Truly, I am eager to know
how you waltz. It is a sailor's measure."
"Then perhaps you will favor me with a waltz, later in the evening,"
returned Jack, courteously. "But if I had the impudence to ask you
for this waltz, and if you were generous enough to grant it to me, I
know what would happen."
"What, my friend?"
The word "friend" was gently spoken, but Jack Benson replied bluntly:
"Some of the men here would lynch me, later in the night, Mlle.
Nadiboff."
The young woman laughed musically, though, as Jack glanced away for an
instant, a frown flashed briefly over her face.
"You will not disappoint me, I know, Captain," she murmured,
persuasively. "Besides, you are too brave to fear lynching for an act
that grants pleasure."
This was so direct that Jack Benson could not well escape. Nor, truth
to tell, did he want to. He found Mlle. Nadiboff's bright, gentle smile
most alluring. So, when the music for the waltz sounded the submarine
captain led her forth on to the floor.
At the finish, after Jack had led his partner to a seat, Lieutenant
Featherstone joined them. One or two others approached, and Benson
slipped away, though just before he did so the young woman's eyes met
his with a flash of invitation to seek her again later.
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