a good swimmer."

"Thank you," she answered, breathlessly. "It WAS a tug, wasn't it? Thank
you for warning me. Now tell me about the dangerous places, please."

He told her, repeating Seth's tales of the tide's strength.

"But it is safe enough here?" she asked.

"Oh, yes! perfectly safe anywhere this side of the narrow part--the
creek."

"I'm so glad. This water is glorious, and I began to be afraid I should
have to give it up."

"The creek, and even the bay itself are safe enough at flood," he went
on. "I often go there then. When the tide is coming in it is all right
even for--"

He paused. She finished the sentence for him. "Even for a girl, you were
going to say." She waded forward to where the shoal ended and the deeper
part began. There she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"I'm going to that beach over there," she said, pointing across the
cove. "Do you want to race?"

Without waiting to see whether he did or not, she struck out for the
beach. And, without stopping to consider why he did it, the young man
followed her.

The race was not so one-sided. Brown won it by some yards, but he had to
work hard. His competitor did not give up when she found herself falling
behind, but was game to the end.

"Well," she gasped, "you beat me, didn't you? I never could get that
side stroke, and it's ever so much faster."

"It's simple enough. Just a knack. I'll teach you if you like."

"Will you? That's splendid."

"You are the strongest swimmer, Miss Graham, for a girl, that I ever
saw. You must have practiced a great deal."

"Yes, Horace--my brother--taught me. He is a splendid swimmer, one of
the very best."

"Horace Graham? Why, you don't mean Horace Graham of the Harvard
Athletic?"

"Yes, I do. He is my brother. But how . . . Do you know him?"

The surprise in her tone was evident. Brown bit his lip. He remembered
that Cape Cod lightkeepers' helpers were not, as a usual thing, supposed
to be widely acquainted in college athletic circles.

"I have met him," he stammered.

"But where--" she began; and then, "why, of course! you met him here. I
forgot that he has been your neighbor for three summers."

The assistant had forgotten it, too, but he was thankful for the
reminder.

"Yes. Yes, certainly," he said. She regarded him with a puzzled look.

"It's odd he didn't mention you," she observed. "He has told me a great
deal about the bungalow, and the sea views, and the loneliness and th