, no sound except the rhythmic splash of the fountain and the soft
lapping of the waves upon the beach. He closed his eyes while their
ceaseless monotone seemed to beat upon his brain.

"Forever! Forever! Forever!"

A spasm of pain crossed his face as Evadne's voice woke the echoes with
a merry song. "Poor little lass!" he murmured. Then he smiled as she
came towards him, quaffed off the beverage she had prepared with loving
skill, and called her the best cook in all the Indies.

"Has it refreshed you, dearest?" she asked anxiously.

"Immensely! Now you shall read me some of Lalla Rookh, and after dinner
I will set about making a Mecca for your crab."

Evadne stroked the dainty claws,--

"Poor little chap! So you are a pilgrim like the rest of us. I wish we
did not have to go on and on, dearest!" she exclaimed passionately,
"why cannot we stand still and enjoy?"

"It would grow monotonous, little Vad. Progress is the law of all being,
and seventy years of life is generally enough for the majority. You
would not like to live to be an old lady of two hundred and fifty? Think
how tired you would be!"

She laid her cheek against his upon the pillow. "I should _never_ grow
tired,--with you!"

The evening drew on, hot and breathless. Low growls of distant thunder
were heard at intervals, and in the eastern sky the lightning played.

Evadne watched it, sitting on the top step of the veranda, her white
muslin dress in happy contrast with the deep green of the vines which
clustered thickly about the pillar against which she leaned. On the step
below her a young man sat. He too was clad in white and the rich crimson
of the silken scarf which he wore about his waist enhanced his Spanish
beauty. A zither lay across his knees over which his hands wandered
skilfully as he made the air tremble with dreamy music. Mr. Hildreth
paced slowly up and down the veranda behind them.

"What is the news from the great world, Geoff? I saw a troop ship
signaled this morning. Have you been on board yet?"

"No, sir, I have been looking over the plantation with my father all
day, and only got home in time for dinner."

"You chose a cool time for it!" and Mr. Hildreth laughed.

Geoffrey Chittenden shrugged his shoulders. "When Geoffrey Chittenden,
Senior, makes up his mind to do anything, he has the most sublime
indifference for the thermometer of any one I ever had the honor of
knowing. But the ship only brought a small detachment, I