A Venetian June

lse of

II

lse of

e Dan justly observed, now that they sometimes succeeded in keeping the oar in the row-lock for twenty consecutive strokes, they were really very little hindrance to the progress of the boat! May declared that no person of a practical turn would ever take naturally to so unpractical an arrangement as that short-lip

that. He told May that she would row better if she were not so wool-gathering, merely for the pleasure of hearing her scornful disclaimer; and when Pauline pointed out t

d theirs. He imagined that that sort of thing lent a piquancy to conversation. The aim of Oliver Kenwick's life was to be

an hour spent in Kenwick's society, "what is th

oesn't tally,

not quite our own kind";-an expression of opinion on Uncle Dan's part which owed its careful moderation to the fact that he had accepted and still tr

, and if it occasionally irked him to have Stephen Kenwick's grandson about, he found

ng the Dolomites, which he himself, indeed, had appeared ready enough to relinquish. Without any preconcerted plan it usually happened that the two gondolas f

giving immediate chase; or they would cruise about in an aimless way until Kenwick d

d always partaken somewhat of the admiring sentiment a plain man entertains for a clever comedian. Being himself incapable of dissimul

bound for the Porto del Lido. The day was bright and warm, and the pretty linen awning with its crimson lining was spread above their heads, somewhat

ust Geoffry Daymond to overtake them. Pauline was no matchmaker, but, as she told herself, it was the sort o

hat we can really go out o

ay or two, and to-morrow his brother was to

of the awning into the face of the Signorina. Vittorio was of a pre-eminently social disposition, and he liked to be in visible touch with his listeners. It was indeed re

r side," he explained; "and we shall hardly get to the end of it. But we can

er one would have said: 'No, Signorina,'

ment, she could not be content with a passive solicitude. It seemed to her that something must be done about it, and that it devolved upon her to solve the problem. Perhaps if she were to offer to give the man a gondola he would admit that he was miserable in that dreary hospital, and that he longed for the free life of the lagoons. The project appealed, indeed, so strongly,

he rest of my days," she told herself; "for the sake

un

e awning, she espied the Daymond sea-horse on its blue ground, already clos

Colonel Steele?" asked Mrs. Daymond. "You shall have on

the Colonel always managed, when he could, to get Geoffry into his own boat, an

Mr. Kenwick, I shall have to give

" asked May, lifting a pa

e." And, having seen Pauline safely established beside Mrs. Daymond, he stepped into

een somewhat remiss at the outset. He need have had no misgivings, however, for Kenwi

. Daymond, as the gondolas glided away from each o

one of her still smiles that seemed to

day, save for one yellow sail, yet a long way off, that stood out in full sunshine against the quiet northern sky. The t

y the way, which few succeeded in accomplishing,-she had thought to herself, what a superb soldier he would have made. Presently her eye wandered from the rhythmically swaying figure at the oar to the wide reaches of the seaw

l in so naturally with the dip of the oars and the lapping of the tide against the prow, that

rse your gondola ought t

nce to me. It is only because Pietro is an old man, and

d! Is Pietr

, only he hasn't quite the endurance he us

had him all

" she added thoughtfully; "just the age of his father

uline repeate

and had pecul

lay asleep in the shadow of the sail, and the man at the rudder had let his pipe go out. As the gondola came alongside the boat, a small yellow dog sprang up and barked sharply at them, his body, from tip to tail, violently agitated with t

e butterflies in the sun. Pauline did not say how pretty they were, but Geof, stooping to look under the awning into her face, d

were following the line of the break-water,

onist," she said. "The war was

d spoke in this way of her husband to one who had not known him.

mond was saying: "He would have given his life for the U

mond paused, they could hear the voice of the Colonel, speaking to Vittor

usband came

y of Venice, and he had come; here to write. We spent three years here, summer and winter

ching the measured st

s, and while we were away there was a fire, and a

ed, with a catch of con

r's face; on the contrary, its usual clear sereni

at opportunity. He began his work again from the begi

soldier after al

stimable service in many ways. I could not go with him because of Geof, and,-I saw the end from the beginning. As I was s

in in a strange and solemn rhythm. The actual rise and fall of the water was so slight that it was scarcely apparent to the eye; yet it had

ter turn back, Geof

til Miss Beverly has s

eadying herself by the oarsman's proffered shoulder. T

won't enjoy it if you don't f

sails, shining in every shade of red and yellow and ruddy brown. The long, outer shore of the Lido, stretching far away t

f inquired, lookin

A tune with a lot of harmony to make it

ly," he

"I'm going home as passenger," he announced. "We shal

d Mrs. Daymond. "We

iron rods, and handed it over to Pietro, who stowed it away, rods and all, in the stern of the gondola. Th

been feeling like an outcast or a galley-slave, or some such unlucky wretch,

s mother said, with amused

Colonel's gondola. The men were resting on their oars, while

far enough to get the

ered. "But we didn't li

ightened," Kenwick observed,

d than anybody else! But I didn't like it. It f

hand upon the small, gloveless one that lay on his arm. "The sea

lancing with interest at the charming young face, whic

ves in ever changing perspective against the western sky. They overtook two or three of the brilliant sails they had passed o

liness, a cascade of lark-notes came pouring down from the sky. They strained their eyes to catch a glimpse of the birds, l

asked abruptly: "How did you like it, Miss

and awful," she answered; and then, with a