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 at the great ship with her wide, gray eyes and then looking up at him.

Ralph had come in and hailed him, twice, "Hello!" before Jay spun about suddenly.

"Looking for the wife's ship?" inquired his brother-in-law pleasantly.

"No," said Jay. "Yes, of course," he corrected. "Who told you about her?"

"She'd left the Wilmerdons a couple weeks ago," replied Ralph. "Everybody knows that. Here you are; is she in to-day?"

"This afternoon," answered Jay and shook hands, turning the talk from Lida by inquiring for his sister.

Ralph did not pursue the matter of Lida. He was a tactful, pleasing man, eight years older than Jay. He was from Maryland, originally, and was dark, moustached, slender and handsome. He carried himself in an easy, confident way and spoke with a slight, distinguished southern accent which he maintained purposely; it was part of his air, part of his charm, part of his stock in trade.

He usually seemed a bit sleepy in the morning and did nothing to deny it. He wanted you to feel that he was the sort that was at his best late in the day and that he looked forward to the evening. Jay knew that he was a very good salesman to deal with certain buyers, but was helpless with others.

"I see you're at work," he complimented Jay. "Been wondering about you. I didn't know, really."

"That's not surprising," said Jay, smiling, "if you've been trying to trace me by my results."