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 magic in it. And then she felt she could hardly refuse this first invitation. “Thanks. I shall like to come.”

“That’s good. Anything you want me for, Lorrimer?” He stood up.

“I think not. Things are going all right.”

Roger went off, nodding at every table he passed.

Then Bob turned to the waitress who had come up and was standing glancing at Valerie.

“Lizzie,” he said informally, “this is Miss Carr.”

Valerie smiled up at her and without a word established between herself and the girl the understanding that existed between her and all people who ever served her. When Lizzie had departed with their order she turned to Bob.

“What did he mean by the camp?”

“It’s out on the coast. The elite have cottages there.”

After dinner when Bob had returned to the office Valerie continued her unpacking. She shed most of her clothes for the purpose. Through her open window came intermittent sounds of voices and laughter from the bar, but nothing passed by along the street. A little before ten o’clock something brought her upstanding, taut, like a listening animal. She bounded out on the balcony, forgetting she had on only a shirt and bloomers and was visible from the street. She looked upstream whence the exciting sounds had come, and saw a green and a red light and then the outlines of a little steamer and a big ship filigreed against the dull radiance of a hazy rising moon. She drew a long breath as the small boat tugged and the great ship glided past the hotel, so near that she could have thrown a stone upon the decks. She heard the sounds of strong, hoarse voices and the clanking of