long pole they found lying in its bottom, the Very Young Man
shoved it off the beach.

CHAPTER XXX

WORD MUSIC

The boat had a mast stepped near the bow, and a triangular cloth sail.
The Very Young Man sat in the stern, steering with a short, broad-bladed
paddle; Aura lay on a pile of rushes in the bottom of the boat, looking
up at him.

For about half a mile the Very Young Man sailed along parallel with the
beach, looking for the man they had marooned. He was nowhere in sight,
and they finally headed out into the lake towards Orlog, which they
could just see dimly on the further shore.

The breeze was fresh, and they made good time. The boat steered easily,
and the Very Young Man, reclining on one elbow, with Aura at his feet,
felt at peace with himself and with the world. Again he thought this
girl the prettiest he had ever seen. There was something, too, of a
spiritual quality in the delicate smallness of her features--a sweetness
of expression in her quick, understanding smile, and an honest clearness
in her steady gaze that somehow he seemed never to have seen in a girl's
face before.

He felt again, now that he had time to think more of her, that same old
diffidence that had come to him before when they were alone in the
storeroom of her home. That she did not share this feeling was obvious
from the frankness and ease of her manner.

For some time after leaving the island neither spoke. The Very Young Man
felt the girl's eyes fixed almost constantly upon him--a calm gaze that
held in it a great curiosity and wonderment. He steered steadily onward
towards Orlog. There was, for the moment, nothing to discuss concerning
their adventure, and he wondered what he should say to this girl who
stared at him so frankly. Then he met her eyes, and again she smiled
with that perfect sense of comradeship he had so seldom felt with women
of his own race.

"You're very beautiful," said the Very Young Man abruptly.

The girl's eyes widened a little, but she did not drop her lashes. "I
want to be beautiful; if you think it is so, I am very glad."

"I do. I think you're the prettiest girl I ever saw." He blurted out the
words impetuously. He was very earnest, very sincere, and very young.

A trace of coquetry came into the girl's manner. "Prettier than the
girls of your world? Are they not pretty?"

"Oh, yes--of course; but----"

"What?" she asked when he paused.

The Very Young Man considered a moment. "Y