ed and Parmalee was scarcely able to disguise his impatience at
the interruption.

After the first time, Drew left them alone. His pride refused to let
him be a third in a conversation plainly designed for two.

In his secret musings Allen Drew dwelt on and exaggerated the
advantages which Parmalee possessed. To be sure, he was weak and
delicate, while Drew had the strength of a young ox. But Parmalee had
wealth and standing and a polished manner that appealed strongly to
women. Why should he not, with his suavity and winning smile,
fascinate an impressionable girl?

Ruth herself, warned by the chilliness between the men that grew more
pronounced with every day that passed, did her best to be prudent. The
mischievous pleasure of having them both dangle when she pulled the
strings had been replaced by a feeling almost of alarm. She realized
enough of the fervor of Drew's passion to know that he was in deadly
earnest and would brook no rivalry.

Tyke had been enjoying himself hugely from the start. He had utterly
cast aside all thoughts of the business he had left behind him, and
when Drew sometimes referred to it he refused to listen. The sea air
and the delight of being once more in the surroundings of his early
days had proved a tonic. His leg mended with magical rapidity, and by
the time they had been ten days at sea he cast aside his crutches and
managed to get about with the aid of a cane. Almost every moment of
the day and evening when he was not at meals, he spent on deck,
exchanging yarns with Captain Hamilton, studying the set of the sails,
or gazing on the boundless expanse of sea and sky.

The weather so far had been perfect, and the schooner had slipped along
steadily and rapidly, most of the time carrying her full complement of
canvas. The captain thought that in about two or three days more they
would be in the vicinity of Martinique. Once there, to the westward of
that island, they would cruise about until the cay shaped like the hump
of a whale should appear on the horizon.

But despite the good weather, there had been for some time past a
shadow on the face of the captain which betrayed uneasiness. The young
people, absorbed in their own affairs, had not noticed it, but Tyke's
shrewd eyes had seen that all was not well, and one day when the
captain dropped into a chair beside him, he broached the subject
without ceremony.

"What's troubling you, Cap'n Rufe?" he asked. "Out with it a