He added, in lower and graver tones, "You had better tell Miss Burnham you have seen me here." The man made his salute and went out.

Crayford took a turn in the boat-house.
Rescued from death in the Arctic wastes, and reunited to a beautiful wife, the lieutenant looked, nevertheless, unaccountably anxious and depressed.

What could he be thinking of?
He was thinking of Clara.
On the first day when the rescued men were received on board the _Amazon_, Clara had embarrassed and distressed, not Crayford only, but the other officers of the Expedition as well, by the manner in which she questioned them on the subject of Francis Aldersley and Richard Wardour.
She had shown no signs of dismay or despair when she heard that no news had been received of the two missing men.

She had even smiled sadly to herself, when Crayford (out of compassionate regard for her) declared that he and his comrades had not given up the hope of seeing Frank and Wardour yet.

It was only when the lieutenant had expressed himself in those terms and when it was hoped that the painful subject had been dismissed--that Clara had startled every one present by announcing that she had something still to say in relation to Frank and Wardour, which had not been said yet.