yourself ever since you were a little girl and that there
had been no one in your life who had ever influenced your decisions! Now
you speak of Mrs. Burton as if you were a tiny school girl. Let me
assure you--if assurance be necessary--that I intended nothing wicked or
even unconventional. I only wished you to take a walk with me some
afternoon, or a sail. I have a motor boat, and there are hours when the
sea is not rough. As a matter of fact, I meant to ask Mrs. Burton's
permission, in case I had your consent first. Mrs. Burton strikes me as
a charming person and not one who would be too strict a chaperon.
Naturally, as I have spent all my life in this neighborhood, I know the
attractive parts of the country."

Felipe's tone was not so much annoyed as it was patronizing, and Gerry
accepted it in this spirit.

She disliked making social mistakes, and she had had so little social
training and experience that she was apt to regard her mistakes as of
more importance than they actually were.

Now she supposed that she had misunderstood Felipe from the beginning
and that her own stupidity had been at fault. So she replied somewhat
humbly:

"I am sorry. If Mrs. Burton is willing, of course I shall enjoy walking
or sailing with you. But don't let me keep you away from the other
girls too long tonight. Suppose we walk over and join Mrs. Burton."

As if she intended rising, Gerry made a slight movement. Her companion
did not stir.

"Sit down, please, I am afraid you are angry," he returned. "I do wish I
had my guitar with me; I should like to sing to you. Mrs. Burton asked
me to bring it over tonight, but I had rather not sing before the
others."

So Gerry stayed on and allowed Felipe to talk, while she said little in
reply, only glancing now and then from the figure at her feet to the
beauty of the moonlit ocean. Vaguely she wondered why she had always
been convinced she did not care for the outdoor world. It was stupid
never to have realized its loveliness until tonight!

But, while Gerry and Felipe were having their talk together, only a
short distance away Lieutenant Geoffrey Carson and Bettina Graham were
engaged in a very different character of conversation.

It chanced that Lieutenant Carson, who was a Virginian, had an uncle
who had been a representative in Congress for a number of years. Having
visited his uncle, Lieutenant Carson had not only heard of Bettina's
distinguished father, but had met him and kne