30 HARK FORRARD! 



party, and his manner being infectious, ' the 

 quartette ' at his end of the table felt as if they 

 were old friends by the time that dinner was 

 over. 



We do not intend to victimise our readers 

 with a sort of diary of each day spent on the 

 * Scythia,' but the exigencies of our story compel 

 us to keep them on board a little longer. 



Lina Lancelot, Reginald, and Acton became 

 inseparable companions, and for the first three 

 or four days all went merry as a marriage 

 bell. By small degrees, however, Reginald 

 began to think that Acton was always getting 

 in the way, and Acton found himself repeating 

 the proverb 'that two is company and three 

 none.' Now Acton, though a man of five-and- 

 forty, had in all his life had but one affaire^ 

 and that had turned out so disastrously that 

 for many years afterwards he was almost a 

 misogynist. Here, however, was a wine whose 

 bouquet was so sweet that it fairly turned his 

 head and made him long once more to sip from 

 the cup. 



