a year, Mumsie!" I cried, calling her by the pet name I had used
when I was a little fellow.

"Will it really make you so happy, my boy?" she asked, wistfully.

"Indeed it will," I declared. "And now I've bothered you long enough.
I'll be around here if you want me. I shan't go out on the water today,
or until you feel quite yourself again."

I went out of her room. Marie, the Frenchwoman, was just coming up the
stairs. I saw her hide her hand with something in it under her apron. It
was a square white object. I knew it was a letter. Mr. Chester Downes
had been writing to my mother, and Marie was the go-between. She smiled,
slyly, as she passed me and whisked into the room I had just left.

CHAPTER VII

IN WHICH I PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER--AND SLEEP ABOARD THE WAVECREST

If for no other reason, that sly smile of my mother's French maid would
have kept me at home that day. I was still strolling about the place,
just before luncheon, when I saw Mr. Chester Downes' spare figure and
his tall hat coming up the hill. I went down the path and met him at the
steps which mounted the little terrace from the street to our lawn.

"Oh!" he ejaculated. "Are _you_ here?"

"You are just in time to catch me as I was going out, Mr. Downes," I
said. "What have you to say to me, sir?"

"Nothing, young man--nothing," he exclaimed.

"You certainly have not walked over here merely for the pleasure of
looking at the house," I said, smartly.

"I have come to see your mother, sir. And I propose to see her," he
said. "Last night I did not wish to make a disturbance while she was so
ill. But I understand from Dr. Eldridge that she is much improved----"

"You are correct there, Mr. Downes," I said. "And she will continue to
improve I hope. But whether she is well or ill, you cannot see her."

"Nonsense, boy! you are crazy. Do you know that I am a man, your uncle,
and your mother's business agent? Bold as you are, sir, you are a
minor."

"I never wanted to wish my life away before, sir," I said, gravely. "But
I do sincerely wish that I was of age, Mr. Downes. However, I believe I
shall be able to hold my own with you, sir. At least, I shall try. And
if this is to be your course I shall know what to do. Before you get
into that house to trouble my mother again, I'll place a guard around
it."

"You talk ridiculously. You cannot do such a thing."

"No, perhaps not. And fortunately, I shan't have to take such extreme
measures