"The man came here to fish," said Philip, "and I've only tried to be hospitable." "Deep-sea fishing," groaned his friend. "If you ever hear any tenderfoot express ambitions to go deep-sea fishing, tell him to see me if possible, otherwise write or wire me before he embarks." "Did you find the motion disconcerting?" asked Diana. Barney looked at Philip. "Don't you think I might admit as much as that?" Philip laughed and bit the red clover he had pulled from a bunch near him. "First," said Kelly, "you are waked at an hour when all men should sleep; then you are forced to eat at a time when your soul rebels at such outrage; after that, you go aboard beneath the stars, and you chug, chug, miles into the darkness; but the chug-chugging you soon find to be the best part of it for when you arrive midway between here and Liverpool, you anchor. The sky and the sea begin to get hopelessly mixed up. Why should I try to describe the writhings of all nature! They put a heavy rope into your hands, it slides through your fists and removes the skin before any one remembers that you have no gloves on. Oh, let Dante try! I can't!" Philip laughed. "Then I took him out next day to the pound and let him help draw the net." "The smell of that boat, Miss Wilbur!" Kelly's eyes rolled fiercely. "I'm afraid you won't like the island," volunteered Veronica, who, when she laughed had forgotten her nose and dropped her hand. "My dear Miss Trueman, how can I tell, when I am never allowed to stay on it? This man, when he couldn't think of anything else hydraulic to do, has made me go in bathing in water at a temperature which no humane person will credit when I tell them. To-day, I struck. I said to him, do for Heaven's sake do something to show that you are at least amphibious. So he consented to bring me up here to meet his friends, and I shall be pleasantly surprised if you young ladies don't turn into mermaids right before my eyes, as they do in the movies, and pop off that beach into the water." Veronica giggled so joyously that the speaker turned away from Diana's serene smile and regarded her. "I assure you," he added slowly and solemnly, "that if you do, I shall not follow you. So if you wish the pleasure of my society you won't unfold any graceful, glittering tails." Veronica giggled again, and, if she had only known it, her dimples were warranted at any time to divert attention from those afflicting little freckles. "I can see that Kelly will be fruit for you, Veronica, on that croquet ground," said Philip. The guest clasped his hands rapturously. "Do you guarantee, Miss Veronica, that croquet at this island is unfailingly played on land?" "Hold on, Barney, don't go too fast; it's the kind of croquet you play with an alpenstock in one hand and a mallet in the other." "It is not, Mr. Barrison," declared Veronica stoutly. "Bert has mowed it." "That poor little chap? Did you work him in? Good for you. It's what he needs."