The thing had
happened with the abruptness of a transformation scene at a
theatre. Condy's knock had evoked a situation. Speech was
stricken from their mouths. For a moment they were bereft even of
action, and stood there on the threshold, staring open-mouthed and
open-eyed at the sudden reappearance of their "matrimonial
object." Condy was literally dumb; in the end it was Blix who
tided them over the crisis.
"We were just going by--just taking a walk," she explained, "and
we thought we'd like to see the station. Is it all right? Can we
look around?"
"Why, of course," assented the Captain with great cordiality.
"Come right in. This is visitors' day. You just happened to hit
it--only it's mighty few visitors we ever have," he added.
While Condy was registering for himself and Blix, they managed to
exchange a lightning glance. It was evident the Captain did not
recognize them. The situation readjusted itself, even promised to
be of extraordinary interest. And for that matter it made little
difference whether the captain remembered them or not.
"No, we don't get many visitors," the Captain went on, as he led
them out of the station and down the small gravel walk to the
house where the surf-boat was kept. "This is a quiet station.
People don't fetch out this way very often, and we're not called
out very often, either. We're an inside post, you see, and
usually we don't get a call unless the sea's so high that the
Cliff House station can't launch their boat.
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