"Oh! she's giddy enough. Superb health, and undiminished scent for pleasure! Katharine is an undoubted success."
"I must have her down. My sister is coming at the month's end. I'll write to Katharine to-night and plead my friendship for her parents. Where is she? And I'll tell her you're here."
"She's at South End, with the Prescotts."
For some moments the older and the younger man smoked in silence. The sun set in due time and Captain David's Light appeared.
"What a living thing a lighthouse is!" said Thornly; "that and an open fire have the same vital, human interest."
"I believe you are right. When I find myself bad company, I always have a fire built if the temperature is below seventy. Since I came here I've taken to this side of the veranda, late afternoons, and I grow quite chummy with Cap'n Davy's Light."
Mr. Devant got up, stretched himself and took to pacing the piazza slowly.
"You know David of the Light?" asked Thornly.
"As a boy I knew the characters roundabout here, somewhat. I'm trying to reinstate myself in their good graces. This place produces strange and unexpected types."
"Yes, I found a pimpernel flower on the Hills to-day," said Thornly irrelevantly. "Even the flora is startling."