"And I haven't any one else. Olive has such a lot of cousins. She goes over to Oaklands to see them."
There was a long pause and the wind rushed by laden with perfumes. They heard the lapping of the surf against the rocks. The strange beauty penetrated both souls that were not so far apart after all.
"Uncle Jason, did you ever have a wife?" she asked, with a child's innocence.
"No, dear." Sometime he would tell her the story of his love for her mother.
"Then you won't want to marry any one?"
"Marry! I?" Had that Personette girl put some nonsense into her head about Miss Holmes? He colored under the weather-browned skin.
"You see, Mr. Personette's wife had died, and I suppose he had to marry some one again to look after the children."
"Would you like me to marry some one to look after you?" in a half humorous tone.
"Why, Miss Holmes can do that," she returned, in surprise.
"She seems to do it very well." There was a lurking smile about the corners of his mouth.