All-Story Weekly, Vol. 112, No. 1 — page 114: what you’re looking at

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104 and pitch you overboard,” was what Bill had in his mind, but he did not give utter- ance to it. He merely scowled and turned his back. Mary watched the launch as it headed tor the yacht club landing and, when it had moved beyond any possibility of hearing, Jaughed outright. ‘ The poor man!” she said. ‘“ I’d better watch myself. Back to New York I felt as if I were living in a reign of hidden terror. Now the pendulum is at the other extreme and I feel as if I could do anything that pleased me. It’s a time for caution, prob- ably. But he is so funny!” Bill was gone for several hours. He was Jate for lunch when the launck drew along- side the Sunshine; in fact, everybody else. had had lunch Jong ago. His visit ashore had not been satisfactory and was only pro- longed because he felt that the shore, how- ever strange and lonesome, was more con- genial than the deck of his vacht. -.He spied Aunt Caroline in an easy chair. ‘“‘ Nobody home, Aunt Caroline?” he said. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, William. Well, there’s no hurry, of course; we can stay over in- definitely. Probably you’d better go back this afternoon.” Bill had no intention of going back. He had not visited a single house; he had done nothing beyond making several futile at- tempts to get a telephone cennection with Kid Whaley. He glanced about the deck and saw no- body but a couple of hands. ‘“ Where’s Miss Norcross?” he asked. ‘She went swimming,” said Aunt Caro- line. “Swimming!” “ Right off the yacht, William. Do you know that she’s-a very remarkable swimmer. I was completely astonished.” William went to the rail and surveyed the harbor. He saw no sign of a swimmer. ‘“‘ Where is she?” he demanded. ‘‘Oh, somewhere out there,’”’ said Aunt Caroline, with an easy gesture. “ She’s per- fectly safe. Peter is with her.” “What!” ‘They went swimming together. I wish you could have seen them, William. They were just like two children. They’ve been ALL-STORY WEEKLY. swimming all around among the yachts. Where they are now I haven’t the least idea; but they’ll be back.” Bill struck the rail savagely and once again glared out at the harbor. So this was the reason his secretary did not want to go ashore; she had an engagement to go swim- ming with his valet. But if Bill was dis- turbed, not so Aunt Caroline; she was once more absorbed in her magazine. ' The boss of the yacht Sunshine walked forward, where he found the second officer superintending the cleaning of brasswork. ‘‘ Where’s that swimming party of ours?” asked Bill, carelessly. ““ Now, there’s a question you might well ask, sir,” said the second officer. ‘‘ Where aren’t they? Seems to me they’ve been all over the harbor, sir, as far as I could make out. Never saw anything like it.” ‘Ts there any boat following them?” ‘Boat, sir?” The second officer laughed. ‘I don’t know what they’d be doing with a boat. The last time I saw them they looked as if they were fit to swim to Europe. And the young lady, sir!” He made what was intended to be an elo- quent gesture. “What about the young lady?” “A fish, sir; a fish, if ever one lived. First off they did a lot of playing around the yacht, sir. Climbing aboard and diving off again. I give you my ward, sir, the whole crew was on deck watching. The young lady—well, she’s a little thing, but she’s nicely set up, sir. She’d think noth- ing of making a back dive off the end of the bridge. And the young gentleman was no ways behind her, sir.. You’d think there was a couple of porpoises in the harbor.” Bill’s soul was growing blacker and blacker. ““Tve seen swimmers in my time, but never the beat of that pair, unless it was professionals,” added the second officer, in a musing tone. He glanced out at the water, then ges- tured quickly. ‘Look, now! There they go.” Bill looked. There was a commotion in the water a hundred yards distant. Two heads were moving rapidly in parallel courses; Onee@was conspicuous in a scarlet cCoOmiclbooks C©