Any interest they might feel in me, provided it had nothing to do with a
certain pocket, they were welcome to: but the little man was apparently
not of the same mind concerning himself. His nervously twitching hand on
the upholstered seat-arm which separated his place from mine attracted
my attention, which was then drawn up to his face. He was so sickly
pale, under a kind of yellowish glaze spread over his complexion, that I
thought he must be ill, perhaps suffering from train sickness, in
anxious anticipation of the horrors which might be in store for him on
the boat. Presently he pulled out a red-bordered handkerchief, and
unobtrusively wiped his forehead, under his checked travelling cap. When
he had done this, I saw that his hair was left streaked with damp; and
there was a faint, purplish stain on the handkerchief, observing which
with evident dismay he stuffed the big square of coarse cambric hastily
into his pocket.
"The little beast must dye his hair," I thought contemptuously. "Perhaps
he's an albino, really. His eyes look like it."
With that, he threw a frightened glance at me, which caused me to turn
away and spare him the humiliation of knowing that he was observed.
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