CHAPTER I

THE SHINING SHIP

She was kneeling on the hearthrug, grasping the poker firmly in one hand.
Now and again she gave the fire a truculent prod with it as though to
emphasise her remarks.

"'Ask and ye shall receive'! . . . '_Tout vient à point à celui qui sait
attendre_'! Where on earth is there any foundation for such optimism,
I'd like to know?"

A sleek brown head bent determinedly above some sewing lifted itself, and
a pair of amused eyes rested on the speaker.

"Really, Nan, you mustn't confound French proverbs with quotations from
the Scriptures. They're not at all the same thing."

"Those two run on parallel lines, anyway. When I was a kiddie I used to
pray--I've prayed for hours, and it wasn't through any lack of faith that
my prayers weren't answered. On the contrary, I was enormously
astonished to find how entirely the Almighty had overlooked my request
for a white pony like the one at the circus."

"Well, then, my dear, try to solace yourself with the fact that
'everything comes at last to him who knows how to wait.'"

"But it doesn't!"