ll boat,
and the Roamer was the first yacht she had ever been on board. The
writer's wife, whom he called Clara, welcomed them heartily, and Saxon
lost no time in falling in love with her and in being fallen in love
with in return. So strikingly did they resemble each other, that
Hastings was not many minutes in calling attention to it. He made them
stand side by side, studied their eyes and mouths and ears, compared
their hands, their hair, their ankles, and swore that his fondest
dream was shattered--namely, that when Clara had been made the mold was
broken.

On Clara's suggestion that it might have been pretty much the same mold,
they compared histories. Both were of the pioneer stock. Clara's mother,
like Saxon's, had crossed the Plains with ox-teams, and, like Saxon's,
had wintered in Salt Intake City--in fact, had, with her sisters, opened
the first Gentile school in that Mormon stronghold. And, if Saxon's
father had helped raise the Bear Flag rebellion at Sonoma, it was at
Sonoma that Clara's father had mustered in for the War of the Rebellion
and ridden as far east with his troop as Salt Lake City, of which
place he had been provost marshal when the Mormon trouble flared up.
To complete it all, Clara fetched from the cabin an ukulele of boa wood
that was the twin to Saxon's, and together they sang "Honolulu Tomboy."

Hastings decided to eat dinner--he called the midday meal by its
old-fashioned name--before sailing; and down below Saxon was surprised
and delighted by the measure of comfort in so tiny a cabin. There was
just room for Billy to stand upright. A centerboard-case divided the
room in half longitudinally, and to this was attached the hinged
table from which they ate. Low bunks that ran the full cabin length,
upholstered in cheerful green, served as seats. A curtain, easily
attached by hooks between the centerboard-case and the roof, at night
screened Mrs. Hastings' sleeping quarters. On the opposite side the two
Japanese bunked, while for'ard, under the deck, was the galley. So
small was it that there was just room beside it for the cook, who was
compelled by the low deck to squat on his hands. The other Japanese, who
had brought the parcels on board, waited on the table.

"They are looking for a ranch in the valley of the moon," Hastings
concluded his explanation of the pilgrimage to Clara.

"Oh!--don't you know--" she cried; but was silenced by her husband.

"Hush," he said peremptorily, then tu