She produced it and Mr. Wilbur, frowning patiently, looked it over. He hated lists. CHAPTER XXI GOOD-BYES But before the dinner party came off, Philip Barrison did take the steel man deep-sea fishing. Barney Kelly was so overwhelmed by the luxury of the yacht that he refrained from saying a word against the nocturnal expedition. He happened to meet Veronica down at the post-office and gave her his reasons. "I say it's only fair that Mr. Wilbur should be racked and tortured," he said. "Any man so deep in the lap of luxury should learn a little of how the other half lives. That yacht is the slickest thing I ever saw. The deep-cushioned armchairs on the deck are upholstered in a light-green leather that you would think a drop of water would deface, and the salt spray doesn't faze it in the least. Then the master's room with its twin beds is divided from the bathroom by a sliding door which is a huge mirror, and the dining-saloon is in mahogany with the exquisite china and glass all enameled with the yacht's flag." Veronica's mouth always grew very small when she was deeply interested and her eyes very wide, and they looked so now as she listened. "Just think," she said, "I am going to see it." "Good work. I wanted you to." "I'm going to eat off those dishes and sit in the easy-chairs." "What's happening?" "A dinner party, and you are in it. Miss Diana told me." "I shall be careful to eat nothing between now and then," declared Barney, "for I suspect that _chef_ of being an artist. Let us not count on it too much, though, Veronica. Barrison takes Mr. Wilbur on that unspeakable expedition to-morrow morning. We all may be thrown out of that dinner party by the violence of his feelings." As it turned out, however, Kelly's apprehensions were not realized. Mr. Wilbur's wife and daughter were on the yacht to greet him when he returned from his novel experience at nearly noon of the next day. He had changed his clothing at "Grammy's" and was full of praise of that old gentlewoman. "Nice people as ever lived, those folks," he said as he stretched himself out in a _chaise longue_ on the deck under the awning, and was served with iced drinks. "Mamma hasn't met Mr. Barrison's grandmother," said Diana as she placed the cigars beside her father. "Oh, he comes of superior people, you can see that," said Mrs. Wilbur. "Charlie, I'm going to invite Mrs. Coolidge." "All right. I guess she can stand it." "Stand it!" echoed Mrs. Wilbur. "You don't know what you're talking about." "He is still thinking about the fishing, Mamma," put in Diana. "Yes, and young Barrison," said Mr. Wilbur. "He's a tonic, that chap. The way he went over that boat, regular Douglas Fairbanks stunts he did. He's a hundred-per-cent man, whether he can sing or not." The speaker regarded his daughter out of the tail of his eye as he talked, and he saw the slight compression of her lips and the glow in her eyes.