"Will you ask her to come out when she’s done?" and Marjolaine came back to the tree. Basil rose from his seat. "Pray don’t move," said the young girl, prettily, "Barbara will be here in a moment. She is with Doctor Johnson." Basil’s face was very grave. It looked almost like the face of a man who finds himself in the presence of a great tragedy; or of one who knows he is fighting an insuperable obstacle. "Ah, yes," he sighed, "Doctor Johnson. Surely that is very pathetic." And he turned away and leant disconsolately against the railings, with his eyes fixed on the door of Number Three. "Come and sit down, Missie, come and sit down," cried the Admiral, heartily. Marjolaine accepted his invitation. "I used to be so afraid of you, Sir Peter!" "Gobblessmysoul! Why?" "You were so angry with us for painting our house white!" "Hum," coughed the Admiral, looking guiltily at Mrs. Poskett and Mr. Brooke-Hoskyn. "Ah—hum!—the others were green, ye see. But it’s an admirable contrast." Mrs. Poskett sniffed. She had not forgotten the Admiral’s ignominious surrender. Now Miss Ruth and Miss Barbara came out of their house, hand in hand, as usual. Miss Ruth was, as we are aware, considerably older than her sister, and still treated her like a pet child. Barbara disengaged herself as soon as she caught sight of Marjolaine, rushed at her with bird-like hops, and pecked a little kiss off each cheek as a bird pecks at a cherry. "Oh, Marjolaine, dearest!" she cried with enthusiasm, "Doctor Johnson has been most extraordinarily eloquent!" The two girls walked away together with their arms gracefully entwined around each other’s waists. Ruth joined the others under the tree. "Good afternoon," she said, "Dear Barbara!—She has just had her hour with the parrot. Her memories of Lieutenant Charles are at their liveliest." Mr. Basil, who had never taken his eyes off Barbara, heaved a soul-rending sigh, and came up to Miss Ruth. "Very unwholesome, _I_ think," said Mrs. Poskett, sharply. Miss Ruth explained to Basil: "Lieutenant Charles was in His Majesty’s Navy, you know, and dear Barbara was affianced to him." "So I have heard," answered Basil, coldly. As a matter of fact, he had heard it on an average twice every day. Ruth went on relentlessly, "Unhappily he was abruptly removed from this earthly sphere." Bare politeness forced Basil to show some interest. After all, Ruth was Barbara’s sister. "I presume he fell in battle?" "Say rather in single combat." The Admiral with difficulty suppressed a guffaw. He whispered to Basil with a hoarse chuckle, "As a matter of fact he was knocked on the head outside a gin-shop." "But," the unconscious Ruth went on, "he had bestowed a token of his affection on dear Barbara, in the shape of the remarkable bird you may have seen." Basil had seen him often and had heard him constantly. For whenever the bird was left alone, he filled the air incessantly with ear-piercing shrieks.