times that she had been born with the salt of the sea in her veins, like all the Carters. Two generations of naval officers had been preceded by a great-grandfather who was captain of his own sailing vessel, so Kitty had only been following the family tradition when she aspired toward the WAVES. But she decided that afternoon as she headed back toward Palmetto Island that serving the Canteen was the perfect substitute under the circumstances.

The noise of the motor made conversation difficult, and she was rather glad of it, for the afternoon had been so eventful she had much to think about. First and foremost was her delight in making a service link. And meeting Brad—that was something she would never forget! And Hazel Dawson, too. She sensed it was the beginning of a new and different sort of friendship. She wondered why the thought of Dr. Cary chilled her ardor. Did Brad know why these two seemed to freeze on meeting? She meant to ask him when she had a chance.

Hazel caught her attention, waving toward the receding shores. “Beautiful country—marvelous!” she exclaimed, above the noise of the motor.

“You’ll love it here.” Kitty told her. “I’ll take you boat riding, even if we have to row to save gas. You must see these intriguing marshes, and the beautiful shore lines with the wonderful live oaks draped in Spanish moss.”

“This is my first trip south, in my own country,” Hazel told her.

Palmetto Island now came into view with its many smokestacks marking the sky line. A fringe of palmettoes farther east was lost in the mists where the inland waterways met the sea. Kitty pointed to the western shore where a large white building stood on the point.

“There’s the Bernard General Hospital,” she said to Hazel. “Our house isn’t far away, and the Marine Base is farther east and south.”

“A lovely spot!”

Kitty thought she caught a wistful note in Hazel’s voice, and her eyes were almost sad as she drank in the beauty of green marshes, the blue sky, and the bluer sea.

On reaching the island docks Kitty phoned her father as they had previously arranged to send down a car. When she came out of the warehouse where she had used the phone, Lieutenant Cary was gone.

“We could have taken him up with us,” she said, embarrassed that she had failed to invite him specifically before she had gone to phone her father.

“He said he had to stop on the way up to see a friend,” Brad explained. “He left his thanks to you for giving him a lift.” Then to Kitty’s amazement Brad added in a low tone through almost closed teeth, “Good riddance, if you ask me!”

That night at supper Kitty gave her father an account of her unusual afternoon, the main point of which was to tell him she wanted to begin Canteen training.

“I’m proud of you, Kitty, that you wouldn’t give up till you found some way you could serve under the circumstances,” said her father.

“Then you do think I can do it?”

“Of course. There’s nothing to prevent it.”

“We’ll have to pay Jane extra to stay with Billy the nights I’m on duty. Can we afford that?”

“Certainly, my dear. I’ve been thinking we might fix up that room behind the kitchen so Jane can be here all the time.”

“That’s a swell idea, Dad. I’d think she’d be glad to have a place rent free. Last week she had to borrow money to pay her rent.”

They talked over further details of the new arrangement for their combination nurse and cook. But even while they discussed their domestic problems Kitty’s mind kept going back to the meeting between Lieutenant Cary and Ensign Dawson.

Finally she blurted out, “Dad, did you ever know Willard Dawson, Hazel’s brother?”

He glanced at her sharply. “No, he left before I came. I was sent to take his place.”

“Then he worked a while with Lieutenant Cary?”

“Of course. Cary has been here six months. But why do you ask?”

Then Kitty attempted to give him an account of the meeting on the launch, and the animosity she felt existed between the two strangers.

Her father tried to brush her suspicions aside. “You mustn’t get the habit of attributing motives to every little thing people do, Kitty. Often people are merely tired or preoccupied, and their coolness has no significance at all.”

But Kitty was not satisfied with this explanation. She felt that her father knew much more about the mysterious Willard Dawson than he had revealed.