uring his trip from washington back to old point, the admiral promised himself several times that he never again would endeavor to complete a letter begun by any other person. he also resolved that, on reaching the hotel, he would make a full and frank explanation to mrs. highwood, and would offer to make reparation, so far as was in his power, by acting as an ally in the lady's campaign to effect the capture of kate and jermyn by each other. he had done some discreet match-making in his time, so he felt justified in assuring trif that there were ways in which he might be useful.

the matter was arranged to his entire satisfaction, in his own mind, before he fell asleep, but somehow plans made at night, even by persons of much experience and shrewdness, do not always stand the test of daylight. he had been at the hotel two or three hours when he came face to face with trif; the lady passed him with half-averted face and the slightest possible inclination of the head. the admiral felt indignant, and not a little angry. could it be possible that matters had gone from bad to worse during his absence? there was no pluckier man in the [pg 113]service than rear-admiral allison, retired, but for a moment or two the old gentleman was tempted to leave old point at once.

soon, however, he regained his courage and did some cautious reconnoitering. he made the tour of the office, parlors, piazzas, and beach, and his search was finally rewarded by a glimpse of kate and her brother, strolling to and fro on the pier. had any harm, any publicity, come of that enraging letter, kate would probably be more angry than any one else, and the first person to whom he should explain, so with a sinking feeling, such as he had not experienced since the time he first went into action, he strode down the pier. miss trewman was not above the average height of women, but she looked very tall and imperious as the admiral marched forward to his fate, whatever it might be. suddenly kate saw him and seemed surprised; then she stepped quickly toward him. the old gentleman felt himself turning pale, but kate gave him a smile which made him as happy, he afterward told her, as if he were again a young man, and she his sweetheart.

"oh, admiral!" exclaimed kate, "how glad i am to see you back! everything here has been stupid since you went away. has anything gone wrong with—with any one?"

"not with you, i'm sure, if looks are any indication. how is mrs. highwood and her sister, and trixy?"

"trif appears to be ill, although she says nothing is the matter with her. fenie is worrying about trif, and poor little trixy seems in trouble about something."

"h'm," said the admiral, looking grave.

"something is the matter," exclaimed kate. "i see it in your face. do tell me what it is. the highwoods are old friends of ours, and if i could know of anything that should be done for any of them i would be very grateful."

"really, i know of nothing. lieutenant jermyn——"

kate's face colored, and the admiral's keen eyes twinkled as their owner continued:

"jermyn and i ran up to washington a night or two ago on business, so i've heard of nothing that has occurred here since then. jermyn wasn't able to return with me, but he won't remain long away; indeed, i know he has the best of reasons for wishing himself back again."

again kate blushed, which was exactly what the admiral hoped would be the result of his speech. still, the girl seemed suspicious about something, so the old gentleman began to talk of something else with his customary ability. while he was talking, a waiter from the hotel approached and handed him a telegram.

"kindly excuse me a moment?" said the admiral, adjusting his glasses and opening the envelope. then he glanced at the dispatch and exclaimed:

"good!"

"may we congratulate you upon something?—the thanks of congress, or a new war?"

"better still. the business upon which jermyn and i went north has been satisfactorily concluded. will you kindly excuse me a few moments, until i can write a letter? i will do myself the honor of rejoining you."

"there is probably some secret government business in the hands of the admiral and the lieutenant," suggested harry.

"secret nonsense! it is something which is mixed up in some way with the strange manner of trif and fenie, and the admiral must simply tell what it is."

meanwhile the old gentleman was re-reading the dispatch, which was as follows:

"that letter is in proper hands. jermyn."

"proper hands! proper hands!" repeated the admiral to himself. "evidently that means his own hands. fine fellow! he deserves the girl, if only for the pains he has taken to keep her name from being used publicly. how i wish i might tell her the whole story! still, if they continue to like each other, my time will come. i think that i ought now to be able to make my peace with mrs. highwood. i need merely to repeat to her jermyn's own words, and crave the privilege of age to laugh with her over a matter entirely to her credit."

within five minutes the admiral had dispatched a note to trif, who languidly opened it and then suddenly dropped her languor and called fenie, to whom she said:

"what can the man mean? there can be but one letter that the man refers to—the one which trixy gave him, and which she got back so strangely, and i sent on to phil, promising that i would tell him something about it when i reached home. phil don't know the admiral, so i can't make sense out of the matter. it isn't possible that trixy is making any more trouble with letters?"

"don't be silly!" replied fenie. "what did the poor child know about the matter?"

"oh, i'm afraid she overheard us wondering whether the letter ought not go back to the admiral, because whoever sent it back to him would be sure to ask whether he received it, and—trixy, where are you? have you opened any of my letters?"

"no, mamma; really and truly i haven't," was the indignant reply.

"oh," said trif, "i do wish i could find out what it means. if i don't know pretty soon i'm sure i shall go insane."

fenie made haste to be sisterly and soothing, and trixy improved the opportunity to escape from the room. she hurried down to the piazza, asked every one she knew whether they had seen the admiral, and finally she found him talking with kate and harry. she did not wait for a lull in the conversation; she stopped before him and interrupted with——

"say, you don't want my dear mamma to go insane, do you?"

"bless me, no! what do you mean, child?"

"why, she says she's goin' to go insane if she doesn't find out all about that letter."

the admiral looked embarrassed; then he said: "you will kindly excuse me a few moments, miss trewman," and quickly led trixy aside, while kate told her brother that she, too, would go insane, she thought, unless she could know what dreadful mystery was in the air.

the admiral made haste to send the child to her mother with the request that mrs. highwood [pg 117]would kindly grant an interview in one of the less frequented parlors, which he designated. within a few moments he was talking earnestly with trif and trying to convince her that the troublesome letter was in jermyn's possession.

then he lost his mental balance for a moment or two, for trif assured him that beyond doubt he was mistaken, for she had mailed the letter to her husband, who by no possibility could have given it to any one.

the admiral made haste to put jermyn's dispatch in evidence, and again trif was mystified, for although she knew that her husband and jermyn were acquainted it seemed scarcely possible that jermyn had called on phil while on the errand which the old gentleman had carefully explained, with the effect of making her appear his admirer once more. the admiral tried to reason it out, and offered the suggestion that perhaps her husband had done, in a blunt, straightforward way, as most honest men are likely to do, exactly what she would have wished him to do.

"you may depend upon it, my dear madam, that what i have suggested is exactly what has happened. they have met, probably by accident; your husband has quizzed jermyn about miss trewman, jermyn has admitted his interest in the lady; your husband has expressed his interest and volunteered his assistance, and to show that you also were interested he has given jermyn—not the letter, but some word which has satisfied the young man that the letter reached its proper destination."]

"i hope you are right," said trif, "and for the rest——"

"for the rest," continued the admiral, "can't you and i afford to laugh the matter away? i've honestly explained how innocently i was led to read what trixy brought me. the letter itself did great credit to your head and heart; the young people are singularly suited to each other, and there is no probability that miss trewman will ever hear anything about it, for the manner in which the letter was returned to you shows that it was forwarded to me by some one who was present when i thoughtlessly sketched upon it. as no one but army officers, and one other person, was there, it is probable that some officer returned it, and army officers are gentlemen; none of them would repeat what he chanced to see in a private letter, particularly as his most natural conclusion would be that the letter, having been seen in my possession, had been written to me by some member of my own family."

trif felt much better, and finally pleased the old gentleman by laughing and accepting him as an ally, and also by accepting his invitation to walk upon the beach and take some delicious air, of which, through his own carelessness, she had recently been deprived.

trif was as happy as an innocent soul released suddenly from prison, and the admiral, his own honest heart relieved of its burden, was chatting cheerily and delightfully, when both met trixy, who looked as if something dreadful had befallen her.

"my dear little darling, what is the matter?" asked trif.

"she said she wondered if you'd been doin' anythin' dreadful, 'cause i said you might get insane."

"she? whom do you mean?"

"why, miss trewman. and i just told her, 'no, indeed,' and she said it was too bad that a letter should make anybody such a lot of trouble, and i told her that the letter wasn't about you at all, but was all about her, 'cause i heard you and aunt fee talkin' about it. then she looked awful cross, and i told her she needn't, 'cause 'twas about somethin' nice for her."

"trixy, dear, how much more did you tell her?"

"nothin', mamma. you don't think i'm goin' to tell things to people, after all you've said to me about not doin' it, do you? i only told her that you and papa was arrangin' a real nice s'prise for her, and she asked if the admiral was helpin' do it, 'cause he seemed to be. but i didn't tell her nothin' about it—really i didn't."