hore at Ardie, and the deck
hands of the excursion boat, and the language they'll be using."

"Have you had a cruise in the yacht?" asked the consul quickly.

"Ay," said the father, "we have been up and down the loch, and around
the far point, but not for boardin' or lodgin' the night, nor otherwise
conteenuing or parteecipating. I have explained to Mr. Gray that we
must return to our own home and our own porridge at evening, and he has
agreed, and even come with us. He's a decent enough lad, and not above
instructin', but extraordinar' extravagant."

"Ye know, father," interposed the young girl, "he talks of fitting up
the yacht for the fishing, and taking some of his most decent men on
shares. He says he was very fond of fishing off the Massachusetts coast,
in America. It will be, I'm thinking," she said, suddenly turning to the
consul with an almost pathetic appeal in her voice, "a great occupation
for the rich young men over there."

The consul, desperately struggling with a fanciful picture of Mr. Robert
Gray as a herring fisher, thought gravely that it "might be." But he
thought still more gravely, though silently, of this singular companion
ship, and was somewhat anxious to confront his friend with his new
acquaintances. He had not long to wait. The sun was just dipping behind
the hill when the yacht glided into the lonely loch. A boat was put off,
and in a few moments Robert Gray was climbing the little path from the
loch.

Had the consul expected any embarrassment or lover-like consciousness
on the face of Mr. Gray at their unexpected meeting, he would have been
disappointed. Nor was the young man's greeting of father and daughter,
whom he addressed as Mr. and Miss Callender, marked by any tenderness or
hesitation. On the contrary, a certain seriousness and quiet reticence,
unlike Gray, which might have been borrowed from his new friends,
characterized his speech and demeanor. Beyond this freemasonry of sad
repression there was no significance of look or word passed between
these two young people. The girl's voice retained its even pathos.
Gray's grave politeness was equally divided between her and her father.
He corroborated what Callender had said of his previous visits without
affectation or demonstration; he spoke of the possibilities of his
fitting up the yacht for the fishing season with a practical detail and
economy that left the consul's raillery ineffective. Even when, after
dinner, the consul pu