midnight
Owing to his high caste , and the purity of his habits , the young native had passed the days apart from his fellow-passengers since he had come aboard ; and the days left were too few for the white folk to show any curiosity concerning the handsome man . You do n't feel curious about anything after almost five weeks seafaring ; you feel kind of stunned . Leonie , therefore , had not noticed him particularly as he sat apart with his delicate oval face behind a book when she approached , or passed his chair ; neither had she felt the gentle luminous eyes resting upon her from the nape of her sunkissed neck to her slim ankle . Nor did he now , long after midnight , make any sign when , without touching the rails , she came swiftly up the companion-ladder , bending her bronze head to miss the edge of the awning ; and he made no movement as she sped past him , crossed the deck to the starboard rail , and putting both hands upon it , swung her body back as you do when you are going to vault clear . No movement of his body , but he gave a jerk of his will-power which brought the veins out like whipcord upon his forehead , and drove the nails deep into the palms of his hands . And in response , Leonie 's arms slackened . She stood quite still , staring out to where the Sunderbunds lay hidden under mist ; then she put one bare foot upon the lower rail , and swinging herself up , sat sideways , leaning far over ; in such a position that the slightest lurch of the ship would have sent her headlong into the water .