She had no answer for that, but as she bade him good night at the top of
the companion-way she saw herself in armour. Her vague dreams of John
the Baptist, of Siegfried and of Britomart suddenly crystallized, and
she saw herself, very self-consciously, the Deliverer who would save
Louis Fame. It did not occur to her to wonder if he were worth saving.
He was imprisoned in the first windmill she had encountered on her Don
Quixote quest--and so he was to be rescued.
CHAPTER VII
She wakened to a world of blue and silver next morning; the sunlight
seemed to come from the sea with a cold, hard glitter; there was a
keenness in the air, a sharp tang of sea-salt with an underlying
suggestion of something that was pleasantly reminiscent of Dr. Angus's
surgery. The sailors were sluicing the deck with great hoses, and
sprinkling it with little watering-cans of disinfectant. Up on the
fo'c'sle her deck-chair was side by side with another on which "L. F."
was stencilled; after breakfast she went there with a book, expecting
Louis to follow her. Presently Jimmy discovered her, bringing three
other children with him, and they sat with shining eyes while she told
them fairy-tales.
When they drew into Plymouth Harbour the fo'c'sle was cleared, and
Marcella watched a few people going ashore. Not very many went: they had
not been at sea long enough to welcome a change on land, and the
_Oriana_ only stayed two hours to take on mails and passengers.
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