and caught her
friend's eye with an appeal in which Sylvia could see the flag of
truce. The earnestness and sweetness of her tone and look astounded
Sylvia; for had so simple an action as her coming home had power to
alter such strong feeling as must goad a hostess before she can so
rebuke the guest beneath her roof?

"Are you going to come ashore and let us interrupt your sport?" went on
Edna.

"Unless you and Uncle Calvin care to come out for a little row,"
returned Sylvia. "It's a wonderful boat, Uncle Calvin."

"Yes, Edna, get in," said the judge. "You take the tiller, and I'll
show Sylvia how to avoid the windmill habit. Another time for you,
Minty," he added, and the child jumped out obediently.

Little did the prosaic lawyer suspect the preoccupation of his pupil
during the next quarter of an hour. Sylvia did her best to obey him;
and Edna, intent on keeping him in the best of humor, expressed her
enjoyment of a situation whose finish she anticipated far more eagerly
than did her friend; for Sylvia, although apparently intent on
feathering, was planning how she could avoid being left alone for a
minute with Edna.

The moment came, however, when they must land, and Judge Trent
superintended the putting up of the boat. He would touch nothing, he
wished Sylvia to understand and execute each detail, and gave his
directions crisply. His niece welcomed this, for it kept him by her
side, a position she hoped he would maintain until their departure for
the island.

"What do you suppose Mrs. Lem will say to two people descending upon
her for dinner?" asked Edna, when at last the three started toward the
house.

"Oh, this is giving her plenty of warning," replied Sylvia. "I will
tell her at once."

Edna had requested Judge Trent not to refer to his niece's sketches
until she had an opportunity to speak with her alone. To this he had
replied that he was a passenger, and that, as Edna had undertaken to
discover a genius in his family, he would not interfere with any
dramatic effect upon which she had set her heart. The two girls
ascended the hill, one on each side of him, and Sylvia's heart sank as
he asked Thinkright's whereabouts.

"Oh, he's off in the farm garden with Cap'n Lem," she replied; "but
you're not going to leave me, are you, Uncle Calvin? I'm always being
disappointed of a visit with you. Edna, you hold on to him while I go
in and tell Mrs. Lem that you're here,--although Minty has probably
alrea