"But where is the sea?"
"That small hill yonder must hide it. You see it, with its line of elms? If those trees were down, we should see the Atlantic for a certainty. If you like the spot otherwise, I will have them removed."
He said it seriously; but of course she took it for granted that he spoke in jest, albeit the jest puzzled her a little. Indeed when she glanced up at him he was smiling, with his eyes on the distant landscape.
"The mountain too," he added, "if the trees will not suffice. Though not by faith, it shall be removed."
Chapter X.
THREE LADIES.
"You may smoke," said Dicky politely, setting down his glass.
"Thank you," answered Mr. Hanmer. "But are you sure? In my experience of houses there's always some one that objects."
Dicky lifted his chin. "We call this the nursery because it has always been the nursery. But I do what I like here."
Mr. Hanmer had accepted the boy's invitation to pay him a visit ashore and help him to rig a model cutter—a birthday gift from his father; and the pair had spent an afternoon upon it, seated upon the floor with the toy between them and a litter of twine everywhere, Dicky deep in the mysteries of knots and splices, the lieutenant whittling out miniature blocks and belaying-pins with a knife that seemed capable of anything.