Page:Silver Shoal Light.djvu/172

152 struck by the quality of the smile he received that he saluted—to Garth’s huge delight. Just as they went by the office of a great trans-atlantic steamship company, Garth turned back suddenly and slipped from Joan’s side. She followed him, wondering what could be of interest there, and found him gazing raptly in at the window.

Beneath two placards marked "Then" and "Now" stood two complete and beautiful models, one of a full-rigged sailing vessel, the other of a great modern liner. It was at the full-rigged ship that Garth gazed, discovering first one detail and then another of the perfectly executed model, pointing them out joyously to Joan.

"Oh, look!" he cried. "Look at the pennant on her truck, and the reef in her main-course, and even the little ports open,—and—and everything!" He lapsed into silence, and Joan realized that the clanging street, and the dust, and the hot stifling smell of the city touched him not at all; that he was far away, standing in fancy on the decks of that little ship. It was with a very gentle hand that she finally drew him away from the window.