ad pursued him; everything he had commanded or
had anything to do with had either sunk or burned--an extraordinary
train of misfortune not lacking in the lives of many able masters of
craft. What next? He passed over that thought with a frown. He was
living in a beautiful present; the future would be met as the past had
been, bravely and with no cry for quarter.

The present! He was immediately to learn how dearly he prized it; for
as he gazed seaward, the smoke of a steamship, below the horizon,
appeared. He sprang to his feet and watched it eagerly; and yet when
that faint column grew more dim and finally faded, he sat back
constrained to confess that he was almost glad the course of the
steamship was as it was. He fought against it, thinking of the girl in
the cabin and her interests. And yet--and yet? He shrugged his
shoulders and walked toward the door, lured by the song which he
remembered so clearly.

"If I had you! If I had you! You!"

"Will _I_ do?" he laughed, peering in at her open door.

"For the present, yes," she bowed, "because I want you to admire. See,
I have been decorating my room with unbleached muslin. Aren't those
curtains dear? And those silesia bunk tapestries, aren't they
fascinating?"

"They are, indeed. How much would you charge to beautify my cabin?"

Virginia blushed.

"You had better ask how much you owe me," she said. Then, "You haven't
looked in your cabin! And after all my labor, too!"

With an exclamation Dan darted across the corridor and beheld, with
kindling eyes, many evidences of that feminine touch without which
hardened bachelors may fancy their quarters complete. She had followed
him to the door and was gazing over his shoulder. Something caught in
Dan's throat. Always a man's man, as the saying is, the full force of
the realization of his strange situation seemed rushing from the
interior of that cabin to overpower him. A girl, a beautiful girl, one
whom he had looked upon as he had looked upon the beautiful
unattainable things of this life, planning and executing for his
pleasure, and blushing joyously to find that which she had done for him
pleasing in his sight, left him bereft of words.

He turned to her and strove to speak, and then suddenly he faced about
and walked hurriedly to the deck. She came up behind him and placed
her hand upon his shoulder and smiled, understanding. His eyes met
hers, and then, with an involuntary movement, his