About five o'clock
They sailed slowly about , dipping and rising in the vast hollows between the waves , turning their heads constantly from side to side . Vandover went to the stern and for a time found amusement in watching the indicator of the patent log , and listening for its bell . But his interest in this was soon exhausted , and he returned to the smoking-room again , reflecting that this was only the first afternoon and that there still remained two days that somehow had to be gone through with . About five o'clock , as he was on his way to get a glass of seltzer , he saw Grace Irving , the girl of the red hat whom he had met at the Mechanics ' Fair , sitting on a camp-stool just inside of her stateroom eating a banana . The sight of her startled him out of all composure for the minute . His first impulse was to speak to her , but he reflected that he was done with all that now and that it was better for him to pass on as though he had not seen her , but as he came in front of her she looked up quickly and nodded to him very pleasantly in such a way that it was evident she had already known he was on board . It was impossible for Vandover to ignore her , and though he did not stop , he looked back at her and smiled as he took off his hat .