id Captain Daniel; and added, "I want to know!"

"Yes, you're not the only one. We--I--there is another secret. Daddy,
dear, John wants to talk with you."

The captain looked at Mr. Doane, then at the hat and the face beneath
it.

"Oh!" he said, again.

"Yes. I--I--" She rose and, putting her arms about her father's neck,
kissed him. "I will be back before long, dear," she whispered, and
hurried out. Mr. Doane cleared his throat. Captain Dan waited.

"Well, sir," began the young man, and stopped. The captain continued to
wait.

"Well, sir," began Mr. Doane, again, "I--I--" For one who, as Gertrude
had declared, wished to talk, he seemed to be finding the operation
difficult. "I--Well, sir, the fact is, I have something to say to you."

Captain Dan, who was looking very grave, observed that he "wanted to
know." John Doane cleared his throat once more, and took a fresh start.

"Yes, sir," he said, "I have something to say to you--er--something
that--that may surprise you."

A faint smile disturbed the gravity of the captain's face.

"May surprise me, hey?" he repeated. "Is that so?"

"Yes. You see, I--Gertie and I--have--are--"

Daniel looked up.

"Hard navigatin', ain't it, John?" he inquired, whimsically. "Maybe I
could help you over the shoals. You and Gertie think you'd like to get
married sometime or other, I presume likely. Is that what you're tryin'
to tell me?"

There was no doubt of it. The young man's face expressed several
emotions, relief that the great secret was known, and surprise that
anyone should have guessed it.

"Why, yes, sir," he admitted, "that is it. Gertie and I have known each
other for years, ever since we were children, in fact; and, you see--you
see--" he paused once more, began again, and then broke out impatiently
with, "I'm making an awful mess of this. I don't know why."

Captain Dan's smile broadened.

"I made just as bad a one myself, once on a time," he observed. "Just
as bad, or worse--and _I_ didn't know why either. There, John, you sit
down. Come to anchor alongside here, and let's talk this thing over in
comfort."

Mr. Doane "came to anchor" on an empty packing case beside the desk. As
he was tall and big, and the box was low and small, the "comfort" was
doubtful. However, neither of the pair noticed this at the time.

"So you think you want Gertie, do you, John?" said the captain.

"I know it," was the emphatic answer.

"So. And she thinks she wants you?"