nodded, and then resumed his inspection of the farther
shore lines. A light overcoat lay across his knees, and the protruding
newspapers explained his visit to the village. Dan found a seat on the
opposite side of the deck, resolved to accept Bassett's own definition
of their relations--markedly expressed in Bassett's back and shoulders
that were stolidly presented to him. Dan, searching out the lights that
were just beginning to blink on the darkling shores, found the
glimmering lanterns of Mrs. Owen's landing. Sylvia was there! It was
Sylvia he had come to see, and the coldness with which Morton Bassett
turned his back upon him did not matter in the least. It was his
pliability in Bassett's hands, manifested at the convention where he had
appeared as the boss's spokesman, that had earned him Sylvia's first
rebuke.

He was thinking of this and of Sylvia when Bassett left his chair and
crossed the deck. Dan barely turned his head, thinking he was merely
changing his seat for a better view; but as Bassett stopped in front of
him, Dan rose and pushed forward a chair.

"No, thank you; I suppose you came up on the evening train. I just
wondered whether you saw Fitch to-day."

"No, sir; I didn't see him; I didn't know he wanted to see me."

"He was here yesterday and probably hadn't had time to see you before
you left town. He had a proposition to make in that Canneries case."

"I didn't know that, of course, or I should have waited. I've never had
any talk with him about the Canneries business."

"So he said."

Bassett clapped his hand savagely upon his hat suddenly to save it from
the breeze that had been roused by the increasing speed of the boat. He
clearly disliked having to hold his hat on his head. Dan marked his old
chief's irritation. There were deep lines in Bassett's face that had
only lately been written there.

"I'll see him Monday. I only ran up for a day or two. It's frightfully
hot at home."

Neither the heat, nor Harwood's enterprise in escaping from it,
interested Bassett, who lifted his voice above the thumping of the
machinery to say:--

"I told Fitch to talk to you about that suit of yours and fix it up if
we can come to terms. I told him what I'd stand for. I'm not afraid of
the suit, and neither is Fitch, and I want you to understand that. My
reasons for getting rid of it are quite apart from the legal questions."

"It will save time, Mr. Bassett, if you tell Fitch that the suit won't
be