follow him with great promptitude.

"I must find out how he has managed the rest of his costume," she said
to Molly. "It is sure to be strikingly original--like himself."

The contempt deepened a little on Molly's face, contempt and regret--an
odd mixture.

"He is very funny, no doubt," she said; "but I think one gets a little
tired of his perpetual gaiety. I don't think we should find him so
delightful if a storm came on. I haven't much faith in those people who
can never take anything really seriously. I believe he would die
laughing."

"All the better," declared Mrs. Langdale, who loved Charlie's impetuous
ways with maternal tolerance. "It is always better to laugh than cry, my
dear; though it isn't always easier by any means."

She departed with the words, laughing a little to herself at Molly's
critical mood; and Captain Fisher went and sat stolidly down beside
Molly, who turned to him with an instant smile of welcome. She was the
only lady on board who was never bored by this man's quiet society. She
liked him thoroughly, finding the contrast between him and his volatile
friend a great relief.

Fisher never talked frivolities; indeed, he seldom talked at all. Yet to
Molly the hour he spent beside her on that sunny day in the
Mediterranean passed as pleasantly and easily as she could have desired.

Captain Fisher might seem heavy to others, but never to her--a fact of