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18 plight! Of course you may stay. Why, the Rules tell us that it's our bounden duty to 'assist persons in distress,' besides which we can invite you as our guest to spend a night at Silver Shoal."

Joan, who had felt herself at the edge of another shattered hope, breathed a rather pathetic sigh of relief. Her heart had sunk at the sudden menace of "Rules and Regulations."

"Have you had any supper?" her hostess inquired as they went up the landing.

"Nothing since noon; a sort of sandwich and some pale coffee at Tewksville Junction."

"Tewksville! Heavens!" cried Mrs. Pemberley with fervor. "Come in and have some food at once!" She took the bag from Cap'n 'Bijah, who vanished into the dusk, content.

Joan looked about her curiously as they entered the lighthouse. She did not know exactly what to expect of its interior,—something between a farm-kitchen and a boat-house, she fancied. The door opened directly into the main room, which was low-ceiled and white-panelled, its square-paned windows deep set in the thickness of the stone walls. A settle stood before the small fireplace and bookshelves filled the space between the northern windows.