graciousness
than she had previously exhibited. It was evident to the girls that she
did not wish Tom Curtis to know how rudely she had treated his friends.

The young man introduced as Mr. Thornton addressed Madge with a view
toward being gracious, but she replied briefly and turned her attention
to Tom. Far from being dismayed with the rebuff, he tried again.

"I am over in camp with your friend, Mr. Curtis," he volunteered.

"Are you?" rejoined Madge indifferently.

"Yes," he went on, unabashed. "I came over to the dance to-night
because Miss Harris is a great friend of mine. Don't hold that rude
speech of hers against us; she did not imagine you would overhear it.
Mr. Lawton and I were awfully cut up over it." He was doing his best
to melt the snow image he was addressing. Madge showed no sign of
relenting.

"Do you golf?" he questioned, hurriedly changing the subject.

Madge shrugged her pretty shoulders. "Not well enough to count," she
answered.

"Do you swim?" was his next question.

Receiving no answer, he continued: "It is getting rather late in the
year for sea bathing. The water is too cold for comfort."

"I like to swim in cold water," commented Madge stiffly. Then, taking
pity on the discomfited young man, she smiled faintly and said, "I
should not blame you for your friend's rude remarks, but I am still
very angry with her. Her conduct was insufferable."

"She didn't mean what she said," defended Alfred Thornton. "I can't
understand why Flora spoke as she did. She is a splendid girl. I've
known her for a long time. She is the daughter of an officer whose
father is a retired admiral in the Navy and a favorite socially at Old
Point."

"That is very nice for her," returned Madge without enthusiasm. In the
face of the discourtesy which Miss Harris had just exhibited she
thought Mr. Thornton's eloquent defence in rather bad taste. She was
about to retort that her father, too, had been an officer in the Navy;
then, remembering, her face flushed and she compressed her red lips.
Not yet. Not until she had found the man she sought and cleared her
father's name. Suddenly the thought came: "Suppose I were to hear news
of him while at Old Point? Suppose he were known to some of the
officers whose ships are stationed here? Perhaps it was Fate that sent
us to visit Mrs. Curtis."

"Have you decided to be angry, after all?" Alfred Thornton's voice
recalled Madge to her surroundings.

"I am not angry," rep