CHAPTER I

The Cunard steamer, _Caronia_, had left Naples, and was making her way through a high sea, across the Mediterranean to Alexandria. It was very rough, and before they had left Naples harbor far behind, most of the passengers who were not proof against seasickness had retired to their cabins. Reggie's mother, who was a very poor sailor indeed, had been one of the first ladies to disappear from the deck, and she had been speedily followed by Reggie's nurse, Ellen. Reggie himself had never felt better in his life, but he had really tried to be sympathetic.

"I suppose you can't help it," he remarked in a puzzled tone, as he stood in the doorway of the cabin he shared with Ellen, and regarded the maid, who lay prone upon her bed, the picture of misery and despair. "It does seem very queer, though; I can't see what makes people feel that way."

A groan was the only response he received.

"Well, I guess I'll go and see if I can find Daddy," Reggie went on. "Perhaps he'll let me stay with him on deck. It's very stuffy down here."

Ellen opened her eyes and raised her head from the pillow.

"Don't you go wandering off by yourself, Master Reggie," she admonished; "you'll be falling overboard or something dreadful'll happen to you if you do. O my goodness, this is awful! I shall be dead before we get to Egypt, that's sure."

"You do say very silly things, Ellen," remarked Reggie, rather scornfully. "You know perfectly well you won't be dead when we get to Egypt. Daddy says people never die of seasickness. You said just the same thing when we were coming over from America, and when we got to Rome you said you were so glad you'd come because now you could die happy, because you'd seen the Pope. I don't see why people are always saying things they don't mean."

"Oh, do try and keep still, there's a good little boy! I can't talk; my head's just ready to burst."

Reggie sighed. It struck him that nurses were tiresome persons, and that Ellen in particular was very slow of comprehension.

"But I don't like it down here," he argued. "It isn't nice; it's stuffy. I want to go on deck with Daddy."

"Well, go and ask your mother, then, but I know she won't let you."

Reggie waited for no second bidding, but darted across the passage to the cabin occupied by his parents. There he found his mother also lying upon her bed, and also looking very miserable.

"Mother," he began eagerly, "may I go on deck and look for Daddy?"

Mrs. Starr opened her eyes with a faint moan. "Reggie darling, I don't like to have you running about this ship by yourself. Can't Ellen look after you?"

"Sick," said Reggie shortly.

"O dear, is she sick, too, poor thing? It really is frightfully rough. Can't you manage to keep still for a little while? Your father will be coming down before long, and I will ask him to look after you."

"But I've been still for a very long time. I've looked at all the pictures in that book Grandma sent me, and I've played three games of 'old maid' all by myself."

"Will you promise to come back in five minutes unless you find your father, and will you be very, very careful not to get into any mischief if I let you go?"

"Of course, I won't get into any mischief. I'm eight, and Daddy says a boy of eight ought to be able to take care of himself."

Mrs. Starr smiled faintly in spite of her suffering.

"Well, be sure you do take care of yourself, then," she said. "Don't lean over the railing or go near the machinery, or--" But at that moment the ship rose on the crest of a big wave and came down again with a sickening lurch and Mrs. Starr's sentence ended in a groan.

Reggie gave the required promise and without waiting for any further directions sped away in search of his cap and warm coat. Five minutes later he was climbing the stairs that led to the promenade deck.

It was very beautiful on deck, or at least so it seemed to Reggie. The sea was very high, and the wind was blowing a stiff gale, but the afternoon sun was shining brightly, and the great waves seemed to dance and sparkle beneath its rays. A few ladies were lying back in steamer chairs but there were not many people about, and Reggie had no difficulty in discovering his father, standing by the door of the smoking-room, talking to another gentleman. Reggie was very fond of his father; he was such a very pleasant person and he never fussed about wet feet or warm flannels, as his mother and Ellen were apt to do. At sight of his little son, Mr. Starr smiled and remarked cheerfully--

"Hello, young shaver! feeling pretty fit, eh?"

Reggie liked being called "young shaver," it sounded like something manly and he promptly thrust his hands into his pockets and assumed his most grown-up air.

"I'm all right," he responded, jauntily; "Mother and Ellen aren't, though."

"Poor things! I think I had better go and have a look at your mother."

"She doesn't want anything. She only wants to be left alone, and so does Ellen. Mother said I might come up here and look for you."

"Oh, she did, did she? I suppose that means that I must give up my game of bridge, and look after you for the next hour."

"Oh, I say, that's too bad!" exclaimed the other gentleman, a broad-shouldered young Englishman, with sandy hair and mustache. "We want you to make up our table. Can't the kiddie take care of himself for a bit?"

Mr. Starr glanced doubtfully at Reggie.

"Can I trust you to keep out of mischief if I leave you to yourself for half an hour?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," said Reggie, returning his father's questioning glance, with steady brown eyes.

"Honor bright?"

"Honor bright," repeated the little boy, and Mr. Starr was satisfied.

"Very well," he said. "You may stay here on deck as long as you like, but don't go anywhere else without letting me know. I shall be right here in the smoking-room, and when I have finished my game I'll take you up to see the Marconi station."

Mr. Starr went into the smoking-room with his friend, and Reggie sauntered along the deck, feeling very much grown-up indeed. It always gave him a delightful feeling to have his father trust him, and put him on his honor. His mother and Ellen never seemed to believe it possible that he could keep out of mischief if he were not constantly watched, but when he had looked into his father's eyes, and said "honor bright" he would no more have broken his word than "the boy on the burning deck" would have deserted his post.

He took several turns up and down the deck and as he walked he wondered whether the people in the steamer chairs were watching him and thinking what a big, independent boy he was. He tried to whistle, in imitation of his father, but only succeeded in producing such a very faint sound that he was afraid nobody heard it. But walking on deck in a high sea is not very easy, and by the time he had taken half a dozen turns, it occurred to him that it might be wiser to sit down for a little while. He was looking out in search of a steamer chair, when his attention was attracted by the sight of a little girl of about his own age, leaning out of the window of one of the deck staterooms. She was a very pretty little girl, with blue eyes, and long yellow hair, and there was something in her expression that made Reggie feel sure she would like to talk to somebody. He was not, as a rule, particularly fond of little girls, and it is probable that had there been any boys present, he would have passed this one without noticing her, but it happened that she was, at the moment, the most attractive person in sight, and Reggie--who was not accustomed to remain silent for long at a time--paused before the open window, and remarked cheerfully:

"How do you do?"

[Illustration: REGGIE PAUSED BEFORE THE OPEN WINDOW.]

"How do you do?" returned the little girl, and her face brightened. She was evidently pleased at being spoken to.

"Are you going to Egypt, too?" Reggie inquired with interest.

"Yes, of course; that's where the ship's going. Aren't you going there yourself?"

"Yes I am. I've come all the way from New York, but we went to Rome and Naples first. Where did you come from?"

"From England," said the little girl; "I live near London. Have you ever been to London?"

"No, but we're going there in the spring, before we go back to America. Do you like travelling on ships?"

"Not much. I never was on a ship before, were you?"

"Oh, yes; we came over from New York on the _Mauretania_, and that's a much bigger ship than this one. Are your father and mother seasick?"

"My father's in Cairo, and my mother died when I was a baby, but my nurse is very sick, and I'm rather frightened about her; she looks so queer, and keeps groaning all the time."

"Oh, there isn't anything to be frightened about," said Reggie, reassuringly. "Ellen does that all the time, and mother does it a little, too. I guess ladies are generally seasick on ships, but men aren't. Why isn't your father on the ship with you?"

"Because he's a soldier and has to stay with his regiment. There isn't any one with me but nurse, and that's why it frightened me so to have her sick. If she should die there wouldn't be any one to take care of me."

"She won't die," said Reggie; "seasick people never do. Are you going to see your father in Cairo?"

"Yes, that's why we're going there. I don't believe my father was ever seasick; he's so big and strong and splendid. I haven't seen him since I was five, but I remember just how he looks."

"How funny not to see your father since you were five," remarked Reggie, in a tone of some disapproval. "My father goes to his office every day, but of course he always comes home in the evening in time for dinner."

"But I told you my father is a soldier. He's a colonel, and colonels can't leave their regiments. He was in India for two years, and then the regiment was ordered to Egypt, and of course he had to go there."

"And do you and your nurse live all alone?" Reggie inquired. He did not think he would enjoy living alone with Ellen.

"Oh, no, I live with my Aunt Helen, and she's awfully nice and pretty, but she says I keep her from having a great many good times, because she has to stay and take care of me. My grand-mamma used to take care of me, but she died last year, and now there isn't any one but Aunt Helen. We went to Italy to spend the winter, but when we got to Naples, Aunt Helen met some friends who wanted her to go to Greece with them. At first she thought she couldn't go, on account of me, but then she remembered how my father wanted her to bring me out to Egypt to see him this winter, and she decided she'd send me right off to Cairo with Nurse. She didn't have time to write, because her friends wanted to start for Greece this week, but she telegraphed to my father to meet us at Alexandria, and we came right off on this ship."

"I should think you'd love having your father a colonel," said Reggie. "I suppose you'll see lots of processions while you're in Cairo. Don't you love processions?"

"I don't think I ever saw one, but I should like to. My father is a very brave soldier. They made him a colonel in South Africa, and I shouldn't be surprised if he got to be a general some day."

"I hope I shall see him," said Reggie, admiringly. "Perhaps I shall, for we're going to Cairo, too. What's his name?"

"Colonel Willoughby, and my name's Phyllis Willoughby. What's yours?"

"William Reginald Starr, but people generally call me Reggie. I'm going to be Reginald when I grow up. I say, don't you want to come out? It must be stuffy in there."

"I should love to, but I don't believe Nurse would let me; she's so fussy."

"Go and ask her. Tell her a boy's going to take care of you. Maybe she'll let you come then."

Phyllis looked rather doubtfully at the small figure outside the window. She thought William Reginald Starr a very grand name, and its owner certainly had a nice face, but then, he did not look any older than herself.

"You're not a very big boy," she remarked sceptically. "How old are you?"

"I shall be nine next October."

"Well, it's only January now, so you're not much more than eight. I was nine in November. Do you really think you can take care of me?"

"Of course I can. My father's playing cards in the smoking-room, and he said I could stay here on deck by myself till he gets through. Come along. It's great round the other side where the wind blows."

Phyllis disappeared from the window, but was back again in a moment.

"Nurse is asleep," she whispered. "I'm afraid it will make her very cross if I wake her up to ask."

"Then don't ask, but just come on," said Reggie, recklessly. "Maybe she won't wake up for ever so long, and then you can tell her it was all my fault. I'm not afraid of nurses."

Phyllis hesitated for a moment. She was an obedient child, but the afternoon had been long and dull, and the temptation was strong.

"All right," she said, "just wait till I get my coat and hat."

When Mr. Starr, having finished his game of bridge, came to look for his small son, he found Reggie sedately pacing the deck, in the company of a very pretty little girl, with blue eyes and yellow hair. Both children looked the picture of smiling contentment.

"Her name's Phyllis Willoughby, and her father's the colonel of a regiment," Reggie announced by way of introduction. "She's going to Cairo, because her father lives there, and she hasn't seen him since she was five. Her nurse is seasick, and her aunt has gone to Greece. I'm taking care of her."

"You're beginning early, young man," laughed his father, and the young Englishman, who had accompanied Mr. Starr from the smoking-room, added:

"It's the little Willoughby girl. Her father made a name for himself in South Africa. I know her aunt, nice jolly girl. She's gone to Greece with a party of friends, and sent the kiddie out here to join her father in Cairo."

"Perhaps your little friend would like to inspect the Marconi station with us," said Mr. Starr, good-naturedly, and Phyllis, who had quite forgotten about Nurse by this time, readily accepted the invitation.

Reggie and his father proved two very delightful companions, and Phyllis spent a most enjoyable half-hour with them, on the hurricane deck, inspecting the wonderful new invention, which has changed the whole course of life at sea. It was not until they were on their way down again, that she suddenly remembered Nurse.

"I think perhaps I'd better hurry," she said, a little anxiously. "If Nurse wakes up and doesn't find me, I'm afraid she'll be frightened."

They quickened their steps, but they were still some distance from the cabin, when Phyllis saw an approaching figure, at sight of which she uttered a little gasp of dismay.

"It's Nurse!" she exclaimed, "and she must be very much frightened indeed, for she's come out without her false hair, and she's got her dress on right over her nightie."

The wrath of Nurse when she caught sight of the little truant, was truly awful to behold. Even Mr. Starr was rendered speechless beneath the torrent of reproaches poured upon his head, and poor little Phyllis was quickly reduced to repentant tears. Reggie alone stood his ground unflinchingly.

"It was all my fault," he exclaimed to the irate nurse. "She said you were asleep, and she didn't want to come, but I said I'd take care of her, and I did, too, till Daddy came, and then he took care of us both." But Nurse was not easily appeased.

"You're a very naughty, disobedient little girl, Miss Phyllis," she declared. "You shall be put to bed at once, and kept there for the rest of the day."

"Well," remarked Reggie to his father, as he watched his little friend being led away to her cabin in disgrace, "I used to think Ellen was cross sometimes, but I'm glad she isn't like this one. I'm glad we haven't got a nurse like that, aren't you, Daddy?" To which his father responded heartily:

"I most certainly am, my son."