eady gaze, was aware that no jest underlay his light
words. By no means could she construe what he had said into
impertinence, but she did feel he was presuming upon the kindly
attention she had paid him.

"Captain Merrithew," she said at length, "I have been thinking. I have
been wondering whether I do not think you more inspiring on the bridge
of the _Tampico_, cutting warships in two, or fighting a storm than--"

"Than talking with you in the moonlight?" interpolated Dan.

"_About_ the moonlight," corrected the girl. . . . "If we are to be
friends you must not devise responsibilities--unadvisably."

Dan made a slight gesture, as though to assure her she had made her
meaning quite clear.

"If we are to be friends, Miss Howland, you must not devise
restrictions unadvisably."

Dan was still smiling, and he was speaking easily. But no man had ever
spoken to her in that way before. She flushed, and her eyes sparkled
angrily as he ceased. Her glance did not disconcert him. He stood
looking at her--not masterfully, but with the quiet dignity of
conviction. It was plain that if their association were to continue,
it must be at the price of something more than the scientific, aloof,
touch-and-go interest which had hitherto characterized her attitude
toward him.

She must be his friend in all that the term implies. Until to-night,
had the alternative been proposed, she would have had no hesitation in
deciding, if only because she had no viewpoint other than their
relative positions in the past year.

But his words had opened a new perspective. She could see that he
might be regarded in a different light, that he already so regarded
her. The transformation bewildered her, and when the heated reply died
behind her lips and she smiled quiveringly instead, she felt for the
first time in her life the thrill which all women, however strong, have
when they yield to the dominant personality of a man. She tried to
fight back the overpowering, undefinable surge; she succeeded
partially. All she could now ask was time to think to recover her
equilibrium. She put out her hand involuntarily and touched Dan
lightly on the arm.

"Let us not say anything more about it," she said. "Tell me--tell me
something about San Blanco."

As she ceased speaking, she turned slowly toward the banquet hall.
Dan, following her, complied with what he knew to be a purely
perfunctory request, talking in an easy conversational tone.