a, "masses of them,
but I am not at all sure that they flower at the same time as the roses
and lilies and carnations. I don't know much about gardening. Well,
you walk down the pathway into a grove of olive-trees--a shimmer of
pale silvery green, a sort of dim aisle in fairyland--until you come to
the water's edge. There is an old stone seat, and you can just sit and
look and look and drink it all in. No, not the water--the view, I
mean. Blue water, brilliant heavenly blue, and far away in the
distance a line of hills, faint and yet clear under a sky that is----
Oh, I don't know how to describe it. It is ridiculous to say it is
blue. You must try and imagine it for yourself. And I think--oh yes,
I am sure--there would be just a gleam of snowy whiteness on the top of
the hills."

"I don't believe you have ever seen it," said Francis teasingly. "You
are making it all up as you go along."

"Perhaps I am," she replied. "But I am sure I know where to find it."

"Then we will go and look for this Magical Island, sweetheart. It is
an island, I suppose? How do we reach it? In a fairy boat drawn by
swans?"

"Not quite. But it is fairyland when we get there."

"When shall we start, my darling? Phil, how soon can we go?"

"We must wait a little while."

"But need we wait for long?" he pleaded. "How soon will you marry me?"

"There is a long journey to the Magical Island--a long journey. But in
a few weeks perhaps we can begin to think about it."

He leaned towards her. "A few weeks! and I count the days until you
are really mine. How soon do you think Rob will let me travel?"

"I don't know. Let us ask him."

He nodded. "I will ask him. And then--you will not keep me waiting?"

"I will not keep you waiting," she said soberly.

He kissed her fondly, and then rose to his feet and stood looking down
at her as she stretched out her hand and drew a thread from the pile of
silks which lay on a table beside her.

"How industrious you are. Time was when you never touched a needle,
and now you are always at work."

"I am developing good habits, that is all. There is no saying what I
shall take to next; you must never be surprised."

"I know the cause, and I love you for it."

"What is the cause?"

"You only do it because you are obliged to spend so much time indoors
with me. You don't acknowledge it because you are so dear and sweet,
but I know well enough all you have given up for me."

"W