"He's the freshest lobster ever I see," was his mental comment. "I wonder which of 'em he's sweet on?" The passengers jumped aboard. "Guess I'll save you the trouble of sailing her, eh, Benny?" asked John. "You better guess again," drawled the boy, returning to his place and taking possession of the ropes. "I've got to take care of Miss Edna." "Oh, Benny," said the girl gently, "you know this is Mr. Dunham's vacation." "Hadn't ought to work in his vacation," returned Benny doggedly. John was standing undecidedly looking down at him. There was an evident and large thunder cloud across Benny's brow. "Why the grouch?" asked John _sotto voce_, looking down at Edna. "Is it chronic?" "There are monsters in this deep, John, with green eyes," she replied mysteriously, smiling. "They're tamable when young, though. Sit down a while." "He don't know nawthin' 'bout these ledges, does he?" asked Benny defensively. "No," replied Edna. "That's right. You get us by the ledgy places and out into the middle of the Sound, and then Mr. Dunham will take her." "Oh, I don't know," remarked John, dropping down in the boat with a sigh of content as the sail filled and they glided forward. "I don't know that I want anything better than this." He leaned against the gunwale and regarded Sylvia, who was sitting beside the mast. The morning stars shone in her eyes. "Miss Sylvia looks as if she agreed with me," he added. She smiled and glanced away. Neither of these two suspected that she was a spell-bound maiden skimming over the blue waves in an enchanted shallop to some blest island, where waited a magical berry that would set her free. How should they understand that this holiday picnic was in reality a pilgrimage. John continued to look at her. He wondered if Nat knew what he had lost. "A penny for your thoughts, Miss Sylvia," he said after a minute. She shook her head at him. "This isn't bargain day," she returned. "Are they that precious?" "They're priceless," she answered. "Really no use bidding?" "Not the slightest." Sylvia looked off again. "Well, one thing about them I know without paying. You've given it away." "What's that?" "They're happy." "Oh, yes." The girl smiled. How impossible it would be for either of her companions to conceive the cause of her happiness. They need not lack one day that which she had craved for weeks. As they sailed on, Benny Merritt's stolid eyes glanced from time to time toward Edna. He was guiltily aware that they had passed the vicinity of dangerous ledges. The most uncomfortable feature of the situation was that he knew Miss Derwent to be equally aware of it. "If he was to sail, I don't know what they brought me fer," he reflected gloomily. He did know that it was necessary for some one to watch the boat and keep her off the rocks while the others were ashore, but Benny's elders have been known thus to fence with facts. Edna caught his roving glance at last and raised her brows questioningly.