be pleased to meet her."

Mrs. Tobin at once stepped forward and reached out her hand.

"Very glad I am to make your acquaintance, Miss. It's not often we see
a stranger in this place. I hope you'll come over to see us."

Jess took Mrs. Tobin's hand in hers and was about to reply, when,
happening to glance across the room, she saw the captain standing near
the door. She recognised him at once, and her face turned white, while
her body trembled. Mrs. Tobin believed that this agitation was due to
her strenuous grip, and she quickly dropped the girl's hand.

"Excuse me, Miss," she apologised. "I didn't intend to hurt you. But
when I shake hands I mean it. Now, some people just touch the tips of
your fingers as if they were afraid you'd bite. That may be the
fashionable way, but I like the good old handshake."

"I never let you shake hands with me, Mrs. Tobin," John laughingly told
her. "I know you too well."

"And I guess you should," was the retort. "You often felt my hands
when you were a boy, didn't you? I had to use them more than once,
especially when you took my apples."

"Come, come, Mrs. Tobin, you must not give me away. Let us forget the
past. I want the captain to meet Miss Bean. He looks as if he would
like to run away. Come here, sir. You were always nervous in the
presence of women, I know. But Miss Bean is perfectly harmless."

John was well aware why the captain wished to get out of the house.
Knowing Mrs. Tobin as well as he did, he felt certain that her husband
was most anxious to keep from her the story of his experience with Miss
Randall on the "Eb and Flo." It amused him, and yet he felt it was his
duty not only to the captain but to Jess as well not to divulge the
secret. He had noticed the girl's white face and trembling hands, and
surmised the cause.

The captain was indeed in a quandary. At the first glimpse of Miss
Randall he was seized with a great fear. How could he face her in the
presence of his wife? Would she recognise him, and call him by name?
If she did, then he would be at once amid serious breakers on a stormy
shore. He wanted to retreat, to get away from the house as fast as
possible. But there was no escape, for he heard John telling him to
come and meet the young woman. For a few seconds he stood as if rooted
to the floor, staring straight before him. Notwithstanding her own
agitation, Jess could hardly keep from smiling at the captain's
confusion.