I amused myself for half an hour, then I returned dripping and in splendid humour with myself, with my friends and even with Joe Clark. I did not notice an extra boat moored alongside the miscellaneous small craft at the wharf, so, when I stepped noiselessly into my front room, I was more than surprised to find Rita Clark standing there, in the fading light, looking over my book shelves. She turned with an exclamation, and her face lit up with a smile which was bewitching, although I fancied it just a little bit forced. "Oh!--it's you," she cried. "I knew you wouldn't be very long away. Been having another try to see whether you're a man or a fish? Guess the fish will win out if you're not careful." She became solemn suddenly. "Say!--you go in there and get dressed. I just got to talk to you about something." "Gracious goodness! Is it as serious as all that, Miss Clark?" I quizzed. "Serious enough. You go in and hurry, anyway." "I won't be two minutes," I cried, going into my bedroom and dressing as quickly as possible, puzzling all the while as to what the girl had on her mind. Something connected with Joe,--I hadn't a doubt. "Well,--what's the trouble?" I asked, as I returned and sat down in a wicker chair opposite her. She seemed more glum than ever. "What did you want to go and scrap with Joe for?" she asked in a worried way. "I'm very sorry, Miss Clark----" "Oh!--call me Rita," she put in impatiently. "Well,--I'm very sorry,--Rita,--but I did not quarrel with Joe. He quarrelled with me." "It's all the same," she replied. "Takes two to do it. Couldn't you find another way than that?" Her eyes were bright and her bosom was disturbed. "I thought, maybe, you and him might be friends; but I might have known," she went on bitterly. "He only makes friends with the men who lay down to him. You ain't that sort." I threw out my hands helplessly. "Well, Rita, don't you worry your little head over it. It is all right." "Oh, no, it ain't! Don't fool yourself. You don't know Joe." "I reckoned him a man who could keep his own counsel. How did you come to hear there had been any words?" "He was over home. He only comes once in a while now. He didn't do anything but talk about you. Called you all kinds of things. Says he'll fix you good;--and he will, too, or he ain't the Joe Clark everybody knows around here." Her eyes became tender and moist as she held out her hands to me with an involuntary movement. "Oh! what did you want to quarrel with him for, before you knew anything about him?" I rose and laid my hand lightly on her shoulder, as I would with a little sister,--had I had one,--for she seemed only a slip of a girl and it hurt me to see her so upset.