Bell stopped in his beat and threw one arm around Paula. He made no secret of the fact that she was his favourite daughter; a preference which aroused no jealousy in the hearts of the other girls, as both appreciated fully Paula's sweetness of disposition and invariable unselfishness. She was, in a way, the mean between the extremes of Cécile's calculating and Hermione's impetuous nature; also she acted as a sort of fender between her sisters and their father. On the whole, the family was an affectionate one, but high spirits and diverse dispositions made the offices of a peace advocate indispensable. "D'ye know what I think?" snapped Bell. "I think that the scoundrel is secretly in love with Paula, and he ain't man enough to step up and say so!" "What makes you think that?" Wood asked. "Logical exclusion. Here he has performed a service for Hermione, and lets it drop there, and Cécile goes aboard his boat and he sits there and jollies her. What was it he said ... that about the idle amusement he furnished bein' a fair exchange for the use of our minds ... eh ... what was it, Cécile...?" "Some rubbish ... I don't know..." Cécile turned away, angrily. "Besides," continued Bell, "Paula is the only one he has ever sighted close aboard. All right, old man" ... he glanced toward the _Daffodil_ ... "we'll see how much of a test you can stand. Wait 'til I romp you up and down the coast from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Hatteras a few times!" He glanced at Wood. "Come with us, Huntington. You'll see some sport. The beggar means to follow, if he can." Wood hesitated. Cécile was looking at him, ready to give a little sign of affirmation, but to her extreme surprise, Wood glanced, not at her, but at Paula. Cécile's eyes followed his. Paula was looking at Wood, and as he hesitated, her face grew suddenly pale. "Do you all want me?" asked Wood, smiling. "Of course we do," answered Hermione. "Do come." Paula echoed the invitation, a little faintly, and Cécile, in a cool, indifferent way. She was wondering at the peculiar expression she had caught in Paula's eyes as they met those of Wood. "Then I'll go with great delight," said Wood. "But I don't think that the chase will last very long, when it comes to offshore work. You can hardly expect a little yawl like that to keep up with a schooner of this size." "I'll back him," said Hermione. "The _Shark_ is about as speedy as an oyster-float." "Just the same," snapped Bell, "I'll make you a bet, young lady, that we will have lost our pilot-fish at the end of ten days." "For what...?" asked Hermione. "For a month's allowance. Double or none. Come now, do you take me?" "Done with you!" said Hermione, promptly.