reliminary yell. Mrs. Evans said, 'Oh,
Babbsy, darling!' I got up and went out on deck. We were running among
the islands. Away to the east-ward I could see the lights of the
Roumania Lloyd mail-boat going south. Suddenly two hands grabbed the
lappets of my patrol-coat, a dark, fluffy head leaned for a delicious
moment against my chest, and Artemisia gurgled, 'Oh, Mister Chief, isn't
she just a little fiend?' She had been listening to my blandishments and
had witnessed the final destruction of my hopes. She put her hands
behind her back, threw up her head, and regarded me with amusement.
'Why,' she whispered, 'why didn't you open the medicine chest, and give
her the prussic-acid to play with?' And then, without waiting for an
answer, she turned and looked across at the islands we were passing. She
sighed. 'Just look at them! How do they know which is Ipsilon? Mister
Chief, Mister Chief, I am afraid.'

"'What of?' I asked. She sighed again.

"'Of the future,' she said. 'This is a change for me. I don't know
what's coming. I haven't had any luck yet.'

"I asked her in what way.

"'You know, Mister Chief, I have been in several situations. I was a
typist....' she shrugged her shoulders.

"'Your father will be here,' I suggested, but she paid no attention,
merely looking at the dark blots on the sea that were islands. And then
she remarked in a perfectly level and unconcerned voice that sometimes
she wished she was dead. I patted her on the shoulder.

"'Go to bed, my child,' I remarked, coldly, 'you'll feel better in the
morning. You won't wish you were dead when Captain Macedoine comes
aboard to fetch you.'

"She walked away in silence and went down to the cabin. I have often
wondered if she had not intended to make some sort of confession.
Perhaps it was a moment in her life when she became suddenly aware of
her insecurity, of her lack of the kindly props and supports which hold
most of us up and give us a good opinion of ourselves. For really she
lacked everything. As I found out later, as she stood talking to me that
evening and trying to find some easy yet adequate method of taking me
into her confidence without losing my esteem, she lacked everything that
most girls have. She was one of those tragic figures who even lack
innocence without having gained any corresponding experience. And
perhaps she felt for a moment the shadow of her destiny upon her, and
seeing the dark path among the islands she was to tread,