can't look at anything from
any other standpoint. It's a tragic disappointment to me, and I think
it just as well that I am going to expire from this awful seasickness. I
really thought I could train him, but he's too crude. That is the only
word to use."

"He can't be that or he couldn't be Monty Huntington's friend. I rather
like him. He's blunt and matter-of-fact and all that; but I like to see
a man with confidence in himself."

"I have an idea that Mr. Huntington has somewhat revised his opinions. I
certainly have; and whatever anybody else may think I agree with
myself."

"That ought to be comforting to you, my dear; but I'm really sorry
things haven't pulled through this time. I'm afraid it's your last
chance. What did he do that was crude,--refuse to propose?"

Edith sat bolt upright, her cheeks flaming, with all signs of her recent
indisposition vanished.

"I hate you in that tantalizing mood, Marian Thatcher! You always put
the meanest interpretation on everything! Of course he proposed, but he
didn't do it in a nice way; he just figured it out as if it was one of
his business deals, and made me feel as if I ought to go right to the
shipping department and get packed up."

"My dear Edith," Marian expostulated; "you mustn't be so fastidious. It
doesn't make so much difference how these men propose; the main thing is
to have them do it. Truly, I'm disappointed in you! Here you have been
working desperately to lead him to a point where he would let you put
the ball and chain on him, and then, for some silly little reason, you
let him get away from you! Really, I'm disappointed! From what I've
seen, you two seem admirably suited to each other."

"You don't understand, Marian," she protested; "he made this trip for
the express purpose of picking out a wife--"

"In Bermuda? Why couldn't he find one nearer home?"

"The girl he had selected for the distinguished honor was in Bermuda--"

Marian Thatcher was interested. Her amusement over her friend's
annoyances, real or imagined, became tempered by curiosity, and that
changed a passing incident into an event.

"He told you this and yet proposed to you? Who was the other girl?"

"You really don't know?"

"Certainly not. Why should I know? This is all news to me."

"I'm glad to be able to tell you something, my dear Marian," Edith said
complacently. "You are so terribly superior it really cheers me up to
have the chance to add to your knowledge, even in