Phyllis laughed teasingly. "Oh, you will have plenty of excitement, Madge dear, wherever you are or whatever you do. Don't you remember how Miss Betsey used to say that she knew something was going to happen whenever you were about? I suppose you would like to be a captain in the Navy like your father, so that you could spend all your time on the sea." "No," returned Madge, "I should want a ship of my own. I wouldn't like to be a captain in the Navy. There, you always have to do just what you are told to do, and you know, Phil, that obedience is not my strong point." The little captain laughed and shook her russet head. "You see, Phil, I think that if I could go around the world, perhaps in some far-away land I would find my father waiting for me." For several minutes the two chums were silent. At last Phil leaned forward and gave Madge's arm a gentle pinch. "Wake up, dear," she laughed, "perhaps some day you will own that little ship and go around the world in it. Just now, however, we had better go on to the houseboat. I believe Nellie and Lillian are going to wait at the golf club until the last mail comes in, so they can bring our letters along home with them. We must say good-bye to that nice Ethel Swann. She is a dear, in spite of her ill-bred friends." Phyllis and Madge found Miss Jenny Ann sitting in a steamer chair on the houseboat deck exchanging fairy stories with Tania. The little girl knew almost as many as did her chaperon, but Tania's stories were so full of her own odd fancies that it was hard to tell from what source they had come. "Do you know the story of 'The Little Tin Soldier,' Tania?" Miss Jenny Ann had just asked. "He was the bravest little soldier in the world, because he bore all kinds of misfortunes and never complained." With a whirl Tania was out of Miss Jenny Ann's lap and into Madge's arms. The child was devoted to each member of the houseboat party, but she was Madge's ardent adorer. She liked to play that she was the little captain's Fairy Godmother, and that she could grant any wish that Madge might make. Phil, Madge and Tania sat down at Miss Jenny Ann's feet to hear more about "The Brave Little Tin Soldier." Tania huddled close to Madge, her black head resting against the older girl's curls, as she listened to the harrowing adventures that befell the Tin Soldier. The sun was sinking. Away over the water the world seemed rose colored, but the shadows were deepening on the land. Phil espied Lillian and Eleanor coming toward the houseboat. Lillian waved a handful of white envelopes, but Eleanor walked more slowly and did not glance up toward her friends. Miss Jenny Ann rose hurriedly. "I must go in to see to our dinner," she announced. "Phil, after you have spoken to the girls, will you come in to help me? Madge may stay to look after Tania." The little captain was absorbed in a quiet twilight dream, and as Tania was in her lap she did not get up when Phil went forward to meet Lillian and Eleanor.