It was to be longer before she saw them again than she could ever have imagined.
*
Nanny woke her excitedly.
“The dinner gong has sounded,” she cried. “And we are invited to dine at the Captain’s table!”
“We are?”
“A Steward brought the invitation on a tray. It said ‘Miss Reed and Mrs. Poody are hereby requested to dine at the Captain’s table this evening ’ or something like that.”
Henrietta slipped her feet over the side of her bunk.
“I wonder why we’ve been invited, when as far as the Captain knows we are not important or interesting.”
“Well, I just don’t know to be sure,” replied Nanny, “but I have accepted the invitation on your behalf.”
“That’s all right, Nanny. It will be an adventure.”
Henrietta remembered that on the voyage out, she and her father had been invited to the
