nd the
buoyant ship slid down the track toward the water; the big propeller
waved for a moment its octopus arms, then started with a mighty roar.

For a moment they swam the surface, then, light as a bird, the "Gray
Gull" soared.

Up and up, with the white yachts in the harbor just beneath them, with
the gold of the sunshine surrounding them; and out of it his face
bending down to her.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, as he had asked in the storm.

And she, with her cheeks still burning hot, looked up at him and
laughed.

"Afraid--with you? Oh, Justin, Justin, I could fly like this--forever."

CHAPTER XVI

VOICES IN THE DARK

Captain Stubbs' cottage was one of the show places of the town.
Built before the Revolution, it was of typical English rural
architecture--one-storied, with a square chimney, and with a garden
which made it the delight of artists who came from far and near to paint
it; in the spring crocuses starred the borders, violets studded the lawn
with amethyst, pale irises and daffodils, narcissus and jonquils stood
in slim beauty. Later came sweet peas, and the roses followed, hiding
with their beauty the weather-beaten boards. The late summer brought
nasturtiums in all their richness of orange and bronze-brown, and in the
fall, the dahlias blazed.

The captain lived alone, attending to his domestic affairs in a fashion
which was the envy of less spick and span housekeepers. He would not
have his home invaded by prying folk, but to his invited and welcome
guests he would show his carved ivories, his embroideries, heavy with
gold, his dragon-encircled jars and vases. Everywhere was the charm of
shining neatness, and flowers were everywhere.

"I think I should have looked for a wife," the captain had told Bettina
and Miss Matthews one day when they had lunched with him, "if it hadn't
been for my flowers. I don't need a wife to cook for me. I'm a better
cook than most women. And I don't need a wife to mend my clothes,
because every sailor can handle a needle. And I don't need a wife to
keep the house clean for me--there isn't any woman on earth that makes
things shine like a man who has been taught to rub brasses and scrub
down decks. What I'd need a wife for would be to make things pretty, and
to look pretty herself. But Lord, I ain't the kind to attract a pretty
woman--and so I just gave it up."

A faint glimmer of resentment had shone in Miss Matthews' eyes. "I guess
most women are kept s