fact the whole atmosphere of the yacht was one of restlessness and
suspense; and the effect was heightened because each person who spoke to
me appeared to be on the point of divulging some secret or delivering
some advice, which discretion checked at his lips.
I felt myself very much under observation, a feeling as though I was a
new boy in a boarding school or a new animal at the zoo--interesting to
my companions not only on account of my novelty, but because my personal
peculiarities would affect the comfort of the community of which I was
to become a member.
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