Henry C. Rowland

“ Miss Chester seated herself without deigning to reply; then, as Carling was about to shove off, she sprang to her feet.
"I meant to bring my rifle!" she exclaimed.
"It's not worth while," he replied discouragingly. "You could never hit a duck from a boat like this; also a loaded gun in a boat is a dangerous combination. Nine-tenths of the accidents—"
"You may lie down behind the engine when I shoot?" replied Miss Chester sharply. "I wish to take my rifle, and I will ask you to wait until I get it." ”

“ As the swift launch tore out of the little cove the exhilaration of the motion banished the girl's resentment and she glanced more kindly at her silent cavalier.
"They are wonderful machines, are they not?" she exclaimed to Carling who with one elbow resting on the rail was looking listlessly across the stretch of open water.
"Oh, yes," he drawled, "but like automobiles and race horses and stag dinners and other fast things, not quite reliable. Suppose your twelve horse-power engine gets balky,—then where are you? ”

“ One can't do enough for men like that!"
"My greatest dread at present," said Doris, "is that of facing my guests; fancy, inviting a lot of people to a fishing club for Christmas and then taking the entire Christmas dinner and going off with one's fiancé to eat it on a lightship!"
"And leaving the poor guests to fill up on wild ducks and cornpone! But then a good dinner doesn't mean much to them and it does to those poor chaps out on the lightship." ”

“ The automobile launch will tow them to their stations. In the afternoon papa is going to take the girls out in the steam-launch and, if the water is still, they will sail around and break up the duck rafts so that the men will get some shooting. After luncheon I must go over to town after our supplies, or we will have a very incomplete Christmas dinner."
"But who's going to run the bubble-boat if the captain is away on the launch?"
The ruddy hue of the fire was reflected from Miss Chester's pretty face. ”

“ All at once Miss Chester raised her weapon, but before she had time to aim there came a sharp report. The flock arose, and although she fired several times in quick succession she was unable to score a hit. She turned to Carling.
"The wretched thing went off before I was ready!" she almost sobbed,
"Never mind," he 'answered comfortingly, "there's one more happy goose in the world and we really did not need him." He started the engine and turning the launch they began to stem the racing tide. ”

“ Carling.
"Then you are such a soft pedal to the enthusiasm of youth. Although we have taken this clubhouse for a fortnight for a Christmas house-party, and filled it up with a jolly crowd of young people, one would think that you were attending a synod! You can ride and golf and shoot ducks and play bridge all night, and lots of things,—and yet you stalk around like a family spook—"
"That's because I am in love," explained Mr. Carling calmly.
"It's because you are lazy," retorted Miss Chester indignantly. "Besides," she continued with feminine irrelevance, "I don't like your methods. ”

“ If I was aboard the Silver King I would probably become unpopular by begging the girls not to eat so many bon-bons or to stand too near the rail. You see I am cursed with a spirit of caution and an inclination to follow the line of least resistance, and by the way, you had better not sit quite so near the fly-wheel as your skirt might get caught and throw you into the machinery. ”

“ Carling to himself, rather surprised at his enjoyment of the bleak surroundings; nevertheless, he was glad when his launch slipped up to the landing, for there was a raw chill in the air which made the prospect of coffee and an egg most attractive.
When he accompanied Miss Chester to the landing after luncheon the character of the day had undergone a change. The cloud-bank in the northwest had covered half of the sky, and the air was several degrees colder,
"It will snow before night," observed Carling.
"I think not," she replied; "it is too far south. A snowstorm is rare down here." ”