ontinued:

"Just shows what an almighty fool a man can make of himself! One look at
the girl in the flesh, and I was cured!"

Feeling more tongue-tied than ever, Tommy ejaculated "Oh!" again.

"No disparagement to Jane, mind you," continued the other. "She's a real
nice girl, and some fellow will fall in love with her right away."

"I thought her a very good-looking girl," said Tommy, finding his
tongue.

"Sure she is. But she's not like her photo one bit. At least I suppose
she is in a way--must be--because I recognized her right off. If I'd
seen her in a crowd I'd have said 'There's a girl whose face I know'
right away without any hesitation. But there was something about that
photo"--Julius shook his head, and heaved a sigh--"I guess romance is a
mighty queer thing!"

"It must be," said Tommy coldly, "if you can come over here in love with
one girl, and propose to another within a fortnight."

Julius had the grace to look discomposed.

"Well, you see, I'd got a sort of tired feeling that I'd never find
Jane--and that it was all plumb foolishness anyway. And then--oh, well,
the French, for instance, are much more sensible in the way they look at
things. They keep romance and marriage apart----"

Tommy flushed.

"Well, I'm damned! If that's----"

Julius hastened to interrupt.

"Say now, don't be hasty. I don't mean what you mean. I take it
Americans have a higher opinion of morality than you have even. What I
meant was that the French set about marriage in a businesslike way--find
two people who are suited to one another, look after the money affairs,
and see the whole thing practically, and in a businesslike spirit."

"If you ask me," said Tommy, "we're all too damned businesslike
nowadays. We're always saying, 'Will it pay?' The men are bad enough,
and the girls are worse!"

"Cool down, son. Don't get so heated."

"I feel heated," said Tommy.

Julius looked at him and judged it wise to say no more.

However, Tommy had plenty of time to cool down before they reached
Holyhead, and the cheerful grin had returned to his countenance as they
alighted at their destination.

After consultation, and with the aid of a road map, they were fairly
well agreed as to direction, so were able to hire a taxi without more
ado and drive out on the road leading to Treaddur Bay. They instructed
the man to go slowly, and watched narrowly so as not to miss the path.
They came to it not long after leaving the town, and