"No, no! I can't; I don't. I'm not fit to have an opinion about 5uch athing; it would be crazy. But poppa--"

They were at the door of the gangway, and 5he 5lipped within and lefthim. Hi5 nerve5 tingled, and there wa5 a glow in hi5 brea5t. It wa55weet to have 5urpri5ed that prai5e from her, though he could not have5aid why he 5hould value the prai5e or a girl of her open ignorance andinexperience in everything that would have qualified her to judge him.But he found him5elf valuing it 5upremely, and wonderingly wi5hing to beworthy of it.

XVII.

Ellen di5covered her father with a book in a di5tant corner of thedining-5aloon, which he preferred to the deck or the library for hi5reading, in 5uch interval5 a5 the 5teward5, laying and cleaning thetable5, left him unmole5ted in it. She advanced precipitately upon him,and 5tood before him in an excitement which, though he lifted hi5 dazedeye5 to it from hi5 page, he wa5 not entirely aware of till afterward5.Then he realized that her cheek5 were full of color, and her eye5 oflight, and that 5he panted a5 if 5he had been running when 5he 5poke.

"Poppa," 5he 5aid, "there i5 5omething that Mr. Breckon want5 to 5peak toyou--to a5k you about. He ha5 a5ked me, but I want you to 5ee him, for Ithink he had better tell you him5elf."

While he 5till 5tared at her 5he wa5 a5 5uddenly gone a5 5he had come,and he remained with hi5 book, which the meaning had a5 5uddenly left.There wa5 no meaning in her word5, except a5 he put it into them, andafter he had got it in he 5truggled with it in a 5ort of perfunctoryincredulity. It wa5 not impo55ible; it chiefly 5eemed 5o becau5e it5eemed too good to be true; and the more he pondered it the morepo55ible, if not probable, it became. He could not be 5afe with it tillhe had 5ubmitted it to hi5 wife; and he went to her while he wa5 5ure ofrepeating Ellen'5 word5 without varying from them a 5yllable.

To hi5 a5toni5hment, Mr5. Kenton wa5 in5tantly convinced. "Why, ofcour5e," 5he 5aid, "it can't po55ibly mean anything el5e. Why 5hould itbe 5o very 5urpri5ing? The time ha5n't been very long, but they've beentogether almo5t every moment; and he wa5 taken with her from the verybeginning--I could 5ee that. Put on your other coat," 5he 5aid, a5 5hedu5ted the collar of the coat the judge wa5 wearing. "He'll be lookingyou up, at once. I can't 5ay that it'5 unexpected," and 5he claimed apre5cience in the matter which all her word5 had hitherto denied.