Then the mate, his eyes wide and thoughtful, said with a long breath: "And she was just about your age, miss, when I saw her; and you favor her, too." Condy and Travis held their breaths in attention.

There in the cabin of that curious nondescript whaleback they had come suddenly to the edge of a romance--a romance that had been lived through before they were born.

Then Travis said in a low voice, and sweetly: "She died ?" "Before I ever set eyes on her, miss.

That is, MAYBE she died.

I sometimes think--fact is, I really believe she's alive yet, and waiting for me." He hesitated awkwardly.