"Oh, I don't know. I hate young men."
"Then you ought to live here. Here--everybody is--oh!--so old!"
"Poor little girl," said Jack, with deep sympathy.
"Why?"
"Must be so lonely."
"Oh, no! One cannot feel lonely where there 's a river. Twice every
day it brings down news from the meadows, where the flowers are, and the
cattle, standing knee-deep in its margin, and the _demoiselles_--how do
you say?--dragonflies--and the willows, dipping their branches in it.
And then, when the tide turns, it comes back from the great town, and
sings of the ships and the crowded bridges, and the King and Queen
taking their pleasure in great, golden barges. And the sea-gulls come
with it, and it sings of the sea!"
Her eyes were flashing; her face was transfigured; Jack was leaning
forward eagerly, and if there had been any loophole of escape for him
before, there was certainly none now.
"Do you love the sea?"
"What do I know of it?" said she, coming to earth again. "I have only
crossed from Dunkerque to Tilbury. But that was lovely! It was very
rough; and I stood against the mast, and my hair blew all about, and I
shouted for joy!--Oh! I should love to be a pirate!"
"Fine!" cried Jack, as excited as she. "Tell you what! We 'll charter
a ship, and sweep the seas, and bang the enemy!"
"'We'?--Why, you're going away in a minute, and I shall never see you
again."
There was a pause. Marjolaine's words had brought them both to a sense
of reality. Finally Jack spoke, and his voice had a new ring of
earnestness.
"Marjory--do you mean that?"
She turned wonderingly innocent eyes on him. "Why should you come
again?"
"Think a moment. Let us both think. We are very young, and I know I 'm
hasty. Let us sit quite still, and think hard whether we 'd like to
meet again. Let us look at each other and not speak."
[Illustration: "LET US SIT QUITE STILL AND THINK HARD WHETHER WE'D LIKE
TO MEET AGAIN"]
She met his look quite frankly for a moment--but only for a moment.
Slowly her head sank and her eyes half closed, and when she spoke, she
spoke very shyly. "I do not see why you should not come again," she
whispered.
"I see why I should! I must!--But it must be differently."
"Differently--?"
"I mustn't come on the sly. I'll get an introduction."
"But none of your friends are likely to know anybody in Pomander Walk!"
Jack leaped up. "Is this Pomander Walk?" he almost shouted. "Why, that
's what I Ve been looking for all the afternoon. That's where my friend
lives--the Admiral!"
It was Marjolaine's turn to be astonished.
"Not Sir Peter Antrobus!"
"Yes!--Do you know him?"
"Why, he's the King of the Walk! He lives at Number One. If you 're
quite quiet you can almost hear him snoring!"
"Why, there we are then! I'm introduced! I'm on a proper footing! The
whole thing's ship-shape! O Marjory, what a relief!"
"But I don't understand--"
"Yes, you do. He 's my father's oldest friend. I served under him as a
middy on board the _Termagant_. I 'm very fond of him. I 'll come and
see him to-morrow!"