"We didn't know there was anything the matter," said Cecil. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, why isn't she in this room instead of being drowned in an awful gale of this kind?"
"Oh, weather is a matter of indifference to Kate!" answered Molly. "She is Irish, you know. I think she was quite delighted at the thought of going down to see the sea in a storm."
"Well, I hope she'll come back soon," remarked Mr. Danvers. "It isn't safe for a girl to be out in an awful gale of this kind, particularly a girl with the look in her eyes which she wore when I met her this morning."
"What sort of look?" asked Cecil, rising from her seat and coming up to the little man.
"A reckless, defiant, wretched look, which a young thing ought never to wear," he replied. "I am going out now to look for her. It isn't often I see a woman worth putting myself out about, but she's one. You can come with me, Maurice, if you like."
"Yes, sir, with pleasure," replied Maurice.
"And I," "And I," "And I!" cried the three other boys. "You can't keep us back, Cecil; we mean to go."
Cecil did not reply.
"Now that the men of the party have made themselves scarce, perhaps we can read," she said.