The portholes of the cabin were open; the warm, fresh southern wind was pouring in its balmy sweetness.

Cornelia pressed her hands to her eyes, then looked forth.

The cabin ceiling was low, but studded with rare ornamental bronze work; the furniture glittered with gilding and the smooth sheen of polished ivory; the tapestry of the curtains and on the walls was of the choicest scarlet wool, and Coan silk, semi-transparent and striped with gold.

Gold plating shone on the section of the mast enclosed within the cabin.

An odour of the rarest Arabian frankincense was wafted from the pastils burning on a curiously wrought tripod of Corinthian brass.