threaded their way towards different points on the coast, than she
clapped her hands with schoolgirl delight.

"I had no idea," she cried, "that Marseilles was half so beautiful. Why,
it is a wonderful place. I have always read about it being hot and
dirty. It certainly is untidy, but to wash its citizens would take away
all the romance! As for the climate being hot, just imagine a day like
this in the middle of November. Can you possibly think what the
sensation would be if you were plunged into a London fog at this moment,
Mr. Daubeney?"

"I have hardly ever seen one," he replied. "I take mighty good care to
be far removed from my beloved country during the fog season."

She sighed. "What it is to be a man and to be able to roam about the
world unfettered."

"It all depends upon the meaning of the word 'unfettered,'" said
Daubeney. "Have you got any sisters, Miss Talbot?"

They all laughed at this inconsequent question. It was impossible to
resist Daubeney's buoyant good nature, and Edith felt certain that in
half an hour she would be calling him "Jimmy."

They sped across the waves towards the Chateau d'If, and drew up
alongside its small landing-stage.

The island supplies an all-the-year-round resort for the townspeople.
Every fine day a steamer runs at intervals to and fro between it and the
inner harbour. The good folk of the south of France, whether Marseillais
or visitors to the city, find a constant delight in taking the short
marine excursion and wandering for half an hour about the rocky
pathways and steep turrets of the famous prison, whilst they listen with
silent awe to the words of the guide when he tells them how the Abbe
died, and shows them the hole between the two walls excavated by Monte
Cristo. So the English visitors found themselves in the midst of a
number of laughing, light-hearted French sightseers.

They wandered round with the crowd until Edith looked at her watch.

"It is past twelve o'clock," she said. "Should we not be going back to
the hotel to lunch? You will come with us, of course, Mr. Daubeney?"

"I am famished with expectation," answered the irrepressible Jimmy, "but
before we go away you certainly ought to climb to the leads and get the
panoramic view of the harbour which the tower affords on a clear day. It
is a sight to be remembered, I promise you."

So they made the ascent, Daubeney leading in his capacity of guide,
though he was quite breathless when they reached t