t; when Edith had secured the oars and they pushed
off, he took the tiller ropes, and sat with moody eyes fixed on the
water. The mortification of the dinner was gnawing him; he was thinking
of the things he might have said to bring Eleanor to her senses! Yet he
realized that to have said anything would have added to Mr. Houghton's
embarrassment. "I'll have it out with her when I get home," he thought,
hotly. "Edith started the mess; why did she say that about Mr. Houghton
and Eleanor?" He glanced at her, and Edith, rowing hard, saw the sudden
angry look, and was so surprised that she caught a crab, almost keeled
over, laughed loudly, and said, _"Goodness!"_ which was at that time,
her most violent expletive.

"Maurice," she demanded, "did you see that lady on the float, getting
into the boat with those two gentlemen?"

Maurice said, absently: "There were two or three people round. I don't
know which you mean."

"The young one. She had red cheeks. I never saw such red cheeks!"

"Oh," said Maurice; "_that_ one? Yes. I saw her. Paint."

"On her cheeks?" Edith said, with round, astonished eyes. "Do ladies put
paint on their cheeks?"

Miserable as Maurice was, he did chuckle. "No, Edith; _ladies_ don't,"
he said, significantly. (Such was the innocent respectability of 1903!)

Edith looked puzzled: "You mean she isn't a lady, Maurice?"

"Look out!" he said, jamming the tiller over; "you were on your right
oar."

"But, Maurice," she insisted, "_why_ do you say she isn't a
lady?... Oh, Maurice! There she is now! See? In that boat?"

"Well, for Heaven's sake don't announce it to the world!" Maurice
remonstrated. "Guess I'll take the oars, Edith. I want some exercise."

Edith sighed, but said, "All right." She wanted to row; but she wanted
even more to get Maurice good-natured again. "He's huffy," she told
herself; "he's mad at Eleanor, and so am I; but it's no sense to take
_my_ head off!" She hated to change seats--they drew in to shore to do
it, a concession to safety on Maurice's part--for she didn't like to
turn her back on the red-cheeked lady with the two gentlemen in the
following skiff; however, she did it; after all, it was Maurice's boat,
and she was his company; so, if he "wanted to row her" (thus her little
friendly thoughts ran), "why, all right!" Still, she hated not to look
at the lady that Maurice said was not a lady. "She must be twice as old
as I am; I should think you were a lady when you were twe