"You don't mean mentally, I hope."
"Oh, dear, no, I mean—but you can see for yourself—a day when only the sea is bluer than the sky. When everything sparkles and vibrates because the atmosphere is so clear. It will be a fine afternoon for a sail."
"That is what Mr. Williams said. Just enough wind to keep us going, and not enough to be too cold."
"Where are we to go?"
"Somewhere up along Middle Bay. Mr. Williams directed me to say that we were to bring no eatables, for this is his party. That is a remarkable man to find in these parts, Miss Gwen. He seems in a wrong sphere here, yet I think he loves the life and scarcely misses what a larger world can furnish. I often wonder how he came to drift here."
"So do I. When I first knew him I used to try to draw him out to speak of his early life, but later I concluded to respect his secret whatever it may be, and I think he is grateful that I don't show curiosity. He is a remarkable man in many ways, a great reader and an intelligent one. I notice his choice of books shows him to have tastes above what one would expect."
"It isn't only in that way that he shows his clear mind," responded Kenneth, "but on the deeper questions of life he shows himself a thinker. He seems tremendously fond of you, Miss Gwen, and I believe he has taken in me as a friend, too."
"His kindness to us is almost embarrassing sometimes. Aunt Cam and I have discussed it, however, and have come to the conclusion that I must remind him of some one he cared for, a mother, a wife, a sweetheart, so we accept everything now, for the sake of whomever it may be."
"I don't doubt that you are correct in your surmise. He seems like a man who has passed through great sorrow and has come out of it uplifted and purified."
"I am sure it is so, and therefore we must allow him the small comfort of doing for us what he will. I will see if Aunt Cam is ready, Mr. Hilary, and will get my jacket."