oman's hair, like spun gold, about amidships in the rank of
deck-chairs. He made sure it was Miss Searle; and it was. She sat alone,
with none near her, her head resting against the back of the chair, her
face turned a trifle forward; so that she was unaware of his approach
until he stopped before her.

"Miss Searle--" he began diffidently.

She looked up quickly and smiled in what he thought a friendly way.

"Good evening," said she; and moved her body slightly in the deck-chair,
turning a little to the left as if expecting him to take the vacant
chair on that hand.

He did so without further encouragement, and abruptly found himself
wholly lacking words wherewith to phrase what he had in mind to say. In
such emergency he resorted to an old, tried and true trick of his and
began to talk on the first subject, unrelated to his dilemma, that
popped into his head.

"Are you a good sailor?" he enquired gravely.

The girl nodded. "Very."

"Not afraid of seasickness?"

"No. Why?"

"Because," said Staff soberly, "I've been praying for a hurricane."

She nodded again without speaking, her eyes alone questioning.

"Mrs. Thataker," he pursued evenly, "confided to me at dinner that she
is a very poor sailor indeed."

Miss Searle laughed quietly. "You desire a punishment to fit the
crime."

"There are some crimes for which no adequate punishment has ever been
contrived," he returned, beginning to see his way, and at the same time
beginning to think himself uncommonly clever.

"Oh!" said Miss Searle with a little laugh. "Now if you're leading up to
a second apology about that question of the bandbox, you needn't,
because I've forgiven you already."

He glanced at her reproachfully. "You just naturally had to beat me to
that, didn't you?" he complained. "All the same, it _was_ inexcusable of
me."

"Oh, no; I quite understood."

"You see," he persisted obstinately, "I really did think it was my
bandbox. I actually have got one with me, precisely like yours."

"I quite believed you the first time."

Something in her tone moved him to question her face sharply; but he
found her shadowed eyes inscrutable.

"I half believe you know something," he ventured, perplexed.

"Perhaps," she nodded, with an enigmatic smile.

"What do you know?"

"Why," she said, "it was simple enough. I happened to be in Lucille's
yesterday afternoon when a hat was ordered delivered to you."

"You were! Then you know who sent it to