On coming alongside of the schooner they found a boat from the _Arcturus_, and Cécile's temper was not improved at hearing the gay laughter from the deck, where Hermione, Paula, Huntington Wood, and Mr. Poole were having a very good time. Cécile was one of those girls who grow restive at the sight of attractive men in the possession of other girls, so she proceeded at once to break up the _partie carrée_, taking Wood away from Paula as one might deprive a child of some object with which it was too young to play. All were curious to hear about the call upon Mr. Applebo, however, especially as the red and belligerent expression of Captain Bell's face showed that it had not been in all ways agreeable. "Your friend Applebo," said Cécile to Wood, "is, without exception, the rudest man I ever met." Hermione raised her eyebrows. Wood, always loyal to the absent, protested. "Oh, no!" said he, "odd and eccentric and all of that, but not really rude...." "Call it what you like," said Cécile. "We had to board his nasty little boat practically by force, after which he did nothing but sit there and make sneering remarks." "That was the only way he managed to keep awake," growled Bell, who was pacing up and down his quarter-deck with short, impatient steps. "Apparently," said Cécile, "he was trying to be witty at our expense. You should have heard what papa said about him coming back...." "We did ... from the time you left the yawl," said Hermione. Cécile gave a mirthless little laugh. "Fancy your being so silly as to say that he was in love with me!" "Huntington never said that," observed Hermione. "He merely said that Applebo was in love with somebody aboard the _Shark_." There was a laugh, which was quickly checked, for Cécile's face became suddenly crimson. She bit her lip, and her grey eyes actually filled with tears of sheer mortification. Wood went quickly to her rescue. "Up to this time," said he, "Harold has probably fancied himself in love with an Ideal. Now that he has seen the Real, we may look for rapid developments." "Huh..." grunted Captain Bell, whose promenade had brought him within earshot, "he's a balm, that's what's the matter with him. Said it wasn't Hermione he rescued, but the gamekeeper. Said Hermione was about to assassinate him, and that if she had he would have dug a hole in the sand and shoved him in ... huh ... h'm ... balmy as a spring dream...." "He's quite capable of it," said Wood, and glanced at Hermione. There was a vivid red splash in either of the girl's cheeks, and her eyes were like sapphires. "By Jove..." Wood laughed. "Look at Hermione! I believe she would have helped him! What a pair of savages!"