"You said you gave them to me to keep!" cried Lulu, turning a flushed and angry face toward her young step-mother; "and if they are my own, I have a right to wear them when and where I please, and I shall do so."
"Lucilla Raymond, to whom were you speaking?" asked her father sternly, stepping into their midst from the open door-way.
The child hung her head in sullen silence, while Vi's face was full of distress; Elsie's but little less so.
"Answer me!" commanded the captain in a tone that frightened even insolent Lulu. "I overheard you speaking in an extremely impertinent manner to some one. Who was it?"
"Your new wife," muttered the angry child.
The captain was silent for a moment, trying to gain control over himself. Then he said calmly, but not less sternly than he had spoken before, "Come here."
Lulu obeyed, looking pale and frightened.
He leaned down over her, unclasped the coral ornaments from her neck and arms, and handing them to Violet, said, "My dear, I must ask you to take these back. I cannot allow her to keep or wear them."
"O Levis!" began Vi in a tone of entreaty; but a look and a gentle "Hush, love!" silenced her.
"Now, Lucilla," he said, resuming his stern tone of command, "ask your mamma's pardon for your impertinence, and tell her you will never be guilty of the like again."