the tears was
running down 'is face like rain. He said he'd never been treated so much
in his life."

"That'll do," said the skipper, quickly.

"You ought to hear Bill tell it," said the mate, regretfully. "I can't
do it anything like as well as what he can. Made us all roar, he
did. What amused 'em most was you thinking that that gal was cookie's
sister."

The skipper, with a sharp exclamation, leaned forward, staring at him.

"They're going to be married at Christmas," said the mate, choking in
his cup.

The skipper sat upright again, and tried manfully to compose his
features. Many things he had not understood before were suddenly made
clear, and he remembered now the odd way in which the girl had regarded
him as she bade him good-night on the previous evening. The mate eyed
him with interest, and was about to supply him with further details
when his attention was attracted by footsteps descending the
companion-ladder. Then he put down his cup with great care, and stared
in stolid amazement at the figure of Miss Jewell in the doorway.

"I'm a bit late," she said, flushing slightly.

She crossed over and shook hands with the skipper, and, in the most
natural fashion in the world, took a seat and began to remove her
gloves. The mate swung round and regarded her open-mouthed; the skipper,
whose ideas were in a whirl, sat regarding her in silence. The mate
was the first to move; he left the cabin rubbing his shin, and casting
furious glances at the skipper.

"You didn't expect to see me?" said the girl, reddening again.

"No," was the reply.

The girl looked at the tablecloth. "I came to beg your pardon," she
said, in a low voice.

"There's nothing to beg my pardon for," said the skipper, clearing his
throat. "By rights I ought to beg yours. You did quite right to make fun
of me. I can see it now."

"When you asked me whether I was Bert's sister I didn't like to say
'no,'" continued the girl; "and at first I let you come out with me for
the fun of the thing, and then Bert said it would be good for him, and
then--then--"

"Yes," said the skipper, after a long pause.

The girl broke a biscuit into small pieces, and arranged them on the
cloth. "Then I didn't mind your coming so much," she said, in a low
voice.

The skipper caught his breath and tried to gaze at the averted face.

The girl swept the crumbs aside and met his gaze squarely. "Not quite so
much," she explained.

"I've been a fool," said t