held it to Dr. Archie's ear. "Listen, doctor. You hear
something in there? You hear the sea; and yet the sea is
very far from here. You have judgment, and you know
that. But he is fooled. To him, it is the sea itself. A
little thing is big to him." She bent and placed the shell
in the white row, with its fellows. Thea took it up softly
and pressed it to her own ear. The sound in it startled
her; it was like something calling one. So that was why
Johnny ran away. There was something awe-inspiring
about Mrs. Tellamantez and her shell.

Thea caught Dr. Archie's hand and squeezed it hard
as she skipped along beside him back toward Moonstone.
She went home, and the doctor went back to his lamp
and his book. He never left his office until after midnight.
If he did not play whist or pool in the evening, he read.
It had become a habit with him to lose himself.

VII


Thea's twelfth birthday had passed a few weeks
before her memorable call upon Mrs. Tellamantez.
There was a worthy man in Moonstone who was already
planning to marry Thea as soon as she should be old enough.
His name was Ray Kennedy, his age was thirty, and he was