There was but little breeze stirring and the sun had grown
suddenly hot, but Sally had a passionate affection for warmth. She had
also an endless capacity for sleeping when there was nothing of interest
in life to make wakefulness worth while.

For a few moments she watched Gerry at work, thinking she had never seen
her look so pretty or labor so industriously. Then Sally viewed the
small boat whose continuous movement impressed her like the sleepy
swaying of a cradle. Afterwards she fell into a state of semi-conscious
dreaming.

But Gerry kept on with her sketching certainly for more than an hour.
By the end of that time she was surprised to find what a lovely sketch
she had made. In spite of the fact that her boat was out of drawing, the
color in her sky line was beautiful and the waves of the sea suggested
real water and a real ocean.

After gazing at her painting with wholly unexpected admiration, Gerry
put it carefully away in her sketch book. She was feeling a little
tired, but her act was inspired more by discretion than weariness. To
work upon her sketch any longer would probably destroy the value it at
present possessed and Mrs. Burton would be pleased by her success.

Believing Sally to be fast asleep and not wishing to disturb her for a
time, Gerry, leaning forward and resting her chin on her two folded
hands, fell to dreaming.

For the past ten days or more, ever since her arrival in southern
California, it seemed to Gerry Williams that never had her dreams and
her desires been so insistent. She did not know that this was the
influence of the semi-tropical climate upon her physical and spiritual
development.

In truth, Gerry's past life had been a trying one and there was no
reason why she should have been content with it, or why she should not
hope for a happier future.

These summers in Arcady with Mrs. Burton--for they had been as summers
in Arcady to the Sunrise Hill Camp Fire girls--had been the fairest
experiences in Gerry's history. Yet she professed no ardent love for the
outdoors as the other girls did. Neither was she so young as some of
them, since within a few weeks she would be eighteen.

There would be other summers to come, Gerry realized, when she would not
be Mrs. Burton's guest. Indeed, the Camp Fire guardian had frankly
stated that if the war continued they would not be able to have their
holidays together. In the future she must devote her money, her time and
her energy to war s