Neith Boyce

“ While I was tramping up and down in the shed on the pier, staring out over the harbor for a glimpse of the Lorelei's slim whiteness, and full of bitter reflections about Edith and the folly of Jim, it suddenly came over me: How that girl must love him! ”

“ But if it hadn't been for the Fat Man, we wouldn't have gone near the hotel, and then we wouldn't have met Edith Wayland.
Jim let the Fat Man come, against my bitter protest. And, of course, it was Jim's boat—though, after cruising three summers in her, and spending a month in painting her and varnishing her spars when Jim was too busy to get down to the yard, I was pretty nearly as fond of her as he was. And she was a beauty, was the Lorelei, and dressed out like a lady, thanks to nearly all Jim's spare cash.
She had a way of going through his pockets that no spouse could have bettered. ”

“ I ended sadly. “It's a thing that you grow into, little by little—it takes years—and even then you must. have the instinct to start with.”
She smiled inscrutably.
“But what makes you think I don't like sailing?” she asked, with perfect assurance.
“You hate the Lorelei,” I answered her passionately. “And it is very ungrateful of you.”
She laughed. She knew what I meant. She had shamelessly used the poor Lorelei to get hold of Jim. And having gained her end, she had mentally sealed the fate of her rival. ”

“ I didn't say another word, and finally Jim got mad.
“You're a ripping good fellow,” says he, “but you're an egotist. Just because you like to cruise in the Lorelei, is that a reason why I can't make a friend of a nice, pleasant girl with no nonsense about her? Can't you cruise in the Lorelei just the same?” ”

“ We attracted quite a lot of attention in the harbor; there wasn't anything around that could touch the Lorelei for smartness.
The next morning I got to work at the brasses, while Jim went ashore for supplies. He said he'd stop at the hotel and see how the Fat Man was, and make his call on Miss Wayland, as we expected to pull out the next day. It seems he found the Fat Man sitting on the veranda, the center of an admiring crowd of old maids, to whom he was relating our hairbreadth escape from drowning, and how he had saved our lives by his coolness at a critical moment. ”

“ But my poor hopes went down with a crash as soon as we put into Green Harbor again. The Fat Man, cause of all our woe, had gone home. Miss Wayland took possession of Jim. He played tennis with her, he walked with her, he lunched with her, he took her sailing. He had begun to teach her to sail. ”

“ Then Jim had gone and hunted up Miss Wayland, who was on the tennis court, and stayed to play a set with her; and then she walked around with him while he bought the supplies, and came down to the pier with him. I could see them from the boat, and it made me tired, for it was past lunch time, and I was starved.
But finally Jim came aboard with a couple of broilers, and some corn, and so on. I asked him if he'd got the lobster, which I was especially keen on, and he said no, the pots wouldn't be drawn till to-morrow. That made me peevish, also being kept waiting for lunch ”

“ I can hardly believe it myself,” said he, in a brown study, standing there, ramming the tobacco into his pipe, and spilling it all over the floor. “I really can't believe it,” and he looked across at me with bewildered eyes. “But she does!” ”