"I adore the way you say it!" cried Sidney. "It's just like the things that come to me to say in my attic!" "Huh? Your--what?" Amazed, Allan looked at her to see if she were making fun of him. But her face was alight with enthusiasm. "You must think a great deal of Cousin Achsa." "I do. But--wait, I have more I want to say. You see, I feel responsible on account of that letter--for your coming here. I want to tell you--about Lavender. You could not have known--knowing nothing of any of them--that poor old Lav wasn't--well, like other boys." Sidney flushed. "No, I didn't. But then I didn't know there _was_ a Lavender until I came." "Look here--" Allan drew from his pocket the flower he had picked up in the garden. "I was racking my brain for some way to make you see Lavender as I see him--and then I found this. It was growing in a corner of the garden where the soil is poor and the wind harsh and where there isn't much sun; see, it's only half-size and the stem is crooked. But look into the heart of it--it's as beautiful as its fellows. Well--that's Lavender. After all his poor little body is only a shell--if the heart of him is fine and straight, isn't that all that matters? Like the blossom of the flower. Can't you think of Lav like that?" "I'll try to," promised Sidney, "and I'm ashamed dreadfully, to have been so disappointed--about everything. I'll take the sporting chance. Of course Vick would poke no end of fun at me if she knew how different everything is. But--" with sudden determination, "Vick shall never know." Then Sidney drew a long breath and let her thoughts revert to the _Arabella_. "What is the _Arabella_?" "Look beyond that schooner that's nosing into the tide." "Why, that's a real boat." "Oh, the _Arabella's_ real enough. But she's been pensioned off--you might say; she's enjoying a peaceful old age on a sand bar. When the tide is out she's high and dry." "And she belongs to Lavender?" incredulously. Dugald Allan laughed. "The blood of his ancestors is strong in the boy. He wanted a boat. A boat of his own--poor lad. He used to hide on the fishing schooners until they'd clear the Point. So I bought the _Arabella_ for him. Her owner was going to chop her up for kindling wood. She serves a good purpose--and a safe one, moored out there. Lavender sails the globe on her--and nothing can harm him. "Oh, I see--just pretend. But even that's fun. Will he let me go with him?" "I am sure he will. If you ask him to take you to the Caribbean Sea on his next voyage you'll win him completely." "I'll help Lavender play the game for I know lots of different places--though they're mostly inside the map."