were "peculiar," Barby wouldn't have that sweet look on her face when she
sang that prayer for him. If he were making her unhappy she wouldn't be
singing it at all. She wouldn't care whether he was protected or not
"from rock and tempest, fire and foe."

And yet, after Barby had gone downstairs and the sound of the piano came
softly up from below--another bedtime custom, Georgina began thinking
again about those whispering voices which she had heard as she sat under
the bed, behind the bird-of-paradise valance. More than ever before the
music suggested someone waiting for a ship which never came home, or fog
bells on a lonely shore.

Nearly a week went by before Richard made his first visit to the old gray
house at the end of town. He came with the Towncrier, carrying his bell,
and keeping close to his side for the first few minutes. Then he found
the place far more interesting than the bungalow. Georgina took him all
over it, from the garret where she played on rainy days to the seat up in
the willow, where standing in its highest crotch one could look clear
across the Cape to the Atlantic. They made several plans for their
treasure-quest while up in the willow. They could see a place off towards
Wood End Lighthouse which looked like one of the pirate places Uncle
Darcy had described in one of his tales.

Barby had lemonade and cake waiting for them when they came down, and
when she talked to him it wasn't at all in the way the ladies did who
came to see his Aunt Letty, as if they were talking merely to be gracious
and kind to a strange little boy in whom they had no interest. Barby gave
his ear a tweak and said with a smile that made him feel as if they had
known each other always: