breathing.

"Oh, why did we leave our peaceful homes?" moaned Miss Vedrine.

"I didn't," whispered Win.

"Didn't what?"

"Leave my peaceful home. If I'd had one I shouldn't be here."

This was the first time she had volunteered or had had dragged out of
her a word concerning her past. But at the moment no one could be
keyed to interest in anything except preparation for the next wave.

In the veranda cafe Peter Rolls was asking his sister Ena if she knew
anything about five incredibly beautiful girls in evening dress shut
up together in a room with walls made of mirrors.

Ena Rolls was not in a mood to answer irrelevant questions, especially
from a brother; but Lord Raygan and his sister were there, and pricked
up their ears at the hint of a mystery. She could not be cross and ask
Peter kindly to go to the devil and not talk rot, as she would have
done if the others had been somewhere else. But then, were it not for
Lord Raygan and his sister and mother, Miss Rolls would be flat in her
berth.

"Five incredibly beautiful girls in evening dress!" repeated Lord
Raygan, who, like Peter, was a good sailor.

Ena Rolls wanted him to be interested in her, and not in five
preposterous persons in evening dress, so she replied promptly to
Peter's question: "I suppose they must be Nadine's living models. We
all had cards about their being on board and the hours of their parade
to show the latest fashions. You saw the card, I suppose, Lady
Eileen?"

"Yes," returned Lord Raygan's flapper sister. "It's on the
writing-desk in that darling sitting-room you've given Mubs and me."

Ena felt rewarded for her sacrifice. She and Peter had engaged the
best suite on board the _Monarchic_, but when Lord Raygan and his
mother and sister were borne past Queenstown in most unworthy cabins
(two very small ones between the three), Ena had given up her own and
Peter's room to the two ladies. It was a Providential chance to make
their acquaintance and win their gratitude. (She had met Raygan in
Egypt and London, and sailed on the _Monarchic_ in consequence.)

"The stewardess told me before I moved down," she went on, "that Mme.
Nadine had taken the ship's nursery this trip for her show, and fitted
it with wardrobes and mirror doors at immense expense. I'm afraid she
won't get her money back if this storm lasts. Who could gaze at living
models?"

"I could, if they're as beautiful as your brother says," replied Lord
Raygan, a tall, lank