nd told him all about myself;
and he agreed to overlook my little time in prison if I signed on with
him to look after this yacht. Now you see I haven't got a very good
record. I've been in prison; and I've lived with three women; and I've
got no prospects except that I'm a good sailor and know my job. But I
never did what I was sent to prison for; and, as I told you, the three
women all knew more than I did. I've never done a girl any harm
intentionally; and the last of them belongs to six years ago. Since then
I've met other girls, and some of them have run after me because I was a
sailorman. They do, you know. You're the girl I love; and I want you to
remember that I was a kid when I got married. That's the tale, Jenny;
and every word of it's true. And now what d'you think of it? Are you
afraid of me now? Don't you think I'm a bit of a fool? Or d'you think
I'm the sort of fellow that fools the girls?"

There was no reply to his question for a long time; until Keith urged
her afresh.

"What I'm wondering," said Jenny, in a slow and rather puzzled way, "is,
what you'd think of me if I'd lived with three different men. Because
I'm twenty-five, you know."

iv

It might have checked Keith in mid-career. His tone had certainly not
been one of apology. But along with a natural complacency he had the
honesty that sometimes accompanies success in affairs.

"Well," he said frankly, "I shouldn't like it, Jen."

"How d'you think I like it?"

"D'you love me? Jenny, dear!"

"I don't know. I don't see why you should be different."

"Nor do I. I am, though. I wish I wasn't. Can you see that? Have you
ever wished you weren't yourself! Of course you have. So have I. Have
you had men running after you all the time? Have you been free night and
day, with time on your hands, and temptations going. You haven't. You
don't know what it is. You've been at home. And what's more, you've been
tied up because...because people think girls are safer if they're tied
up."

"_Men_ do!" flashed Jenny. "They like to have it all to themselves."

"Well, if you'd ever been on your own for days together, and thinking as
much about women as all young men do ..."

"I wonder if I should boast of it," Jenny said drily. "To a girl I was
pretending to love."

Keith let his arm drop from her waist. He withdrew it, and sighed. Then
he moved forward upon the settee, half rising, with his hands upon his
knees.

"Ah well, Jenny: perhaps I'd bette