Captain Jules frowned at the girl's pale face, which looked even paler under the loose twists of her soft auburn hair. Madge looked older and more womanly than she had the day the captain first saw her. There was a deeper meaning to the upper curves of her full, red lips and a gentler sweep to the downward droop of her heavy, black lashes. She was fulfilling the promise of the great beauty that was to be hers. It was easy to see that she had the charm that would make her life full of interest. Still Captain Jules frowned as though the picture of Madge and her future did not please him. "How much longer are you going to stay at Cape May, Miss Morton?" he inquired. Madge smiled at him. "I don't know anything about 'Miss Morton's' plans, but Madge expects to be here for about two weeks more." Recently the captain had been calling the houseboat girls by their first names, as he was with them so constantly in their trouble. But he had now decided that he must return to the formality of the beginning of their acquaintance. It was best to do so. "And afterward?" the old sailor questioned, pretending that he was really not greatly interested in Madge's reply. The girl's expression changed. "I don't know," she returned. "Of course, Eleanor and I will go back to 'Forest House' for a while. Aren't you glad that Uncle has been able to pay off the mortgage? When Nellie and Lillian go to Miss Tolliver's and Phil to college I don't know exactly what I shall do. Mrs. Curtis and Tom have asked me to make them a visit in New York next winter." The captain frowned again. It was well that Madge was looking over the water and not at him, for she never could have told why he looked so displeased. "You and Tom Curtis are very good friends, aren't you, Madge?" said Captain Jules abruptly. Madge smiled to herself. She felt as though she were in the witness box. Was her dear old captain trying to cross-examine her? "Of course, I like Tom better than almost any one else. He is awfully good to me. You know you like Tom yourself, so why shouldn't I?" she ended wickedly. "I like him. Certainly I do. He is a fine, upright fellow and his money hasn't hurt him a mite, which you can't say of the most of us. But it's a different matter with you, young lady, and I want you to go slowly." "But I am not going at all, Captain," laughed Madge. "It seems to me that I want only one thing in the world, and that's to find my father. Sometimes I am afraid that perhaps I shall never find my father after all!" Captain Jules coughed and his voice sounded rather husky. It had a different note in it from any that Madge had ever heard him use to her.