small a matter as the health of a stranger within their gates should be considered at all. Life and death were small affairs indeed compared to the permanence of literary masterpieces—and the dollars which they brought. It all slid forth suavely and sweetly and without a hint of acridity in the tone; but only the most humble admiration and adulation; and Dick possessed his soul with such patience as he could and devoutly wished that he had a bag and a brick and a tub of water handy.
And then, Kat having smiled appreciatively at Dick, she arose and went over to the corner of the lanai where the heavy table stood, close against the nearest approach to the neighboring house. She tried to move the table aside but it proved too heavy, and as Dick did not offer to assist and McKnight was too lacking in self-confidence to do so, she gave a soft little laugh and crawled under it, popping up in the little corner made by the rail and the curve of the round table. "Oh," she cried, "the view is lovely from here!" and she bent far out over the rail and grasped some of the branches of the ironwood and tried to swing them aside. "I am sure that I can catch a glimpse of the sea if I can swing these branches far enough." But her face was turned toward the angle of the adjoining house.
Dick sat silent. "Why don't you roll up the canvas curtain on this end of the lanai?" she called. And her voice, soft though it was, still had a pene-
