By no means could she construe what he had said into
impertinence, but she did feel he was presuming upon the kindly
attention she had paid him.
"Captain Merrithew," she said at length, "I have been thinking. I have
been wondering whether I do not think you more inspiring on the bridge
of the _Tampico_, cutting warships in two, or fighting a storm than--"
"Than talking with you in the moonlight?" interpolated Dan.
"_About_ the moonlight," corrected the girl. . . . "If we are to be
friends you must not devise responsibilities--unadvisably."
Dan made a slight gesture, as though to assure her she had made her
meaning quite clear.
"If we are to be friends, Miss Howland, you must not devise
restrictions unadvisably."
Dan was still smiling, and he was speaking easily. But no man had ever
spoken to her in that way before. She flushed, and her eyes sparkled
angrily as he ceased. Her glance did not disconcert him. He stood
looking at her--not masterfully, but with the quiet dignity of
conviction. It was plain that if their association were to continue,
it must be at the price of something more than the scientific, aloof,
touch-and-go interest which had hitherto characterized her attitude
toward him.
She must be his friend in all that the term implies. Until to-night,
had the alternative been proposed, she would have had no hesitation in
deciding, if only because she had no viewpoint other than their
relative positions in the past year.
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