was talking of wrecks and lifeboats. The new lifeboat had done nothing,
having been forestalled by the Prestatyn boat; but Llandudno was
apparently very proud of its brave old worn-out lifeboat which had
brought ashore the entire crew of the _Hjalmar,_ without casualty,
in a terrific hurricane.

"Run along, child," said Ruth to Nellie, "while uncle and auntie talk to
each other for a minute."

Nellie stared, blushed, and walked forward in confusion. She was
startled. And Denry was equally startled. Never before had Ruth so
brazenly hinted that lovers must be left alone at intervals. In justice
to her, it must be said that she was a mirror for all the proprieties.
Denry had even reproached her, in his heart, for not sufficiently
showing her desire for his exclusive society. He wondered, now, what was
to be the next revelation of her surprising character.

"I had our bill this morning," said Ruth.

She leaned gracefully on the handle of her sunshade, and they both
stared at the sea. She was very elegant, with an aristocratic air. The
bill, as she mentioned it, seemed a very negligible trifle.
Nevertheless, Denry's heart quaked.

"Oh!" he said. "Did you pay it?"

"Yes," said she. "The landlady wanted the money, she told me. So Nellie
gave me her share, and I paid it at once."

"Oh!" said Denry.

There was a silence. Denry felt as though he were defending a castle, or
as though he were in a dark room and somebody was calling him, calling
him, and he was pretending not to be there and holding his breath.

"But I've hardly enough money left," said Ruth. "The fact is, Nellie and
I spent such a lot yesterday and the day before.... You've no idea how
money goes!"

"Haven't I?" said Denry. But not to her--only to his own heart.

To her he said nothing.

"I suppose we shall have to go back home," she ventured lightly. "One
can't run into debt here. They'd claim your luggage."

"What a pity!" said Denry, sadly.

Just those few words--and the interesting part of the interview was
over! All that followed counted not in the least. She had meant to
induce him to offer to defray the whole of her expenses in Llandudno--no
doubt in the form of a loan; and she had failed. She had intended him to
repair the disaster caused by her chronic extravagance. And he had only
said: "What a pity!"

"Yes, it is!" she agreed bravely, and with a finer disdain than ever of
petty financial troubles. "Still, it can't be helped."

"No,