BLUE MAGIC
"First tell me about yourself," smiled the young man. "Are you all alone?"
"Yes," said Fen, "except for Mammy—but she's below—an' the crew, of course, but I don't ever see them. Mother an' everybody have gone ashore to see all kinds of wonderful things."
"Do they often do that?" inquired the young man, frowning a little; "go off and leave you? Wouldn't you like to see some of the wonderful things, too?"
Fen smiled rather wistfully.
"But I can't," he explained, "because of my back, you see. That's why we're here, I think, because the doctor said something about 'change of air' making me get stronger."
The young man's face grew very sympathetic.
"Yes, that's all very well," he argued gently; "but it seems too bad, you know, that they see everything, while you have
6
