The girl was smiling a wistful, far-away smile that was very touching.
Her hair was the color of copper that has been burnished by the sun,
and her eyes were the deep blue of the midsummer sky. The wind and sun
had tanned the girl's cheeks, but her skin was still fine and delicate.
There was a strange, vacant expression in her eyes and a pathetic droop
to her whole figure.

"Git you back in there, Moll," the owner of the shanty boat called out
roughly. The girl started and quivered, as though she expected a blow.
Jack's face turned hot with anger. But what could he do? The man was
talking to his own daughter.

"Why did you speak to the poor girl like that?" asked Madge sharply.

"She ain't all right in the top story," the man answered. "She is kind
of foolish. I have to keep a close watch on her."

Madge turned pitying eyes on the demented girl, then as they stepped
aboard the other canal boat, for the time she forgot the lovely
apparition she had just seen.

"How much will the owner rent this boat for?" Madge asked at last,
trying hard to conceal her enthusiasm. The boat was dirty and needed
renovating, but it was well built of good, strong timbers.

"My friend is willing to sell this here boat for a hundred dollars,"
said the fisherman, Mike Muldoon, hesitating as he mentioned the sum.

It was all Madge could do to keep from clapping her hands for joy. One