d on bluebells and red-robins, and now and then crushed
the fragrance out of a low-lying spike of gorse. I knew the flowers
were there, though in this curious light I could only see them by
peering closely. At the foot of the terrace I pulled up and leant
over the oak fence that guarded the abrupt drop into the creek.

There was a light just underneath. It came from the deck of the
hospital-ship, and showed me two figures standing there--a woman
leaning against the bulwarks, and a man beside her. The man had a
fiddle under his chin, and was playing "Annie Laurie," rather slowly
and with a deal of sweetness.

When the melody ceased, I craned still further over the oak fence and
called down, "Tubal Cain!"

The pair gave a start, and there was some whispering before the
answer came up to me.

"Is that you, sir?"

"To be sure," said I. "What are you two about on board _The
Gleaner?_"

Some more whispering followed, and then Tubal Cain spoke again--

"It doesn't matter now, sir. We've lived aboard here for a week, and
to-night's the end of our honeymooning. If 'tis no liberty sir,
Annie's wishful that you should join us."

Somehow, the invitation, coming through this mysterious atmosphere,
seemed at once natural and happy. The fiddle began again as I
stepped away from the fence and went down to get my boat out.
In three minutes I was afloat, and a stroke or two brought me to the
ship's ladder. Annie and Tubal Cain stood at the top to welcome me.

But if I had felt no incongruity in paying this respectful visit to
my ex-cook and her lover, I own that her appearance made me stare.
For, if you please, she was dressed out like a lady, in a gown of
pale blue satin trimmed with swansdown--a low-necked gown, too,
though she had flung a white shawl over her shoulders. Imagine this
and the flood of blue light around us, and you will hardly wonder
that, half-way up the ladder, I paused to take breath. Tubal Cain
was dressed as usual, and tucking his fiddle under his arm, led me up
to shake hands with his bride as if she were a queen. I cannot say
if she blushed. Certainly she received me with dignity: and then,
inverting a bucket that lay on the deck, seated herself; while Tubal
Cain and I sat down on the deck facing her, with our backs against
the bulwarks.

"It's just this, sir," explained the bridegroom, laying his fiddle
across his lap, and speaking as if in answer to a question: "it's
just this:--by t