The Girl on the Boat

y. Mental acrobatics always have an unsettling effect, and a young man may be excused for feeling a little dizzy

ay of the marriage his cousin had been short of the necessary wedding garment. He had, indeed, thought a little smugly how different his goddess of the red hair was from the object of E

his point of view never occurred to Samuel Marlowe. The way he looked at it was that he had been all wrong about Wilhelmina Bennett. Eustace, he felt, h

broken off the engagement, but what right had he to go about the place expecting her to be engaged to him? Eustace Hignett, no doubt, looked upon the poor girl as utterly heartless. Marlowe regarded her behaviour as thoroughly sensible. She had made a mistake, and, realising this at the eleventh hour, she had had the

it a few times. "Billie ... Billie ... Billie...." It certainly ran pleasantly off the tongue. "Billie Bennett." Very mu

ll-he would enjoy a further chat about his ruined life. Besides, he had another reason for seeking Eustace's society. As a man who had been actually engaged to marry this supreme girl, Eustace Hignett had an attraction for Sam

f to think of purely inland scenes and objects, he had contrived to reduce the green in his complexion to a mere

't stand there swaying li

rbour yet. Surely you aren't

he last ten minutes by thinking steadily of the Sahara. There," said Eustace Hignett with enthusiasm, "is

own on th

er topics. Why not, for instance, tell me some more about your unfortun

on earth did you get the id

alled Wilhelmina were someti

helmina. But I really cannot talk ab

irritation principle. Persevere, and you'll s

stace reflectively. "It's very good of y

hat I can do ... where did you

d he had just recollected the fish they had served at that dinner-a flabby an

orcibly about her at first?

know she had

ed that any girl with whom you f

as it happens. Her hair was rema

h the sun on them!" sai

tt st

t is an absolutely exact descript

ather,

lu

a shade of green

f her eyes?" demanded Eustace heatedly. "Am I

end to doubt your special knowledge, but after all green eyes generally do go with red hair and there are all shades of green. There is

ace! Now you've gone and reminded me

it helps one to form a mental picture of people if one knows something about their tastes-what sort of things they are i

sorts o

but

ery fond of poetry. It was tha

last line of a Limerick in a competition in a weekly paper; but he was self-critic enough to know that poetry was not his long suit. Still there was a li

tuff. You never read my sonnet

poets did she li

a reminiscent quiver in his voice. "The hours we h

Sam, taking a pencil from his

l which would be considered inadequate by a common earthworm

l, I should say! Have I heard of Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King?' Well,

used to read together. Take it and keep it or th

sers in the bag and presently came upon a morocco-

at was her name again? Bennett-this Miss Bennett. You have a wonderful knack of description. You make he

ubject came up once and she se

er talk to a girl ab

ition to have to talk to Wilhelmina B

t, tell me, were there any topics which got on this Miss Bennett's nerves, if you know what I mean? It seems to me that at one time or another you may have sai

y brute of a Pekinese. If there was ever any shadow of disagreement between us, it had to do with t

ore and wrote on it: "Dog-conciliate." "Ye

mean-were to have been married. It is some satisfaction to me in my broken state to remember that I

his head r

cuff and added the words "Vitally Important" to what he h

minded her that we were all fighters nowadays, that life itself was in a sense a fight; but she wouldn't be reasonable about it. She said that Sir Galahad would have done it like a shot. I thought not. We have no evidence whatsoever that Sir

self to Eustace Hignett? How could she be content with a craven who, instead of scouring the world in the quest for deeds of derring-do, had fallen down so lamentably on his first assignment? There was a specious attractiveness about poor old Eustace which might conceivably win a girl's heart for a time; he wrote poetry,

ost at once. She had put on one of those nice sacky sport-coats which so enhance feminine charms, and was striding along the de

smile his self-esteem almost caused him to explode. What magic there is in a girl's smil

you are, Mr

Bream Mortimer with a slig

breath of fresh air be

m!" said

el

avy coat of mine down to my state-room,

ry it," s

u with it. Trot along and put it on the ber

," said Br

all he needs in order to be a delivery wagon is a horse an

uggested Sam. He felt that a resolute man with legs as long as Bream's

es! B

el

chirrup a little more to poor P

s back; but Bream's back looked like that of a man to whom the thought has occurred t

he way?" inquired Sam solicitously

and she fixed up some sort of a mixture for Pinky which did him a world of good. I don't know what was in it except Worcester Sauce, but she said sh

"Pure animal spirits. I like to see t

you? S

fight so much. I'm alwa

I'm rather helpless myself. There never seems anything to catch h

his. It's a volu

fond of T

im," said Sa

f the King!' I do not like to think what an ocean

together. He is

is something abo

! I've felt that

written something that runs to a couple of verses, but where Tennyson had the bulge was that his l

as though y

n, you can generally find me o

e so much in common. You seem to like all the th

he best of three replies w

rush. But we shall see one ano

ll," s

and read

ou and I an

to sit down below and

does he k

lie. "I'm going to