as temporarily, owing to her position, the upper part,
was outside the boat. Her feet beat the air with futile vigour. She
wriggled convulsively and after a time her legs followed her head and
shoulders into the boat. She rose on her knees, very red in the face, a
good deal dishevelled, but laughing heartily.

"I'm not a bit dead," she said, "but I expect my hair's coming down."

"It is," said Priscilla. "I don't believe you have a hairpin left unless
one or two have been driven into your skull. Are you much hurt?"

"Not at all," said Miss Rutherford. "Is your mast all right? I hit it
rather hard."

Priscilla looked at the mast critically and stroked the part hit by Miss
Rutherford's head to find out if it was bruised or cracked.

"I'm most awfully sorry," said Frank. "I don't know how I came to be
such a fool. I lost my head completely. I put the tiller the wrong way.
I can't imagine how it all happened."

"I don't think," said Miss Rutherford, "that I ever had an invitation to
luncheon accepted quite so heartily before. You actually rushed into my
arms."

"Were you inviting us to lunch?" said Priscilla.

"I've been inviting you at the top of my voice," said Miss Rutherford,
"for nearly a quarter of an hour. I'm so glad you've come in the end."

"We couldn't hear what you were saying," said Priscilla. "All we knew
was that you were shouting at us. If we'd known it was an invitation----"

"You couldn't have come any quicker if you'd heard every word," said
Miss Rutherford.

"I'm frightfully sorry," said Frank again. "I can't tell you----"

"If I'd known it was luncheon," said Priscilla, "I'd have steered myself
and run no risks. We haven't a thing to eat in our boat and I'm getting
weak with hunger."

Miss Rutherford stepped overboard again.

"Come on," she said, "we're going to have the grandest picnic ever was,
I went down to the village yesterday evening after I got home and bought
another tin of Californian peaches."

"How did you know you'd meet us?" said Priscilla.

"I hoped for the best. I felt sure I'd meet you tomorrow if I didn't
today. I should have dragged the peaches about with me until I did.
Nothing would have induced me to open the tin by myself. I've also got
two kinds of dessicated soup and----

"Penny-packers?" said Priscilla. "I know the look of them, but I never
bought one on account of the difficulty of cooking. I don't believe
they'd be a bit good dry."

"But I've borrowed Pr