y had said, would
be the last stop by the way; and when she at length emerged from the
building, she moved as if but half conscious of what she was doing.
Her face was troubled and looked far older than when she had left the
carriage; and, with sudden sympathy and pity, Dorothy's mood changed.

"Aunt Betty, aren't you well? Let's go straight home, then, and not
bother about that boat."

Mrs. Calvert smiled and bravely put her own worries behind her.

"Thank you, dear, for your consideration, but 'the last's the best of
all the game,' as you children say. I've begun to believe that this
boat errand of ours may prove so. Ephraim, drive to Halcyon Point."

If his mistress had bidden him drive straight into the Chesapeake, the
old coachman would have attempted to obey; but he could not refrain
from one glance of dismay as he received this order. He wouldn't have
risked his own respectability by a visit to such a "low down, ornery"
resort, alone; but if Miss Betty chose to go there it was all right.
Her wish was "sutney cur'us" but being hers not to be denied.

And now, indeed, did Dorothy find the city with its heat a "smelly"
place, but a most interesting one as well. The route lay through the
narrowest of streets, where tumble-down old houses swarmed with
strange looking people. To her it all seemed like some foreign
country, with its Hebrew signs on the walls, its bearded men of many
nations, and its untidy women leaning from the narrow windows,
scolding the dirty children in the gutters beneath.

But after a time, the lane-like streets gave place to wider ones, the
air grew purer, and soon a breath from the salt water beyond refreshed
them all. Almost at once, it seemed, they had arrived; and Dorothy
eagerly sought to tell which of the various craft clustered about the
Point was her coveted house-boat.

The carriage drew up beside a little office on the pier and a man came
out. He courteously assisted Aunt Betty to descend, while he promptly
pointed out a rather squat, but pretty, boat which he informed her was
the "Water Lily," lately the property of Mr. Blank, but now consigned
to one Mr. Seth Winters, of New York, to be held at the commands of
Miss Dorothy Calvert.

"A friend of yours, Madam?" he inquired, concluding that this stately
old lady could not be the "Miss" in question and wholly forgetting
that the little maid beside her might possibly be such.

Aunt Betty laid her hand on Dolly's shoulder and an