"Yes, bully. I say, you ain't afraid, are you, sis? They both know how to sail the _Vi_. I wonder how far they'll go?" "Don't talk so much, Lee; you confuse me." Carolyn deliberately walked away from the hearth and to the door that led into the hall. "You're not going out, are you?" asked her mother. "Yes; I want to go." "How can you? Why, it's a real September gale." But Carolyn opened the door and went into the hall. She was followed by her brother, who flung open the outer door and ran out ahead. The two walked around to the south side of the house, where the wind swept in full force. But Carolyn was aware, in spite of her anxiety, that she had no real cause to fear for the safety of those on the _Vireo_, since they knew how to manage a sailboat. The wind was off shore; if it drove the boat, it would drive it out to sea. She herself had been out more than once in a wind like this. It was the return which was not so easy, or rather the return required a longer time. "Let's go down to the wharf," suggested Leander; and his sister was glad to go. The wind hastened their steps. They stood a few moments on the narrow planking. The water was black before them; the tide was coming in, but the waves were flattened by the southerly wind. "'Twas mean of Rodney not to let me go," Leander repeated. This grievance seemed to grow upon him. "But he'll find he isn't alone, for all that," he chuckled. Carolyn was thinking one thought over and over: "To-morrow we shall have left Prudence,--to-morrow we shall have left Prudence." Then she suddenly stopped that iteration by telling herself that it was true that Rodney no longer cared for Prudence. Had he not shown plainly enough that he had recovered from that infatuation? Was it an infatuation? How often we like to call the love which is not offered us, or which we do not quite understand, by that term! "And to-morrow we shall be far away. I will make him happy. Surely, surely, God will let me make him happy." The girl turned back towards the house. And now the wind seemed trying to take her up bodily and fling her into the sea. Leander struggled on beside her, talking, talking. She wished his tongue might be still for one moment. At last he dropped a little behind by the path which led to the stable. He shrieked after his sister that he was going to see if his ducks had got loose. Carolyn walked on, her body bent forward to meet the gale. Thus walking she came suddenly upon a man who was hurrying in an opposite direction. He drew back, uttering an exclamation, and taking off his hat as he did so. Neither could see the other at first in the darkness. "Oh, I beg your pardon," he said. "Is it Miss Ffolliott?" "It is Carolyn Ffolliott," was the answer; "and you are Lord Maxwell?" "Yes;" and then the gentleman hesitated. Even in the dusk, and notwithstanding her preoccupation, Carolyn had the impression that Lord Maxwell was under some unusual excitement.