?"

"I should say not!" She laughed lightly. "You don't know, I guess,
what we girls expect nowadays, if we give up our independence."

"Independence!" snorted Tunis.

"That's what I said," rejoined Ida May tartly. "When the store
closes my time's my own. I can do as I please. And I've got nobody
to please but myself. Oh, you don't understand at all, Captain
Latham!"

He said no more. Nor did he escort her farther than the corner.
There he lifted his cap and took her offered hand. Although it was
beringed and the nails were stained and polished, Tunis could not
help noticing that Ida May's hand was not altogether clean.

"Well, au revoir, captain!" she said lightly. "I hope I see you
again."

He bowed silently and watched her depart. The sunshine glinted
gloriously upon her fluffy hair.

"Fool's gold," he muttered.

CHAPTER VII

AT THE RESTAURANT

The captain of the _Seamew_ found himself facing an unpleasant
problem. How could he make the Balls, either Cap'n Ira or Prudence,
understand the kind of girl Ida May was? How could he even bring
them to understand that nothing he could have said would have ever
made Ida May Bostwick see the situation in its true light?

Why, the old couple could never be made to believe that a girl in
her sane senses would turn down cold such a proposition as they had
made. They would suspect that he had failed to put it to her in the
proper light. His "errand of mercy," as Cap'n Ira had called it, had
seemed so reasonable for both sides!

Tunis realized that he had not overurged the matter to the girl. But
there was a reason for that. The difficulty would be in explaining
to the Balls just how unsuitable Ida May was. They would never
believe that the daughter of Sarah Honey could be such a cheap and
inconsequential person as she had actually proved to be.

"It's going to hit 'em 'twixt wind and water, and hit 'em hard,"
muttered the captain of the _Seamew_. "One thing that girl said was
right, I guess. They'd better get somebody from the poor farm,
rather than take her into their house. Such a creature would be
happier with the Balls, and make them happier. But it's pretty tough
when those of your own blood go back on you."

The experience had left a bad taste in Tunis Latham's mouth. He
hoped heartily that he would never see Ida May Bostwick again. He
never intended to if he could help it. To take his mind off the
fiasco entirely, he hopped on to a car and rode o