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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton's Victory, by Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Madge Morton's Victory
+
+Author: Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2008 [EBook #26538]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[Illustration: Before the Hand Organ Danced a Little Figure.
+Frontispiece.]
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Madge Morton's Victory
+
+By
+AMY D. V. CHALMERS
+
+Author of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid;
+Madge Morton's Secret, Madge Morton's Trust.
+
+THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+Akron, Ohio--New York
+
+Made in U. S. A.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright MCMXIV
+By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                                          PAGE
+     I.  Commencement Day at Miss Tolliver's        7
+    II.  How it Was All Arranged                   16
+   III.  Tania, a Princess                         24
+    IV.  The Uninvited Guest                       37
+     V.  Tania, a Problem                          51
+    VI.  A Mischievous Mermaid                     58
+   VII.  Captain Jules, Deep Sea Diver             65
+  VIII.  The Wreck of the "Water Witch"            80
+    IX.  The Owner of the Disagreeable Voice       90
+     X.  The Goody-Goody Young Man                100
+    XI.  The Beginning of Trouble                 112
+   XII.  "The Anchorage"                          124
+  XIII.  Tania's Nemesis                          131
+   XIV.  Captain Jules Makes a Promise            141
+    XV.  The Great Adventure                      150
+   XVI.  A Strange Pearl                          161
+  XVII.  The Fairy Godmother's Wish Comes True    172
+ XVIII.  Missing, a Fairy Godmother               180
+   XIX.  The Wicked Genii                         198
+    XX.  A Bow of Scarlet Ribbon                  206
+   XXI.  The Race for Life                        215
+  XXII.  Captain Jules Listens to a Story         224
+ XXIII.  The Victory Over Fate                    232
+  XXIV.  The Little Captain Starts on a Journey   243
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+COMMENCEMENT DAY AT MISS TOLLIVER'S
+
+
+"O Phil, dear! It is anything but fair. If you only knew how I hate to
+have to do it!" exclaimed Madge Morton impulsively, throwing her arms
+about her chum's neck and burying her red-brown head in the soft, white
+folds of Phyllis Alden's graduation gown. "No one in our class wishes me
+to be the valedictorian. You know you are the most popular girl in our
+school. Yet here I am the one chosen to stand up before everyone and read
+my stupid essay when your average was just exactly as high as mine."
+
+Madge Morton and Phyllis Alden were alone in their own room at the end of
+the dormitory of Miss Matilda Tolliver's Select School for Girls, at
+Harborpoint, one morning late in May. Through the halls one could hear
+occasional bursts of girlish laughter, and the murmur of voices betokened
+unusual excitement.
+
+It was the morning of the annual spring commencement.
+
+Phyllis slowly unclasped Madge's arms from about her neck and gazed at
+her companion steadfastly, a flush on her usually pale cheeks.
+
+"If you say another word about that old valedictory, I shall never
+forgive you!" she declared vehemently. "You know that Miss Tolliver is
+going to announce to the audience that our averages were the same. You
+were chosen to deliver the valedictory because you can make a speech so
+much better than I. What is the use of bringing up this subject now, just
+a few minutes before our commencement begins? You know how often we have
+talked this over before, and that I told Miss Matilda that I wished you
+to be the valedictorian instead of me, even before she selected you."
+
+Phil's earnest black eyes looked sternly into Madge's troubled blue ones.
+"If you begin worrying about that now, you won't be able to read your
+essay half as well," declared Phil impatiently. "Please sit still for a
+minute and wait until Miss Jenny Ann calls us."
+
+Phil pushed Madge gently toward the big armchair. Then she walked over to
+stand by the window, in order to watch the carriages drive up to Miss
+Tolliver's door and to keep her back turned directly upon her friend
+Madge.
+
+The little captain sat very still for a few minutes. She had on an
+exquisite white organdie gown, a white sash, white slippers and white
+silk stockings. In the knot of sunny curled hair drawn high upon her head
+she wore a single white rose. A bunch of roses lay in her lap, also a
+manuscript in Madge's slightly vertical handwriting, which she fingered
+restlessly.
+
+The silence grew monotonous to Madge.
+
+"Are you angry with me, Phil?" she asked forlornly.
+
+Madge and Phyllis Alden had been best friends for four years, and had
+never had a real disagreement until this morning.
+
+Phyllis was too honest to be deceitful. "I am a little cross," she
+admitted without turning around. "I wish Lillian and Eleanor would come
+upstairs to tell us how many people have arrived for the commencement."
+
+Madge started across the room toward Phil. But Phyllis's back was
+uncompromising. She pretended not to hear her friend's light step.
+Suddenly Madge's expression changed. The color rose to her face and her
+eyes flashed.
+
+"I won't apologize to you, Phil," she said. "I had intended to, but I see
+no reason why I should not say it is unfair for me to be the
+valedictorian when you have the same claim to it that I have. It is
+hateful in you not to understand how I feel about it. I am going to find
+Miss Jenny Ann." Madge's voice broke.
+
+A knock on the door interrupted the two girls. Madge opened the door to a
+boy, who handed her a small parcel addressed in a curious handwriting to
+"Miss Madge Morton." The letters were printed, but the writing did not
+look like a child's. It was the fiftieth graduating gift that she had
+received. Phil's number had already reached the half-hundred mark.
+
+Madge dropped her newest package on the bed without opening it. She was
+half-way out in the hall when Phyllis pulled her back.
+
+"Look me straight in the face," ordered Phil. Madge obeyed, the flash in
+her eyes fading swiftly. "Now, see here, dear," argued Phyllis, "suppose
+that Miss Matilda had chosen me to deliver the valedictory instead of
+you, wouldn't you have been glad?"
+
+Madge nodded happily. "I should say I would," she murmured fervently.
+
+Phyllis laughed, then leaned over and kissed her friend triumphantly.
+
+"There, you have said just what I wanted to make you say," went on Phil.
+"You say you would be glad if Miss Tolliver had chosen me for the
+valedictorian instead of you. Why can't you let me have the same feeling
+about you? Please, please understand, Madge, dear"--the tears started to
+Phil's eyes--"that no one has been unfair to me because you were Miss
+Matilda's choice."
+
+Madge glanced nervously at the little gold clock on their mantel shelf.
+"It is nearly time for the entertainment to begin, isn't it?" she
+inquired. "I suppose Miss Jenny Ann will call us in time. What a lot of
+noise the girls are making in the hall!"
+
+She idly untied her latest graduating gift. It was a small box, made
+after a fashion of long years ago, and its tops and sides were encrusted
+with tiny shells. On one side of the box the word "Madge" was worked out
+in tiny shells as clear and beautiful as jewels. Inside the box, on a
+piece of cotton, was a single, wonderful pearl. It was unset, but the two
+girls realized that it was rarely beautiful. There was no name in the
+box, no card to show from whom it came.
+
+Madge turned the box upside down and peered inside of it. "I don't know
+who could have sent this to me," she declared, in a puzzled fashion.
+"Mrs. Curtis is the only rich person I know in the whole world, and she
+has already given us her presents. I must show this to Uncle and Aunt. I
+am afraid they won't wish me to keep it. But I don't know how we are ever
+going to return it to the giver when he or she is anonymous."
+
+"Isn't that Miss Jenny Ann calling?" Madge turned pale with the
+excitement of the coming hour and thrust the gift under her pillow.
+
+Phyllis picked up a great bunch of red roses. The eventful moment had
+arrived. The graduating exercises at Miss Matilda Tolliver's were about
+to begin!
+
+Neither of the two girls knew how they walked up on the stage. Before
+them swam "a sea of upturned faces." It was impossible to tell one person
+from another. When Madge and Phil overcame their fright they discovered
+that they were among the twelve girl graduates, who formed a white
+semi-circle about the stage, and that Miss Matilda Tolliver was making an
+address of welcome to the audience.
+
+Phyllis had no dreaded speech ahead of her. She looked out over the
+audience and saw her father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Alden; and Madge's
+uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Butler; but Madge could think of nothing
+save the terrifying fact that she must soon deliver her valedictory.
+
+"Madge," whispered Phil softly, "don't look so frightened. You know you
+have made speeches before and have acted before people. I am not a bit
+afraid you will fail. See if you can find Mrs. Curtis and Tom. There they
+are, smiling at us from behind Eleanor and Lillian."
+
+Readers of "MADGE MORTON, CAPTAIN OF THE 'MERRY MAID'," will remember the
+delightful fashion in which Madge Morton, Eleanor Butler, Lillian Seldon
+and Phyllis Alden spent a summer on a houseboat, which they evolved from
+an old canal boat and named the "Merry Maid."
+
+How they anchored at quiet spots along Chesapeake Bay, made the
+acquaintance of Mrs. Curtis, a wealthy widow, and what came of the
+friendship that sprang up between her and Madge Morton made a story well
+worth the telling.
+
+In "MADGE MORTON'S SECRET" the scene of their second houseboat adventure
+found them at Old Point Comfort, where, as Mrs. Curtis's guests, they
+partook of the social side of the Army and Navy life to be found there.
+The origin of Captain Madge's secret, and of how she kept it in spite of
+the humiliation and sorrow it entailed, the mysterious way in which the
+"Merry Maid" slipped her cable and drifted through heavy seas to a
+deserted island, where her crew lived the lives of girl Crusoes for many
+weeks, form a narrative of lively interest.
+
+In "MADGE MORTON'S TRUST" the further adventures of the "Merry Maid" were
+fully related. For the sake of the trip the happy houseboat girls saddled
+themselves with Miss Betsey Taylor, a crotchety spinster, who was
+troubled with nerves, and who offered to pay liberally for her passage on
+their cosy "Ship of Dreams."
+
+Madge's faith and unshakable trust in David Brewster, a poor young man
+who did the work on Tom Curtis's yacht, which made the trip with the
+"Merry Maid," her championing of David when suspicion pointed darkly
+toward him as a thief, and her unswerving loyalty to the unhappy youth
+until his innocence was established, revealed the little captain in the
+light of a staunch true comrade and doubly endeared her to all her
+companions.
+
+Madge heard Miss Matilda Tolliver announce that the valedictory would be
+delivered by Miss Madge Morton. Phyllis gave her companion a little
+nudge, and somehow Madge arrived at the front of the stage and stood
+under a huge arch of flowers. Just above her head swung a great bell.
+Everyone was smiling at her. Madge was seized with a dreadful case of
+stage fright. Her tongue felt dry and parched. She tried to speak, but no
+sound came forth.
+
+Mrs. Curtis's lovely face, with its crown of soft, white hair, smiled
+encouragingly at her. Tom was crimson with embarrassment. Lillian and
+Eleanor held each other's hands. Would Madge never begin her
+valedictory?
+
+She tried again. No one heard her except her friends and teachers on the
+stage. Her voice was no louder than a faint whisper.
+
+Miss Tolliver leaned over. "Madge, speak more distinctly," she ordered.
+
+Then the little captain realized that the most humiliating moment of her
+whole life had arrived. She had been selected as the valedictorian of her
+class, she had been chosen above her beloved Phil because of her gift as
+a speaker, yet she would be obliged to return to her seat without having
+delivered a line of her address. She would be disgraced forever!
+
+Madge's knees shook. Her lips trembled. Tears swam mistily in her eyes.
+She was a lovely picture despite her fright.
+
+At eighteen she was in the first glory of her youth, a tall, slender
+girl, with a curious warmth and glow of life. Her lips were deeply
+crimson, her hair a soft brown, with red and gold lights in it, and her
+eyes were full of the eagerness that foreshadows both happiness and
+pain.
+
+Phil and Miss Jenny Ann were exchanging glances of despair--Madge had
+broken down, there was no hope for her. Suddenly her face broke into one
+of its sunniest smiles. She lifted her head. Without glancing at the
+paper she held in her hand she began her address in a clear, penetrating
+voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+HOW IT WAS ALL ARRANGED
+
+
+Madge's valedictory address was almost over. She had spoken of
+"Friendship," what it meant to a girl at school and what it must mean to
+a woman when the larger and more important difficulties come into her
+life. "Schoolgirl friendships are of no small consequence," declaimed
+Madge; "the friendships made in youth are the truest, after all!"
+
+Phil listened to her chum's voice, her eyes misty with tears. Only a
+half-hour before she and her beloved Madge had come very near to having
+the first real quarrel of their lives. Phil turned her gaze from Madge to
+glance idly at the arch of flowers above her friend's head. Phil supposed
+that she must be dizzy from the heat of the room, or else that she could
+not see distinctly because of her tears; the arch seemed to be swaying
+lightly from side to side, as though it were blown by the wind. Yet the
+room was perfectly still. Phil looked again. She must be wrong. The arch
+was built of a framework of wood. It was heavy and she did not believe it
+would easily topple down.
+
+Madge was happily unconscious of the wobbling arch. A few more lines and
+her speech would be ended! There was unbroken silence in the roomy chapel
+of the girls' school, where the commencement exercises were being held.
+Suddenly some one in the back part of the room jumped to his feet. A
+hoarse voice shouted, "Madge!"
+
+Madge started in amazement. Her manuscript dropped to the ground. Every
+face but hers blanched with terror. The swaying arch was now visible to
+other people besides Phil. Tom leaped to his feet, but he was tightly
+wedged in between rows of women. Phil Alden made a forward spring just as
+the arch tumbled. She was not in time to save Madge, but some one else
+had saved her; for, before Phil could reach the front of the stage,
+Madge's name had been called again. Although the voice was an unknown
+one, Madge instinctively obeyed it. She made a little movement, leaning
+out to see who had summoned her, and the arch crashed down just at her
+back.
+
+The quick cry from the audience frightened Madge, whose face was turned
+away from the wreck. She swung around without discovering her rescuer.
+Some one had fallen on the stage. Phyllis Alden had reached her friend's
+side, not in time to save her, but to receive, herself, a heavy blow from
+the great bell that was suspended from the arch.
+
+Madge dropped on the stage at Phil's side, forgetting her speech and the
+presence of strangers.
+
+Miss Tolliver and Miss Jenny Ann lifted Phyllis before Dr. Alden had had
+time to reach the stage. There was a dark bruise over Phil's forehead. In
+a moment she opened her eyes and smiled. "I am not a bit hurt, Miss
+Matilda; _do_ let the exercises go on," she begged faintly. "Let Madge
+and me go up to the front of the stage and bow, Miss Matilda. Then I can
+show people that I am all right. We must not spoil our commencement in
+this way."
+
+Miss Matilda agreed to this, and Madge and Phyllis went forward to the
+center of the stage. A storm of applause greeted them. Madge and Phil
+were a little overcome at the ovation. Madge supposed that they were
+being applauded because of Phil's heroism, and Phil presumed that the
+demonstration was meant for Madge's valedictory, therefore neither girl
+knew just what to do.
+
+It was then that Miss Matilda Tolliver came forward. She was usually a
+very severe and imposing looking person. Most of her pupils were
+dreadfully afraid of her. But the accident that had so nearly injured her
+two favorite graduates had completely upset her nerves. Instead of making
+a formal speech, as she had planned to do, she stepped between the two
+girls, taking a hand of each. "I had meant to introduce Miss Alden a
+little later on to our friends at the commencement exercises," announced
+Miss Tolliver, "but I believe I would rather do it now. I wish to state
+that, although Miss Morton has delivered the valedictory, Miss Phyllis
+Alden's average during the four years she has spent at my preparatory
+school has been equally high. It was her wish that Miss Morton should be
+chosen to deliver the valedictory. But Miss Alden's friends have another
+honor which they wish to bestow upon her. She has been voted, without her
+knowledge, the most popular girl in my school. Her fellow students have
+asked me to present her with this pin as a mark of their affection."
+
+Miss Matilda leaned over, and before Phil could grasp what was happening
+had pinned in the soft folds of her organdie gown the class pin, which
+was usually an enameled shield with a crown of laurel above it; but the
+center of Phil's shield was formed of small rubies and the crown of tiny
+diamonds.
+
+Phyllis turned scarlet with embarrassment, but Madge's eyes sparkled with
+delight. She was no longer ashamed of having been chosen as
+valedictorian. In spite of herself, Phyllis Alden was the star of their
+commencement.
+
+It was not until the four girls were seated with their dear ones about a
+round luncheon table in the largest hotel in Harborpoint that Madge
+suddenly recalled the stranger whose warning cry had probably saved her
+from a serious hurt.
+
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom were entertaining in honor of Madge and Phyllis.
+There were no other guests except the two houseboat girls, Eleanor and
+Lillian, Dr. and Mrs. Alden, and Mr. and Mrs. Butler.
+
+Madge sat next to Tom Curtis, and during the progress of the luncheon
+managed to say softly: "Did you see who it was that called my name so
+strangely this morning, Tom? I was so frightened at having to deliver my
+valedictory that when I heard that sudden shout, 'Madge!' I was too much
+confused to recognize the voice."
+
+Tom shook his head. "I don't know who it was. I heard the voice but
+couldn't discover its owner. It must have been some one at the very back
+of the room, for no one in the audience seems to know who called out to
+you."
+
+"I suppose I'll never know," sighed Madge. "It is a real commencement day
+mystery, isn't it?"
+
+Tom nodded smilingly. "By the way, Madge, where are the houseboat girls
+going to spend the summer after you come to Madeleine's wedding?" he
+asked. "You must be tired after your winter's work."
+
+Madge shook her head soberly. "We are not going to be on the houseboat
+this year," she whispered. "Going to New York to be bridesmaids is about
+as much as four girls can arrange. We haven't even dared to think of the
+houseboat."
+
+"I have," interposed Phyllis, who had heard the remark and the reply,
+"but we don't wish our families to know. You see, Madge and I are hoping
+and planning to go to college next winter, so, of course, we can't afford
+another summer holiday," she ended under her breath.
+
+"What's that, Phil?" inquired Dr. Alden from the other end of the table.
+
+Phil blushed. "Nothing important, Father," she answered.
+
+"Oh, then I must have been mistaken," replied Dr. Alden, "for I thought I
+caught the magic word, 'houseboat.' No one of you girls has ever spoken
+of the 'Merry Maid' as unimportant."
+
+A cloud instantaneously overspread five faces about the luncheon table.
+Neither Mrs. Curtis nor Dr. Alden realized that in mentioning the
+houseboat they had forced the houseboat passengers to break a vow of
+silence. Only the day before the five of them had met in Miss Jenny Ann
+Jones's room. There they had solemnly pledged themselves that, since it
+was impossible for them to have this year's vacation aboard the "Merry
+Maid," they would bear the sorrow in silence. This time there was no
+"Miss Betsey" to pay the expenses of the trip. The girls and Miss Jenny
+Ann hadn't a dollar to spare. The cost of going to Madeleine Curtis's New
+York wedding was appalling to all of the girls except Lillian, whose
+parents were in affluent circumstances. But, of course, Madeleine was
+almost a houseboat girl herself. Readers of the first houseboat story
+will recall how Madeleine's fiancé, Judge Hilliard, rescued Madge and
+Phyllis from a serious situation and saved Madeleine from a far worse
+plight than that in which he found the two girls.
+
+"Mrs. Curtis," remarked Dr. Alden in the midst of the mournful silence,
+"Mr. and Mrs. Butler, my wife and I have just been talking things over.
+We have decided that it would be a good thing for our girls to spend
+several weeks on board their houseboat. But, of course, if they have
+decided differently----"
+
+It was a good thing that Mrs. Curtis was not giving a formal luncheon. A
+united shriek of delight suddenly arose from four throats. Madge sprang
+from the table to hug her uncle, Eleanor blew kisses to her mother from
+across the room, Lillian clapped both hands, and Miss Jenny Ann smiled
+rapturously.
+
+Phil's face was the only serious one. "Are you sure we can afford it,
+Father?" she queried.
+
+Dr. Alden nodded convincingly. "For a few weeks, certainly," he
+returned.
+
+"Then we don't need to worry about afterward," rejoined Madge. "And don't
+you think, girls, it will be perfectly great, so long as we are going to
+Madeleine's wedding in New York, for us to spend this holiday at the
+seashore?"
+
+"Where, Madge?" asked Lillian.
+
+"I'll tell you," answered Mrs. Curtis, "only, not to-day. It is a secret.
+Here is our pineapple lemonade. Let's hope for the happiest of holidays
+for the little captain and her crew aboard the good ship 'Merry Maid'."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+TANIA, A PRINCESS
+
+
+"Madge, do you think there is any chance that Tom won't meet us?"
+inquired Eleanor Butler nervously. "I do wish we could have come on to
+New York with Lillian, Phil, and Miss Jenny Ann instead of making that
+visit to Baltimore. It seems so funny that they have been in New York two
+whole days before us. I suppose they have seen Madeleine's presents, and
+our bridesmaids' dresses--and everything!"
+
+Eleanor sighed as she leaned back luxuriously in the chair of the Pullman
+coach, gazing down the aisle at her fellow passengers.
+
+Madge was occupied in staring very hard at her reflection in the small
+mirror between her seat and Eleanor's. She had wrinkled her small nose
+and was surreptitiously applying powder to the tip end of it.
+
+"Of course Tom and the girls will meet us, Eleanor," she replied
+emphatically. "Tom would expect us to be lost forever if we were to be
+turned loose in New York by ourselves. Oh, dear me, isn't it too splendid
+that we are going to be Madeleine's bridesmaids? I wonder if we shall
+look very 'country' before so many society people?"
+
+"Of course we shall," returned Eleanor calmly. "You need not look at
+yourself again in that mirror. You are very well satisfied with yourself,
+aren't you?" teased Eleanor.
+
+Madge blushed and laughed. "I _do_ like our clothes, Nellie," she
+admitted candidly. "You know perfectly well that we have never had
+tailored suits before in our lives. You do look too sweet in that pale
+gray, like a little nun. That pink rose in your hat gives just the touch
+of color you need. I am sure I don't see why you are so sure we shall
+seem countrified," ended Madge. She had liked her reflection in the
+glass. She wore a light-weight blue serge traveling suit without a
+wrinkle in it, a spotless white linen waist, and her new hat was
+particularly attractive. Her cheeks were becomingly flushed and her eyes
+glowed with the excitement of arriving for the first time in New York
+City.
+
+"We are almost in Jersey City now, aren't we, Madge?" exclaimed Eleanor,
+making a leap for her bag, which promptly tumbled out of the rack above
+and fell directly on the head of a young man who was walking down the
+aisle of the car.
+
+Madge giggled. Eleanor, however, was crimson with mortification. The
+young man did not appear to be pleased. The girls had a brief glimpse of
+him. He had blue eyes and sandy hair and was exceedingly tall. Eleanor's
+bag had knocked his glasses off and he was obliged to stoop in search of
+them in the aisle.
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry," apologized Eleanor in her soft, Southern voice, as
+she picked up the glasses and restored them to their owner. "I am glad
+they were not broken."
+
+The young man paid not the slightest attention to her apology.
+
+"Hurry, Nellie," advised Madge, "it is nearly time for us to get off the
+train and your hat is on crooked. Don't be such a timid little goose! You
+are actually trembling. Of course Tom or some one will meet us, and if
+they don't I shall not be in the least frightened." Madge announced this
+grandly. "That whistle means we are entering Jersey City. We will find
+Tom waiting for us at the gate."
+
+Eleanor obediently followed Madge out of their coach. The little captain
+seemed older and more self-confident since she had been graduated at Miss
+Tolliver's, but Nellie hoped devoutly that her cousin would not become
+imbued with the impression that she was really grown-up. It would spoil
+their good times.
+
+The two girls had never seen such a headlong rush of people in their
+lives. They clung desperately to their bags when a porter attempted to
+carry them. A man bumped violently against Madge, but he made no effort
+to apologize as he rushed on through the crowd.
+
+"I never saw so many people in such a hurry in my life," declared Nellie
+pettishly. "They behave as though they thought New York City were on fire
+and they were all rushing to put the fire out. I shall be glad when Tom
+takes charge of us."
+
+Once through the great iron gates the girls looked anxiously about for
+Tom, but saw no trace of him.
+
+"I suppose Tom must have missed the ferry," declared Madge with pretended
+cheerfulness. "We shall have to wait here for only about ten minutes
+until the next ferry boat comes across from New York."
+
+When fifteen minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Tom, Madge
+began to feel worried.
+
+"Madge, I am sure you have made some kind of mistake," argued Eleanor
+plaintively. "I know Mrs. Curtis would not fail to have some one here on
+time to meet us for anything in the world. Perhaps Tom wrote for us to
+come across the ferry, and that he would meet us on the New York side.
+Where is his letter?"
+
+"It is in my trunk, Nellie," replied Madge in a crestfallen manner. She
+was not nearly so grown-up or so sure of herself as she had been half an
+hour before. "I know it was silly in me not to have brought Tom's letter
+with me, but I was so sure that I knew just what it said. Perhaps we had
+better go on over to New York. Let's hurry. Perhaps that boat is just
+about to start."
+
+The two young women hurried aboard the boat, which left the dock a moment
+later, just as a tall, fair-haired young man, accompanied by two girls,
+hurried upon the scene. The young man was Tom Curtis and the young women
+were Phyllis Alden and Lillian Seldon.
+
+In the meantime Madge and her cousin had crossed the river and had landed
+on the New York side. What was the dreadful roar and rumble that met
+their ears? It sounded like an earthquake, with the noise of frightened
+people shrieking above it. After a horrified moment it dawned on the two
+little strangers that this was only the usual roar of New York, which Tom
+Curtis had so often described to them.
+
+"There isn't any use of our staying here very long, Eleanor," declared
+Madge, feeling a great wave of loneliness and fear sweep over her. "An
+accident must have happened to Tom's automobile on his way to the train
+to meet us. I am afraid we were foolish not to have stayed at the Jersey
+City station. I am sure Tom wrote he would meet us there. I have behaved
+like a perfect goose. It is because I boasted so much about not being
+frightened and knowing what to do. But I _do_ know Mrs. Curtis's address.
+We can take a cab and drive up there."
+
+Eleanor would fall in with Madge's plans to a certain point; then she
+would strike. Now she positively refused to get into a cab. Her mother
+and father and Miss Jenny Ann had warned her never to trust herself in a
+cab in a strange city. New York was too terrifying! Eleanor would search
+for Mrs. Curtis's home on foot, in a car, or a bus, but in a cab she
+would not ride.
+
+Madge was obliged to give in gracefully. A policeman showed the girls to
+a Twenty-third Street car. He explained that when they came to the Third
+Avenue L they must get out of the car and take the elevated train uptown,
+since Madge had explained to him that Mrs. Curtis lived on Seventieth
+Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues.
+
+There was only one point that the policeman failed to make clear to
+Eleanor and Madge. He neglected to tell them that elevated trains, as
+well as other cars, travel both up and down New York City, and the way to
+discover which way the "L" train is moving is to consult the signs on the
+steps that lead up to the elevated road. The policeman supposed that the
+two young women would make this observation for themselves. Of course,
+under ordinary circumstances, Madge and Nellie would have been more
+sensible, but they were frightened and confused at the bare idea of being
+alone in New York and consequently lost their heads, and they dashed up
+the Third Avenue elevated steps without looking for signs, settled
+themselves in the train and were off, as they supposed, for Seventieth
+Street.
+
+They were too much interested in gazing into upstairs windows, where
+hundreds of people were at work in tiny, dark rooms, to pay much
+attention to the first stops at stations that their train made. They knew
+they were still some distance from Mrs. Curtis's. Madge was completely
+fascinated at the spectacle of a fat, frowsy woman holding a baby by its
+skirt on the sill of a six-story tenement house. Just as the car went by
+the baby made a leap toward the train. Madge smothered her scream as the
+woman jerked the child out of danger just in time. Then it suddenly
+occurred to her that this was hardly the kind of neighborhood in which to
+find Mrs. Curtis's house. The sign at the next stop was a name and not a
+street number. It could not be possible that she and Eleanor had made
+another mistake!
+
+Madge hurried back to the end of the car to find the conductor.
+
+"We wish to get out at the nearest station to Seventieth Street and
+Lexington Avenue," she declared timidly.
+
+The man paid not the slightest attention to her. Madge repeated her
+question in a somewhat bolder tone.
+
+"You ain't going to get off near Seventieth Street for some time if you
+keep a-traveling away from it," retorted the conductor crossly. "You've
+got on a downtown 'L' 'stead of an up. Better change at the next station.
+You'll find an uptown train across the street," the man ended more
+kindly, seeing the look of consternation on Madge's white face.
+
+The girls walked sadly down the elevated steps, dragging their bags,
+which seemed to grow heavier with every moment. They found themselves in
+one of the downtown foreign slums of New York City. It was a bright,
+early summer afternoon. The streets were swarming with grown people and
+children. Pushcarts lined the sidewalks. On an opposite corner a hand
+organ played an Italian song. In front of it was a small open space,
+encircled by a group of idle men and women. Before the organ danced a
+little figure that Madge and Eleanor stopped to watch. They forgot their
+own bewilderment in gazing at the strange sight. The dancer was a little
+girl about twelve years old, as thin as a wraith. Her hair was black and
+hung in straight, short locks to her shoulders. Her eyes were so big and
+burned so brightly that it was difficult to notice any other feature of
+her face. The child looked like a tropical flower. Her face was white,
+but her cheeks glowed with two scarlet patches. She flung her little arms
+over her head, pirouetted and stood on her tip toes. She did not seem to
+see the curious crowd about her, but kept her eyes turned toward the sky.
+Her dancing was as much a part of nature as the summer sunshine, and
+Madge and Eleanor were bewitched.
+
+A rough woman came out of a nearby doorway. She stood with her hands on
+her hips looking in the direction of the music. "Tania!" she called
+angrily. Elbowing her way through the crowd, she jostled Madge as she
+passed by her. "Tania!" she cried again. The men and women spectators let
+the woman make her way through them as though they knew her and were
+afraid of her heavy fist. Only the child appeared to be unconscious of
+the woman's approach. Suddenly a big, red arm was thrust out. It caught
+the little girl by the skirt. With the other hand she rained down blows
+on the child's upturned face. One blow followed the other in swift
+succession. The little dancer made no outcry. She simply put one thin arm
+over her head for protection.
+
+The music went on gayly. No one of the watching men and women tried to
+stop the woman's brutality. But Madge was not used to the indifference of
+the New York crowd. Like a flash of lightning she darted away from
+Eleanor and rushed over to the woman, who was dragging the child along
+and cuffing her at each step.
+
+"Stop striking that child!" she ordered sharply. "How can you be so
+cruel? You are a wicked, heartless woman!"
+
+The woman paid no attention to Madge. She did not seem even to have heard
+her, but lifted her big, coarse arm for another blow.
+
+Madge's breath came in swift gasps. "Don't strike that child again," she
+repeated. "I don't know who she is, nor what she has done, but she is too
+little for you to beat her like that. I won't endure it," the little
+captain ended in sudden passion.
+
+The woman turned her cruel, bloodshot eyes slowly toward Madge. She was
+one of the strongest and most brutal characters in the slums of New York,
+and few dared to oppose her. She was even a terror to the policemen in
+the neighborhood.
+
+"Git out!" she said briefly.
+
+Her arm descended. It did not strike the child. Quick as a flash, Madge
+Morton had flung herself between the woman and the child. For a moment
+the blow almost stunned the girl. The East Side crowd closed in on the
+girl and the woman. If there was going to be a fight, the spectators did
+not intend to miss it. Eleanor was numb with fear and sympathy. She did
+not know whether to be more frightened for Madge than sorry for the
+child.
+
+The woman's face was mottled and crimson with anger. Madge's face was
+very white. She held her head high and looked her enemy full in the
+face.
+
+"Git out of this and stop your interferin'!" shouted the virago. "This
+here child belongs to me and I'll do what I like with her. If you are one
+of them social settlers coming around into poor people's places and
+meddlin' with their business, you'd better git back where you belong or
+I'll social-settle you."
+
+At this moment a thin, hot hand caught hold of Madge's and pulled it
+gently. Madge gazed down into a little face, whose expression she never
+forgot. It was whiter than it had been before. The scarlet color had gone
+out of the cheeks and the big, black eyes burned brighter. But there was
+not the slightest trace of fear in the look. Instead, the child's lips
+were curved into an elf-like smile.
+
+"Don't stay here, lady, please," she begged. "The ogress will be horrid
+to you. She can't hurt me. You see, I am an enchanted Princess."
+
+An instant later the child received a savage blow from the woman's hard
+hand full in the face without shrinking. It was Madge who winced. Tears
+rose to her eyes. She put her arms about the child and tried to shelter
+her.
+
+"Don't be calling me no names, Tania," the woman cried, dragging at the
+child's thin skirts. "Jest you come along home with me and you'll git
+what is comin' to you, you good-for-nothin' little imp."
+
+"Is she your mother?" asked Madge doubtfully, gazing at the brutal woman
+and the strange child.
+
+Tania shook her black head scornfully. "Oh, dear, no," she answered. "It
+is only that I have to live with her now, while I am under the
+enchantment. Some day, when the wicked spell is broken, I shall go away,
+perhaps to a wonderful castle. My name is Titania. I think it means that
+I am the Queen of the Fairies."
+
+The woman laughed brutishly. "Queen of gutter, you are, Miss Tania. I'll
+tan you," she jeered, as she dragged the little girl from Madge's arms.
+
+The little captain looked despairingly about her. There, a calm witness
+of the entire scene, was a big New York policeman. "Officer," commanded
+Madge indignantly, "make that woman leave that child alone."
+
+The big policeman looked sheepish. "I can't do nothing with Sal," he
+protested. "If I make her stop beating Tania now, she'll only be meaner
+to her when she gets her indoors. Best leave 'em alone, I think. I have
+interfered, but the child says she don't mind. I don't think she does,
+somehow; she's such a queer young 'un'."
+
+Sal was now engaged in shaking Tania as she pushed her along in front of
+her. Madge and Eleanor were in despair.
+
+Suddenly a well-dressed young man appeared in the crowd. There was
+something oddly familiar in his appearance to Eleanor, but she failed to
+remember where she had seen him before. "Sal!" he called out sharply,
+"leave Tania alone!"
+
+Instantly the woman obeyed him. She slunk back into her open doorway. The
+crowd melted as though by magic; they also recognized the young man's
+authority. A moment later he was gone. Madge, Eleanor, and the strange
+little girl stood on the street corner almost alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE UNINVITED GUEST
+
+
+"Are you good fairies who have strayed away from home?" inquired Tania,
+calmly gazing first at Madge and then at Eleanor. She was perfectly
+self-possessed and asked her question as though it were the most natural
+one in the world.
+
+The two girls stared hard at the child. Was her mind affected, or was she
+playing a game with them? Tania seemed not in the least disturbed. "Do go
+away now," she urged. "I am all right, but something may happen to you."
+
+"You odd little thing!" laughed Madge. "We are not fairies. We are girls
+and we are lost. We are on our way to visit a friend, Mrs. Curtis, who
+lives on Seventieth Street near Fifth Avenue. She will be dreadfully
+worried about us if we don't hurry on. But what can we do for you? We
+can't take you with us, yet you must not go back to that wicked woman."
+
+"Oh, yes, I must," returned Tania cheerfully. "I am not afraid of her.
+When the time comes I shall go away."
+
+"But who will take care of you, baby?" asked Eleanor. "Fairies don't live
+in big cities like New York. They live only in beautiful green woods and
+fields."
+
+The black head nodded wisely. "Good fairies are everywhere," she
+declared. "But I can make handfuls of pennies when I like," she continued
+boastfully. "Let me show you how you must go on your way."
+
+"You can't possibly know, little girl," replied Madge gently. "It is so
+far from here."
+
+However, it was Tania who finally saw the two lost houseboat girls on
+board the elevated train that would take them to within a few blocks of
+their destination. Tania explained that she knew almost all of New York,
+and particularly she liked to wander up and down Fifth Avenue to gaze at
+the beautiful palaces. She was not young, she was really dreadfully
+old--almost thirteen!
+
+The last look Madge and Eleanor had of Tania the child had apparently
+forgotten all about them. She was gazing up in the air, above all the
+traffic and roar of New York, with a happy smile on her elfish face.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+"My dear children, I wouldn't have had it happen for worlds!" was Mrs.
+Curtis's first greeting as she came out from behind the rose-colored
+curtains of her drawing room. "Tom has been telephoning me frantically
+for the past hour. How did he and the girls miss you? You poor dears, you
+must be nearly tired to death after your unpleasant experience."
+
+While Mrs. Curtis was talking she was leading her visitors up a beautiful
+carved oak staircase to the floor above. Her house was so handsomely
+furnished that Madge and Eleanor were startled at its luxurious
+appointments.
+
+Mrs. Curtis brought her guests into a large sleeping room which opened
+into another bedroom which was for the use of Phil and Lillian.
+
+Madeleine was to be married the next afternoon at four o 'clock. The
+girls had not brought their bridesmaids' dresses along with them, as Mrs.
+Curtis had asked to be allowed to present them with their gowns.
+
+It was all that Madge could do not to beg Mrs. Curtis to show them their
+frocks. She hoped that their hostess would offer to do so, but during the
+rest of the day their time was occupied in seeing Madeleine, her hundreds
+of beautiful wedding gifts, meeting Judge Hilliard all over again, and
+being introduced to Mrs. Curtis's other guests. The four girls went to
+bed at midnight, thinking of their bridesmaids' gowns, but without having
+had the chance even to inquire about them.
+
+Mrs. Curtis belonged to the old and infinitely more aristocratic portion
+of New York society. She did not belong to the new smart set, which
+numbers nearer four thousand, and does so much to make society
+ridiculous. Madeleine had asked that she might be married very quietly.
+She had never become used to the gay world of fashion after her strange
+and unhappy youth. It made the girls and their teacher smile to see what
+Mrs. Curtis considered a quiet wedding.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann and her four charges had their coffee and rolls in Madge's
+room the next morning at about nine o'clock. Madge peeped out of the
+doorway, there were so many odd noises in the hall. The upstairs hall was
+a mass of beautiful evergreens. Men were hanging garlands of smilax on
+the balusters. The house was heavy with the scent of American Beauty
+roses. But there was no sign of Mrs. Curtis or of Madeleine or Tom, and
+still no mention of the bridesmaids' costumes for the girls.
+
+Lillian Seldon was looking extremely forlorn. "Suppose Mrs. Curtis has
+forgotten our frocks!" she suggested tragically, as Madge came back with
+her report of the house's decorations. "She has had such an awful lot to
+attend to that she may not have remembered that she offered to give us
+our frocks. Won't it be dreadful if Madeleine has to be married without
+our being bridesmaids after all?"
+
+"O Lillian! what a dreadful idea!" exclaimed Eleanor.
+
+Even Phyllis looked sober and Miss Jenny Ann looked exceedingly
+uncomfortable.
+
+"O, you geese! cheer up!" laughed Madge. "I know Mrs. Curtis would not
+disappoint us for worlds. Why, she has all our measures. She couldn't
+forget. Oh, dear, does my breakfast gown look all right? There is some
+one knocking at our door. It may be that Mrs. Curtis has sent up our
+frocks."
+
+"Then open the door, for goodness' sake," begged Eleanor. "Your breakfast
+gown is lovely; only at home we called it a wrapper, but then you were
+not visiting on Fifth Avenue."
+
+Madge made a saucy little face at Eleanor. Then she saw a group of
+persons standing just outside their bedroom door. A man-servant held four
+enormous white boxes in his arms; a maid was almost obscured by four
+other boxes equally large. Behind her servants stood Mrs. Curtis, smiling
+radiantly, while Tom was peeping over his mother's shoulder.
+
+Madge clasped her hands fervently, breathing a quick sigh of relief. "Our
+bridesmaids' dresses! I'm too delighted for words."
+
+"Were you thinking about them, dear?" apologized Mrs. Curtis. "I ought to
+have sent the frocks to you sooner, but I wanted to bring them myself,
+and this is the first moment I have had. You'll let Tom come in to see
+them, too, won't you?"
+
+The man-servant departed, but Mrs. Curtis kept the maid to help her lift
+out the gowns from the billows of white tissue paper that enfolded them.
+She lifted out one dress, Miss Jenny Ann another, and the maid the other
+two.
+
+The girls were speechless with pleasure.
+
+Mrs. Curtis, however, was disappointed. Perhaps the girls did not like
+the costumes. She had used her own taste without consulting them. Then
+she glanced at the little group and was reassured by their radiant
+faces.
+
+"O you wonderful fairy godmother!" exclaimed Madge. "Cinderella's dress
+at the ball couldn't have been half so lovely!"
+
+Madeleine's wedding was to be in white and green. The bridesmaids' frocks
+were of the palest green silk, covered with clouds of white chiffon.
+About the bottom of the skirts were bands of pale green satin and the
+chiffon was caught here and there with embroidered wreaths of lilies of
+the valley. The hats were of white chip, ornamented with white and pale
+green plumes.
+
+It was small wonder that four young girls, three of them poor, should
+have been awestruck at the thought of appearing in such gowns.
+
+"I shall save mine for my own wedding dress!" exclaimed Eleanor.
+
+"I shall make my début in mine," insisted Lillian.
+
+"We can't thank you enough," declared Phyllis, a little overcome by so
+much grandeur.
+
+Tom was standing in a far corner of the room.
+
+"I would like to suggest that I be allowed to come into this," he
+demanded firmly.
+
+"You, Tom?" teased Madge. "You're merely the audience."
+
+Tom took four small square boxes out of his pocket. "Don't you be too
+sure, Miss Madge Morton. My future brother-in-law, Judge Robert Hilliard,
+has commissioned me to present his gifts to his bridesmaids. Madge shall
+be the last person to see in these boxes, just for her unkind treatment
+of me."
+
+"All right, Tom," agreed Madge; "I don't think I could stand anything
+more just at this instant."
+
+Nevertheless Madge peeped over Phil's shoulder. Judge Hilliard had
+presented each one of the houseboat girls with an exquisite little pin,
+an enameled model of their houseboat, done in white and blue, the colors
+of the "Merry Maid."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+The wedding was over. There were still a few guests in the dining room
+saying good-bye to Mrs. Curtis and Tom; but Madeleine and Judge Hilliard
+had gone. The four girls and Miss Jenny Ann found a resting place in the
+beautiful French music room.
+
+Madeleine's wedding presents were in the library, just behind the music
+room.
+
+"It was simply perfect, wasn't it, Miss Jenny Ann?" breathed Lillian, as
+they drew their chairs together for a talk.
+
+"Madeleine must be perfectly happy," sighed Eleanor sentimentally. "Judge
+Hilliard is so good-looking."
+
+"Oh, dear me!" broke in Madge, coming out of a brown study. She was
+sitting in a big carved French chair. "I don't see how Madeleine Curtis
+could have left her mother and this beautiful home for any man in the
+world. I am sure if I had such an own mother I should never leave her,"
+finished the little captain.
+
+"Until some one came along whom you loved better," interposed Miss Jenny
+Ann.
+
+"That could never be, Miss Jenny Ann," declared Madge stoutly, her blue
+eyes wistful. "Why, if my father is alive and I find him, I shall never
+leave him for anybody else."
+
+"What's that noise?" demanded Phyllis sharply.
+
+It was after six o'clock and the Curtis home was brilliantly lighted. The
+window blinds were all closed. But there was a curious rapping and
+scratching at one of the windows that opened into a small side yard.
+
+"It may be one of the servants," suggested Miss Jenny Ann, listening
+intently.
+
+"It can't be," rejoined Madge. "No one of them would make such a strange
+noise."
+
+"I think I had better call Tom," breathed Eleanor faintly. "It must be a
+burglar trying to steal Madeleine's wedding gifts."
+
+Madge shook her head. "Wait, please," she whispered. She ran to the
+window. There was the faint scratching noise again! Madge lifted the
+shade quickly. Perched on the window sill was the oddest figure that ever
+stepped out of the pages of a fairy book. It was impossible to see just
+what it was, yet it looked like a little girl. One hand clung to the
+window facing, a small nose pressed against the pane.
+
+"Why, it's a child!" exclaimed Miss Jenny Ann in tones of relief. "Open
+the window and let her come in."
+
+Madge flung open the window. Light as a thistledown, the unexpected
+little visitor landed in the center of the room.
+
+Madge and Eleanor had completely forgotten the elfin child they had met
+in the slums of New York City; but now she appeared among them just as
+mysteriously as though she were the fairy she pretended to be.
+
+She wore a small red coat that was half a dozen sizes too tiny for her.
+Her skirt was patched with odds and ends of bright flowered materials. On
+her head perched a cap, a scarlet flower, cut from an odd scrap of old
+wall paper. In her hands Tania clasped a ridiculous bundle, done up in a
+dirty handkerchief.
+
+"You strange little witch!" exclaimed Madge. "However did you find your
+way here? Be very still and good until the lovely lady who owns this
+house sees you, then I wouldn't be at all surprised if she gave you some
+cake and ice cream before she sends you away."
+
+Tania sat down in the corner still as a mouse. Her thin knees were
+hunched close together. She held her poor bundle tightly. Her big black
+eyes grew larger and darker with wonder as she had her first glimpse of a
+fairyland, outside her own imagination, in the beautiful room and the
+group of lovely girls who occupied it.
+
+Mrs. Curtis came in a minute later, followed by a man who had been one of
+the guests at the wedding. Madge, Eleanor, and Tania recognized him
+instantly. He was the young man who had protected Tania from the blows of
+the brutal woman the afternoon before, but Tania did not seem pleased to
+see him. Her face flushed hotly, her lips quivered, though she made no
+sound.
+
+Mrs. Curtis smiled quizzically. Madge could see that there were tears
+behind her smiles. "Who is our latest guest, Madge?" she asked, gazing
+kindly at the odd little person.
+
+Tania rose gravely from her place on the floor. "I am a fairy who has
+been under the spell of a wicked witch," she asserted with solemnity,
+"but now the spell is broken and I've run away from her. I shan't go back
+ever any more."
+
+Mrs. Curtis's young man guest took the child firmly by the shoulders.
+
+"What do you mean by coming here to trouble these young ladies?" he
+demanded sternly. "I thought I recognized your friends, Mrs. Curtis. They
+saved this child yesterday from a punishment she probably well deserved.
+She is one of the children in our slum neighborhood that we have not been
+able to reach. I will take her back to her home with me at once."
+
+The child's head was high in the air. She caught her breath. Her eyes had
+a queer, eerie look in them. "You can't take me back now," she insisted.
+"The spell is broken. I shall never see old Sal again."
+
+Madge put her arm about the small witch girl. "Let her stay here just
+to-night, Mrs. Curtis, please," begged Madge earnestly. "I wish to find
+out something about her. I will look after her and see that she does not
+do any harm."
+
+Quite seriously and gently Tania knelt on one knee and kissed Mrs.
+Curtis's hand. "Let me stay. I shall be on my way again in the morning,"
+she pleaded, "but I am a little afraid of the night."
+
+"My dear child," said Mrs. Curtis, gently drawing the waif to her side,
+"you are far too little to be running away from home. You may stay here
+to-night, then to-morrow we will see what we can do for you. I won't
+trouble you with her to-night, Philip," she added, turning to her guest.
+
+"It will be no trouble," returned Philip Holt blandly. "She lives less
+than an hour's ride from here. Her foster mother will be greatly worried
+at her absence."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked hesitatingly at Tania, who had been listening with
+alert ears. The child's black eyes took on a look of lively terror.
+"Please, please let me stay," she begged, clasping her thin little hands
+in anxious appeal.
+
+"Won't you let Tania stay here to-night, Mrs. Curtis?" asked Madge for
+the second time. "I am sorry to disagree with Mr. Holt, but I do not
+believe that poor little Tania is either lawless or incorrigible. The
+woman who claims her is the most cruel, brutal-looking person I ever saw.
+I am sure she is not Tania's mother. Let me keep her here to-night, and
+to-morrow I will inquire into her case."
+
+"Very well, Madge," said Mrs. Curtis reluctantly. She glanced toward
+Philip Holt. His eyes, however, were fixed upon Madge with an expression
+of disapproval and dislike. For the first time it occurred to Mrs. Curtis
+that Philip Holt might be very disagreeable if thwarted. She immediately
+dismissed the thought as unworthy when the young man said smoothly: "I
+shall be only too glad to have Miss Morton investigate the child's
+record. I am sorry that my word has not been sufficient to convince
+her."
+
+Madge made no reply to this thrust. Then an awkward silence ensued. Mrs.
+Curtis looked annoyed, Tania triumphant, Madge belligerent, and the other
+girls sympathetic. Making a strong effort, Philip Holt controlled his
+anger and, extending his hand to Mrs. Curtis, said: "Pray, pardon my
+interference. I was prompted to speak merely in your interest. I trust I
+shall see you again in the near future. Good night." He bowed coldly to
+the young women and took his departure.
+
+"What a disagreeable----" Madge stopped abruptly. Her face flushed. "I
+beg your pardon, Mrs. Curtis," she said contritely. "I shouldn't have
+spoken my mind aloud."
+
+"I forgive you, my dear," there was a slight tone of constraint in Mrs.
+Curtis's voice, "but I am sure if you knew Mr. Holt as I do you would
+have an entirely different opinion of him."
+
+"Perhaps I should," returned Madge politely, but in her heart she knew
+that she and Philip Holt were destined not to be friends, but bitter
+enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TANIA, A PROBLEM
+
+
+"Don't you think it would be a splendid plan for Tania?" asked Madge
+eagerly. "Miss Jenny Ann and the girls are willing she should come to us.
+Tania is such a fascinating little person, with her dreams and her
+pretences, that she is the best kind of company. Besides, I am awfully
+sorry for her."
+
+Mrs. Curtis and Madge were seated in the latter's bedroom indulging in
+one of their old-time confidential talks.
+
+"Tania would be a great deal of care for you, Madge," argued Mrs. Curtis.
+"She is worrying my maids almost distracted with her foolishness. Last
+night she wrapped herself in a sheet and frightened poor Norah almost to
+death by dancing in the moonlight. She explained to Norah that she was
+pretending that she was a moonflower swaying in the wind. I wonder where
+the child got such odd fancies and bits of information? She has never
+seen a moonflower in her life." Mrs. Curtis laughed and frowned at the
+same time. "Poor little daughter of the tenements! She is indeed a
+problem."
+
+"Shall I tell you all I have been able to find out about Tania?" asked
+Madge. "Her history is quite like a story-book tale. I think her father
+and mother were actors, but the father died when Tania was only a little
+baby. That is why, I suppose, they called the child by such an absurd
+name as 'Titania.' I looked it up and it comes from Shakespeare's play of
+'Midsummer Night's Dream.' I think perhaps her mother was just a dancer,
+or had only a small part in the plays in which she appeared, for they
+never had any money. Tania has lived in a tenement always. The mother
+used to take care of her baby when she could, and then leave her to the
+neighbors. But the mother must have been unusual, too, for she taught
+Tania all sorts of poetry and music when Tania was only a tiny child.
+Indeed, Tania knows a great deal more about literature than I do now,"
+confessed Madge honestly. "It isn't so strange, after all, that Tania
+pretends. Why, she and her mother used to play at pretending together.
+When they sat down to their dinner they used to rub their old lamp and
+play that it was Aladdin's wonderful lamp, and that their poor table was
+spread with a wonderful feast, instead of just bread and cheese. They
+tried to make light of their poverty."
+
+Mrs. Curtis's eyes were full of tears. She could understand better than
+Madge the scene the young girl pictured.
+
+"Tania was eight years old when her mother died," finished Madge
+pensively. "Since then poor Tania has had such a dreadful time, living
+with that wretched old Sal, who has made a regular slavey of her, and she
+just had to go on with her pretending in order to be able to bear her
+life at all."
+
+Madge and Mrs. Curtis were both silent for a moment. The bright June
+sunshine flooded the room, offering a sharp contrast to Tania's sad
+little story.
+
+"You see why I wish to take her on the houseboat," pleaded Madge. "It
+seems so wonderful that we are going to Cape May and will be on the
+really seashore, near you and Tom, that each one of us feels the desire
+to do something for somebody just to show how happy we are. Miss Jenny
+Ann says we may take Tania, if you think it wouldn't be unwise."
+
+"She ought to go to school, Madge," argued Mrs. Curtis half-heartedly.
+"Tania does not know any of the things she should. Philip Holt, who does
+so much good work among the poor in Tania's tenement district, says that
+the child is most unreliable and does not tell the truth."
+
+Madge wrinkled her nose with the familiar expression she wore when
+annoyed. Her investigations had proved Philip Holt a liar, but she
+refrained from saying so.
+
+"You don't like Philip, do you?" continued Mrs. Curtis. "It isn't fair to
+have prejudices without reason. Mr. Holt is a fine young man and does
+splendid work among the poor. Madeleine and I have entrusted him with the
+most of the money we have given to charity. I am sorry that you girls
+don't like him, because he is coming to visit me at Cape May this
+summer."
+
+Madge dutifully stifled her vague feeling of regret. "Of course, we will
+try to like him, if he is your friend," she replied loyally. "It was only
+that we thought Mr. Holt had a terribly superior manner for such a young
+man, and looked too 'goody-goody'! But you have not answered me yet about
+Tania. Do let us have Tania. I'll teach her lots of things this summer,
+and it won't be so hard for her when she goes to school in the fall. She
+is pretty good with me."
+
+"Very well," consented Mrs. Curtis reluctantly, "for this summer only.
+The child will get you into difficulties, but I suppose they won't be
+serious. What is Madge Morton going to do next fall? Is she going to
+college with Phil, or is she coming to be my daughter?"
+
+Madge lowered her red-brown head. "I don't know, dear," she faltered.
+"You know I have said all along to Uncle and Aunt that, just as soon as I
+was grown up, I was going to start out to find my father. I shall be
+nineteen next winter. It surely is time for me to begin."
+
+"But, Madge, dear, you can't find your father unless you know where to
+look for him. The world is a very large place! I am sorry"--Mrs. Curtis
+smoothed Madge's soft hair tenderly--"but I agree with your uncle and
+aunt; your father must be dead. Were he alive he would surely have tried
+to find his little daughter long before this. Your uncle and aunt have
+never heard from or of him during all these years."
+
+"I don't feel sure that he is dead," returned Madge thoughtfully. "You
+see, my father disappeared after his court-martial in the Navy. He never
+dreamed that some day his superior officer would confess his own guilt
+and declare Father innocent. I can't, I won't, believe he is dead.
+Somewhere in this world he lives and some day I shall find him, I am sure
+of it. Phil, Lillian and Eleanor have all pledged themselves to my cause,
+too," she added, smiling faintly.
+
+"I'll do all that I can to help you, Madge. Just have a good time this
+summer, and in the autumn, perhaps, there may be some information for you
+to work on. What is that dreadful noise? I never heard anything like it
+in my house before!" exclaimed Mrs. Curtis.
+
+Madge sprang to her feet. There was the sound of a heavy fall in the next
+room, a scream, then a discreet knock on Madge's door.
+
+"Come!" commanded Mrs. Curtis.
+
+The door opened and the butler appeared in the doorway, his solemn, red
+face redder and more solemn than usual.
+
+"Please, it's that child again," he said. "While the young ladies was out
+in the automobile with Mr. Tom, she went in their room, emptied out one
+of their trunks and shut herself inside. She said she was 'Hope' and the
+trunk was 'Pandory's Box,' or some such crazy foolishness. She meant to
+jump out when the young ladies came back, but Norah went into the room
+with some clean towels, and when the little one bobs her head out of that
+box, just like a black witch, poor Norah is scared out of her wits and
+drops on the floor all of a heap. If that child doesn't go away from here
+soon, Ma'am, I don't know how we can ever bear it."
+
+"That will do, Richards," answered Mrs. Curtis coldly. But Madge could
+see that she was dreadfully vexed at Tania's latest naughtiness.
+
+The little captain gave Mrs. Curtis a penitent hug. "It is all my fault,
+dear. I should never have brought the little witch here," she murmured.
+"I'll go and make it all right with Norah and see that Tania does no more
+mischief--for a while, at least."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked somewhat mollified, nevertheless, she was far from
+pleased, and Madge's championship of little Tania was to cause the little
+captain more than one unhappy hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A MISCHIEVOUS MERMAID
+
+
+There was a splash over the side of a boat, then another, one more, and a
+fourth. The water rippled and broke away into smooth curves. Down a long
+streak of moonlight four dark objects floated above the surface of the
+waves. For a few seconds there was not a sound, not even a shout, to show
+that the mermaids were at play.
+
+Two dark heads kept in advance of the others.
+
+"Madge," warned a voice, "we must not go too far out. Remember, we
+promised Jenny Ann. My, but isn't this water glorious! I feel as though I
+could swim on forever."
+
+A graceful figure turned over and the moonlight shone full on a happy
+face. The two swimmers moved along more slowly.
+
+"Nellie, Lillian!" Madge called back, "are you all right? Do you wish to
+go on farther?"
+
+Phil and Madge floated quietly until their two friends caught up with
+them.
+
+"I feel as though I could go on all night at this rate," declared Lillian
+Seldon. Eleanor put her hand out. "May I float along with you a little,
+Madge?" she asked. "I am tired. How wide and empty the ocean looks
+to-night! We must not get out of sight of the lights of the 'Merry
+Maid'."
+
+"There is no danger!" scoffed Madge.
+
+"Look out!" cried Phil Alden sharply. She was swimming ahead. She saw
+first the sails of a small yacht making across the bay with all speed to
+the line of the shore that the girls had just quitted.
+
+"Let's follow the boat back home," suggested Madge. "We can keep far
+enough away for them not to see us. It will be rather good fun if they
+take us for porpoises or mermaids, or any other queer sea creature."
+
+"Don't run into that Noah's ark that we saw anchored in the creek this
+morning, Roy," came a shrill voice from the deck of the yacht. "I saw
+half a dozen women going aboard her this afternoon laden with boxes and
+trunks--everything but the parrot and the monkey. It looked as though
+they meant to spend the summer aboard her."
+
+"Perhaps they do, Mabel," a man's voice answered. "The 'Noah's Ark' is a
+houseboat. It looked very tiny for so many people, but I thought it was
+rather pretty."
+
+"Well, we have girls enough at Cape May this summer--about six to every
+man," argued Mabel crossly. "I vote that we give these new persons the
+cold shoulder. Nobody knows who they are, nor where they come from. It is
+bad enough to have to associate with tiresome hotel visitors, but I shall
+draw the line at these water-rats, and I hope you will do the same."
+
+"She means us," gasped Eleanor. "What a perfectly horrid girl!"
+
+The high, sharp voice on the yacht was distinctly audible over the water.
+The boat had slowed down as it drew nearer to the shore.
+
+"Swim along with Phil, Nellie," proposed Madge. "I am going to have some
+fun with those young persons. I don't care if I _am_ nearly grown-up; I
+am not going to miss a lark when there's a chance. I have that rubber
+ball that Phil and I brought out to play with in the water. Watch me
+throw it on their yacht. They'll think it's a bomb, or a meteor, if I can
+throw straight enough. I am going to settle with them this very minute
+for the disagreeable things they just said about us and our pretty 'Merry
+Maid.'"
+
+"Don't do it, Madge!" expostulated Phil; but she was too late; Madge had
+dived and was swimming along almost completely under the water. She swam
+in the darkness cast by the shadow of the boat as it passed within a few
+yards of them.
+
+Like a flash she lifted her great rubber ball. She had better luck than
+she deserved. The ball came out of nowhere and landed in the center of
+the group of three young people on the yacht. It fell first on the deck,
+and then bounced into the lap of the offending Mabel.
+
+It was hard work for the waiting girls not to laugh aloud as naughty
+Madge came slowly back to them.
+
+A wild shriek went up from on board the yacht. "Oh, dear, what was that?"
+one girl asked faintly, when the first cries of alarm had died away.
+
+"Where is it? What was it?" growled a masculine voice. "Are you really
+hurt, Mabel? You are making so much fuss that I can't tell."
+
+Mabel had dropped back in a chair. She was white with fear and trembling
+violently.
+
+"It is in my lap," she moaned. "It may explode any moment--do take it
+away!"
+
+The owner of the yacht, Roy Dennis, turned a small electric flashlight
+full on his two girl guests. There, in Mabel's lap, was surely a round,
+globular-shaped object that had either dropped from the sky or had been
+thrown at them by an unknown hand. Roy had really no desire to pick it up
+without seeing it more clearly.
+
+The other girl was less timid. She reached over and took hold of Madge's
+ball. Then she laughed aloud. Oddly enough, her laugh was repeated out on
+the water.
+
+"Why, it's only a rubber ball!" she asserted. Ethel Swann, who was one of
+the old-time cottagers at Cape May, ran to the side of the boat. "See!"
+she exclaimed, "over there are some boys swimming. I suppose they threw
+the ball on board just to frighten us. They certainly were successful."
+She hurled Madge's ball back over the water, but Roy Dennis's small yacht
+had gone some distance from the group of mischievous mermaids and he did
+not turn back. "If I find out who did that trick, I surely will get even
+with them," muttered Roy. "I don't like to be made a fool of."
+
+"Don't tell Jenny Ann, please, girls," begged Madge, as the four girls
+clambered aboard the "Merry Maid." "It was a very silly trick that I
+played. I should hate to have the cottagers at the Cape hear of it. I
+don't suppose I shall ever grow up."
+
+"Girls, whatever made you stay in the water so long?" demanded Miss Jenny
+Ann, coming into the girls' stateroom with a big pitcher of hot chocolate
+and a plate of cakes. "I have been uneasy about you. You have been in the
+water for half an hour. That's too long for a first swim. Poor Tania is
+fast asleep. The child is utterly worn out with so much excitement. Think
+of never having been out of a crowded city in her life, and then seeing
+this wonderful Cape May! Tania wanted to stay up to wish you good night.
+I left her staring out of the cabin window at the stars when I went into
+our kitchen to make the chocolate. When I came back she was asleep."
+
+"Dear Jenny Ann," said Madge penitently, pulling their chaperon down on
+the berth beside her, while Lillian poured the chocolate, "it was my
+fault we were late. The bad things are always my fault. But we are going
+to have a perfectly glorious time this summer, aren't we? Just think,
+next year Phil and I shall be nineteen and nearly old ladies."
+
+"I wonder if anything special is going to happen to us this holiday?"
+pondered Phil, crunching away on her third cake.
+
+"Something special always does happen to us," declared Lillian. "Let's go
+to bed now, because, if we are going to row up the bay in the morning to
+explore the shore, we shall have to get up early to put the 'Merry Maid'
+in order. We must be regular old Cape May inhabitants by the time that
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive."
+
+Next morning bad news came to the crew of the little houseboat. Mrs.
+Curtis had been called to Chicago by the illness of her brother, and Tom
+had gone with her. They did not know how soon they would be able to come
+on to Cape May; but within a very few days Philip Holt, the goody-goody
+young man who was one of Mrs. Curtis's special favorites, would come on
+to Cape May, and Mrs. Curtis hoped that the girls would see that he had a
+good time.
+
+Neither Madge, Phil, Lillian nor Eleanor felt particularly pleased at
+this information. But Tania, who was the only one of the party that knew
+the young man well, burst unexpectedly into a flood of tears, the cause
+of which she obstinately refused to explain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CAPTAIN JULES, DEEP SEA DIVER
+
+
+The "Water Witch" rocked lazily on the breast of the waves, awaiting the
+coming of the four girls, who had planned to row up the bay on a voyage
+of discovery. They were not much interested in staying about among the
+Cape May cottagers, after the conversation which they had innocently
+overheard from the deck of the launch the night before. Of course, if
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom had come on to Cape May at once to occupy their
+cottage, as they had expected to do, all would have been well. The four
+young women and their chaperon would have been immediately introduced to
+the society of the Cape. However, the girls were not repining at their
+lack of society. They had each other; there was the old town of Cape May
+to be explored with the great ocean on one side and Delaware Bay on the
+other.
+
+"Do be careful, children," called Miss Jenny Ann warningly as the girls
+arranged themselves for a row in their skiff. "In all our experience on
+the water I never saw so many yachts and pleasure boats as there are on
+these waters. If you don't keep a sharp lookout one of the larger boats
+may run into you. Don't get into trouble."
+
+"We are going away from trouble, Miss Jenny Ann," protested Phil. "There
+is a yacht club on the sound, but we are going to row up the bay past the
+shoals and get as far from civilization as possible."
+
+Madge stood up in the skiff and waved her hand to their chaperon. The
+girls looked like a small detachment of feminine naval cadets in their
+nautical uniforms. Each one of them wore a dark blue serge skirt of ankle
+length and a middy blouse with a blue sailor collar. They were without
+hats, as they hoped to get a coating of seashore tan without wasting any
+time.
+
+"I shall expect you home by noon," were Miss Jenny Ann's final words as
+the "Water Witch" danced away from the houseboat.
+
+"Aye, aye, Skipper!" the girls called back in chorus. "Shall we bring
+back lobsters or clams for luncheon, if we can find them?"
+
+"_Clams!_" hallooed Miss Jenny Ann through her hands. "I am dreadfully
+afraid of live lobsters." Then the houseboat chaperon retired to write a
+letter to an artist, a Mr. Theodore Brown, whose acquaintance she had
+made during the first of the houseboat holidays. He had suggested that he
+would like to come to Cape May some time later in the summer if any of
+his houseboat friends would be pleased to see him, and she was writing to
+tell him just how greatly pleased they would be.
+
+The "Merry Maid" had found a quiet anchorage in one of the smaller inlets
+of the Delaware Bay, not far from the town of Cape May. The larger number
+of the summer cottages were farther away on the tiny islands near the
+sound and along the ocean front.
+
+The "Water Witch" sped gayly over the blue waters of the bay in the
+brilliant late June sunshine. Madge and Phil, as usual, were at the oars.
+Tania crouched quietly at Lillian's feet in the stern of the skiff.
+Eleanor sat in the prow.
+
+"What do you think of it all, Tania?" Madge asked the little adopted
+houseboat daughter. Tania had been very silent since their arrival at the
+seashore. If she were impressed at the wonderful and beautiful things she
+had seen since she left New York City, she had, so far, said nothing.
+
+Her large black eyes blinked in the dazzling light. She was looking
+straight up toward the sky in a curious, absorbed fashion. "I was trying
+to make up my mind, Madge, if this place was as beautiful as my kingdom
+in Fairyland," answered Tania seriously, "and I believe it is."
+
+"Have you a kingdom in Fairyland, little Tania?" inquired Phil gently.
+She did not understand the child's odd fancies, as Madge did.
+
+Tania nodded her head quietly. "Of course I have," she returned simply.
+"Hasn't every one a Fairyland, where things are just as they should be,
+beautiful and good and kind? I am the queen of my kingdom."
+
+Phil looked puzzled, but Madge only laughed. "Don't mind Tania, Phil. She
+is going to be a very sensible little houseboat girl before our holiday
+is over. Besides, I understand her. She only says some of the things I
+used to think when I was a tiny child. But I do wish the people on the
+boats would not stare at us so; there is nothing very wonderful in our
+appearance."
+
+The girls were trying to guide their rowboat among the other larger craft
+that were afloat on the bay. They wished to get into the more remote
+waters. In the meantime it was embarrassing to have smartly dressed women
+and girls put up their lorgnettes and opera glasses to gaze at the girls
+as the latter rowed by.
+
+"Can there be anything the matter with us?" asked Phil solicitously. "I
+never saw anything like this fire of inquisitive stares."
+
+"Of course not, Phil," answered Lillian sensibly. "It is only because we
+are strangers at Cape May, and most of the people whom we see about come
+here each year. Then we are the only persons who live in a Noah's ark, as
+those pleasant people on the yacht called our pretty 'Merry Maid' last
+night. Don't worry. Have you thought how odd it is that we won't even
+know them if we should be introduced to them later? We did not see either
+them or their boat very plainly last night; we only overheard them
+talking."
+
+"But I'll know the voice of that woman who screamed," replied Madge
+rather grimly. "I just dare her to shriek again without my recognizing
+her dulcet tones."
+
+The girls were now drawing away from the crowded end of the bay. They
+kept along fairly close to the shore. There was an occasional house near
+the water, but these dwellings were farther and farther apart. Finally
+the girls rowed for half a mile without seeing any residence save an
+occasional fisherman's hut. They hoped to reach some place where they
+could catch at least a glimpse of the wonderful cedar woods that flourish
+farther up the coast of the bay.
+
+Suddenly Lillian sang out: "Look, girls, there is the dearest little
+house! It is almost in the water. It rivals our houseboat, it is so like
+a ship. Isn't it too cunning for anything!"
+
+Madge and Phyllis rested on their oars. The girls stared curiously.
+
+They saw a house built of shingles that had turned a soft gray which
+exactly resembled an old three-masted schooner. It had a tiny porch in
+front, but the first roof ended in a point, the second rose higher, like
+a larger sail, and the third, which must have covered the kitchen, was
+about the height of the first.
+
+"See, Tania, I can make the funny house by putting my fingers together,"
+laughed Lillian. "My thumbs are the first roof, my three fingers the
+second, and my little fingers the last."
+
+The girls rowed nearer the odd cottage. The place was deserted; at least
+they saw no one about. Over the front door of the house hung a trim
+little sign inscribed, "The Anchorage."
+
+"Dear me, here is a boathouse, and we've a houseboat!" exclaimed Eleanor.
+"I wish we dared go ashore and knock at the door, to ask some one to show
+us over it."
+
+"I don't think we had better try it, Eleanor," remonstrated Phil. "The
+house probably belongs to some grouchy old sea captain who has built it
+to get away from people."
+
+At this moment a man at least six feet tall, wearing old yellow
+tarpaulins, came around the side of the house of the three sails with a
+large basket on each arm. He sat down on a rock in front of the house and
+began lifting mussel and oyster shells out of one of his baskets. He
+would peer at them earnestly before throwing them over to one side. He
+was a giant of a man, past middle age. His face was so weather-beaten
+that his skin was like leather. His eyes were blue as only a sailor's
+eyes can be. On one of the man's shoulders perched a wizened little
+monkey that every now and then tugged at its master's grizzled hair or
+chattered in his ear.
+
+[Illustration: "Good Morning" Shouted Madge.]
+
+The man did not observe the girls in the rowboat, although they were only
+a few yards away.
+
+"Good morning," sang out Madge cheerfully, forgetting the vow of silence
+which the girls had made that morning against the Cape Mayites. But then,
+the girls had never dreamed of seeing such a fascinating seafaring old
+mariner. Their vow had been taken against the society people.
+
+The sailor, however, did not return Madge's friendly salutation; he went
+on examining his oyster and mussel shells.
+
+Madge looked crestfallen. The old sailor had such a splendid, strong
+face. He did not seem to be the kind of man who would fail to return a
+friendly good morning greeting.
+
+"I don't think he heard you, Madge. Let's all halloo together," proposed
+Lillian.
+
+"Good morning!" shouted five young voices in a mischievous chorus.
+
+The seaman lifted his big head. His smile came slowly, wrinkling his face
+into heavy creases. "Good morning, mates," he called heartily. "Coming
+ashore?"
+
+"Oh, may we?" cried Madge in return. "We should _dearly_ love to!"
+
+The five girls needed no further invitation. They piled out of the "Water
+Witch" before their host could come near enough to assist them.
+
+The seaman did not invite them into the house. The girls took their seats
+on the big rock near the water. Madge was farthest away, but promptly the
+monkey leaped from its master's shoulder and planted itself in Madge's
+hair, pulling the strands violently while he chattered angrily.
+
+"You horrid little thing!" she cried; "you hurt. I wonder if you hate red
+hair. Is that the reason you are trying to pull mine out? Please,
+somebody, take this playful beast away."
+
+The old sea captain, as the girls guessed him to be, promptly came to
+Madge's rescue and removed the angry monkey.
+
+"You must forgive my pet," he remarked kindly. "My little Madge is
+jealous. She doesn't like strangers and we don't often have young lady
+visitors."
+
+"Madge!" exclaimed the little captain, smiling as she tried to re-arrange
+her hair. "What a funny name for a monkey. Why, that is my name!"
+
+After a few advances the monkey became very friendly with the other
+girls, but she would have nothing to do with Madge. She would fly into a
+perfect tempest of rage whenever Madge approached her or tried to talk to
+her. The monkey even deserted her master to perch in Tania's arms. The
+animal put its little, scrawny arms about the queer child's neck, and
+there was almost the same elfish, wistful look in both pairs of dark
+eyes.
+
+"Do you catch many fish in these waters?" inquired Eleanor, whose
+housewifely soul was interested in the big basket of lobsters that she
+saw crawling about, writhing and twisting as though they were in agony.
+
+"Almost every kind that lives in temperate waters," answered the sailor,
+"but there is nothing like the variety one finds in the tropics."
+
+"Were you once a sea captain?" asked Lillian curiously.
+
+The man shook his head. "I'm not a captain in the United States service,"
+he returned. "I am called captain in these parts, 'Captain Jules,' but I
+have only commanded a freight schooner."
+
+"I know I have no right to be so curious," interposed Madge, "but I
+dearly love everything about the sea. Were you ever a deep sea diver?
+Somehow you look like one."
+
+"I was a pearl-fisher for many years," the seaman answered as calmly as
+though diving for pearls was one of the most ordinary trades in the
+world. But his eyes twinkled as he heard Madge's gasp of admiration and
+caught the expression on the faces of the other girls.
+
+"You were looking for pearls in those oysters and mussel shells when our
+boat came along, weren't you?" divined Madge, regarding him with large
+eyes.
+
+The man nodded a smiling answer.
+
+"Yes, but I didn't expect to find any pearls," he answered. "It is
+strange how a man's old occupation will cling to him, even after he has
+long ago given it up. There are very few pearls to be found now in the
+Delaware Bay or the waters around here."
+
+Captain Jules was gravely removing lobsters from his basket for Tania's
+entertainment while he talked to Madge. Tania was watching him,
+breathless with admiration and terror. The captain would take hold of one
+of the great, crawling things, rub it softly on its horned head as one
+would rub a tabby cat to make it purr. He would then set the lobster up
+on its hind claws and the funny crustacean would fall quietly asleep, as
+though it were nodding in a chair.
+
+"I never saw anything so queer in my life," chuckled Phil. "You hypnotize
+the lobsters, don't you?"
+
+Captain Jules shook his shaggy head. He was proud of the appreciation his
+accomplishment had excited. "No; I don't hypnotize them," he explained.
+"Anybody can make old Father Lobster fall asleep if he only rubs him in
+the right place. You are not going, are you?" for the girls had risen to
+depart.
+
+"I am afraid we must," said Madge; "we promised to get back to our
+houseboat by noon. If you come down to Cape May, won't you please come to
+see us? Our houseboat is a rival to your boathouse."
+
+"You are very kind," answered the old captain, shaking his head, "but I
+don't do much visiting. I thank you just the same. Let me fix you up a
+basket of fish. Afraid of the lobsters, aren't you, little girl?" he
+said, smiling at Tania.
+
+The old sailor followed his visitors to help them aboard their rowboat.
+He walked beside Madge, keeping a careful watch on his monkey, which
+still chattered and gesticulated, showing her hatred of the little
+captain.
+
+The girls realized that this man had the manners of a gentleman, although
+he looked as rough and uncouth as a common sailor. There was a kind of
+nobility about him, as of a man who has lived and fought with the big
+things of the earth.
+
+Madge looked at him beseechingly just before they arrived at their skiff.
+Now, when Madge desired anything very greatly she was hard to resist. Her
+blue eyes wore their most bewitching expression. "Please," she faltered,
+"I want you to do me a favor. I know I have no right to ask it, but,
+but----"
+
+"What is it?" inquired Captain Jules, smiling.
+
+"Have you your diving suit?" asked Madge. "If you have, and you would
+show it to me some day, I would be too happy for words." Madge blushed at
+her own temerity.
+
+The captain shook his head. There was little encouragement in his
+expression. "Maybe, some day," he replied vaguely; "but I have had the
+suit put away for some time. Who knows when I will go down into the sea
+again? Be careful in that small skiff," he warned the girls. "There are
+so many launches about on these waters, run by men and women that don't
+know the very first principles of running a boat, that a small craft like
+yours may easily drift into danger. You must look lively."
+
+The girls waved their good-byes as Madge and Phil pulled away. Madge
+noticed that the old sailor stared curiously at her, and every now and
+then he shook his head and frowned. Madge supposed it was because she had
+been so bold as to ask a favor of a perfect stranger. Yet, if she could
+only see Captain Jules again and he might be persuaded to show her his
+diving suit and to tell her something of the strange business of
+pearl-fishing, she couldn't be really sorry for her impudence. This
+accidental meeting with an old sailor inspired Madge afresh with her love
+of the sea and the mystery of it. She could not get the man out of her
+mind, nor her own desire to see him soon again and to ask him more
+questions.
+
+As for Captain Jules, when the girls had fairly gone he lighted his pipe
+and strode along the line of the shore. "It's a funny thing, Madge," he
+said, addressing the monkey, "but when a man gets an idea in his head,
+everything and everybody he sees seems to start the same old idea
+a-going. I wish I had asked her to tell me her surname. I wonder if she
+is the real Madge?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE WRECK OF THE "WATER WITCH"
+
+
+The girls began their row to the "Merry Maid" with all speed. They had
+had such an interesting morning that they did not realize how the time
+had flown. They did not know the exact hour now, but they feared it would
+be after twelve before they could rejoin Miss Jenny Ann. The sun was so
+nearly overhead and shining so brilliantly that the effect was almost
+dazzling. Madge and Phil did not try to see any distance ahead in their
+course. Lillian, however, was on the lookout. There were several inlets
+opening into the larger water-way down which the girls were rowing. Boats
+were likely to come unexpectedly out of these inlets, and the girls
+should have been far more watchful than they were.
+
+"It's too bad about Mrs. Curtis and Tom not coming on to Cape May as soon
+as we expected them, isn't it?" remarked Phil, resting for half a moment
+from the strain of the steady pulling at her oars. "I hope they will
+arrive soon, before we have the responsibility of entertaining Mrs.
+Curtis's friend, Philip Holt. It won't be much fun to have a strange man
+following us about everywhere, even if he should turn out to be nicer
+than we think he is." Phil was the stroke oar. She was talking over her
+shoulder to Madge, who was paying more attention to her friend's
+conversation than to her rowing.
+
+"Oh, I think Mrs. Curtis and Tom will be along soon," she rejoined. "I
+felt dreadfully when we received the telegram this morning. But now I
+hope Mrs. Curtis's brother will get well in a hurry. Perhaps they will be
+here almost as soon as this Philip. I'll wager you a pound of chocolates,
+Phil, that this goody-goody young man can't swim or row, or do anything
+like an ordinary person. He will just think every single thing we do is
+perfectly dreadful, and will frighten Tania to death with his preaching.
+I know he thinks her fairy stories are lies. He told Mrs. Curtis that
+Tania never spoke the truth." Madge lowered her voice. "I am sure we have
+never caught her in a lie. I suppose this Philip will think my
+exaggerations are as bad as Tania's fairy stories. I hate too literal
+people."
+
+"Dear me, whom are you and Phil discussing, Madge?" inquired Lillian,
+leaning over from her seat in the stern with Tania, to try to catch her
+friends' low-voiced conversation. "If it is that Philip Holt, you need
+not think that he will trouble us very much when he comes to Cape May. He
+is just the kind of person who will trot after all the rich people he
+meets, and waste very little energy on those who have neither money nor
+social position."
+
+Lillian was looking at Madge and Phil as she talked. For the moment she
+forgot to keep a sharp watch about on the water. But a moment since there
+had been no other boats in sight near them. Eleanor was resting in the
+prow with her eyes closed. The sun blazed hotly in her face, she could
+only see a bright light dancing before her eyes.
+
+As Lillian leaned back in her seat in the stern her face took on an
+expression of sudden alarm. At the same moment the four girls heard the
+distinct chug of a motor engine. Cutting down upon them was a pleasure
+yacht run by a gasoline motor. The prow of the yacht was head-on with the
+"Water Witch" and running at full speed. The boat had blown no whistle,
+so the girls had not seen its approach.
+
+"Look ahead!" shouted Lillian.
+
+The young man who was steering the yacht paid no heed to her warning. He
+kept straight ahead, although he distinctly saw the rowboat and its
+passengers.
+
+Madge and Phyllis had no time to call out or to protest. They realized,
+almost instantly, that the motor launch meant to make no effort to slow
+down but to put the full responsibility of getting out of danger on the
+rowers.
+
+The girls had no particular desire to be thrown into the water, nor to
+have their boat cut in two, so they pulled for dear life, with white
+faces and straining throats and arms.
+
+They just missed making their escape by a hair's breadth. The young man
+running the yacht must have believed that the skiff would get safely by
+or else when he found out his mistake it was too late for him to slow
+down. The prow of his yacht ran with full force into the frail side of
+the "Water Witch" near her stern.
+
+The little skiff whirled in the water almost in a semi-circle. By a
+miracle it escaped being completely run down by the launch. Yet a second
+later, before any one of the girls could stir, the water rushed into the
+hole in its side and it sank. Madge and Phyllis had had their oars
+wrenched from their hands. Then they found themselves struggling in the
+water.
+
+A cry rose from the launch as the "Water Witch" and her passengers
+disappeared. But there was no sound from the little rowboat, save the
+gurgle of the water and a shrill scream from Tania as the waves closed
+over her head.
+
+The yacht swept on past, borne perhaps by her own headway.
+
+As Madge went down under the water two thoughts seemed to come to her
+mind in the same second: she must look after Eleanor and Tania. Her
+cousin, Nellie, was not able to swim as well as the other girls. She had
+always been more nervous and timid in the water and was liable to sudden
+cramp. Madge knew that being hurled from a boat in such sudden fashion
+with her clothes on instead of a bathing suit would completely terrify
+Eleanor. She might lose her presence of mind completely and fail to
+strike out when she rose to the surface of the water. As for Tania, Madge
+was aware that she, of course, could not swim a stroke. The little one
+had never been in deep water before in her life.
+
+Madge struggled for breath for a second as she came to the surface of the
+bay again. She had swallowed some salt water as she went down. In the
+next desperate instant she counted three heads above the waves besides
+her own. Phyllis was swimming quietly toward Eleanor. Evidently she had
+entertained Madge's fear. "Make for the 'Water Witch,' Nellie," Madge
+heard Phil say in her calm, cool-headed fashion. "It has overturned and
+come up again and we can hang on to that. Don't be frightened. I am
+coming after you. Try to float if your clothes are too heavy to swim.
+I'll pull you to the boat."
+
+Lillian's golden head reflected the light from the sun's rays as she swam
+along after Phil. But nowhere could Madge see a sign of a little, wild,
+black head with its straight, short locks and frightened black eyes.
+
+She waited for another breathless moment. Why did Tania not rise to the
+surface like the rest of them? Madge was trying to tread water and to
+keep a sharp lookout about her, but her clothes were heavy and kept
+pulling her down; swimming in heavy shoes is an extremely difficult
+business, even for an experienced swimmer. All of a sudden it occurred to
+Madge that Tania might have risen under the overturned rowboat. Then her
+head would have struck against its bottom and she would have gone down
+again without ever having been seen.
+
+There was nothing else to be done. Madge must dive down to see what had
+become of her little friend, yet diving was difficult when she had no
+place from which to dive. Madge knew she must get all the way down to the
+very bottom of the bay to see if by any chance Tania's body could have
+been entangled among the sea weed, or her clothes caught on a rock or
+snag.
+
+Once down, she looked in vain for the little body along the sandy bottom
+of the bay. She espied some rocks covered with shimmering shells and sea
+ferns, but there was no trace of Tania. For the second time she rose to
+the surface of the water. She hoped to see Tania's black head glistening
+among those of her older friends clustered about the overturned boat. She
+had grown very tired and was obliged to shake the water out of her eyes
+before she dared trust herself to look.
+
+Then she saw that Phil had hold of one of Eleanor's hands and with the
+other was clinging to the slippery side of their overturned boat. Eleanor
+was numb with cold and shock. Although her free hand rested on the boat,
+Phil dared not let go of her for fear she would sink.
+
+Phyllis was beginning to feel uneasy about Madge. She had given no
+thought to her during the early part of the accident, she knew Madge to
+be a water witch herself, but when the little captain did not come to the
+skiff with the rest of them Phil's heart grew heavy. What could she do?
+Dare she let go her hold on Eleanor? Strangely enough, in their peril,
+Phyllis had given no thought to the little stranger, Tania.
+
+Phyllis Alden breathed a happy sigh of relief when she saw Madge's curly,
+red-brown head moving along toward them.
+
+"Have you seen Tania?" she called faintly, trying to reserve both her
+breath and her strength.
+
+Then Phil remembered Tania with a rush of remorse and terror. "No, I
+haven't, Madge. What could have become of the child?" she faltered.
+
+Lillian looked out over the water. Surely the launch that had wrecked
+them would have been able by this time to come back to their assistance.
+The boat had stopped, but it had not moved near to them. So far, its crew
+showed no sign of giving them any aid. Lillian could not believe her
+eyes.
+
+"I'd better dive for Tania again," said Madge quietly, without intimating
+to her chums that she was feeling a little tired and less sure of herself
+in the water than usual. She knew they would not allow her to dive.
+
+When she went down for Tania the second time she chose a different place
+to make her descent. She must find the little girl at once.
+
+She was swimming along, not many inches from the bottom of the bay, when
+she caught sight of what seemed to her a large fish floating near some
+rocks. Madge swam toward it slowly. It was Tania's foot, swaying with the
+motion of the water. Caught on a spar, which might have once been part of
+a mast of an old ship, was Tania's dress. On the other side of her was a
+rock, and her body had become wedged between the two objects. It was a
+beautiful place and might have been a cave for a mermaid, but it held the
+little earth-princess in a death-like grasp.
+
+It is possible to be sick with fear and yet to be brave. Madge knew her
+danger. She saw that Tania's dress was caught fast. She would have to tug
+at it valiantly to get it away. First, she pulled desperately at Tania's
+shoe, hoping she could free her body. A suffocating weight had begun to
+press down on her chest. She could hear a roaring and buzzing in her
+ears. She knew enough of the water to realize that she had been too long
+underneath; she should rise to the surface again to get her breath. But
+she dared not wait so long to release Tania. Nor did she know that she
+could find the child again when she returned. She must do her work now.
+
+So Madge pulled more slowly and carefully at Tania's frock, unwinding it
+from the spar that held it. With a few gentle tugs she released it and
+Tania's slender body rose slowly. The child's eyes were closed, her face
+was as still and white as though she were dead. Madge was glad of Tania's
+unconsciousness. She knew that in this lay the one chance of safety for
+herself and the child. If Tania came to consciousness and began to
+struggle the little captain knew that her strength was too far gone for
+her to save either the child or herself. She would not leave her. She
+would have to drown with her.
+
+She caught the little girl by her black hair, and swam out feebly with
+her one free arm. At this moment Tania's black eyes opened wide. She
+realized their awful peril. She was only a child, and the fear of the
+drowning swept over her. She gave a despairing clutch upward, threw both
+her thin arms about Madge's neck and held her in a grasp of steel. For a
+second Madge tried to fight Tania's hands away. Then her strength gave
+out utterly. She realized that the end had come for them both.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE OWNER OF THE DISAGREEABLE VOICE
+
+
+It may be that Madge had another second of consciousness. Afterward she
+thought she could recall being caught up by a giant, who unloosed Tania's
+hands from about her throat. Quietly the three of them began to float
+upward with such steadiness, such quietness, that she had that blessed
+sense of security and release from responsibility that a child must feel
+who has fallen asleep in its father's arms.
+
+The first thing that she actually knew was, when she opened her eyes, to
+look into a pair of deep blue, kindly ones that were smiling bravely and
+encouragingly into hers. Near her were her three friends, looking very
+wet and miserable, and one little, dark-eyed elf who was sobbing
+bitterly. Farther away were two strange girls and one red-faced young
+man. Then Madge understood that she had been brought aboard the yacht
+that had run down their rowboat.
+
+The little captain sat up indignantly. "I am quite all right," she said
+haughtily, looking with an unfriendly countenance at their wreckers.
+Then, feeling strangely dizzy, she sank back and with a little sigh
+closed her eyes.
+
+"Don't do that," protested Eleanor tragically. "You must not faint.
+Captain Jules, please don't let her."
+
+The old captain's strong hands took hold of Madge's cold ones. "Pull
+yourself together, my hearty," he whispered. "A girl who can dive down
+into the bottom of the bay as you can shows she has good sea-blood in
+her. She can see the old captain's diving suit any day she likes--own it
+if she has a mind to. Fishing for pearls isn't half so good a trade as
+fishing for a human life. You'll be yourself in a minute. Lucky I
+happened to walk down the beach in the same direction your boat went."
+
+One of the two strange girls came to Madge's side at this moment with a
+cup of strong tea. "_Do_ drink this," she pleaded. "It has taken some
+time to make the water boil. I wish to give some to the other girls, too.
+I am so sorry that we ran into you. You must know that it was an
+accident."
+
+Madge drank the tea obediently, gazing a little less scornfully at the
+girl who was serving her, her face pale with fright and sympathy. The
+other girl stood apart at a little distance with a young man. They were
+both staring at the wet and shivering girls with poorly concealed
+amusement.
+
+"We are awfully sorry to give you so much trouble," said Madge to the
+girl with the tea. She was trying to control her feelings when she caught
+sight of the owner of the small yacht and his friend and her temper got
+the better of her.
+
+"I am sorry," she repeated, "that we are giving _you_ trouble. But,
+really, your motor launch had no right to bear down on our boat without
+blowing its whistle or giving the faintest sign of its approach. It put
+the whole responsibility of getting out of the way on us."
+
+Madge was sitting beside the old captain. Her direct mode of attack
+showed that she was feeling more like herself.
+
+"What the young lady says is true," declared Captain Jules with emphasis.
+"I doubt if you have the faintest legal right to navigate a boat in these
+waters. If I hadn't happened to walk along down the shore of the bay
+after these young ladies left me two of them would have been drowned.
+I'll have to see to it that you keep off this bay if you do any more such
+mischief as you did this morning."
+
+The young man in a handsome yachting suit worthy of an admiral in the
+United States Navy frowned angrily at Madge and her champion.
+
+"I say it wasn't my fault that I ran into your little paper boat," he
+protested angrily. "I gave you plenty of time to get out of my way, but
+you girls pulled so slowly that we did slide into you. Still, if you will
+admit that it was your fault and not mine, I will have your old skiff
+mended, if she isn't too much used up and you can get somebody to tow her
+back to land for you. I can't; I have enough to carry as it is."
+
+The girl standing beside the young man giggled hysterically. Madge
+decided that she had heard her high, shrill notes before. Phyllis,
+Lillian and Eleanor were furiously angry at the young man's retort to
+Madge and Captain Jules, but they bit their lips and said nothing. They
+were on his yacht, although they were enforced passengers; it was better
+not to express their feelings.
+
+But Madge was in a white heat of passion over the young man's boorish
+retort.
+
+"It was not our fault in the least that we were run down," she said in a
+low, evenly pitched voice. "We are not willing to take the least bit of
+the blame. You not only ran into our little boat and sunk her, but you
+did not take the least trouble to come to our aid when you had not the
+faintest knowledge whether any one of us could swim. _Men_ in the part of
+the world where I come from don't do things of that kind. Put your boat
+back and tow our rowboat to land," ordered Madge imperiously. "We
+certainly will not allow you to have it mended. Neither my friends nor I
+wish to accept any kind of recompense from a man who is a _coward_!"
+
+The word was out. Madge had not meant to use it, but somehow it slipped
+off her tongue.
+
+"Steady," she heard the old sailor whisper in her ear. He was gazing at
+her intently, and something in his face calmed the hot tide of her anger.
+"I am sorry I said you were a coward," she added, with one of her quick
+repentances. "I don't think you were very brave, but perhaps something
+may have happened that prevented your coming to our aid."
+
+"Mr. Dennis does not swim very well," the nicer of the two girls
+explained, sitting down beside Madge. She was blushing and biting her
+lips. "Mr. Dennis meant to put back as soon as he could. I am Ethel
+Swann. I received a letter from Mrs. Curtis this morning, who is one of
+my mother's old friends. She wrote that she and her son would be down a
+little later to open their cottage, but she hoped that we would meet you
+girls before she came. I am so sorry that we have met first in such an
+unfortunate fashion."
+
+"Oh, never mind," interrupted Madge impatiently. "If you are Ethel Swann,
+Mrs. Curtis has talked to us about you. We are very glad to know you, I
+am sure."
+
+"These are my friends, Roy Dennis and Mabel Farrar," Ethel went on, her
+face flushing. The four girls bowed coldly. Mabel Farrar acknowledged the
+introduction by a stiff nod. The young man took off his cap for the first
+time when Madge introduced Captain Jules.
+
+"Run your boat along the side of the overturned skiff and I'll tie her on
+for you," ordered Captain Jules quietly. "I think I had better go along
+back to land with you."
+
+Roy Dennis, who was a little more frightened at his deed than he cared to
+own, was glad to obey the captain's order.
+
+Just as the girls were landing from the launch Mabel Farrar's foot
+slipped and she gave a shrill scream. Instantly the girls recognized the
+voice which they had heard the night before condemning them to social
+oblivion.
+
+Although Captain Jules had only a short time before positively refused
+the invitation of the girls to come aboard the "Merry Maid" to pay them a
+visit, it was he who handed each girl from the deck of Roy Dennis's boat
+into the arms of their frightened chaperon. Finally he crossed over to
+the deck of the houseboat himself, bearing little Tania in his arms and
+looking in his wet tarpaulins like old King Neptune rising from the
+brine.
+
+Captain Jules was made to stay to luncheon on board the houseboat. There
+was no getting away from the determined young women. In his heart of
+hearts the old sailor had no desire to go. Something inspired him with
+the desire to know more of these charming girls.
+
+When the girls had put on dry clothing they led Captain Jules all over
+the houseboat, showing him each detail of it. He insisted that the "Merry
+Maid" was as trim a little craft as he had ever seen afloat.
+
+After luncheon, at which the captain devoured six of Miss Jenny Ann's
+best cornbread gems, he sat down in a chair on the houseboat deck,
+holding Tania in his arms. He talked most to Phyllis, but he seldom took
+his eyes off Madge's face. Sometimes he frowned at her; now and then he
+smiled. Once or twice Madge found herself blushing and wondering why her
+rescuer looked at her so hard, but she was too interested to care very
+much.
+
+She sat down in her favorite position on a pile of cushions on the deck,
+with her head resting against Miss Jenny Ann's knee and her eyes on the
+water. "Do tell us, Captain Jules," she pleaded, "something about your
+life as a pearl-fisher. You must have had wonderful experiences. We would
+dearly love to hear about them, wouldn't we, girls?"
+
+The girls chorused an enthusiastic "Yes," which included Miss Jenny Ann.
+
+Captain Jules laughed. "Haven't you ever heard that it is dangerous to
+get an old sea dog started on his adventures? You never can tell when he
+will leave off," he teased, stroking Tania's black hair. "But I wouldn't
+be surprised if Tania would like to hear how once I was nearly swallowed
+whole, diving suit and all, by a giant shark. I was hunting for pearls in
+those days off the Philippine Islands. I had been tearing some shells
+from the side of a great rock when, of a sudden, I felt a strange
+presence before I saw anything. I might have known it was time to expect
+trouble, because the little fish that are usually floating about in the
+water had all disappeared. A creepy feeling came over me. I was cold as
+ice inside my diving suit. Then I turned and looked up. Just a few feet
+in front of me was a giant shark that seemed about twenty-five feet long.
+He was an evil monster. The upper part of his body was a dirty, dark
+green and his fins were black. You never saw a diving suit, did you? So
+you don't know that all the body is covered up but the hands. I tucked my
+hands under my breastplate in a hurry. It didn't seem to me that a pearl
+diver would be much good without any hands. Well, the great fish made a
+sweep with its tail, and in a jiffy he and I were face to face. I stood
+still for about a second. I held my breath, my heart pounding like a
+hammer. Nearer and nearer the monster came swimming toward me, with its
+shovel nose pointing directly at the glass that covered my face. I
+couldn't stand it. I threw up my hands. I yelled way down at the bottom
+of the sea with no one to hear me. There was a swirl of water, a cloud of
+mud, and my enemy vanished. He didn't like the noise any better than I
+liked him."
+
+The girls breathed sighs of relief. The captain chuckled. "Oh, a diver is
+not in real danger from a shark," he went on, "his suit protects him. But
+there are plenty of other dangers. Maybe I'll tell you some of them at
+another time. Why, I declare, it is nearly sunset. You don't know it,
+children, but the bottom of the tropic sea has colors in it as beautiful
+as the lights in that sky. The sea-bottom, where the diver is apt to find
+pearl shells, is covered with all sorts of sea growths--sponges twelve
+feet high, coral cups like inverted mushrooms, sea-fans twenty feet
+broad."
+
+As the old diver talked, the girls could see the magic coral wreaths,
+glowing rose color and crimson, the tall ferns and sea flowers that waved
+with the movement of the water as the earth flowers move to the stirring
+of the wind. And there in the land of the mermaids, hidden between
+wonderful shells of mother-of-pearl, lie the jewels that are the purest
+and most beautiful in the world.
+
+Madge's chin was in her hands. She did not hear the old captain get up
+and say good-bye. She was wishing, with all her heart, that she, too,
+might go down to the bottom of the sea to view its treasures.
+
+"Madge," Phil interrupted her reverie, "Captain Jules is going."
+
+Madge put her soft, warm hands into the big man's hard, powerful ones.
+"Good-bye," she said gratefully. "There is something I wish to tell you,
+but I won't until another time."
+
+Miss Jenny Ann stared thoughtfully after the giant figure as Captain
+Jules left the houseboat and strode up the shore in search of a small
+skiff to take him home.
+
+"You girls have made an unusual friend," she said slowly to Madge. "In
+many ways Captain Jules is rough. He may be uneducated in the wisdom of
+schools and books, but he is a great man with a great heart."
+
+Before Madge went to bed that night she wrote Tom Curtis. She told him
+how sorry they all were that he could not come at once to Cape May. She
+also described the day's adventures. She made as light of their accident
+as possible, but she ended her letter by asking Tom if he would not send
+her a book about pearl fishing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE GOODY-GOODY YOUNG MAN
+
+
+"Philip Holt has come, Madge," announced Phyllis Alden a few days later.
+"He is staying at one of the hotels until Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive to
+open their cottage. He has already been calling on a number of Mrs.
+Curtis's friends here. Now he has condescended to come to see us. Miss
+Jenny Ann says we must invite him to luncheon; so close that book, if you
+please, and come help us to entertain him. I am sure you will be _so_
+pleased to see him."
+
+Madge frowned, but closed her book obediently. "What a bore, Phil! I was
+just reading this fascinating book on pearl-fishing. A few valuable
+pearls have been found in these waters. There was one which was sold to a
+princess for twenty-five hundred dollars. Who knows but the 'Merry Maid'
+may even now be reposing on a bank of pearls! Dear me, here is that
+tiresome Mr. Holt! Of course, we must be nice with him on Mrs. Curtis's
+account. I hope she and Tom will soon come along. Let us take Mr. Holt
+with us to the golf club this afternoon. We promised Ethel Swann to come
+and she won't mind our bringing him."
+
+The girls were not altogether surprised that the young people whom they
+had lately met at Cape May were divided into two sets. The one had taken
+the girls under their protection and seemed to like them immensely. The
+other, headed by Mabel Farrar and Roy Dennis, treated them with cool
+contempt. But the girls felt able to take care of themselves. Not one of
+them even inquired what story Mr. Dennis and Miss Farrar had told about
+their memorable meeting on the water.
+
+The Cape May golf course stretches over miles of beautiful downs and the
+clubhouse is the gathering place for society at this summer resort.
+
+Ethel Swann bore off Lillian and Eleanor to introduce them to some of her
+friends, and the three girls followed the course of two of the players
+over the links.
+
+Philip Holt was plainly impressed by the smartly-dressed women and girls
+whom he saw about him. He was a tall, thin young man with sandy hair and
+he wore spectacles. He insisted that Madge and Phyllis should not forget
+to introduce him as the friend of Mrs. Curtis, who expected him to be her
+guest later on. Indeed, Philip Holt talked so constantly and so
+intimately of Mrs. Curtis that Madge had to stifle a little pang of
+jealousy. She had supposed, when she was in New York City, that Mrs.
+Curtis, who was very generous, only took a friendly interest in Philip
+Holt and his work among the New York poor, but to-day Philip Holt gave
+her to understand that Mrs. Curtis was as kind to him as though he were a
+member of her family. And Madge wondered wickedly to herself whether Tom
+Curtis would be pleased to have him for a brother. She determined to
+interview Tom on the subject as soon as he should return from Chicago.
+
+Later in the afternoon Madge and Phyllis were surprised to see Roy Dennis
+and Mabel Farrar come down the golf clubhouse steps and walk across the
+lawn toward them, smiling with apparent friendliness. Madge's resentful
+expression softened. She did not bear malice, and she felt that she had
+said more to Roy Dennis about his treatment of them than she should have
+done. She, therefore, bowed pleasantly. Phil followed suit. To their
+amazement they were greeted with a frozen stare by the newcomers, who
+walked to where the two girls were standing without paying the least
+attention to the latter. Madge's color rose to the very roots of her
+hair. Phil's black eyes flashed, but she kept them steadily fixed on the
+girl and man.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Holt?" asked Mabel in bland tones, addressing the
+girls' companion. "I believe I am right in calling you Mr. Holt. I have
+heard that you were a friend of Mrs. Curtis and her son. This is my
+friend, Roy Dennis. We are so pleased to meet any of dear Mrs. Curtis's
+_real_ friends. We should like to have you take tea with us."
+
+Philip Holt looked perplexed. He opened his mouth to introduce Madge and
+Phyllis to Miss Farrar, but the girls' expressions told the story.
+
+Miss Farrar and Mr. Dennis had purposely excluded the two girls from the
+conversation.
+
+For the fraction of a second Philip Holt wavered. Mabel Farrar was
+smartly dressed. Roy Dennis looked the rich, idle society man that he
+was. Moneyed friends were always the most useful in Mr. Holt's opinion,
+he therefore turned to Miss Farrar with, "I shall be only too pleased to
+accompany you."
+
+"You'll excuse me," he turned condescendingly to Madge and Phil, "but
+Mrs. Curtis's friends wish me to have tea with them."
+
+Madge smiled at the young man with such frank amusement that he was
+embarrassed. "Oh, yes, we will excuse you," she said lightly. "Please
+don't give another thought to us. Miss Alden and I wish you to consult
+your own pleasure. I am sure that you will find it in drinking tea!" She
+turned away, the picture of calm indifference, although she had a wicked
+twinkle in her eye.
+
+"Well, if that wasn't the rudest behavior all around that I ever saw in
+my life!" burst out Phil indignantly after the disagreeable trio had
+departed. "Mrs. Curtis or no Mrs. Curtis, I don't think we should be
+expected to speak to that ill-bred Mr. Holt again. The idea of his
+marching off with that girl and man after the way they treated us! I
+shall tell Mrs. Curtis just how he behaved as soon as I see her, then she
+won't think him so delightful."
+
+Madge put her arm inside Phil's. "You had better not mention it to Mrs.
+Curtis, Phil. Mrs. Curtis is the dearest person in the world, but she is
+so lovely and so rich that she is used always to having her own way. She
+thinks that we girls are prejudiced against this Mr. Holt because he said
+the things he did about Tania. By the way, I wonder what the little witch
+has against him? I mean to ask her some day. But let's not trouble about
+Philip Holt any more. He is just a toady. I don't care what he says or
+does. We have done our duty by him for this afternoon at least. He won't
+join us again. Let's go over to that lovely hill and have a good,
+old-fashioned talk."
+
+Phil's face cleared. After all, she and Madge could get along much,
+better without troublesome outsiders.
+
+"Isn't it a wonderful afternoon, Phil?" asked the little captain after
+they had climbed the little hill and were seated on a grassy knoll. "We
+can see the ocean over there! Wouldn't you like to be swimming down there
+under the water, where it is so cool and lovely and there would be
+nothing to trouble one?"
+
+"What a water-baby you are," smiled Phil, giving her chum's arm a soft
+pressure. "I sometimes think that you must have come out of a sea-shell.
+I suppose you are thinking of the old pearl diver again."
+
+"Phil," demanded Madge abruptly, "have you ever thought of what
+profession you would have liked to follow if you had been born a boy
+instead of a girl?"
+
+"I do not have to think to answer that," replied Phyllis, "I know. If I
+were a boy, I should study to become a physician, like my father; but
+even though I am a girl, I am going to study medicine just the same. As
+soon as we get through college I shall begin my course."
+
+"Phil," Madge's voice sounded unusually serious, "don't set your heart
+too much, dear, on my going to college with you in the fall. I don't know
+it positively, but I think that Uncle is having some business trouble. He
+and Aunt have been worried for the past year about some stocks they own.
+I shan't feel that I have any right to let them send me to college unless
+I can make up my mind that I shall be willing to teach to earn my living
+afterward. And I can't teach, Phil, dear. I should never make a
+successful teacher," ended Madge with a sigh.
+
+"I can't imagine you as a teacher," smiled Phil, "but I am sure that you
+will marry before you are many years older."
+
+"Marry!" protested Madge indignantly. "Why do you think I shall marry?
+Why, I was wishing this very minute that I were a man so that I could set
+out on a voyage of discovery and sail around the world in a little ship
+of my own. Or, think, one might be a pearl-diver, or lead some exciting
+life like that. Now, Phil Alden, don't you go and arrange for me just to
+marry and keep house and never have a bit of fun or any excitement in my
+whole life!"
+
+Phyllis laughed teasingly. "Oh, you will have plenty of excitement, Madge
+dear, wherever you are or whatever you do. Don't you remember how Miss
+Betsey used to say that she knew something was going to happen whenever
+you were about? I suppose you would like to be a captain in the Navy like
+your father, so that you could spend all your time on the sea."
+
+"No," returned Madge, "I should want a ship of my own. I wouldn't like to
+be a captain in the Navy. There, you always have to do just what you are
+told to do, and you know, Phil, that obedience is not my strong point."
+The little captain laughed and shook her russet head. "You see, Phil, I
+think that if I could go around the world, perhaps in some far-away land
+I would find my father waiting for me."
+
+For several minutes the two chums were silent. At last Phil leaned
+forward and gave Madge's arm a gentle pinch. "Wake up, dear," she
+laughed, "perhaps some day you will own that little ship and go around
+the world in it. Just now, however, we had better go on to the houseboat.
+I believe Nellie and Lillian are going to wait at the golf club until the
+last mail comes in, so they can bring our letters along home with them.
+We must say good-bye to that nice Ethel Swann. She is a dear, in spite of
+her ill-bred friends."
+
+Phyllis and Madge found Miss Jenny Ann sitting in a steamer chair on the
+houseboat deck exchanging fairy stories with Tania. The little girl knew
+almost as many as did her chaperon, but Tania's stories were so full of
+her own odd fancies that it was hard to tell from what source they had
+come.
+
+"Do you know the story of 'The Little Tin Soldier,' Tania?" Miss Jenny
+Ann had just asked. "He was the bravest little soldier in the world,
+because he bore all kinds of misfortunes and never complained."
+
+With a whirl Tania was out of Miss Jenny Ann's lap and into Madge's arms.
+The child was devoted to each member of the houseboat party, but she was
+Madge's ardent adorer. She liked to play that she was the little
+captain's Fairy Godmother, and that she could grant any wish that Madge
+might make.
+
+Phil, Madge and Tania sat down at Miss Jenny Ann's feet to hear more
+about "The Brave Little Tin Soldier." Tania huddled close to Madge, her
+black head resting against the older girl's curls, as she listened to the
+harrowing adventures that befell the Tin Soldier.
+
+The sun was sinking. Away over the water the world seemed rose colored,
+but the shadows were deepening on the land. Phil espied Lillian and
+Eleanor coming toward the houseboat. Lillian waved a handful of white
+envelopes, but Eleanor walked more slowly and did not glance up toward
+her friends.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann rose hurriedly. "I must go in to see to our dinner," she
+announced. "Phil, after you have spoken to the girls, will you come in to
+help me? Madge may stay to look after Tania."
+
+The little captain was absorbed in a quiet twilight dream, and as Tania
+was in her lap she did not get up when Phil went forward to meet Lillian
+and Eleanor.
+
+Instantly Phil realized that something was the matter with Nellie.
+Eleanor's face was white and drawn and there were tears in her gentle,
+brown eyes. Lillian also looked worried and sympathetic, but was
+evidently trying to appear cheerful.
+
+"What is the matter, Eleanor? Has any one hurt your feelings?" asked Phil
+immediately. Eleanor was the youngest of the girls and always the one to
+be protected. Phyllis guessed that perhaps some one of the unpleasant
+acquaintances of Roy Dennis and Mabel Farrar might have been unkind to
+her.
+
+But Eleanor shook her head dumbly.
+
+"Nellie has had some bad news from home," answered Lillian, tenderly
+putting her arm about Eleanor. "Perhaps it isn't so bad as she thinks."
+
+Madge overheard Lillian's speech and, lifting Tania from her lap, sprang
+to her feet.
+
+"Nellie, darling, what is it? Tell me at once!" she demanded. "If Uncle
+and Aunt are ill, we must go to them at once."
+
+"It isn't so bad as that, Madge," answered Eleanor, finding her voice;
+"only Mother has written to tell us that Father has lost a great deal of
+money. He has had to mortgage dear old 'Forest House,' and if he doesn't
+get a lot more money by fall, 'Forest House' will have to be sold."
+
+Nellie broke down. The thought of having to give up her dear old Virginia
+home, that had been in their family for five generations, was more than
+she could bear.
+
+Madge kissed Eleanor gently. In the face of great difficulties Madge was
+not the harum-scarum person she seemed. "Don't worry too much, Nellie,"
+she urged. "If Uncle and Aunt are well, then the loss of the money isn't
+so dreadful. Somehow, I don't believe we shall have to give up 'Forest
+House.' It would be too frightful! Perhaps Uncle will find the money in
+time to save it, or we shall get it in some way. I am nearly grown now. I
+ought to be able to help. Anyhow, I don't mean to be an expense to Uncle
+and Aunt any more after this summer." Madge's face clouded, although she
+tried to conceal her dismay. "Do Uncle and Aunt want us to leave the
+houseboat and come home at once?"
+
+Phil's and Lillian's faces were as long and as gloomy as their other
+chums' at this suggestion.
+
+But Eleanor shook her head firmly. "No; Father says positively that he
+does not wish us to leave the houseboat until our holiday is over. It is
+not costing us very much and he wishes us to have a good time this
+summer, so that we can bear whatever happens next winter."
+
+No one had noticed little Tania while the houseboat girls were talking.
+Her eyes were bigger and blacker than ever, and as Madge turned to go
+into the cabin she saw that there were tears in them.
+
+"What is it, Tania?" putting her arms about the quaint child.
+
+"Did you say that you didn't have all the money you wanted?" inquired
+Tania anxiously. "I didn't know that people like you ever needed money. I
+thought that all poor people lived in slums and took in washing like old
+Sal."
+
+Madge laughed. "I don't suppose the people in the tenements are as poor
+as we are sometimes, Tania, because they don't need so many things. But
+don't worry your head about me, little Fairy Godmother. I am sure that
+you will bring me good luck."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE
+
+
+"Madge, I am afraid that you and the girls are not having as good a time
+at Cape May as I had hoped you would have," remarked Mrs. Curtis to the
+little captain about a week later as they strolled along the beautiful
+ocean boulevard that overlooked the sea. Only the day before Mrs. Curtis
+and Tom had returned from Chicago. Just behind them, Lillian, Miss Jenny
+Ann, Phyllis, Tom Curtis and Mrs. Curtis's protégé, Philip Holt, loitered
+along the beach. They were too far away to overhear the conversation of
+the two women.
+
+"On the contrary, we are having a perfectly beautiful time," answered
+Madge, her face radiant with the pleasure of her surroundings. "I think
+Cape May is one of the loveliest places in the whole world! And we girls
+have met the most splendid old sea captain. He has the dearest, snuggest
+little house up the bay! He was once a deep-sea diver and knows the most
+fascinating stories about the treasures of the sea." Madge ceased
+speaking. She could tell from her friend's slightly bored expression that
+Mrs. Curtis was not interested in the story of a common sailor.
+
+"Yes, Madge, I know about all that," Mrs. Curtis returned a little
+coldly. "What I meant is that I fear you girls are not enjoying the
+social life of Cape May, which is what I looked forward to for you. I do
+wish, dear, that you cared more for society and less for such people as
+this old sailor and a tenement child like Tania. I doubt if this man is a
+fit associate for you."
+
+Madge's blue eyes darkened. She thought of the splendid old sailor, with
+his great strength and gentle manners, his knowledge of the world and his
+fine simplicity, and of queer, loving little Tania, but she wisely held
+her peace. "I am sorry, too, that I don't like society more if you wish
+it," she replied sweetly. "I do like the society of clever, agreeable
+people, but not--I like Ethel Swann and her friends immensely," she
+ended. "And, please, don't say anything against my old pearl diver, Mrs.
+Curtis, until you see him. I am sure that you and Tom will think that he
+is splendid."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked searchingly at Madge, and Madge returned her gaze
+without lowering her eyes. Mrs. Curtis's face softened. She found it hard
+to scold her favorite, but she had been very much vexed at the story that
+Philip Holt had repeated to her of Madge's escapades at Cape May, and how
+she accused Roy Dennis of cowardice when he had taken her and her friends
+on his boat after Madge's and Phil's own heedlessness had caused their
+skiff to be overturned. Somehow, the tale of the throwing of the ball on
+board Roy Dennis's yacht and of frightening Mabel Farrar had also gone
+abroad in Cape May. Lillian had confided the anecdote to Ethel Swann
+under promise of the greatest secrecy. The story had seemed to Ethel too
+ridiculous to keep to herself, so she had repeated it to another friend,
+after demanding the same promise that Lillian had exacted from her. And
+so the story had traveled and grown until it was a very mischievous tale
+that Philip Holt had recounted to Mrs. Curtis, taking care that Tom
+Curtis was not about when he told it.
+
+Mrs. Curtis thought Madge too old for such practical jokes. She also
+believed that Madge should have more dignity and self-control. She loved
+her very dearly, and she wished her to come to live with her as her
+daughter after her own, daughter, Madeleine, had married, but Mrs. Curtis
+was determined that the little captain should learn to be less impetuous
+and more conventional.
+
+"Philip Holt has told you something about me, hasn't he, Mrs. Curtis?"
+asked Madge meekly, hiding the flash in her eyes by lowering her lids.
+
+"Philip told me very little. He is the soul of honor," answered Mrs.
+Curtis quickly. "You are absurdly prejudiced against him. But with the
+little that he told me and what I have gathered from other sources, I
+feel that you have been most indiscreet. I can't help thinking that the
+various things that have happened may be laid at your door, and that the
+other girls have just stood by you, as they always do."
+
+Madge bit her lips. "Whatever has occurred that you don't like is my
+fault, Mrs. Curtis," she confessed, "and Phil, Lillian and Nellie _have_
+stood by me. I am sorry that you are angry."
+
+The other young people were coming closer. Not for worlds would Madge
+have had them overhear her conversation with Mrs. Curtis. She was too
+proud and too hurt to ask Mrs. Curtis just what Philip Holt had said
+against her. Neither would she retaliate against him by telling her
+friend of his rudeness.
+
+Mrs. Curtis put one arm about Madge. "It is all right, my dear," she
+said, softening a little, "but you must promise me that you will not do
+such harum-scarum things again, and that you will try to keep your
+temper." Mrs. Curtis was on the point of asking Madge to give up her
+acquaintance with the sailor and not to see the man again, but she knew
+that her young friend was feeling a little hurt and no doubt resentful
+toward her, so she put off making her request until a later time.
+
+"Tania has behaved very well, so far, hasn't she, Madge?" Mrs. Curtis
+tactfully changed the subject. "I confess I am surprised. Philip Holt
+assured me that the child was continually in mischief in the tenement
+neighborhood where she lives. When he took her into the neighborhood
+house to try to help her she positively stole something. I am afraid
+Tania's mother was not the woman you think she was; she was only a cheap
+little actress, a dancer." Mrs. Curtis glanced at her companion. Madge
+was eyeing her seriously.
+
+"It isn't like you, Mrs. Curtis, dear, to say things against people.
+Philip Holt must have----" Madge stopped abruptly. At the same time Tom
+Curtis came up from behind to join his mother and the girl.
+
+"Come on, Madge, and have a race with me across the sands," he urged.
+"Mother will be trying to make you so grown-up that we can't have any
+sport at all. Besides, you are looking pale. I am sure you need exercise.
+There is a crowd over there in front of the music pavilion. I will wager
+a five-pound box of candy that I can beat you to it. Philip Holt will
+entertain Mother. She likes him better than she does the rest of us,
+anyhow, because he devotes his time to good works and to working good
+people," added Tom teasingly, under his breath.
+
+While Tom was talking Madge darted off across the sands. She never would
+get over her love of running, she felt sure, until she was old and
+rheumatic. The color came back to her cheeks and the laughter to her
+eyes.
+
+Tom was close behind her. "Madge Morton, you didn't give me a fair
+start," he protested, "you rushed away before I was ready. I thought you
+always played fair?"
+
+Madge dropped into a walk. "I do try to, Tom," she answered more
+earnestly than Tom had expected. His remark had been made only in fun.
+"You believe in me, don't you, Tom?" she added pleadingly.
+
+"Now and forever, Madge, through thick and thin," answered Tom steadily.
+
+They had now come up nearer the crowd of people on the beach. Up on a
+grand stand a band was playing an Italian waltz, and an eager crowd had
+gathered, apparently to listen to the music.
+
+But the two young people soon saw that on the hard sand a child was
+dancing. Tom stopped outside the circle of watchers, but Madge went
+forward into it. She had at once recognized little Tania! Eleanor had
+been left on the houseboat to take care of the child, but Eleanor was now
+nowhere to be seen, and her charge had wandered into mischief.
+
+Tania was dancing in her most bewitching and wonderful fashion. Madge
+could not help feeling a little embarrassed pride in her. The child was
+moving like a flower swayed by the wind. She poised first on one foot,
+then on the other, then flitted forward on both pointed toes, her thin,
+eager arms outstretched, curving and bending with the rhythm of the
+music. She wore her best white dress, the pride of her life, which
+Eleanor had lately made for her. On her head she had placed a wreath of
+wild flowers, which she must have woven for herself. They were like a
+fairy crown on her dark head. With the love of bright colors, which she
+must have inherited from some Italian ancestor, she had twisted a bright
+scarlet sash about her waist.
+
+Again Madge saw that Tania was utterly unconscious of the audience about
+her. She looked neither to the right nor to the left, but straight upward
+to the turquoise-blue sky.
+
+How different Tania's audience to-day from the crowd of people that had
+watched her on the street corner when Eleanor and Madge had first seen
+her! Yet these gay society folk were even more fascinated by the child's
+wonderful art. They could better appreciate her remarkable dancing.
+
+Tania did not even see her beloved Madge, who was silently watching her.
+Tania's usually pale cheeks glowed as scarlet as her sash. Unconsciously
+the little girl's movements were like those of a butterfly, a-flutter
+with the joy of the sunshine and new life.
+
+The music stopped suddenly and with it Tania's dance ceased as abruptly.
+She stood poised for a single instant on one dainty foot, with her
+graceful arms still swaying above her flower-crowned head. Her audience
+watched her breathlessly, for the effect of the child's grace had been
+almost magical.
+
+"Wasn't that a wonderful performance?" whispered Tom in Madge's ear. "The
+child is an artist! Where do you suppose she learned to dance like
+that?"
+
+But Tania had come back to earth in a brief second. To Madge's
+mystification, Tania started about among the people who had been watching
+her performance with her small hands clasped together like a cup.
+
+The child courtesied shyly to a fat old lady. Her gesture was
+unmistakable. The woman rummaged in her chain pocket-book and dropped a
+silver quarter into Tania's outstretched hands. The next onlooker was
+more generous. Tania's eyes shone as she felt the size and weight of a
+big silver dollar.
+
+Few people in the Cape May crowd knew who Tania was, or whence she had
+come. They probably thought that the object of the dance had been to earn
+money.
+
+For a few moments Madge had been paralyzed by Tania's peculiar actions.
+She did not realize what they meant. In this lapse of time the rest of
+their party joined them.
+
+It was the expression on Mrs. Curtis's face that made Madge appreciate
+what Tania was doing.
+
+"What on earth is Tania about?" exclaimed Lillian in puzzled tones. She
+saw the child standing before a young man who was evidently teasing her
+and refusing her request for money.
+
+"She has been dancing like a monkey with a hand organ," answered Philip
+Holt scornfully. "I am afraid Cape May people will hardly understand it.
+It looks as though the young women on the 'Merry Maid' were in need of
+money." The young man laughed as though his last remark had been intended
+for a joke.
+
+"None of that talk, Holt." Madge caught Tom's angry tone as she hurried
+forward to Tania. The little captain could have cried with mortification
+and embarrassment. In the crowd of curious onlookers she caught sight of
+Mabel Farrar's and Roy Dennis's sneering faces.
+
+"Tania!" she cried sharply. "What in the world are you doing? Stop taking
+that money at once!"
+
+Tania glanced around and discovered Madge. Instead of looking ashamed of
+herself, the child's face grew radiant. "Madge," she cried, in a high
+voice that could be heard all about them, "it is all for you!"
+
+Tania rushed forward with her outstretched hands overflowing with
+silver.
+
+Madge could have sunk through the sands for shame. Mrs. Curtis's face
+flamed with anger and chagrin. She might have been able to explain to her
+friends that Tania was only a street child and knew no better than to
+dance for money; but how could she ever explain the remark to Madge? It
+looked as though Madge had been a party to Tania's dancing and begging.
+
+Madge was overcome with embarrassment and humiliation. She knew that she
+must, for the minute, appear like a beggar to the crowd of Cape May
+people. For just that instant she would have liked to repulse Tania, to
+have thrust the child and her money away from her before every one. But a
+glance at Tania's eager, happy face restrained her. She put her arm
+protectingly about the little girl, hiding her in the shelter of her
+body. "I don't want the money, Tania," she whispered. "It wasn't right
+for you to have taken it from these people."
+
+"Don't you want it?" faltered Tania. "I thought you said last night that
+you and Eleanor were very poor, and that you needed some money very much.
+All the time I was in bed last night I thought of what your Fairy
+Godmother could do to help you. I know how to do but one thing--to dance
+as my mother taught me. How can it be wrong to take the money from
+people? I have often done it in New York. They only gave it to me because
+they liked my dancing." Madge could feel Tania's hot tears on her hands.
+
+She clasped Tania closer. "It isn't exactly wrong, Tania; I was mistaken.
+It was just different. I will have to explain it to you afterward. Now we
+must give the money back to the people again."
+
+Holding tight to Tania's hand, Madge walked among the group of strangers,
+explaining Tania's actions as best she could without hurting the little
+girl's feelings. It was one of the hardest things that the proud little
+captain had ever been called upon to do. But a part of the crowd had
+scattered. It was not possible to find them all and return their silver.
+Tania was too puzzled and heart-broken to continue her errand long. She
+did not understand why Madge had refused to take her gift, which she
+thought she had fairly earned. Finally she could hold back her sobs no
+longer. Dropping her few remaining nickels and dimes on the sand she
+broke away from Madge's clasp and ran like a little wild creature away
+from everyone.
+
+Madge stopped for just a second among her friends before following
+Tania.
+
+"You see, Madge," remarked Mrs. Curtis coldly, "Tania is quite
+impossible. I knew the child would get you into difficulties, and it is
+just as I feared. She must be sent away at once."
+
+But Madge shook her head with a decision that was unmistakable.
+
+"No," she answered quietly, "Tania shall not be sent away. None of you
+understand, and I can't explain it to you now, but Tania thought she was
+doing something for Nellie and me. She was foolish, of course, and I will
+see that she never does it again."
+
+With her head held high, Madge hurried away in pursuit of her Fairy
+Godmother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"THE ANCHORAGE"
+
+
+Madge was alone in the "Water Witch," which had been mended and was as
+good as new. She had just come from an interview with Mrs. Curtis, in
+which she had tried to make her friend understand the reason for Tania's
+behavior of the day before. Mrs. Curtis, however, would not take the
+little captain's view of the matter. She dwelt on the fact that Tania had
+slipped away from the houseboat without letting Eleanor know of it, and
+that she was a naughty and disobedient child.
+
+Madge also believed that Mrs. Curtis no longer loved her so dearly as in
+the early days of their acquaintance. The young girl was sure that some
+influence was being brought to bear to prejudice her friend against her.
+But what could she do? Philip Holt was trying to destroy the affection
+Mrs. Curtis felt for Madge in order to ingratiate himself. It looked as
+though he were going to succeed. Madge was too proud to ask questions or
+to accuse Philip Holt with deliberately trying to influence her friend
+against her. Although she was only a young girl, she realized that love
+does not amount to very much in this world unless it has faith and
+sympathy behind it. So long as she had done nothing she knew to be wrong,
+and for which she should make an apology, she could only wait to see if
+Mrs. Curtis's affection would be restored to her or cease altogether.
+
+As usual, when she was troubled, the impulse came to her to be alone on
+the water. She had explained to Miss Jenny Ann that she might be gone for
+several hours, so there was no immediate reason why she should return to
+the houseboat. The other girls were yachting with some Cape May friends.
+
+Madge rowed her boat up the bay toward the home of the old sailor. She
+was not far from the very place where Captain Jules had rescued Tania and
+her a short while before. She thought of the strange-looking beam
+sticking up out of the sandy bottom of the bay on which Tania's dress had
+caught. It had certainly looked like the broken mast of an old ship. She
+determined to ask Captain Jules if any wrecks had recently occurred near
+that part of the bay, and concluded that she would row up to the sailor's
+house for the express purpose of asking him this question. Of course,
+this was only an excuse. She was deeply anxious to call on the old sailor
+again and, if possible, persuade him to keep his promise to her to show
+her his diving suit, and to tell her more of his strange experiences at
+the bottom of the sea.
+
+Captain Jules was sitting in his favorite place on the big rock just by
+the water in front of his house. He was mending the sail of his fishing
+boat.
+
+Madge's boat came round a slight curve in the bay, dancing toward him.
+This time Captain Jules spied his guest and saluted her as he would have
+greeted a superior officer.
+
+The little captain blushed prettily as she returned his salute in her
+best naval fashion.
+
+The old captain looked hurriedly toward his small house. There was no
+sight or sound of any one about. He seemed uncomfortable for a moment,
+then his face cleared. His deep blue eyes gleamed and his mouth set
+squarely. "Coming ashore to make me a call, Miss Madge?" he asked
+invitingly.
+
+Madge nodded. "If I shan't be in your way. You must let me just sit there
+on the rock by you. I have been reading a perfectly thrilling book about
+pearl-divers," she announced as soon as she was comfortably settled, "but
+none of the stories were as thrilling as the ones you told us. The book
+said that pearls had been found in New Jersey. I wonder if you have ever
+thought of diving down to the bottom of this bay to see if it holds any
+treasures?"
+
+The sailor was studying the girl's face so earnestly that he forgot to
+answer her.
+
+"Oh, yes, I have thought of it," he replied a little later, smiling at
+his guest. "A man never wholly forgets his trade. But what a taste you
+have for sea yarns, little lady! I half-way think, now, that if you had
+not been born a girl you might have followed the sea for your calling."
+
+"I should have loved it best of anything in the world," answered Madge
+fervently, gazing at the beautiful expanse of sunny, blue water. "I never
+feel as much at home anywhere as I do on the sea. You see," she continued
+confidingly, "I have a reason for loving the water. My father was a
+sailor. He was a captain in the United States Navy once."
+
+"'A captain in the United States Navy,'" Captain Jules repeated huskily.
+"I thought so. I thought so."
+
+"Why?" asked Madge wonderingly.
+
+Captain Jules pulled his needle slowly through a heavy piece of sail
+cloth. It must have stuck, he was so long about it, and his big hands
+fumbled it so clumsily.
+
+"Oh, because of your liking for the water, Miss Madge," he returned
+quietly. "You see, there are two great loves born in the hearts of men
+and women that you never can get away from. The one is the love of the
+soil and the other is the love of the sea. No matter what your life is,
+if you have those two passions in you, you've got to get back to the
+country or to the water when your chance comes. But why do you say that
+your father was once a captain in the United States Navy? Is he dead?"
+
+"I am afraid so," replied Madge faintly. Of late she was beginning to
+believe that her uncle and aunt, Mrs. Curtis and all her older friends
+were right. If her father were not dead in all these long years, surely
+he would have tried to find her. He would have sought to discover some
+news of the daughter whom he had left when she was only a baby.
+
+Captain Jules seemed about to say something, then, changed his mind. He
+shook his great, shaggy, gray head and looked at Madge tenderly. "Is your
+mother living?" he inquired.
+
+"No, she died soon after my father went away to join his ship on his last
+voyage," Madge went on sadly, her eyes filling with tears. She was half
+tempted to tell the old sailor her father's story, then decided to
+reserve it until some future day when she felt that she knew him better.
+In spite of her liking for the old sea captain, she realized that she had
+hardly known him long enough to make him her confidant.
+
+Captain Jules continued to sew. He opened his mouth, to speak once or
+twice and then closed it again. Finally he asked Madge huskily, "What was
+your father's name, child?"
+
+"Captain Robert Morton," replied Madge slowly. "He was from Virginia. If
+I knew him to be alive, I'd be the happiest girl in the world."
+
+Captain Jules cast a peculiar glance in her direction which Madge did not
+see.
+
+"My dear little mate," he said slowly, "some day a young man will come
+along who will be far more to you than any old father could have been.
+But what made your father go away? If he was a captain in the Navy, what
+made him resign his command?"
+
+"I can't tell you that to-day, Captain Jules. Perhaps I'll tell you some
+day when I know you better; in fact, I am sure I shall tell you. Perhaps
+when I do tell you I shall ask you to do me a great favor. Perhaps I
+shall ask you to help me hunt for him. I'll tell you a secret. Uncle and
+Aunt have been good to me and I love them dearly, but I want my own
+father, and I can't, I won't, believe he is dead. That is, not until I
+have absolute proof."
+
+"Little girl!" exclaimed Captain Jules in such a strange voice that Madge
+was startled, "I promise you that I'll help you find him." Then in a
+calmer tone of voice he said: "I told you that I would show you my
+diver's suit. If you will wait on my porch I will go around inside the
+house to see if I can find it."
+
+He rose hastily and disappeared into the house, leaving Madge to wonder
+why the few words she had spoken concerning her father had affected the
+old sea captain so strangely.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+TANIA'S NEMESIS
+
+
+Captain Jules was gone a long time, but Madge did not mind waiting for
+him. She loved the odd house with its roof shaped like three sails and
+its restful name, "The Anchorage."
+
+When Captain Jules came back with the great suit his face was pale,
+almost haggard, but he was smiling good-humoredly. "Come, stand over here
+by this window while I show you my old togs. I haven't looked at this
+diving suit myself for several years."
+
+Madge was too much interested in the diving dress to glance in at the
+captain's window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the inside of the
+snug little house that she had not yet been invited to enter.
+
+The diving suit was much lighter than she had expected to find it. It
+weighed only about twenty pounds. It was made of water-proof material and
+had a large helmet of copper with great circular glasses in front that
+looked like goggle eyes.
+
+Captain Jules explained that there were two lines with which the diver
+communicated with the outside world. The one was the air line, and it was
+used to pump air down to the man below in the water. The life line was
+usually hitched around the diver's waist. This line was let out to any
+depth the diver required, and by pulling on it the diver could signal to
+the men who followed his course: one jerk, pull up; two, more air; three,
+lower the bag. Madge was utterly fascinated with the netted bag, made of
+rope, that Captain Jules showed her. He told her that the pearl-diver
+always carried a bag to hold the treasures that he finds at the bottom of
+the sea. To her vivid imagination, the empty bag was even now filled with
+shining pearls, the rarest treasures of the sea.
+
+The young girl persuaded Captain Jules to let her dress up in his diver's
+suit, when she stumbled about the veranda in it, her gay laughter
+mingling with the captain's deep chuckles of delight.
+
+"O Captain Jules!" she pleaded, "do take me down to the bottom of the sea
+with you. I have always wanted to be a mermaid, and this may be the only
+chance I shall ever have. 'Only divers know of things below, of water's
+green and fishes' sheen,'" she chanted gayly.
+
+The old sea captain gazed at Madge, breathing a deep sigh of
+satisfaction. "I believe you have the courage to do it if I were to let
+you try," he murmured. "It comes nearer to convincing me than anything
+else."
+
+"Captain Jules," continued the girl earnestly, "please, please let's go
+down to the bottom of this bay. You could take me with you and then there
+wouldn't be any danger. We have been down together without diving suits
+and here we are safe and sound on land again! You said you thought there
+might be pearls in the oyster beds of this bay. We could look, at any
+rate. I saw the most wonderful things when I was searching for Tania. It
+seemed as though her dress was caught on the broken spar of an old ship,
+though, of course, I couldn't be sure. Have there been many wrecks in
+this bay? Do you suppose it was a ship's spar?"
+
+"There are always wrecks on the water, child. And you mustn't be talking
+nonsense about diving down in this bay along with me," answered Captain
+Jules severely. He kept his eyes fastened on his diving suit with an
+affectionate gleam in them. "Maybe, though, I will make a diving party of
+one and go down in the bay alone. I'd give you the pearls I found down
+there."
+
+Madge shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair," she said, setting her red
+lips together obstinately. Captain Jules, she felt sure, would be easy to
+manage. If he did any diving in the Delaware Bay within the next few
+weeks, he must take her with him.
+
+She wrote secretly to New York City to ask what a diver's suit would
+cost. She was discouraged by the answer, but she did not give up hope.
+She was also very careful not to let Miss Jenny Ann or Mrs. Curtis know
+anything of the wild scheme that was evolving in her head.
+
+Almost every day the girls saw Captain Jules. Either they went up the bay
+to call on him, or he made a visit to the houseboat.
+
+The old captain never invited the girls inside his house, but they had
+great frolics in his tidy yard. The captain explained that his house was
+not neat enough to be seen by young ladies, as it had only a man
+housekeeper.
+
+Even Mrs. Curtis became a little less prejudiced against Captain Jules.
+She could not but confess that he was a fine old man, though she still
+did not see why Madge was so much attracted by him. But the girl bided
+her time. The four girls and their friends went off on long fishing trips
+with Captain Jules. Sometimes Mrs. Curtis, Tom, and their guest, Philip
+Holt, went with them. The enmity between Madge and Philip increased every
+day, nor did Madge any longer make much effort to conceal her dislike for
+him.
+
+Philip Holt had a special reason for his dislike for Madge Morton. He had
+come to Cape May with the idea of making Mrs. Curtis do an important
+favor for him upon which his whole future depended. He feared that Madge,
+who looked upon him as a hypocrite, would find out his true character,
+tell her friend, and thus ruin his prospects.
+
+A singular misfortune had befallen him. Who could have guessed that one
+of the few people who knew his real history, Tania, the little street
+child, would be picked up by the houseboat girls and brought to Cape May
+for the summer? Tania must not be allowed to betray him. If she did, Mrs.
+Curtis must not believe either Madge or Tania. The young man had to lay
+his plans carefully, but he was a born hypocrite and he meant to
+accomplish his end.
+
+His first opportunity to further his cause came one morning when he and
+Mrs. Curtis were sitting on the veranda of her summer cottage. Tom had
+gone out sailing and was not expected back for several hours, so that
+Philip believed that the coast was clear. He began by telling Mrs. Curtis
+something of the charity work that he had recently done in New York City
+and so brought the subject about to Tania.
+
+"Dear Mrs. Curtis, you are so generous," the young man said admiringly.
+"I have just learned that after the summer holiday is over you intend to
+send Miss Morton's protégé, Tania, to a boarding school. It is so kind in
+you."
+
+Mrs. Curtis shook her head. "Oh, no," she answered, "it is very little to
+do. Really, I don't see what else could be done with the child. She is
+very queer and not attractive to me, but Madge is fond of her and, as I
+am very fond of Madge, I shall do what is best for the little girl."
+
+"Ah," murmured Philip Holt vaguely, "but do you feel sure that a boarding
+school is the best place for the girl? She is so unruly, so untruthful! I
+fear that she would give you a great deal of trouble and responsibility
+unless she were placed under greater restraint. I have wondered for some
+time what should be done for the child. She has caused a lot of mischief
+among the children on the street in her tenement section. It seems to me
+that she ought to be sent to some kind of an institution where she would
+be more closely watched--an asylum or home for incorrigible children."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked worried and bit her lips. "That is rather hard on the
+child, isn't it? Still, I could not undertake to be responsible for
+Tania's good behavior at school. She seems very hard to control. I will
+watch her more closely, and, if she shows more signs of untruthfulness, I
+shall have to consider your suggestion. However, I will talk the matter
+over with Madge. I wish you would walk down to the houseboat for me and
+invite the girls to come up to the hotel for luncheon. I hope they are
+not off somewhere with Captain Jules. He seems to claim the greater share
+of their attention lately."
+
+Philip Holt walked off, very well pleased with his interview. He had
+conveyed to Mrs. Curtis precisely the impression he had intended to
+convey.
+
+Ever since his arrival at Cape May Philip Holt had wished to see little
+Tania alone. He had warned the child that she was not to behave as though
+she had ever seen him before, yet he was still afraid that she might make
+a confidante of Madge. He needed to make his threat to her more
+terrifying. He decided to find her and intimidate her so thoroughly that
+she would not dare betray her previous acquaintance with him.
+
+There was but one person in the world of whom the queer, elf-like Tania
+was afraid. That person was Philip Holt! She had feared him since the day
+of her own mother's death, and the very thought of him was enough to fill
+her childish soul with terror.
+
+Tania was playing alone on the sands near that houseboat at the time Mrs.
+Curtis and Philip Holt were discussing her future. Madge and Miss Jenny
+Ann were inside the houseboat, within calling distance of Tania, but not
+where they could see her. The little girl had just built a house of
+shining pebbles and was gazing at it with a pleased smile when she heard
+a step near her on the sand. Tania stared up at Philip's thin, blonde
+face in terror-stricken silence.
+
+"Tania," the young man asked harshly, "have you told any one down here
+that you have ever seen or known me before?"
+
+Tania shook her head mutely.
+
+"Remember, if you do, I am going to have you shut up in a big house with
+iron bars at the windows where you can never go out or see your friends
+any more," Philip Holt went on, keeping his voice lowered to a whisper.
+
+Slowly Tania's black eyes dropped. She tried to be brave and to pretend
+that she did not care, but the loss of her freedom was the one thing that
+Tania feared with all her soul. If she were shut up somewhere, how could
+she ever talk to her fairies, or see the blue sky that she so loved? And
+now, to be parted from the girls forever was too dreadful! Indeed, she
+would not dare to tell what she knew. Philip Holt was sure of it.
+
+It was at that moment that Madge slipped out on the houseboat deck to see
+if Tania were all right. To her surprise she saw that Philip Holt was
+talking to the little girl. She had not thought that Philip Holt cared
+enough for children to waste a minute's time with them. She therefore
+wondered at his sudden interest in Tania. Madge walked quietly off the
+houseboat. She was wearing tennis shoes and her softly-shod feet made no
+sound. She caught one glimpse of Tania's mute, white face and stopped
+short in time to hear Philip say:
+
+"Even if you do tell that old Sal is my mother, Tania, no one will
+believe you. She herself will deny it and help me to have you shut up,"
+declared Philip Holt menacingly.
+
+Madge caught each word as though it had been addressed to her. For
+Tania's sake, and because she knew that for many reasons it was wiser,
+she held her peace for the time being.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Holt?" she asked innocently. "I just saw you from the
+deck of the houseboat."
+
+Philip Holt leaped to his feet. But Madge's eyes were so clear and
+serene, her face so calm, that it was utterly impossible she could have
+overheard him.
+
+Philip delivered Mrs. Curtis's message and then left the two girls
+together. Madge dropped down on the sands by Tania and put her arm about
+her. "You need never tell me who Mr. Holt is, nor why you are afraid of
+him, Tania," she whispered; "I overheard what he said, and you need not
+be afraid. I will take care of you!"
+
+"He is the Wicked Genii," faltered Tania, "who hated the Princess and
+wanted to drive her away from her kingdom in Fairyland."
+
+"But he can't harm you, Tania, dear," comforted Madge. "He dare not try
+to take you away from us. I am going to tell Mrs. Curtis all about this
+Wicked Genii and if I'm not mistaken it will be he, not you who is sent
+away."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CAPTAIN JULES MAKES A PROMISE
+
+
+Little by little Madge was able to put together the whole story of Philip
+Holt's life. He was old Sal's son, and "Holt" was not his own name, but
+he rarely came near his mother, never gave her any help, and denied his
+relationship with her whenever it was necessary. When Philip Murphy was a
+small boy, he had been taken into the home of a wealthy family named
+Holt, but he had never been legally adopted as their child. He was raised
+in luxury and had made a great many wealthy friends, and he had learned
+to love money more than anything else in the world. But his rich patrons
+would not allow him entirely to desert his own mother. Twice every month
+he was made to go to see old Sal Murphy in her tenement home on the East
+Side. Philip Holt, who now went by the name of his foster parents, fairly
+loathed these visits. It was because of his hatred of them that he began
+to take his spite out on Tania when he was a lad of about fifteen, and
+poor Tania a baby of only six years old.
+
+Tania's mother had died in the same tenement where old Sal lived. There
+had been no one who wanted the little girl, so old Sal had taken her,
+beaten and starved her, and made her useful in any way that she could.
+
+When Philip Holt had grown to manhood his foster parents lost most of
+their money. A little later they died, leaving their foster son nothing.
+The young man had been used to luxury and rich friends, and he could not
+give them up, therefore he told his wealthy friends that because he had
+once been a poor boy he meant to devote his life to charity. He proposed
+to work among the New York poor and asked their cooperation. Large sums
+of money were given him to be used for charity, but Philip Holt believed
+too strongly in the theory that charity begins at home. Whenever it was
+possible he used a part of this money for himself. To make more, he began
+speculating in Wall Street. He lost two thousand, then five thousand
+dollars of the money that had been entrusted to him. For almost a year he
+had been the treasurer of a New York charitable organization, and the
+time was near at hand when he must give a report of the money that he had
+misused. He knew that disgrace, imprisonment, stared him in the face
+unless he could persuade Mrs. Curtis to advance him five thousand dollars
+for some charitable purpose, or give it to him for himself. He,
+therefore, did not intend to be balked in his plan by either Madge or
+Tania, no matter what desperate measures he had to employ.
+
+So there were two persons at Cape May who came to believe that they stood
+in dire need of money. Yet they wished it for very different reasons:
+Philip Holt wanted money to save himself from disgrace; Madge desired it
+to help her uncle and aunt save their old home, "Forest House," to send
+Eleanor back to graduate at Miss Tolliver's in the fall, to start on her
+search for her father, and, last of all, to take care of Tania.
+
+For Madge had managed the little waif's affairs most undiplomatically.
+When she discovered the threat that Philip held over Tania if she told
+his secret, the little captain went to Mrs. Curtis with the story. She
+did not wish her friend to be deceived by the young man, so she confided
+to Mrs. Curtis that Philip Holt, who was supposedly the son of some old
+friends, was really the child of old Sal of the tenements. Mrs. Curtis
+thought that Madge must be mistaken. She wrote to old Sal to ask her if
+it were true. The Irish woman was devoted to her son. She would have done
+anything in the world not to disgrace him. She answered Mrs. Curtis's
+letter by declaring that Philip Holt was no relative of hers, but a young
+man whom she knew because of his kindness to the poor. Mrs. Curtis was
+indignant. She insisted that Tania had told Madge a falsehood, and that
+Philip Holt was right in his opinion of Tania. It would not be well to
+send the child to a school; she should be put in some kind of an
+institution. This, however, Madge was determined should never happen. She
+had no money of her own, nor did she know where she was to obtain the
+means, but she made up her mind to find some way to provide for her
+quaint little Fairy Godmother.
+
+The morning after Madge's disquieting talk with Mrs. Curtis the four
+girls and Tania wandered up the bay to spend the morning in the woods
+near the water. Phyllis carried a book that she meant to read aloud,
+Madge a box of luncheon, and Eleanor and Lillian their sewing. Tania
+skipped along with her hand in Madge's. John had promised to join them
+later in the day if he returned in time from his trip on the water.
+
+The girls settled themselves under some trees whence they could command a
+view of the land and the bay. Madge lay down in the soft grass and rested
+her head in her hands. She meant to listen to Phil's reading, not to
+puzzle over her own worries. Phil's book gave a thrilling account of the
+early days in the Delaware Bay, when it was the favorite cruising place
+for pirates. It was rather hard to believe, when the girls gazed out on
+the smooth, blue water, that it had once been the scene of so many fierce
+adventures with pirates. Once a crew of seventy men, belonging to the
+famous Captain Kidd, had actually sailed up the Delaware Bay and
+frightened the people of Philadelphia.
+
+Madge had forgotten to listen. She could hear Phil's voice, but not her
+words. The history of piracy, of course, was very thrilling, but Madge
+did not see how any long-ago dead and buried pirates or their hidden
+treasures could help her out of her present difficulties. She stood in
+need of real riches.
+
+A sailboat dipped across the horizon and headed for the landing not far
+from where the girls were sitting, but no one of them noticed it.
+
+"Look ahoy! look ahoy!" a friendly voice cried out from across the
+water.
+
+Phyllis closed her book with a snap, Lillian and Eleanor dropped their
+sewing, Tania ran to the water's edge, and Madge sat up.
+
+It was Captain Jules who had hailed them.
+
+"Well, my hearties, is this a summer camp?" demanded the old sailor as
+his boat came near the land. "I have been all the way to the houseboat to
+find you. I have something to show you." Captain Jules's broad face shone
+with good humor. He was clad in his weather-beaten tarpaulins, and on his
+shoulder perched the monkey.
+
+Madge covered the sides of her curly head with her hands. "Please don't
+let the monkey pull my hair this morning," she pleaded as the captain
+came up.
+
+He tossed the monkey over to Tania, who cuddled it affectionately in her
+arms, and began talking softly to it.
+
+Then Captain Jules seated himself on the grass and the houseboat girls
+gathered about him in a circle. He put one great hand in his pocket.
+"I've some presents for you," he announced, trying to look very serious,
+but smiling in spite of himself.
+
+"What are they?" asked Lillian eagerly.
+
+"That's telling," returned the captain. "You must guess."
+
+"Shells," said Tania quickly.
+
+Captain Jules shook his head. "You're warm, little girl," he replied,
+"but you haven't guessed right yet."
+
+Lillian sighed. "I never could guess anything," she remarked sadly.
+"Please do tell us what it is."
+
+The captain relented and drew out of his pocket a handful of what seemed
+to be either oyster or mussel shells.
+
+"You've brought some oysters for our luncheon, haven't you?" guessed
+Eleanor. "You must stay and eat them with us."
+
+Captain Jules chuckled. "Oysters are out of season, child, and these are
+never good to eat."
+
+But Madge had clapped her hands together suddenly, her eyes shining. "You
+have been down to the bottom of the bay, haven't you, Captain Jules? And
+you've found some pearls!"
+
+Captain Jules shook his head. "I wouldn't call them pearls, exactly.
+They're too little and too poor. But come, now; maybe they are seed
+pearls. I went down under the water with the men who were looking over
+the oyster beds yesterday. Pearl oysters are not found in beds, like the
+edible oysters, so I wandered around on the bottom of the bay a bit and
+picked up these." The captain extended his great hand. Five pairs of
+eager eyes peered into it. There lay four nearly round, thick shells,
+horny and rough with tiny little pearls embedded in them.
+
+"'Pearls are angel's tears'," quoted Phil softly.
+
+Captain Jules seemed worried. "I searched about everywhere in the bay,
+but I could only find these four tiny pearls, and pretty lucky I was to
+find them!" the sailor continued. "They aren't of much value, but I
+wanted to give them to five girls, and that's just the difficulty." The
+captain looked at the houseboat party, which now included Tania, as
+though he did not know just what he should make up his mind to do.
+
+"Let's draw straws for them," suggested Eleanor sensibly.
+
+Madge shook her head. "No; Captain Jules is to give them to you and to
+leave me out. Remember, some stranger gave me a handsome pearl when I
+graduated. I have never had it mounted." Madge slipped her arm
+confidingly through the old sea captain's and gazed into his face with
+her most earnest expression. "Captain Jules is going to do something else
+for me; he is going down to the bottom of the bay again in his diving
+suit, and he is going to take me with him."
+
+"What a ridiculous idea!" protested Eleanor. "Just as though Captain
+Jules would think of doing any such thing."
+
+Lillian laughed unbelievingly, but Phil's face was serious. "It would be
+awfully jolly, wouldn't it? There wouldn't be any danger if Captain Jules
+should take you. Do please take Madge down with you, and then take me,"
+she insisted coaxingly.
+
+Captain Jules shook his head, but the little captain observed that he did
+not look half so shocked at the idea as he had the first time she
+proposed it. This was encouraging.
+
+Phil took hold of one of the captain's hands, and Madge the other.
+
+"Please, please, _please_!" they pleaded in chorus.
+
+"Miss Jenny Ann wouldn't let you," objected Captain Jules faintly.
+
+"But if we were to get her permission," argued Madge triumphantly, "then
+you would take us down to the bottom of the bay. I just knew you would,
+you are so splendid! I shall send to New York to see if we can rent a
+diving suit."
+
+"Never mind about that, I'll see about the suit," promised Captain Jules.
+"But it's all nonsense, and I have never said that I would take you. I
+wish I weren't a sailor. There is an old saying that a sailor can never
+refuse anything to a woman."
+
+"Here comes Tom," announced Lillian hurriedly.
+
+"Then don't say anything to him about the diving," warned Madge. "He will
+think it is perfectly dreadful for girls to attempt it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE GREAT ADVENTURE
+
+
+The news that old Captain Jules Fontaine, the retired pearl diver, whose
+history was a mystery to most of the inhabitants at Cape May, was to take
+Madge Morton down to the bottom of Delaware Bay with him spread through
+the town and seaside resort like wildfire. It was in vain that the
+houseboat party and Captain Jules tried to keep the affair a secret.
+There were necessary arrangements to be made, men to be engaged to assist
+in the diving operations; it was impossible to deny everything.
+
+At first the plan seemed to outsiders like mere midsummer madness. Then
+the story began to grow. Cape May residents learned that Captain Jules
+had found pearls in the bottom of the bay. No one would believe the
+captain's statement that the pearls were of little value; gossip made the
+tiny pearls grow larger and larger, until they were fit for an empress.
+
+Captain Jules was besieged at his little house up the bay, although, as
+usual, he kept the door fastened against intruders. Half the fishermen
+and oystermen in the vicinity begged to be permitted to accompany the old
+sea diver in his descent into the water. Captain Jules politely explained
+that he needed no companions; he was merely going on a diving expedition
+to amuse two of his friends, Phyllis Alden and Madge Morton, who had a
+taste for watery adventure. He did not expect to find anything of value
+in the bottom of the bay. They were going down merely for sport.
+
+There was one person at Cape May who listened eagerly to any tale of the
+fabulous riches that the old pearl diver was evidently expecting to
+unearth. He was Philip Holt. The time of his visit at Cape May was
+rapidly passing. Mrs. Curtis was exceedingly kind and interested in her
+guest, but Philip did not feel that he dared approach her too abruptly
+with the request for so large a sum of money as five thousand dollars.
+Besides, Philip Holt knew that Tom Curtis disliked him heartily. Tom was
+not likely to approve a man whom Madge mistrusted; nor would Mrs. Curtis
+give away or lend five thousand dollars without first consulting her son.
+So the marvelous tale of the pearls to be found in the Delaware Bay
+rooted itself in Philip Holt's imagination. Here was another way to get
+out of his scrape. He was not fond of adventure, but he would do anything
+in the world for money. Perhaps he could find pearls enough not only to
+pay his debt, but to make him rich forever afterward.
+
+Quietly, and without a word to any one, Philip Holt made a secret visit
+to the house of the three sails. He implored Captain Jules to make him
+his diving companion. He attempted to bribe him with sums of money that
+he did not possess. He even threatened the old sailor that he would make
+investigations about his life and expose any secrets that the captain
+might wish to keep. Captain Jules only laughed at these threats. He was
+not going down in the bay for treasures, he declared. He expected to find
+absolutely nothing of any value. Positively he would not allow any one to
+accompany him but the two girls.
+
+Madge and Phyllis had a hard fight to persuade Miss Jenny Ann to give her
+consent to their plan for playing mermaid. But she was getting so
+accustomed to the exciting adventures of her girls that, when Captain
+Jules assured her there was really no special danger, so long as he kept
+a close watch on the diver with him, she finally agreed to the scheme.
+Captain Jules gave the two girls every kind of instruction in the art of
+diving that he thought necessary, and the day of the great watery
+adventure was set for the week ahead.
+
+On the morning of Tuesday, July 12th, Madge awoke at daybreak. She felt a
+delicious, shivery thrill pass over her that was one part fear and the
+other part rapture.
+
+"Phil," she whispered a few seconds later, when she heard her chum
+stirring in the berth above her, "can you feel fins growing where your
+feet are? Your flop in the bed sounded as though you were a real mermaid!
+Just think, at ten o'clock sharp we are going down to explore a new
+world! I wonder if there were ever any girl divers before? You are
+awfully good to let me go down first."
+
+"No, I am not," answered Phil soberly. "If there is any danger, I am
+letting you go down to it first. But I shall watch above the water, with
+all my eyes, to see that everything goes right. The captain has explained
+the whole business of diving to us so thoroughly that I believe I can
+tell if anything is wrong with you below the surface. You'll be careful,
+won't you, Madge? You know you are usually rather reckless. Don't stay
+down too long."
+
+"Oh, Captain Jules won't let me be reckless this time. We are not going
+down into very deep water, anyway, and a professional diver can stay
+under several hours when the water is only about five fathoms deep."
+
+Madge and Phyllis ate a very light breakfast. Captain Jules had told them
+that a diver must never go down into the water on a full stomach, as it
+would make him too short-winded. While the two prospective divers were
+eating poor Miss Jenny Ann was wondering what had ever induced her to
+give her consent to so mad an enterprise as this diving.
+
+Every effort had been made to keep a crowd away from the pier from which
+Captain Jules meant to send out the boats with the tenders, who were the
+men to look after the safety of Madge and himself.
+
+As the girls came up, with Miss Jenny Ann, to join Captain Jules they saw
+twenty or thirty people about. Mrs. Curtis and Tom, accompanied by Philip
+Holt, had come down to the pier. Mrs. Curtis would hardly speak to Madge,
+she was so angry at the risk she believed the little captain was running.
+She and Madge had not been very friendly since they had disagreed so
+utterly in Madge's report of the real character and name of Philip Holt.
+
+Madge and Phyllis each wore a close fitting, warm woolen dress. Madge had
+tucked up her red-brown curls into a tight knot. Her eyes were glowing,
+but her face was white and her lips a little less red when Captain Jules
+came forward to fasten her into her diving suit.
+
+"Don't attempt it, Madge, if you are frightened," urged Miss Jenny Ann,
+who was feeling dreadfully frightened herself. "I am sure Captain Jules
+will forgive you if you back out."
+
+Captain Jules looked at Madge searchingly. Her eyes smiled bravely into
+his, although her heart was going pit-a-pat.
+
+"Miss Madge is not afraid," answered Captain Jules curtly. "Robert
+Morton's daughter has no right to know fear."
+
+Madge first slipped her feet into a pair of heavy leather boots. She gave
+a gay laugh as she slipped into her rubber cloth suit, which was made in
+one piece. "I feel just like a walrus," she confided to Tom Curtis, who
+was watching her with set lips.
+
+Then Madge and Captain Jules, who was in exactly the same costume, got
+into their boats and moved out a little distance from the shore.
+
+Tom Curtis had asked Captain Jules's consent to sit in one of the boats
+with Phil. At the last moment Philip Holt stepped calmly into the other.
+No one stopped to argue with him, or to thrust him out; the whole party
+was too much excited.
+
+Not for all the pearls in all the seas would Captain Jules Fontaine have
+allowed one hair of Madge's head to be injured. But he really did not
+believe that she would be in any danger under the water with him. He had
+arranged every detail of the diving perfectly. He would watch her every
+movement at the bottom of the bay. To tell the truth, Captain Jules was
+immensely proud of Madge's and Phil's bravery in desiring to accompany
+him.
+
+The final moment for the dive arrived. Madge waved her hand to the crowd
+of her friends lining the shore. She flung back her head and looked
+gayly, triumphantly, up at the blue sky above her, with its sweep of
+white, sailing clouds. Below her the water looked even more deeply blue.
+
+"Remember, Madge," whispered Captain Jules calmly, "the one quality a
+diver needs more than anything else is presence of mind. Keep a clear
+head under the water and nothing shall harm you, I swear. But above all,
+don't forget your signals."
+
+With his own hands Captain Jules fastened the brass corselet about
+Madge's slender neck and set a big copper helmet which he screwed over
+her head to her corselet. Madge then surveyed the world only through the
+glass windows at each side of her head and in front. Her air-tube entered
+her helmet at the back. Two men in one of the boats were to keep the
+young girl diver supplied with oxygen by pumping fresh air down through
+this tube.
+
+A moment later Captain Jules stood rigged in the same costume as Madge.
+
+"Steady, my girl," Captain Jules warned her.
+
+"Aye, aye, Captain," returned Madge quietly, "I'm ready. Let us go down
+together to the bottom of the bay."
+
+"Pump away," ordered the captain.
+
+There was a splash on the surface of the clear water, a long-drawn gasp
+from Madge's friends; then a few bubbles rose. Rapidly, skillfully,
+Madge's tenders played out her life and pipe lines, and Madge Morton
+disappeared from the world of men. Captain Jules made his plunge a few
+seconds in advance of his companion.
+
+In the boat where Tom Curtis and Phyllis Alden sat there was a
+breathless, intense silence. The boy and girl happened to be in the boat
+with the men who were looking out for the welfare of Captain Jules.
+Philip Holt was with Madge's tenders.
+
+Phyllis knew that there was but one way in which she could follow her
+chum's course below the surface of the water. She could watch her life
+and air lines. Captain Jules had made it plain to Phyllis that all the
+time the diver is under water small ripples will appear near his air
+line. These bubbles are caused by the air that the diver breathes out
+from the valve in the side of his diving helmet.
+
+Phyllis watched the lines doggedly. Captain Jules was to keep Madge under
+water only about fifteen or twenty minutes, but at that a minute may
+appear longer than an hour.
+
+Suddenly Phyllis Alden discovered that the man who was tending Madge's
+air pump seemed to be working less vigorously. He pumped unevenly. Once
+he swayed, as though he were about to fall over in his seat.
+
+In a second it flashed over Phyllis that the man was ill. He was a
+strong, red-faced individual, but his face turned to a kind of ghastly
+pallor. It was all so quick that Phil had no time to speak from her boat.
+Philip Holt, who was in the same boat with the man, grasped the situation
+as quickly as Phyllis did. With a single motion he took the tender's
+place at the air-pump. Phil saw that he was pumping away with vigor.
+
+At this moment Phil turned to speak to Tom Curtis. "Tom, how long have
+they been under the water?" she whispered.
+
+"Ten minutes," returned Tom, glancing hastily at his watch.
+
+"It seems ten hours," murmured Phil, as though she dared not speak
+aloud.
+
+Tug, tug! Phil thought she saw Madge's air line give two desperate jerks.
+Two pulls at the line was the diver's signal for more air. Phil knew that
+without a doubt. Yet Philip Holt seemed to be pumping vigorously. At
+least, he had been only the second before when Phil last looked at him.
+
+Again Phil saw Madge's air line jerk twice.
+
+Tom Curtis and the two men in Captain Jules's boat were vainly trying to
+interpret some signals that Captain Jules was making to them. The two
+boats were at no great distance apart.
+
+"I am afraid something is the matter below, Phil," Tom Curtis turned to
+mutter hoarsely. But Phyllis Alden, who had been sitting near him a
+moment before, was no longer there.
+
+Phyllis believed she saw that Philip Holt was only pretending to pump
+sufficient air down to Madge. She may have been wrong. Who could ever
+tell? But Phil knew there was no time to discuss the matter. One minute,
+two minutes, five or ten--Phil did not know how long a diver at the
+bottom of the water can be shut off from his supply of fresh air and
+live. She did not mean to wait, to ask questions, or to lose time. Phil
+made a flying leap from the skiff that held her to the one in which
+Philip Holt sat by the air-pump. She landed in the water, just alongside
+the boat. Quietly, though more quickly than she had ever moved before in
+her life, Phil climbed into the boat and thrust Philip Holt away from the
+air pump. In the minute it had taken her to make her plunge she had seen
+Madge's signal again, but this time the line jerked more feebly than it
+had before.
+
+Phil set the pump to working again; the signal answered from below, "All
+is well!"
+
+The tender had recovered from his attack of faintness and resumed his
+work at Madge's airline.
+
+But Philip Holt sat crouched in the bottom of the boat, his face white
+with anger. What would Phyllis Alden's action suggest but that he was
+trying to suffocate Madge in the water below?
+
+Whether or not Philip Holt meant to stifle Madge Morton he himself never
+really knew. The impulse came to him as he placed his hands on her
+air-pump. It flashed across his mind that it was Madge who had tried to
+injure his prospects with Mrs. Curtis, and who had kept him from going
+down with Captain Jules to search for the pearls that he firmly believed
+would be found at the bottom of the bay. It was while these thoughts
+passed through Philip Holt's mind his pressure on Madge's air-pump had
+wavered. But Phyllis Alden had discovered it. She gave him no opportunity
+either for action or regret.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A STRANGE PEARL
+
+
+Madge felt herself in a great fairy world peopled with giants. Every
+thing below the water is magnified a thousandfold. Slowly she went down
+and down! The fishes splashed and tumbled about her, hurrying to get away
+from this strange, new sea-monster that had come into their midst.
+
+The little captain felt no mental sensation except one of wonder and of
+awe; no physical impression save a pressure as of a great weight on her
+head and a roaring of mighty waters in her ears. She no longer had any
+idea of being afraid.
+
+At the first plunge into the water she had shut her eyes, but now, as she
+approached the bottom of the bay, she kept them wide open.
+
+The water was clear as crystal, like the reflection in a mammoth mirror.
+She could see nearly fifty feet ahead of her. Captain Jules walked just
+in front of her, swinging his great body from side to side, peering down
+into the sandy bottom of the bay. Madge discovered that the only way in
+which she could get a view, except the one directly in front of her, was
+by turning her head inside her helmet, to look through her side window
+glasses. The goggles over her eyes gave her just the view that a horse
+has with blinkers.
+
+There were hundreds of things that Madge would have liked to confide to
+Captain Jules. However, for once in her life, she was compelled to hold
+her tongue. Her eyes, her hands, and her feet she could keep busy. Now
+and then she gave a little ejaculation of wonder inside her copper helmet
+at the marvels she saw. No one heard her cry out. Captain Jules wasted no
+time. He was exceedingly business-like. He motioned to Madge just where
+she should go and what she should do, and she obediently followed.
+
+There were long, level flats of sand in the bottom of Delaware Bay, like
+small prairies. Then there were exquisite oases of waving green seaweed,
+gardens of sea flowers and ferns, and hillocks of rocks, with all sorts
+of queer sea animals, crabs, jelly-fish, and devil-fish, scurrying about
+them.
+
+Caught in the moss, encrusted on the rocks, sunken in the yellow sands,
+were opalescent, shining shells and pebbles, each one more beautiful than
+the last. Madge did not realize that if she carried these shells and
+pebbles above the water they would look like ordinary stones. Every now
+and then the young diver would stoop and drop one of them in her netted
+bag with a thrill of excitement.
+
+Again and again Captain Jules had assured Madge that she must not expect
+to find any pearls of much value in Delaware Bay. There were few pearls
+in edible oysters. The beds about Cape May were meant to supply the
+family table, not the family jewels. Of course, it was true, the Captain
+admitted, that a pearl did appear now and then in an ordinary oyster. Yet
+this was an accident and most unlikely to occur.
+
+Madge had really tried not to believe that she was going to find any kind
+of prize in the new world under the water. In spite of all her efforts
+she had been thinking and planning and hoping. Perhaps--perhaps she would
+find a pearl of great price. Then her troubles would be at an end.
+
+All this time Madge had been breathing naturally and comfortably inside
+her helmet as she traveled along the bed of the bay. She was so
+unconscious of any difficulty that she was beginning to believe that she
+was, in truth, a mermaid, and that water, and not air, was her natural
+element. Suddenly she felt a little uneasy, as though the windows of her
+room had been closed for too long a time. It was nothing, she was sure.
+The stifling sensation would pass in another second.
+
+At this moment Captain Jules gazed hard at Madge. He had never forgotten
+his charge for a moment. But all seemed well with her, and the captain
+thought he saw ahead of him something that was well worth investigating.
+He dropped on his knees in the soft mud. With him he had a small hammer
+and a fork, not unlike a gardener's. Shining through some green sea moss
+so soft and fine that it might have been the hair of a water-baby,
+Captain Jules had espied some glittering shells. To his experienced eye
+the glow was that of mother-of-pearl. It is the mother-of-pearl shell
+that usually covers the precious pearl. The old sailor set to work. Madge
+was eagerly watching him, when once again the faint stifling sensation
+swept over her. Surely it was not possible to faint in a diving suit.
+Besides, Madge's heart was beating so furiously with excitement that it
+was small wonder she could not get her breath. She believed that Captain
+Jules was about to discover a wonderful pearl. He had wrenched the shells
+free and was trying to open them. Madge stood some feet away from him,
+quivering with excitement.
+
+"'And the sea shall give up its treasures'," she quoted softly to herself
+as she watched.
+
+The next moment her hands made an involuntary movement in the water. Had
+she been on land her gesture would have meant that she was fighting for
+breath. To her horror she realized that she was slowly suffocating.
+Something must have happened to her air-pump above the water. She was not
+faint from any other cause, but was getting an insufficient supply of
+fresh air.
+
+At this moment Madge proved her mettle. She remembered Captain Jules's
+injunction, "Keep a clear head under the water and there is nothing to
+fear." She knew the signal for more fresh air, and gave two hard, quick
+pulls on her life line. Then she waited. Relief would surely come in a
+moment.
+
+For the first and only time since their descent to the bottom of the bay
+Captain Jules had temporarily neglected Madge. He certainly had not
+expected to find any pearls in so unlikely a place as Delaware Bay; yet
+the shells he held in his hand were most unusual. The thrill of his old
+occupation seized hold of the pearl fisher. His big hands fairly trembled
+with emotion. He felt, rather than saw, Madge jerk her life line twice,
+but it never dawned on him that her signal for more air might fail to be
+answered.
+
+Madge signaled again. A loud buzzing seemed to sound in her ears. Her
+tongue felt thick and swollen. She could not see a foot ahead of her. All
+the dazzling, shimmering beauty of the world under the water had passed
+into blackness. The little captain's eyes were glazing behind the glass
+windows of her helmet. She felt that she must be dying. But she had
+strength to give one more signal. Air! air! How could she ever have
+believed that there was anything in the world so precious as fresh air?
+Madge had a vision of a field of new-mown hay in her old home at "Forest
+House." The wind was blowing through it with a delicious fragrance. Had
+she the strength to pull her life line once again? The water that she
+loved so dearly was to claim her at last. She made a motion to go toward
+Captain Jules, but she had no control of her limbs.
+
+Then Captain Jules became aroused to action. He realized that Madge had
+signaled for air, not once, but several times. This meant that her signal
+had not been answered. The captain had been for too many years a deep-sea
+diver not to guess instantly the girl's condition. The groan inside his
+helmet came from the bottom of his heart. Captain Jules's hands shook. He
+dropped the shells that he believed might contain priceless pearls down
+into the soft sand in the bed of the bay.
+
+It was at this moment that Tom Curtis and Phyllis Alden, as well as the
+captain's boat tenders, caught his confusing signals from below. More
+fresh air was pumped down the tube to Captain Jules, but not to Madge.
+
+Phil's leap and quick work at Madge's air-pump must have taken place not
+more than three minutes afterward, but they were horrible, agonizing
+moments. Madge hardly knew how they passed. Captain Jules suffered the
+regret of a lifetime. How could he have been so unwise as to entrust the
+safety of this girl, whose life was so dear to him, to the perils of a
+diver's experiences? In the few weeks of their acquaintance Madge Morton
+had become all in all to Captain Jules Fontaine.
+
+There was but one thing for Captain Jules to do for his companion. He
+must signal to have her drawn up to the surface of the water again,
+trusting that she would not suffocate for lack of air in her ascent.
+
+Madge was near enough to lay her hand on Captain Jules's arm. Phil's
+relief had come just in time. The life-giving fresh air from the world
+above pressed into her copper helmet. It filled her nose and mouth, it
+poured into her aching lungs. She received new life, new energy. Now she
+was no longer afraid. She did not wish to go above the surface of the
+water. Surely all above was now well. She yearned to continue her
+adventures on the under side of the world.
+
+She it was, not Captain Jules, who dropped down on her hands and knees to
+grope for the captain's lost pearl shells.
+
+But the sand had covered them up forever, or else the water had carried
+them away!
+
+Captain Jules wished to take Madge out of the water immediately, yet he
+yielded for a minute to her disappointment. What treasures had they lost
+when he threw the mother-of-pearl shells away? Neither of them would ever
+know. The old diver looked about in the soft mud, while Madge raked
+furiously near the spot where she thought the sailor had dropped the
+shells. Captain Jules walked on for a little distance. He had seen beyond
+them a tangled mass of other shells and seaweed and it occurred to him
+that the water might have carried his shells into some hidden crevice
+nearby.
+
+But Madge never left her chosen spot. Deeper and deeper she dug. What a
+swirl of mud arose and eddied about her, darkening the clear water in
+which she stood! The little captain's hammer struck against something
+hard. Was it a rock embedded in the sand? Yet a distinct sound rang out,
+as of one metal striking against another!
+
+Madge did not know how she summoned Captain Jules back to her side. She
+was wild with curiosity and excitement. Captain Jules was smiling behind
+his copper mask. The young girl diver had probably found a piece of old
+iron cast off from some ship. Still, she should unearth whatever she had
+discovered so near the dark kingdom of Pluto.
+
+The captain worked with her. Whatever her find might be, it was larger
+and heavier than Captain Jules had expected. They could afford to spend
+no more time with it. It was time for Madge to leave the water.
+
+It is difficult to make an imploring gesture in a diver's suit. Yet,
+somehow, Madge must have managed to do so. For one moment longer the old
+pearl diver relented. The hole that they were digging in the bottom of
+the bay was widening before them. A chunk of what looked like solid iron
+was visible. Then a triangular end came into view. It was rusted until it
+shone like beautiful green enamel. The top was absolutely flat and of
+some depth, as it was so hard to excavate.
+
+The time was growing short. Madge had been under the water as long as was
+safe for any amateur diver. The captain was a man to be obeyed, as she
+knew instinctively. She gave one more dig into the mud about her iron
+treasure. It now became plain, both to her and to Captain Jules, that she
+had found an old iron chest. The captain tugged at it with both his
+great, strong hands. It was strangely heavy. But he managed to lift it in
+his arms.
+
+Straightway he gave the signal to ascend; three sharp tugs at his life
+line. Madge followed suit. But she cast one long backward glance at the
+watery world into which she might never again descend, as slowly,
+steadily, the boat tenders pulled up her long life line. Her feet dangled
+above the sandy bottom of the bay. Now she could see even farther off.
+About forty feet from the rapidly filling hole from which she and the
+captain had extracted the iron chest was a spar of a ship jutting above
+the sand. The little captain may have been wrong, but it looked like the
+very spar on which Tania's dress had caught the day she was so nearly
+drowned. Madge could not tell how far she and Captain Jules had traveled
+on the bottom of the bay, but she knew they had made their descent at a
+place no very great distance from the spot where Roy Dennis's yacht had
+run down their skiff, and Captain Jules had rescued Tania and herself.
+
+Thought travels swifter than anything else in the created world. So
+Madge's thoughts had reached the upper world before she followed them.
+She wondered if the girls would be very sadly disappointed when she
+returned bearing, instead of a costly pearl, nothing but a rusted iron
+box!
+
+Would Phil have better luck when she descended to the depths of the bay?
+What had happened in the outside world since she had disappeared from it
+a long, long time ago?
+
+A flare of blinding sunlight smote across the glass goggles in Madge's
+copper helmet. She felt herself picked up and lifted bodily into a boat.
+Her helmet and corselet were unscrewed. She lay still, smiling faintly as
+the boat made for her friends who crowded, watching, on the pier. Captain
+Jules, bearing the small iron chest, landed a moment later. The little
+captain had been in a new world, into which few men and rarely any women
+have ever entered. She had been out of her human element, a creature of
+the water, not of the air, and it seemed to her that she must have lived
+a whole new lifetime as a deep-sea diver.
+
+Tom Curtis stared anxiously at his watch and smiled into her white face.
+He breathed a sigh of relief and of wonder. Captain Jules Fontaine and
+Madge Morton had been down at the bottom of Delaware Bay exactly thirty
+minutes!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE FAIRY GODMOTHER'S WISH COMES TRUE
+
+
+Captain Jules decided to wait until another day before taking Phyllis
+Alden on the journey from which he and Madge had just returned. The old
+sailor was too deeply thankful to see his first charge safe on land. Poor
+Miss Jenny Ann could do nothing but lean over Madge and cry; the nervous
+strain of waiting while the girl was under the water had been too great.
+Indeed, even the people who, Madge knew, were not in the least interested
+in her, appeared dreadfully upset. Philip Holt's face was very pale and
+his eyes shifted uneasily from Phyllis's to Madge's face.
+
+Phyllis was the most self-possessed of the four girls. She was greatly
+disappointed at the captain's determination to put off the time for her
+diving expedition until a later date. But Phyllis was always unselfish.
+She realized that her chaperon and her friends had had about as much
+anxiety as they could endure in one day. Madge had been under the water,
+and she could not dream of what the others had suffered above, while
+awaiting her return.
+
+Mrs. Curtis put her arms about the little captain and embraced her with
+an affection she had not shown her during the summer.
+
+"My dear," she murmured, "will you ever stop being the most reckless girl
+in the world? What possible good could that wretched diving feat of yours
+do anybody on earth? If my hair weren't already white I am sure it would
+have turned so in the last half-hour. Look at poor Philip Holt. He seems
+as nervous as though you were his own sister."
+
+Madge and Captain Jules had both taken off their heavy diving suits and
+were soon shaking hands with every one on the pier. Even Roy Dennis and
+Mabel Farrar, much as they disliked Madge, could not conceal the fact
+that they thought her extremely plucky.
+
+Captain Jules had laid the iron chest on the ground and for the moment
+they had forgotten it.
+
+It was little Tania who danced up to it and tried to lift it.
+
+"Show us the pearls you found, Madge," Eleanor begged her cousin at this
+instant, her brown eyes twinkling.
+
+The little captain looked crestfallen. "I am afraid we didn't find
+anything of value," she said, trying to pretend that she was not
+disappointed. "I have only some pretty shells and stones that I gathered
+on the bottom of the bay for Tania."
+
+She pulled her sea treasures out of her netted diving bag. Sure enough,
+the water had dried on them and the shells and stones appeared quite dull
+and ugly. There were almost as pretty shells and pebbles to be picked up
+at any place along the Cape May beach.
+
+"Why, Madge!" exclaimed Lillian, before she realized what she was saying,
+"surely, you didn't waste your time in bringing up such silly trifles as
+these?"
+
+Madge shook her head humbly. "We didn't find anything else but this old
+iron chest. Captain Jules, may I take it back to the houseboat with me as
+a souvenir, or do you wish it? Tania, child, you can't lift it, it is too
+heavy."
+
+Tom Curtis brought the chest to Captain Jules. Some of the crowd had
+moved away, now that the diving was over. But a dozen or more strangers
+pressed about the girls and their friends.
+
+"There is something in this little chest, Captain," declared Tom Curtis
+quietly, as he set it down before the captain and Madge. "I could feel
+something roll around in the box as I lifted it."
+
+Captain Jules shook the heavy safe. Something certainly rattled on the
+inside.
+
+There were bits of moss and tiny shells and stones encrusted on the upper
+lid of the box. Deliberately Captain Jules scraped them off with a stick.
+The houseboat party and Tom were beginning to grow impatient. What made
+Captain Jules so slow? Philip Holt, who was standing by Mrs. Curtis's
+side, gazed sneeringly at the operations. He was glad, indeed, that he
+had not risked his life in descending to the bottom of the bay in search
+for pearls, only to bring up a rusty chest.
+
+"The box is fastened tightly; it will have to be broken open," remarked
+Madge indifferently. She was feeling tired, now that the excitement of
+her diving trip was over. She wished to go home to the houseboat. She did
+not wish Captain Jules to guess for an instant how disappointed she was
+that they had found nothing of value on their diving adventure. If only
+the captain had not dropped the shells in which there might have been a
+chance of finding pearls!
+
+Captain Jules had hold of the iron hammer that he used when diving.
+Click! click! click! he struck three times on the lock of the iron safe.
+Like the magic tinder-box, the lid flew open. Tania's long-drawn
+childish, "Oh!" was the only sound that broke the tense and breathless
+stillness that pervaded the group.
+
+A single pearl! The scorned iron chest almost full of shining coins and
+precious stones! There were coins of gold and silver--strange coins that
+no one in the watching crowd had ever seen before. Some of them bore
+dates and inscriptions of English mintings of the early part of the
+eighteenth century.
+
+Of course, it was incredible! No one believed his eyes. A treasure-chest
+unearthed after more than two hundred years? It was impossible!
+
+Yet instantly each one of the girls remembered that the pirates had sunk
+many vessels in Delaware Bay in the latter part of the seventeenth and
+the beginning of the eighteenth century. In those days many wealthy
+English families came over with their servants and their treasure to
+settle in the new country of America.
+
+Phil's book on the history of piracy had recalled this information to the
+girls only ten days before. It was then, when Madge lay with her head
+resting in her hands, looking dreamily out over the waters, that she had
+wondered how anything so remote from her as the story of the early
+American battles with pirate ships could help her to solve her present
+troubles? Yet here, like a miracle before her eyes, lay the answer!
+
+The little captain was the last of the onlookers to know what had
+happened. She was too dazed, perhaps, from her stay under the water.
+
+It was only when Tania flung her eager, thin arms about her beloved Fairy
+Godmother's neck that Madge actually woke up.
+
+"The fairies who live under the water have given you these wonderful
+things," whispered Tania. "I prayed that they would come to see you,
+bringing you all the good gifts that they had."
+
+Captain Jules reached over and set the priceless box before Madge. She
+was encircled by Miss Jenny Ann and her beloved houseboat chums.
+
+"It is all yours, Madge," asserted Captain Jules solemnly. "You found it,
+child. I should never have discovered it but for you."
+
+Madge shook her red-brown head. "Captain Jules, that chest is far more
+yours than it is mine. I should never have gone down under the water but
+for you. If Phil had only dived first, instead of me, she would have
+found it, I won't have any of the money or the jewelry unless I can share
+it with the rest of you."
+
+Then, to Madge's own surprise, she began to cry.
+
+"There, there, little mate, it will be all right," Captain Jules assured
+her quietly. "You've had a bit too much for one day. We don't know the
+value of what we have found just yet, but the old jewelry will make
+pretty trinkets for you girls. We'll see about the rest later on."
+
+Miss Jenny Ann put her arm about Madge on one side. Phil was on the other
+side of her chum.
+
+"We will go home now, dear," said Miss Jenny Ann to Madge. "You are worn
+out from all this excitement."
+
+"I'll look after the girls, Captain," promised Tom Curtis quietly, "then
+I will come back to you." A flash of understanding passed between Captain
+Jules and Tom Curtis. They had both guessed that Madge's iron box of old
+jewelry and coins represented more money than the girls could comprehend,
+and that it was better for the news of the discovery to be kept as quiet
+as possible for the time being.
+
+"You will walk home with me, won't you, Philip?" Mrs. Curtis asked her
+guest. "I am rather tired from the excitement of this most unusual
+morning."
+
+But Philip Holt had forgotten that he wished to keep on the good side of
+his wealthy hostess. His eyes were staring eagerly and greedily at the
+closed iron box which old Captain Jules was guarding. He took a step
+forward, stopped and looked at the little crowd standing near.
+
+"No; I can't go back with you now, Mrs. Curtis," he answered abruptly, "I
+have some important business to transact."
+
+Mrs. Curtis walked away deeply offended. Philip Holt, however, was too
+fully occupied with his own disappointment to note this. A sudden daring
+idea had taken possession of him. Perhaps Madge Morton was not so lucky
+after all. Finding a treasure did not necessarily mean keeping it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+MISSING, A FAIRY GODMOTHER
+
+
+Several days after the finding of the treasure-chest experts came down
+from Philadelphia to appraise its value. It was not easy to decide,
+immediately, what market price the old jewels, set in quaintly chased
+gold, would bring. But the least that the coins and stones would be worth
+was ten thousand dollars! It might be more. An extra thousand dollars or
+so was hardly worth considering, when ten thousand would make things turn
+out so beautifully even.
+
+Madge and Captain Jules, Miss Jenny Ann and the other houseboat girls had
+many discussions about Madge's discovery of the iron safe.
+
+The little captain was entirely alone on one side of the argument. The
+others were all against her. Yet she won her point. She continued to
+insist that her wonderful find was purely an accident. How could she ever
+have unearthed a box, lost from a sunken ship, that had probably been
+buried for centuries, if Captain Jules Fontaine had not listened to her
+pleadings and taken her on the wonderful diving trip with him? Though she
+had actually struck the first blow on the piece of iron embedded in the
+bay, she could never have dragged the safe out of the mud, or been able
+to carry it up to the surface, without Captain Jules's assistance.
+
+Madge and the old sailor started their discussion alone. The captain had
+come over to the houseboat, bringing the iron safe with him so that the
+girls might have a better view of its wonders. He had firmly made up his
+mind that Madge must be made to understand that the money the treasure
+would bring was to be all hers. He would not accept one cent of it. Fate
+had been kinder to him than he had hoped in allowing him to guide Madge
+to the discovery of her fortune.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!" exclaimed Madge ecstatically, when the old sailor
+reported the news to her. "It's the most wonderful thing I ever heard of
+in my life. I didn't dream it was worth so much money. Will you please
+lend me a piece of paper and a pencil, Captain Jules. I never have been
+clever at arithmetic." Madge knitted her brows thoughtfully. "Ten
+thousand dollars divided by two means five thousand dollars for you and
+the same sum for us."
+
+The captain cleared his throat. "What's the rest of the arithmetic?" he
+demanded gruffly. "I don't think much of that first division."
+
+But Madge was hardly listening. She was biting the end of her pencil.
+"Six doesn't go into five thousand just evenly," she replied
+thoughtfully, "but with fractions I suppose we can manage. You see that
+will be eight hundred and thirty-three dollars and something over for
+Miss Jenny Ann to put in bank to take care of her if she ever gets sick,
+or has to stop teaching; and the same sum will pay for Phil's first year
+at college and for Eleanor's graduating at Miss Tolliver's, so uncle
+won't have to worry over that any more. Then my little Fairy Godmother
+can go to some beautiful school in the country, and not be shut up in a
+horrid home with a capital 'H,' which is what Philip Holt has persuaded
+Mrs. Curtis ought to be done with her. And Lillian can save her money to
+buy pretty clothes, because she is not as poor as the rest of us and
+dearly loves nice things, and----" Madge's speech ended from lack of
+breath.
+
+The captain rubbed his rough chin reflectively. "Oh! I see," he nodded,
+"I am to get half of the money and you are to get a sixth of a half. Is
+that it?"
+
+[Illustration: Madge and Captain Jules Started Their Discussion Alone.]
+
+Madge lowered her voice to a whisper. "Dear Captain Jules," she said in a
+wheedling tone, "you'll help me, won't you? The girls and Miss Jenny Ann
+declare positively that they won't accept a single dollar of the money. I
+shall be the most miserable girl in the world if they don't. Why, we four
+girls and Miss Jenny Ann have shared everything in common, our
+misfortunes and our good fortunes, since we started out together. If any
+one of the other girls had happened to discover the treasure instead of
+me, she would certainly have divided it with the others. Phil, Lillian,
+Eleanor and Miss Jenny Ann don't even dare to deny it. So they simply
+must give in to me about it."
+
+"Well," continued the captain, "I am yet to be told what Madge Morton
+means to do with the one-sixth of one-half of her wealth when it finally
+gets round to her."
+
+The little captain's eyes shone, though her face sobered. "I am not going
+to college with Phil, though I hate to be parted from her," she replied.
+"Somehow, I think I am not exactly meant for a college girl. I believe I
+will just advertise in all the papers in the world for my father. Then,
+if he is alive, I shall surely find him. With whatever money is left I
+shall go to him. If he is poor, I will manage to take care of him in some
+way," ended Madge confidently.
+
+"You will, eh?" returned Captain Jules gruffly. "It seems to me, my girl,
+that this is a pretty position you have mapped out for me. I am to take
+half of our find--nice, selfish old codger that I am--while you divide
+yours with your friends. I am not going to take a cent of that money, so
+you can just do your sums over again."
+
+It was at this point that Madge called Miss Jenny Ann and the other
+houseboat girls into the discussion. It ended with the captain's agreeing
+to take one-seventh of the money, if all the others would follow suit.
+
+"Because, if you don't," declared Madge in her usual impetuous fashion,
+"I shall just throw this chest of money and jewelry right overboard and
+it can go down to the bottom of the bay and stay there, for all I care."
+
+Captain Jules remained to dinner on the houseboat that evening. After
+dinner the girls proceeded to adorn themselves with the old sets of
+jewelry found in the safe. Madge wore the pearls because, she insisted,
+they were her special jewels, and she had gone down to the bottom of the
+bay to find them. Phil was more fascinated with some old-fashioned
+garnets, Lillian with a big, golden topaz pin, and Eleanor with some
+turquoises that had turned a curious greenish color from old age.
+
+It was well after ten o'clock when the captain announced that he must set
+out for home. Tom Curtis had been spending the evening on the houseboat
+with the girls, but he had gone home an hour before to join his mother
+and her guest, Philip Holt. Before going away the captain concluded that
+it would be best for him to leave the iron safe of coins and precious
+stones on the houseboat for the night. It was too late for him to carry
+it back to "The Anchorage" alone. As no one but Tom knew of its being on
+the houseboat, the valuables could be in no possible danger. The captain
+would call some time within the next day or so to take the iron box to a
+safety deposit vault in the town of Cape May.
+
+Together Miss Jenny Ann and the captain hid the precious chest in a small
+drawer in the sideboard built into the wall of the little dining room
+cabin of the houseboat. They locked this drawer carefully and Miss Jenny
+Ann hid the key under her pillow without speaking of it to any one.
+
+In spite of these precautions no one on the houseboat dreamed of any
+possible danger to the safety of their newly-found prize. Remember, no
+one knew of its being on the houseboat save Tom Curtis and Captain Jules.
+Up to to-night Captain Jules had been guarding the treasure at his house
+up the bay. No one had been allowed to see it since the famous day of its
+discovery, except the experts who had come down from Philadelphia to give
+some idea of the value of Madge's remarkable find.
+
+Little Tania was in the habit of sleeping in the dining room of the
+houseboat on a cot which Miss Jenny Ann prepared for her each night. She
+went to bed earlier than the other girls, so in order not to disturb her,
+she was stowed away in there instead of occupying one of the berths in
+the two staterooms. Soon after the captain's departure Miss Jenny Ann
+tucked Tania safely in bed. She closed the door of the dining room that
+led out on the cabin deck and also the door that connected with the
+stateroom occupied by Madge and Phil. The cabin of the "Merry Maid" was a
+square divided into four rooms, and Miss Jenny Ann's bedroom did not open
+directly into the dining room.
+
+It was a dark night and a strangely still one. The weather was unusually
+warm and close for Cape May. Over the flat marshes and islands the heat
+was oppressive. The residents of the summer cottages left their doors and
+windows open, hoping that a stray breeze might spring up during the night
+to refresh them. No one seemed to have any fear of burglars.
+
+On the "Merry Maid" the night was so still and cloudy that the girls sat
+up for an hour after Captain Jules left them, talking over their
+wonderful good fortune. They were almost asleep before they tumbled into
+their berths. Once there, they slept soundly all night long. Nothing
+apparently happened to disturb them, but Madge, who was the lightest
+sleeper in the party, did half-waken at one time during the night. She
+thought she heard Tania cry out. It was a peculiar cry and was not
+repeated. She knew that Tania was given to dreaming. Almost every night
+the child made some kind of sound in her sleep. Madge sat up in bed and
+listened, but hearing no further sound, she went fast asleep again
+without a thought of anxiety.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann was the first to open her eyes the next morning. It must
+have been as late as seven o'clock, for the sun was shining brilliantly.
+She slipped on her wrapper and went into the kitchen to start the fire. A
+few moments later she went into the dining room to call Tania and to help
+the child to dress. But the dining room door on to the cabin deck was
+open. Tania's bedclothes were in a heap on the floor. The child had
+disappeared.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann was not in the least uneasy or annoyed. She knew that
+Tania had a way of creeping in Madge's bed in the early mornings and of
+snuggling close to her. Miss Jenny Ann tip-toed softly into Madge's and
+Phil's stateroom. There was no dark head with its straight, short black
+hair and quaint, elfish face pressed close against Madge's lovely auburn
+one. Madge was slumbering peacefully. Miss Jenny Ann peered into the
+upper berth. Phil was alone and had not stirred.
+
+Tania was such a queer, wild little thing! Miss Jenny Ann felt annoyed.
+Perhaps Tania had awakened and slipped off the boat without telling any
+of them. She had solemnly promised never to run away again, but she might
+have broken her word. Miss Jenny Ann explored the houseboat decks. She
+called the child's name softly once or twice so as not to disturb the
+other girls. There was no answer. She went back into the cabin dining
+room. Neatly folded on the chair, where Miss Jenny Ann herself had placed
+them the night before, were Tania's clothes. The child could hardly have
+run away in her little white nightgown.
+
+When the girls finally wakened Madge was the only one of them who was
+alarmed at first. She recalled Tania's strange cry in the night. She
+wondered if it could have been possible that she had heard a sound before
+the little girl cried out. But she could not decide. She would not
+believe, however, that Tania had forgotten her promise and gone away
+again without permission.
+
+As soon as Eleanor and Lillian were dressed they went ashore and walked
+up and down near the houseboat, calling aloud for Tania. Phyllis was the
+most composed of the party. She had two small twin sisters of her own and
+knew that children were in the habit of creating just such unnecessary
+excitements. Still, it was better to look for a lost child before she had
+had time to wander too far away.
+
+"Madge," suggested Phil quietly, "don't be so frightened about Tania. I
+have an idea the child has walked off the houseboat in her sleep. She
+must have done so, for the dining room door is unlocked from the inside.
+Our door on to the deck was not locked, but Tania's was, because Miss
+Jenny Ann recalls having locked it herself. She came through our room
+when she joined us outdoors after putting Tania to bed. You and I had
+better go up at once to find Tom Curtis. Dear old Tom is such a comfort!
+He will help us search for Tania. Then, if it is necessary, he will ask
+the Cape May authorities to have the police on the lookout for her. If
+Tania has wandered off in her sleep, the poor little thing will be
+terrified when she wakes up and finds herself in a strange place. Surely,
+some one will take her in and care for her until we find her."
+
+Madge and Phil were wonderfully glad to find Tom Curtis up and alone on
+his front veranda. He had just come in from a swim. He seemed so strong,
+clean, and fine after his morning's dip in the ocean that his two girl
+friends were immediately reassured. Tom would tell them just what had
+better be done to find Tania.
+
+"Mrs. Curtis's and Philip Holt's window blinds are still down, thank
+goodness!" whispered Madge to Phil, "so I suppose they are both asleep.
+Let us not tell them anything about Tania's disappearance. They would
+just put it down to naughtiness in her, and that would make me awfully
+cross."
+
+Tom Curtis felt perfectly sure that he would soon run across the lost
+Tania. So he left word for his mother that he had gone to the houseboat
+and that she was not to expect him until she saw him again.
+
+For two hours Tom and the houseboat party continued the hunt for the lost
+child without calling in assistance. Then Madge and Tom went to the town
+authorities of Cape May. The police investigated the city and the houses
+in the nearby seaside resort without finding the least clue to Tania.
+Toward the close of the long day Tom Curtis began to fear that Tania had
+fallen into the water. Cape May is only a strip of land between the great
+ocean and the bay, and the land is broken into many small islands nearly
+surrounded by salt water and marshes.
+
+Tom managed to get the girls safely out of the way; then, with Miss Jenny
+Ann's permission, he had the water near the houseboat thoroughly dredged.
+But Tania's little body was not found for the second time down in the
+bottom of the bay. It was not possible to have all the water in the
+neighborhood dragged in a single day, so Tom said nothing of his fears to
+his anxious friends.
+
+It was late in the evening. Miss Jenny Ann had prepared dinner for the
+weary and disheartened girls. She had snowy biscuit, broiled ham, roasted
+potatoes, milk, and honey, the very things her charges usually loved. Tom
+Curtis felt impelled to go back home. All that day he had seen nothing of
+his mother or of their visitor, Philip Holt, and Tom was afraid they
+would begin to wonder what had become of him.
+
+Madge caught Tom by the sleeve and looked at him with beseeching eyes.
+"Please don't go, Tom," she begged, with a catch in her voice, "I am sure
+your mother won't mind. She has Mr. Holt with her, and I can't bear to
+see you go."
+
+Tom and Madge were near the gangplank of the houseboat and Tom was trying
+to make up his mind what he should do, when he and Madge caught sight of
+a gray-clad figure walking toward them through the twilight mists.
+
+"It's Mother," explained Tom in a relieved tone. "Now I can make it all
+right with her."
+
+"And that horrid Philip Holt isn't along," declared Madge delightedly,
+"so I can tell her about poor little Tania."
+
+Mrs. Curtis caught Madge, who had run out to meet her, by the hand. "My
+dear child, what is the matter with you?" the older woman asked
+immediately. "Even in this half-light I can see that your face is pale as
+death and you look utterly worn out. If one of you is ill, why have you
+not sent for me?"
+
+When Madge faltered out her story of the lost Tania Mrs. Curtis hugged
+her to her in the old sympathetic way that the little captain knew and
+loved.
+
+"I am so sorry, dear," soothed Mrs. Curtis, "but I am sure than Tom and
+Philip Holt will find her. I suppose that is why they have both been away
+all day."
+
+"Philip Holt!" exclaimed Tom in surprise. "He hasn't been with us. I
+thought he was at home with you."
+
+Mrs. Curtis shook her head indifferently. "No; he hasn't been at the
+cottage all day. Have any of you thought to send word to Captain Jules to
+ask him about Tania? It may be that the child is with him. In any event,
+I know Captain Jules would give us good advice."
+
+"Bully for you, Mother!" cried Tom, glad to catch a straw as he saw the
+shadow on Madge's face lighten. "As soon as I have had a bite of supper
+with the girls I'll get hold of a boat and go after the captain."
+
+Tom did not have to make his journey up the bay to "The Anchorage" that
+night. While he and his mother were at supper with the girls they heard
+the sound of Captain Jules's voice calling to them over the water. He had
+to come ashore lower down the bay, where the water was deeper than it was
+near the houseboat, but he always hallooed as he approached.
+
+"O Jenny Ann!" faltered Madge, trembling like a leaf, "it is our captain.
+Perhaps he has brought Tania back with him. I--I--hope nothing dreadful
+has happened to her."
+
+Without a word Tom fled off the houseboat. A moment later he espied
+Captain Jules coming toward him, alone!
+
+"Halloo, son!" called out Captain Jules cheerfully. "Glad to know that
+you are down here with the girls. Funny thing, but I've had these girls
+on my mind all day. It seemed to me that they needed me, and I couldn't
+go to bed without finding out that everything was well with them. What's
+wrong?" Captain Jules had caught a fleeting glimpse of Tom's harassed
+face. "Is it--is it Madge?" he asked anxiously. "Is anything the matter
+with my girl?"
+
+Tom shook his head reassuringly. It took very few words to make the
+captain understand that the trouble was over Tania and not Madge.
+
+When, a moment later, the captain went aboard the "Merry Maid" he was
+able to smile bravely at the discouraged women.
+
+"Here, here!" he cried gruffly, while Madge clung to one of his horny
+hands for support and Eleanor to the other, "what is all this nonsense I
+hear? Tania is not really lost, of course. I'll bet you we find the
+little witch in no time. She has just gone off somewhere in these New
+Jersey woods to join the fairies she talks so much about. They are sure
+to take good care of her. We can't do much more looking for her to-night,
+but I'll find her first thing in the morning."
+
+Both Captain Jules and Mrs. Curtis insisted that the girls and Miss Jenny
+Ann go early to bed. Just as Captain Jules was saying good night it
+occurred to Miss Jenny Ann that she would rather turn over to the old
+sailor the box of coins and jewelry. While Tania was lost there would be
+so many persons in and out of the houseboat that Miss Jenny Ann feared
+something might happen to the valuables.
+
+She went to the drawer in the sideboard in the saloon cabin without
+thinking of the key under her pillow, and took hold of the knob. To her
+surprise the drawer opened readily. There was no iron safe inside it.
+Miss Jenny Ann ran to her bed and felt under her pillow. The key was
+still there as though it had never been disturbed.
+
+Captain Jules and Tom decided that the simple lock to the houseboat
+sideboard had been easily broken open. When, or how, or by whom, nobody
+knew, but it was certain that the jewels and money were gone. Fortune,
+the fickle jade, who had brought the houseboat girls such good luck only
+a short time before, had now cruelly stolen it away from them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE WICKED GENII
+
+
+Tania had been aroused in the night by seeing a dark figure standing with
+his back to her only a few feet from her bed. Involuntarily the child
+stirred. In that instant a black-masked face turned toward her and Tania
+gave the single, terrified scream that Madge had heard. Before Tania
+could call out again, a handkerchief was tied so closely around her mouth
+that she could make no further sound.
+
+A moment later the mysterious, sinister visitor picked the child up in
+his arms and bore her swiftly and quietly away from the shelter of the
+houseboat and her beloved friends. The little girl was very slender, yet
+her abductor staggered as he walked. He had something besides Tania that
+he was carrying.
+
+About a quarter of a mile from the houseboat Tania was dumped into the
+rear end of an automobile and covered with a heavy steamer blanket. Then
+the automobile started off through the night, going faster and faster, it
+seemed to her, with each hour of darkness that remained.
+
+At times the little prisoner slept. When she awakened she cried softly to
+herself, wondering who had stolen away with her and what was now to
+become of her. But Tania was only a child of the streets and she had been
+reared in a harder school than other happier children, so she made no
+effort to cry out or escape. She knew there was no one near to hear her,
+and the motor car was moving so swiftly that she could not possibly
+escape from it.
+
+Tania and her unknown companion must have ridden all night. Evidently the
+driver of the car had not cared about the roads. He had pushed through
+heavy sand and ploughed over deep holes regardless of his machine. Speed
+was the only thing he thought of.
+
+By and by the automobile stopped, after a particularly bad piece of
+traveling. The driver got down, lifted Tania, still wrapped in her
+blanket, in his arms and carried her inside a house. The child first saw
+the light in an old room, up several flights of steps, which was drearier
+and more miserable than anything she had ever beheld in her life in the
+tenements. It was big and mouldy, and dark with cobwebs swinging like
+dusty curtains over the windows that had not been washed for years. The
+windows looked out over a swamp that was thick with old trees.
+
+But Tania saw none of these things when the blanket was first lifted from
+her head. She gave a gasp of fright and horror. For the first time she
+now realized that her captor was her childhood's enemy and evil genius,
+Philip Holt.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, with a long-drawn sigh that was almost a sob, "it is
+_you_! Why have you brought me here? What have I done?" Then a look of
+unearthly wisdom came into Tania's solemn, black eyes. She continued to
+stare at the young man so silently and gravely that Philip Holt's blonde
+face twitched with nervousness.
+
+"Didn't you recognize me before?" he asked fiercely. "You were quite
+likely to shriek out in the night and spoil everything, so I had to carry
+you off with me, little nuisance that you are! You can just make up your
+mind, young woman, that you will stay right here in this room until I can
+take you to that nice institution for bad children that I have been
+telling you about for such a long time. You'll never see your houseboat
+friends again."
+
+Tania made no answer, and Philip Holt left her sitting on the floor of
+the gloomy room wide-eyed and silent.
+
+For three days Tania stayed alone in that cheerless room. She saw no one
+but an old, half-foolish man who came to her three times a day to bring
+her food. He gave Tania a few rough garments to dress herself in and
+treated the little prisoner kindly, but Tania found it was quite useless
+to ask the old man questions. She was a wise, silent child, with
+considerable knowledge of life, and she understood that there was nothing
+to be gained by talking to her jailer, who would now and then grin
+foolishly and tell her that she was to be good and everything would soon
+be all right. Her nice, kind brother was going to take her away to school
+as soon as he could. The wicked people who had been trying to steal her
+away from her own brother should never find her if her brother could help
+it.
+
+So the long nights passed and the longer days, and little Tania would
+have been very miserable indeed except for her fairies and her dreams. It
+is never possible to be unhappy all the time, if you own a dream world of
+your own. Still, Tania found it much harder to pretend things, now that
+she had tasted real happiness with her houseboat girls, than she had when
+she lived with old Sal. It wasn't much fun to play at being an enchanted
+princess when you knew what it was to feel like a really happy little
+girl. And no one would care to be taken away to the most wonderful castle
+in fairyland if she had to leave the darling houseboat and Madge and Miss
+Jenny Ann and the other girls behind.
+
+So all through the daylight Tania sat with her small, pale face pressed
+against the dirty window pane, waiting for Madge to come and find her.
+She even hoped that a stranger might walk along close enough to the house
+for her to call for aid. But a dreary rain set in and all the countryside
+near Tania's prison house looked desolate. More than anything Tania
+feared the return of Philip Holt. Once he got hold of her again, she knew
+he would fulfill his threats.
+
+During this dreadful time Tania had no human companion, but she was not
+like other children. She was part little girl and the rest of her an elf
+or a fay. The trees, the birds, and flowers were almost as real to her as
+human beings. For, until Madge and Eleanor had found her dancing on the
+New York City street corner, she had never had anybody to be kind to her,
+or whom she could love.
+
+Just outside Tania's window there was a tall old cedar tree. Its long
+arms reached quite up to her window sill, and when the wind blew it used
+to wave her its greetings. Inside the comfortable branches of the tree
+there was a regular apartment house of birds, the nests rising one above
+the other to the topmost limbs.
+
+Tania held long conversations with these birds in the mornings and in the
+late afternoons. She told them all her troubles, and how very much she
+would like to get away from the place where she was now staying. However,
+the birds were great gad-abouts during the day, and Tania could hardly
+blame them.
+
+There was one fat, fatherly robin that became Tania's particular friend.
+He used to hop about near her window and nod and chirp to her as though
+to reassure her. "Your friends will come for you to-day, I am quite sure
+of it," he used to say, until one day Tania really spoke aloud to him and
+was startled at the sound of her own voice.
+
+"I don't believe you are a robin at all," she announced. "I just believe
+you are a nice, fat father of a whole lot of funny little boys and girls.
+I believe you are enchanted, like me. Oh, dear! I was just beginning to
+believe that I wasn't a fairy after all but a real little girl with
+pretty clothes and friends to kiss me good night." Tania sighed. "I
+suppose I must be a fairy princess after all, for if I was a real little
+girl no one would have cast another wicked spell over me and shut me up
+in this dungeon in the woods, which is a whole lot worse than living with
+old Sal."
+
+Yet playing and pretending, and, worse than anything, waiting, grew very
+tiresome to Tania. On the morning of the fourth day of her imprisonment
+Tania awoke with a start. Something had knocked on her window pane. It
+was only the old cedar tree, and Tania turned over in bed with a sob. But
+the tapping went on. She got up and went to her window. Quick as a flash
+Tania made up her mind to run away. Why had she never thought of it
+before? It was true, her bedroom door was always locked, but here were
+the branches of the cedar tree reaching close up to her window. Really,
+this morning they seemed to speak quite distinctly to Tania:
+
+"Why in the world don't you come to me? I shall hold you quite safe! You
+can climb down through all my arms to the warm earth and then run away to
+your friends."
+
+It was just after dawn. The pink sky was showing against the earlier
+grayness when Tania slipped into her coarse clothes and, like a small
+elf, crept out of her window into the friendly branches of the old tree.
+She was silent and swift as a squirrel as she clambered down. But she
+need not have feared. No one in the lonely country place was awake but
+the child.
+
+Once on the ground, Tania ran on and on, without thinking where she was
+going. She only wished to get far away from the dreary house where Philip
+Holt had hidden her. There was a thick woods about a mile or so from
+Tania's starting place. No one would find her there. Once she was through
+it Tania hoped to find a town, or at least a farm, where she could ask
+for help. In spite of her queer, unchildlike ways, Tania knew enough to
+understand that if she could only find some one to telegraph to her
+friends they would soon come to her.
+
+But the forest through which Tania hoped to pass was a dreadful cedar
+swamp, and in trying to cross it Tania wandered far into it and found
+herself hopelessly lost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A BOW OF SCARLET RIBBON
+
+
+In the three days that had passed since the disappearance of Tania from
+the houseboat everything that was possible had been done to discover her
+whereabouts.
+
+It never occurred to Tom or to Mrs. Curtis to connect Philip Holt's odd
+behavior with the lost Tania or the vanished treasure box. True, he had
+not been seen for the past three days, but Mrs. Curtis had received a
+note from him the day after his disappearance from her house, saying that
+he had been unexpectedly called away on very important business so early
+in the morning that he had not wished to awaken her, but he had left word
+with the servants and he hoped that they had explained matters to her.
+
+Mrs. Curtis's maids and butler insisted that Mr. Holt had given them no
+message. They had not seen or heard him go. So, as Mrs. Curtis did not
+regard Philip Holt's withdrawal as of any importance, she gave very
+little thought to it.
+
+Madge Morton, however, had a different idea. She laid Tania's
+disappearance at Philip Holt's door. She, therefore, determined to take
+Tom Curtis into her confidence, but to ask him not to betray their
+suspicions of Philip Holt to Mrs. Curtis until they had better proof of
+the young man's guilt. Madge had never told even Tom that she had once
+overheard Philip Holt reveal his real identity, nor how much she had
+guessed of the young man's true character from Tania's unconscious and
+frightened reports of him.
+
+Tom at first was indignant with Madge, not because she and the other
+girls believed that Philip Holt had stolen both their little friend and
+their new-found wealth, but because she had not sooner shared her
+suspicion of his mother's guest with him. Tom had never liked Philip, so
+it was easy for him to think the worst of the goody-goody young man.
+
+Without a word to Mrs. Curtis, Tom and the houseboat girls set to work to
+trace Philip Holt, believing that once he was overtaken Tania and the
+stolen treasure would be accounted for.
+
+It was not easy work. Philip Holt had not been a hypocrite all his life
+without knowing how to play the game of deception. A detective sent to
+New York City to talk to old Sal had nothing worth while to report. The
+woman declared positively that Philip was no connection of hers; that she
+had neither seen nor heard of the young man lately. As for Tania, Sal had
+truly not set eyes on her from the day that Madge had taken the little
+one under her protection.
+
+Philip Holt knew well enough that his mother would be questioned about
+his disappearance. He believed that Tania had told Madge his true
+history. So old Sal was prepared with her story when the detective
+interviewed her. Yet it was curious that the Cape May police were unable
+to find out in what manner the young man had left the town. Inquiries at
+the railroad stations, livery stables, and garages gave no clue to him.
+
+The houseboat girls were in despair. Madge neither ate nor slept. She
+felt particularly responsible for Tania, as the child had been her
+special charge and protégé. Madge had been deeply grieved when her
+friend, David Brewster, had been falsely accused of a crime in their
+previous houseboat holiday, when they had spent a part of their time with
+Mr. and Mrs. Preston in Virginia; but that sorrow was as nothing to this,
+for David was almost a grown boy and able to look after himself, while
+Tania was little more than a baby. When no news came of either Philip
+Holt or Tania, Madge began to believe that Philip Holt had accomplished
+his design. He had managed to shut Tania up in some kind of dreadful
+institution. The little captain did not believe that they would ever find
+the child, and was so unhappy over the loss of her Fairy Godmother that
+she lost her usual power to act.
+
+Phyllis Alden, however, was wide awake and on the alert. She knew that it
+was not possible for Philip Holt to leave Cape May without some one's
+assistance. Some one must know how and when he had disappeared. The whole
+point was to find that person.
+
+Phil thought over the matter for some time. Then she quietly telephoned
+to Ethel Swann and asked her to arrange something for her. She made an
+appointment to call on Ethel the same afternoon, and she and Lillian
+walked over to the Swann cottage together. It seemed strange to Madge
+that her two friends could have the heart for making calls, but, as there
+was absolutely nothing for them to do save to wait for news of Tania that
+did not come, she said nothing save that she did not feel well enough to
+accompany them.
+
+As Lillian and Phyllis Alden approached the Swann summer cottage they saw
+that Ethel had with her on the veranda the two young people who had been
+most unfriendly to them during their stay at Cape May, Roy Dennis and
+Mabel Farrar.
+
+Roy Dennis got up hurriedly. His face flushed a dull red, and he began
+backing down the veranda steps, explaining to Ethel that he must be off
+at once.
+
+Phyllis Alden was always direct. Before Roy Dennis could get away from
+her she walked directly up to him, and looking him squarely in the eyes
+said quietly: "Mr. Dennis, please don't go away before I have a chance to
+speak to you. It seems absurd to me for us to be such enemies, simply
+because something happened between us in the beginning of the summer that
+wasn't very agreeable. I wished to ask you a question, so I asked Ethel
+to arrange this meeting between us this afternoon."
+
+"What do you wish to ask me?" he returned awkwardly.
+
+Phil plunged directly into her subject. "Weren't you and Philip Holt
+great friends while he was Mrs. Curtis's guest?" she asked.
+
+Roy Dennis looked uncomfortable. "We were fairly good friends, but not
+pals," he assured Phil.
+
+"But you, perhaps, know him well enough to have him tell you where he was
+going when he left Mrs. Curtis's," continued Phil in a calmly assured
+tone. "Mrs. Curtis has not received a letter from him since he left here,
+so she does not know just where he is. We girls on the houseboat would
+also like very much to know what has become of Mr. Holt."
+
+"Why?" demanded Roy Dennis sharply.
+
+Phyllis determined to be perfectly frank. "I will tell you my reason for
+asking you that question," she began. "You may not know it, but our
+little friend, Tania, disappeared from Cape May the very same day that
+Philip Holt left the Cape. We all knew that Mr. Holt had known Tania for
+a number of years before we met her. He thought that the child ought to
+be shut up in some kind of an institution, but Miss Morton wished to put
+the little girl in a school. So it may just be barely possible that Mr.
+Holt took Tania away without asking leave of any one." Phil made
+absolutely no reference to the stolen money and jewels in her talk with
+Roy Dennis. If they could run down Philip Holt and Tania the treasure-box
+would be disclosed as a matter of course.
+
+Roy Dennis hesitated for barely a second. Then he remarked to Phil,
+half-admiringly: "You have been frank with me, Miss Alden, and, to tell
+you the truth, I think it is about time that I be equally frank with you.
+I have no idea where Philip Holt now is, but I do know something about
+how he got away from Cape May, and I am beginning to have my suspicions
+that there might have been something 'shady' in his behavior that I did
+not think of at the time. Three nights ago, it must have been about
+eleven o'clock, I was just about ready for bed when Mr. Holt rang me up
+and asked to speak to me alone. He said that he had just had bad news and
+wished to get out of Cape May as soon as possible. He asked me if I would
+lend him my car so that he could drive to a nearby railroad station where
+he could get a train that would take him sooner to the place he wished to
+go. I thought it was rather a strange request and asked him why he didn't
+borrow Tom Curtis's car? He said that Mrs. Curtis had gone to bed and
+that he did not like to disturb her. He and Tom had never been friendly,
+so he did not wish to ask him a favor. Well, I can't say I felt very
+cheerful at letting Philip Holt have the use of my car, but he said that
+he would send it back in a few hours and it would be all right. I got it
+out for him myself and he drove away in it. It didn't come back until
+this morning, and you never saw such a sight in your life, covered with
+mud and the tires almost used up."
+
+Phil nodded sympathetically. "Who brought the car back to you?" she
+asked. "Was it Mr. Holt?"
+
+Roy Dennis shrugged his heavy shoulders. "No, indeed! He sent it back by
+a chap who wouldn't say a word about himself, Holt, or from which
+direction he had come."
+
+"Is the man still in town?" asked Phil, her voice trembling, "and would
+you mind Tom Curtis's asking him some questions? We are so awfully
+anxious."
+
+Roy Dennis rose quickly. "I believe the fellow is around yet, and I'll
+get hold of him and take him to Tom at once. I don't think that Philip
+Holt has had anything to do with the kidnapping of the little girl, but
+his whole behavior looks pretty funny. We will make the chauffeur chap
+tell us where Philip Holt was when he turned over my car to him." Roy was
+off like a flash.
+
+Phyllis and Lillian were making their apologies to Ethel for being
+obliged to hurry off at once to the houseboat when Mabel Farrar took hold
+of Phil's hand. Her usually haughty expression had changed to one of the
+deepest interest. "I am _so_ sorry about the little lost girl," she said.
+"I hope you will soon find her. She is a queer, fascinating little thing.
+I have watched her all summer, and she certainly can dance. I can't
+believe that Philip Holt has actually stolen her, yet I don't know. Roy
+Dennis just told Ethel Swann and me something awfully queer. He says he
+found a bright scarlet ribbon, like a bow that a child would wear in her
+hair, in the bottom of his motor car when the chauffeur brought it back
+to him to-day."
+
+Phil's black eyes flashed. "If I ever needed anything to convince me that
+Philip Holt stole Tania away from us that would do it," she returned
+indignantly. "Little Tania slept every night with her hair tied up with a
+scarlet ribbon so as to keep it out of her eyes. When we find where
+Philip Holt is we shall find Tania, and if I have any say in the matter
+he shall answer to the law for what he has done."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE RACE FOR LIFE
+
+
+It took the united efforts of the Cape May police, Tom Curtis, and Roy
+Dennis to make the chauffeur who had come back with Roy's car say where
+he had met Philip Holt, and when Philip had turned over the automobile to
+him to be brought back to Roy.
+
+The chauffeur was frightened; he finally broke down and told the whole
+story. Philip Holt had driven from the farmhouse where he left Tania to
+the nearest village. There he had hired the chauffeur and the man had
+taken Philip within a few miles of New York. In the course of the ride,
+Philip had told the automobile driver the same story about Tania that he
+had told the old man in the tumbled-down farmhouse:
+
+Tania was Philip's sister. He was hiding her from enemies, who wished to
+steal the child away from him. If anybody inquired about the child or
+about him the chauffeur was to say nothing. Philip would pay him
+handsomely for bringing the car back to Cape May.
+
+The reason that Philip Holt had sent back Roy Dennis's automobile was
+because he knew that Roy would put detectives on his track if he failed
+to return it. Besides, it would be far easier for Philip Holt to get away
+with his precious iron safe if he were free of all other entanglements.
+
+It was nearly midnight before the story that the chauffeur told was clear
+to Tom Curtis. The man believed that he knew the very house in which
+Tania was probably concealed. There was no other place like it near the
+town where the chauffeur lived.
+
+Tom got out his own automobile. The chauffeur would ride with him. They
+would go directly to the old farmhouse. Tania would be there and all
+would soon be well.
+
+It was about nine o'clock the next morning when Tom's thundering knock at
+the rickety farmhouse door brought the foolish old man to open it. As
+soon as Tom mentioned Tania, the old fellow was alarmed. He was stupid
+and poor, but Philip Holt's behavior had begun to look strange even to
+him.
+
+The old farmer was glad to tell Tom Curtis everything he knew. It was all
+right. Tania was safe upstairs. He would take Tom up at once to see her.
+He was just on his way up to take Tania her breakfast. Indeed, the old
+man explained with tears in his eyes, he had not meant to assist in the
+kidnapping of a child. He was only a poor, lonely old fellow and he
+hadn't meant any harm. He had never seen Philip until the moment that the
+young man appeared at his door in his automobile and asked him to look
+after his sister for a few days.
+
+The farmer's story was true. Philip Holt had no idea how he could safely
+dispose of Tania. Quite by accident, as he hurried through the country,
+he had espied the old house. If Tania could be kept hidden there for a
+few days he would then be able to decide what he could do with her.
+
+Tom would have liked to bound up the old stairs three steps at a time to
+Tania's bedroom door. Poor little girl, what she must have suffered in
+the last three days! But Tom's thought was always for Madge. Before he
+followed the farmer to Tania's chamber he wrote a telegram which he made
+the chauffeur take over to the village to send immediately. It read: "All
+is well with Tania. Come at once." And it was addressed to Madge Morton.
+
+Tom was trembling like a girl with sympathy and compassion when he
+finally reached little Tania's bedroom door. He wished Madge or his
+mother were with him. How could he comfort poor Tania for all she had
+suffered?
+
+Tania's jailer unlocked the door and knocked at it softly. The child did
+not answer. He knocked at it again and tried to make his voice friendly.
+"Come to the door, little one," he entreated. "I know you will be glad to
+see who it is that has come to take you back to your home."
+
+Still no answer. Tom could endure the waiting no longer, but flung the
+door wide open. No Tania was to be seen. There was no place to look for
+her in the empty room, which held only a bed and a single chair. But a
+window was open and the arm of the old cedar tree still pressed close
+against the sill. Tom could see that small twigs had been broken off of
+some of the branches. He guessed at once what had happened. Tania had
+climbed down this tree and run away. But Tom felt perfectly sure that he
+would be able to find her before the houseboat party and his mother could
+arrive.
+
+The houseboat girls and Miss Jenny Ann were overjoyed at Tom's telegram.
+Mrs. Curtis was with them when the message came. She was perhaps the
+happiest of them all, although she had never been an especial friend of
+little Tania's. In the last few days her conscience had pricked her a
+little and her warm heart had sorrowed over the missing child.
+
+Yet, up to this very moment, Mrs. Curtis did not know the truth about
+Philip Holt. Just before they started for the train that was to bear them
+to Tom and Tania Madge told Mrs. Curtis that Philip had stolen the child
+from them and that they also believed he had run off with their
+treasure-chest.
+
+Mrs. Curtis listened very quietly to Madge's story. When the little
+captain had finished she asked humbly, "Can you ever forgive me, dear? I
+am an obstinate and spoiled woman. If only I had listened to what you
+told me about Philip this sorrow would never have come to you. Tom also
+warned me that I was being deceived in Philip Holt. But I believed you
+were both prejudiced against him. When we recover Tania I shall try to
+make up to her the wrong I have done her, if it is ever possible."
+
+During the journey Madge and Mrs. Curtis sat hand in hand. Captain Jules
+looked after Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian, Phil and Eleanor, although he was
+almost as excited by Tom's news as they were.
+
+At the country station the chauffeur was waiting to drive Tania's friends
+to the lonely old farmhouse that the child had thought a dungeon.
+
+Tom and Tania would probably be standing in the front yard when the
+automobile arrived. They were not there. The old farmer explained that
+Tom and Tania had gone out together. They would be back in a few minutes.
+To tell the truth, the man did expect them to appear at any time. He
+could not believe that Tania was really lost, although Tom had been
+searching for her since early morning and it was now about four o'clock
+in the afternoon.
+
+For two hours the houseboat party waited. The girls walked up and down
+the rickety farmhouse porch, clinging to Captain Jules. Mrs. Curtis and
+Miss Jenny Ann remained indoors. At dusk Tom returned. He was alone and
+could hardly drag one foot after the other, he was so weary and
+heartsick. To think that after wiring her he had found Tania he must face
+Madge with the dreadful news that the child was lost again!
+
+Two long, weary days passed without news of the lost Tania. The houseboat
+party made the old farmhouse their headquarters while conducting the
+search. At first no one thought to penetrate the cedar swamp where Tania
+had hidden herself, but the idea finally occurred to Tom Curtis, and on
+the third morning he and Captain Jules started out.
+
+All that third anxious day the girls searched the immediate neighborhood
+for Tania. When evening came they gathered sadly in the wretched
+farmhouse, to await the return of Tom Curtis and the old sea captain.
+
+Madge was lying on a rickety lounge, with her face buried in her hands.
+Phyllis was sitting near the door. Mrs. Curtis stood at the window,
+watching for the return of her son. In a further corner of the room, Miss
+Jenny Ann, Lillian and Eleanor were talking softly together.
+
+Suddenly each one of the sad women became aware of the captain's presence
+as his big form darkened the doorway. A ray of light from their single
+oil lamp shone across his weather-beaten face. Phil saw him most
+distinctly and read disaster in his glance. With the unselfish thought of
+others that invariably marks a great nature, she went swiftly across the
+room and dropped on her knees beside Madge.
+
+Madge sprang from her lounge and stumbled across the room toward the old
+sailor. Phil kept close beside her.
+
+"Tania!" whispered Madge faintly, for she too had seen the captain's
+face. "Where is my little Fairy Godmother?"
+
+"We have found Tania, Madge," said Captain Jules gently, "but she is very
+ill. We found her lying under a tree in the swamp, delirious with fever.
+She is almost starved, and she is so frail--that----" The old man's voice
+broke.
+
+"Don't say she is going to die, Captain Jules," implored Mrs. Curtis. "If
+she does, I shall feel that I am responsible. Surely, something can be
+done for her." The proud woman buried her face in her hands.
+
+At that moment Tom entered, bearing in his arms a frail little figure,
+whose thin hands moved incessantly and whose black eyes were bright with
+fever.
+
+With a cry of "Tania, dear little Fairy Godmother, you mustn't, you
+shan't die!" Madge sprang to Tom's side and caught the little, restless
+hands in hers.
+
+For an instant the black eyes looked recognition. "Madge," Tania said
+clearly, "he took me away--the Wicked Genii." Her voice trailed off into
+indistinct muttering.
+
+"She must be rushed to a hospital at once." Captain Jules's calm voice
+roused the sorrowing friends of little Tania to action.
+
+"I'll have my car at the door in ten minutes," declared Tom huskily.
+"Make her as comfortable as you can for the journey."
+
+It was in Captain Jules's strong arms that little Tania made the journey
+to a private sanatorium at Cape May. Madge sat beside the captain, her
+eyes fixed upon the little, dark head that lay against the captain's
+broad shoulder. The strong, magnetic touch of the old sailor seemed to
+quiet the fever-stricken child, and, for the first time since they had
+found her, Tania lay absolutely still in his arms.
+
+Mrs. Curtis occupied the front seat with her son, who drove his car at a
+rate of speed that would have caused a traffic officer to hold up his
+hands in horror. It had been arranged that Tom should return to the
+farmhouse as soon as possible for the rest of the party.
+
+No one of the occupants of the car ever forgot that ride. Once at the
+hospital, no time was lost in caring for Tania. The physician in
+attendance, however, would give them no satisfaction as to Tania's
+condition beyond the admission that it was very serious. Mrs. Curtis
+engaged the most expensive room in the hospital for the child, as well as
+a day and night nurse, and, surrounded by every comfort and the prayers
+of anxious and loving friends, Tania began her fight for life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+CAPTAIN JULES LISTENS TO A STORY
+
+
+Tania did not die. After a few days the fever left her, but she was so
+weak and frail that the physician in charge of her case advised Mrs.
+Curtis to allow her to remain in the sanatorium for at least a month.
+When she should have sufficiently recovered Mrs. Curtis had decided to
+take upon herself the responsibility of the child's future. She had been
+a constant visitor in the sickroom and during the long hours she had
+spent with the imaginative little one had grown to love her, while Tania
+in turn adored the stately, white-haired woman and clung to her even as
+she did to Madge, a fact which pleased Mrs. Curtis more than she would
+admit.
+
+Philip Holt was discovered hiding in New York City. The treasure-box was
+in the keeping of old Sal, for Philip had not dared to dispose of the
+coins or the jewelry while the detectives were on the lookout for him.
+Tom Curtis saw that the case against Philip Holt was conducted very
+quietly. The houseboat girls had had enough trouble and excitement. Their
+treasure was restored to them and they had no desire ever to hear Philip
+Holt's name mentioned again.
+
+Tom Curtis was more curious. In questioning Philip, Tom learned that he
+himself was innocently to blame for Philip's crime. Holt recalled to Tom
+the fact that, on returning from the houseboat after spending the evening
+with Captain Jules and his friends, Tom had mentioned to his mother that
+the precious iron safe was on the houseboat, and that if she cared to
+look at the old jewelry again Miss Jenny Ann would unlock the sideboard
+drawer and show it to her the next day. In that moment Philip Holt
+decided on his theft, but he did not expect Tania to thwart him. He had
+slipped through one of the open staterooms into the dining room of the
+houseboat, broken the lock of the sideboard and opened the dining room
+door from the inside to make his escape. Philip Holt believed that in
+taking Tania with him he had accomplished his own downfall.
+
+If he had not stopped to leave the child at the deserted farmhouse, his
+movements would never have been traced.
+
+Madge Morton was a good deal changed by the events of the last few weeks.
+She was so unlike her usual happy, light-hearted and impetuous self that
+Miss Jenny Ann and the houseboat girls were worried about her. They
+ardently wished that Madge would fly into a temper again just to show she
+possessed her old spirit. But she was very gentle and quiet and liked to
+spend a good deal of the time alone.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann consulted with Lillian, Phil and Eleanor. They decided to
+write to David Brewster to ask him to come to spend a few days with them
+on the houseboat. Madge was fond of David and the young man had done such
+fine things for himself in the past year that her friends hoped a sight
+of him would stir her out of her depression.
+
+David was visiting Mrs. Randolph--"Miss Betsey"--in Hartford. He replied
+that he would try to come to Cape May in another week or ten days, but
+please not to mention the fact to Madge until he was more sure of
+coming.
+
+One bright summer afternoon Madge returned alone from a long motor ride
+with Mrs. Curtis and Tom. She found the houseboat entirely deserted and
+remembered that the girls and Miss Jenny Ann had had an engagement to go
+sailing. She curled up on the big steamer chair and gave herself over to
+dreams.
+
+A small boat, pulled by a pair of strong arms, came along close to the
+deck of the "Merry Maid." Madge looked up to see Captain Jules's faithful
+face beaming at her.
+
+"All alone?" he called out cheerfully. "Come for a row with me. I'll get
+you back before tea."
+
+Madge wanted to refuse, but she hardly knew how, so she slipped into the
+prow of the skiff and sat there idly facing him.
+
+Captain Jules frowned at the girl's pale face, which looked even paler
+under the loose twists of her soft auburn hair. Madge looked older and
+more womanly than she had the day the captain first saw her. There was a
+deeper meaning to the upper curves of her full, red lips and a gentler
+sweep to the downward droop of her heavy, black lashes. She was
+fulfilling the promise of the great beauty that was to be hers. It was
+easy to see that she had the charm that would make her life full of
+interest.
+
+Still Captain Jules frowned as though the picture of Madge and her future
+did not please him.
+
+"How much longer are you going to stay at Cape May, Miss Morton?" he
+inquired.
+
+Madge smiled at him. "I don't know anything about 'Miss Morton's' plans,
+but Madge expects to be here for about two weeks more."
+
+Recently the captain had been calling the houseboat girls by their first
+names, as he was with them so constantly in their trouble. But he had now
+decided that he must return to the formality of the beginning of their
+acquaintance. It was best to do so.
+
+"And afterward?" the old sailor questioned, pretending that he was really
+not greatly interested in Madge's reply.
+
+The girl's expression changed. "I don't know," she returned. "Of course,
+Eleanor and I will go back to 'Forest House' for a while. Aren't you glad
+that Uncle has been able to pay off the mortgage? When Nellie and Lillian
+go to Miss Tolliver's and Phil to college I don't know exactly what I
+shall do. Mrs. Curtis and Tom have asked me to make them a visit in New
+York next winter."
+
+The captain frowned again. It was well that Madge was looking over the
+water and not at him, for she never could have told why he looked so
+displeased.
+
+"You and Tom Curtis are very good friends, aren't you, Madge?" said
+Captain Jules abruptly.
+
+Madge smiled to herself. She felt as though she were in the witness box.
+Was her dear old captain trying to cross-examine her?
+
+"Of course, I like Tom better than almost any one else. He is awfully
+good to me. You know you like Tom yourself, so why shouldn't I?" she
+ended wickedly.
+
+"I like him. Certainly I do. He is a fine, upright fellow and his money
+hasn't hurt him a mite, which you can't say of the most of us. But it's a
+different matter with you, young lady, and I want you to go slowly."
+
+"But I am not going at all, Captain," laughed Madge. "It seems to me that
+I want only one thing in the world, and that's to find my father.
+Sometimes I am afraid that perhaps I shall never find my father after
+all!"
+
+Captain Jules coughed and his voice sounded rather husky. It had a
+different note in it from any that Madge had ever heard him use to her.
+
+"Don't play the coward, child," he said sternly; "just because you have
+had one defeat don't go about the world saying you must give up. It may
+be that your father did that once and is sorry for it now. Keep up the
+fight. No matter how many times we may be knocked down in this world, if
+we have the right sort of courage we'll always get up again."
+
+Madge sat up very straight. Her blue eyes flashed back at Captain Jules
+with an expression that he liked to see. "I am not going to give up my
+search," she answered defiantly. "One hears that it is Fate which
+separates two persons. If I find Father, I shall feel that I have won a
+victory over Fate. But I can't help longing to tell my father that I know
+that he is innocent of the fault for which he was disgraced and dismissed
+from the Navy, and that I have the proof in my possession that would make
+it clear to all the world as well as to me."
+
+The old captain gave vent to a sudden exclamation that sounded like a
+groan. His face looked strangely drawn under his coat of tan.
+
+"Are you sick, Captain Jules?" asked Madge hastily. "Do take my place and
+let me have the oars. I am sure I can row you."
+
+Captain Jules smiled back at her. "What made you think I was sick?" he
+asked. "What was that you were telling me? How do you know that your
+father was guiltless of his fault? Why, Captain Robert Morton was one of
+the kindest men that ever trod a deck, and yet he was convicted of
+cruelty to one of his own sailors."
+
+"Captain Jules," continued Madge earnestly, "I would like to tell you the
+whole story if you have time to listen to it. You know I promised long
+ago to tell you. Two years ago, when we were on the second of our
+houseboat excursions, we spent part of our holiday near Old Point
+Comfort. There I met the man who had been my father's superior officer.
+Some unpleasant things happened between his granddaughter and me, and she
+told my father's story at a dinner in order to humiliate me. Long
+afterward her grandfather heard of what his granddaughter had done and he
+made a statement before my friends which cleared my father's name. He
+confessed to having allowed my father to suffer for something he had
+commanded him to do. My father was too great a man to clear himself at
+the expense of his superior officer, so he left the Navy in disgrace and
+has never been heard of since that dreadful time.
+
+"There isn't much more to tell. Only the old admiral has died since I met
+him. However, he left a paper that was sent to me, in which he acquits my
+father of all blame and takes the whole responsibility for my father's
+act on himself. Must we go back home, Captain Jules?" for, at the end of
+her speech, Madge observed that the captain had turned his skiff and was
+rowing directly toward the houseboat. He handed Madge aboard a few
+moments later with the air of one whose mind is elsewhere.
+
+It was impossible for Miss Jenny Ann to persuade the old pearl diver to
+remain to supper. With very few words to any of the party he turned Madge
+over to her friends and rowed hurriedly away toward his home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE VICTORY OVER FATE
+
+
+Early the next morning word was brought by a small boy that Captain Jules
+Fontaine wished Miss Madge Morton to come out to "The Anchorage" alone,
+as he had some important business that he wished to talk over with her.
+
+It was a wonderful morning, all fresh sea breezes and sparkling sunshine.
+Madge had not felt so gay in a long time as when the other houseboat
+girls fell to guessing as to why Captain Jules desired her presence at
+his house.
+
+"He intends to make you his heiress, Madge," insisted Lillian. "Then,
+when you are an old lady, you can come down here to live in the house
+with the roof like three sails, and ride around in the captain's rowboat
+and sailboat and be as happy as a clam."
+
+Madge shook her head. "No such thing, Lillian. I don't believe the
+captain wants me for anything important. He may be going to lecture me,
+as he did yesterday afternoon. At any rate, I'll be back before long.
+Please save some luncheon for me."
+
+Madge was surprised when her boat landed near "The Anchorage" not to see
+Captain Jules in his front yard, with his funny pet monkey on his
+shoulder, waiting to receive her. She began to feel afraid that the
+captain was ill. She had never been inside his house in all their
+acquaintance. But Captain Jules had sent for her, so there was nothing
+for her to do but to march up boldly to his front door and knock.
+
+She lifted the heavy brass knocker, which looked like the head of a
+dolphin, and gave three brisk blows on the closed door.
+
+At first no one answered. The little captain was beginning to think that
+the boy who came to her had made some mistake in his message and that
+Captain Jules had gone out in his fishing boat for the day, when she
+heard some one coming down the passage to open the door for her.
+
+She gave a little start of surprise. A tall, middle-aged man, with a
+single streak of white hair through the brown, was gazing at her
+curiously.
+
+"I would like to see Captain Jules," murmured Madge stupidly, unable to
+at once recover from the surprise of finding that Captain Jules did not
+live alone.
+
+The strange man invited Madge into a tiny parlor which rather surprised
+her. The room was filled with bookshelves, reaching almost up to the top
+of the wall. The young girl had never dreamed that her captain was much
+of a student. The only things that reminded her of Captain Jules were the
+fishnets that were hung at the windows for curtains and the great sprays
+of coral and sponge which decorated the mantelpiece.
+
+The man sat down with his back to the light, so that he could look
+straight into Madge's face.
+
+"Captain Jules will be here after a little, Miss Morton," he said
+gravely, "but he wished me to have a talk with you first."
+
+Madge looked curiously at the unknown man. She could not obtain a very
+distinct view of his face, but she saw that he was very distinguished
+looking, that his eyes seemed quite dark, and that he wore a pointed
+beard. He did not look like an American. At least, there was something in
+his appearance that Madge did not quite understand. It struck her that
+perhaps the man was a lawyer. It could not be that Lillian was right in
+her guess. The treasure in the iron safe had not yet been sold, so it
+might be that this man wished to make some offer for it. Whoever he might
+be the silence was becoming uncomfortable. The little captain decided to
+break it.
+
+"I wonder if you wish to talk to me about the treasure that we found?"
+she inquired, smiling. "I would rather that Captain Jules should be in
+here when we speak of that."
+
+The stranger shook his head. He had a very beautiful voice that in some
+way fascinated the girl.
+
+"No, I don't wish to talk about your treasure, but I do wish to speak of
+something else that was lost and is found again. I don't know that you
+will value it, child, or that it is worth having, but Captain Jules
+thinks you might."
+
+Madge's heart began to beat faster. This strange man had something of
+great importance to tell her. She wondered if she had ever seen him
+anywhere before. There was something in his look that was oddly familiar.
+But why did he look at her so strangely and why did not her old friend
+come to her to end this foolish suspense?
+
+"I have been down here on a visit to Captain Jules a number of times this
+summer and he has always talked of you," went on the fascinating voice.
+"I have longed to see you, but----Miss Morton, Captain Jules Fontaine and
+I knew your father once, long years ago. The news that you had proof of
+his innocence made us very happy last night."
+
+Madge would have liked to bounce up and down in her chair, like an
+impatient child. Only her age restrained her. Why didn't this man tell
+her the thing he was trying to say? What made him hesitate so long?
+
+"Yes, yes," she returned impatiently, "but do you know whether my father
+is alive now? That is the only thing I care about."
+
+Madge gripped both arms of her chair to control herself. She was
+trembling so that she felt that she must be having a chill, though it was
+a warm summer day, for the stranger had risen and was coming toward her,
+his face white and haggard. Then, as he advanced into the brighter light
+of the room, Madge saw that his eyes were very blue.
+
+"Your father isn't dead," the man replied quietly. "He is here in this
+very house, and he cares for you more than all the world in spite of his
+long silence!"
+
+The little captain sprang to her feet, her face flaming. "Captain Jules!
+_He_ is my father? He seemed so old that I didn't realize it. Yet he has
+said so many things to me that might have made me guess he knew
+everything in the world about me. Oh, where is he? My own, own Captain
+Jules?"
+
+The stranger, whose arms had been outstretched toward Madge, let them
+fall at his sides, but Madge had no eyes for him. Captain Jules had
+entered the room and she had flung herself straight into his kindly
+arms.
+
+So, after all, it was Captain Jules Fontaine who had to make it clear to
+Madge that he was not her father, but her father's lifelong and devoted
+friend. The captain told Madge the story while he held both her cold
+hands in his big, rough ones, and the man who was her own father sat
+watching and waiting for her verdict.
+
+Jules Fontaine had never been captain of anything but a sailing schooner,
+but he had been a gunner's mate on Captain Robert Morton's ship. He alone
+knew that Captain Morton had been forced into the fault that he had
+committed by order of his admiral. When Captain Morton was dismissed from
+the United States Naval Service Jules Fontaine, gunner's mate, had
+procured his discharge and followed the fortunes of his captain. The two
+men drifted south to the tropics. Every American vessel is equipped with
+a diving outfit, and some of the men are taught to go down under the
+water to examine the bottoms of the boats. Jules Fontaine liked the
+business of diving. When the two men found themselves in a strange land,
+without any occupations, Captain Jules joined his fortunes with the pearl
+divers and for many years followed their perilous trade.
+
+Captain Morton had a harder time to get along, but after a while he
+studied foreign languages and began to translate books. Five years before
+the two men had come back to the United States. Since that time Captain
+Morton had tried to follow every movement of his daughter. Captain Jules
+wanted his friend to make himself known to his own people, but Robert
+Morton feared that they would never forgive his long silence or his early
+disgrace. He believed that Madge would be happier without knowledge of
+him. It was her own longing for her father, reported by Captain Jules,
+that had impelled Robert Morton at last to reveal himself to her.
+
+Madge could not comprehend all of this at once. She did not even try to
+do so. She realized only that, after being without any parents, she had
+suddenly come into two fathers at the same time, her own father and
+Captain Jules, who was her more than foster father.
+
+With a low, glad cry she went swiftly across the room. She did not try to
+think or to ask questions at that moment about the past, she only flung
+her young arms about her father's neck in a long embrace, feeling that at
+last she had some one in the world who was her very own.
+
+While Madge, her father, and Captain Jules were trying to see how they
+could bear the miracle and shock of their great happiness, a small, dark
+object darted into the room and planted its claws in Madge's hair. It
+pulled and chattered with all its might.
+
+[Illustration: "I am Going to Keep House for You at 'The Anchorage.'"]
+
+The little captain laughed with the tears in her eyes. "It's that
+good-for-nothing monkey!" she exclaimed as she disentangled the
+creature's tiny hands. Then she kissed her father and afterwards Captain
+Jules. "Now I know why this monkey is called Madge, and I am sorry to
+have such a jealous, bad-tempered namesake."
+
+The captain scolded the monkey gently. "Don't you fret about this
+particular namesake. If you only knew all the others you have had! Every
+single pet that two lonely old men could get to stay around the house
+with them we have named for you."
+
+Captain Morton did not go back to the houseboat with his daughter. Madge
+thought she would rather tell her friends of her great happiness alone.
+She wouldn't even let Captain Jules escort her. "You'll both have plenty
+of my society after a while," she argued, "for I am going to come to keep
+house for you at 'The Anchorage' some day."
+
+Madge rowed slowly back to the "Merry Maid." She was thinking over what
+she would say to Miss Jennie Ann and the girls. How should she announce
+to them that her quest was ended, her victory over Fate won?
+
+As she neared the houseboat she saw that her companions were gathered on
+deck, evidently watching for her. Madge rested on her oars and waved one
+hand to them. Four hands waved promptly back to her. A moment more and
+she had come alongside the "Merry Maid." As she clambered on deck she
+cast a swift upward glance at her friends, who, with one accord, were
+looking down on her, their faces full of loving concern.
+
+With a little cry of rapture Madge threw herself into Miss Jenny Ann's
+arms. "O, my dear!" she cried, "I've found him! I've found my father!"
+
+And it was with her faithful mates' arms around her that Madge told the
+strange story of how her quest had ended in the little sitting room of
+"The Anchorage."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE LITTLE CAPTAIN STARTS ON A JOURNEY
+
+
+Six weeks had passed since Madge Morton's discovery of her father, and
+many things had happened since then. It was now toward the latter part of
+September, and on a beautiful fall morning one of the busy steamship
+docks in the lower end of New York City was crowded with a gay company of
+people. There were four young girls and three young men, a beautiful
+older woman, with soft, white hair and a look of wonderful distinction; a
+woman of about twenty-six or seven, with a man by her side, who in some
+way suggested the calling of the artist; a white-haired old man and an
+elderly lady, who, in spite of the fact that she answered to the name of
+Mrs. John Randolph, would have been mistaken anywhere for a New England
+spinster. Two men were the only other important members of the group. One
+of them was a distinguished-looking man of about fifty-three with a
+rather sad expression, and the last a bluff old sea captain, whose laugh
+rang out clear and hearty above the sound of the many voices.
+
+In front of the wharf lay a beautiful steam yacht, painted pure white and
+flying a United States flag. The boat was of good size and capable of
+making many knots an hour, but she looked like a little toy ship
+alongside the immense ocean-going steamers that were entering and leaving
+the New York harbor, or waiting their sailing day at their docks.
+
+One of the girls, dressed in a white serge frock and wearing a white felt
+hat, was walking up and down at the back of the crowd, talking to a young
+man.
+
+"David, more than almost anything, I believe I appreciate your coming to
+New York to see me off. It would have been dreadful to go away for a
+whole year, or maybe longer, without having had a glimpse of you. Who
+knows what may happen before I am back again?" The girl's eyes looked
+wistfully about among her friends, although her lips smiled happily.
+
+For a few seconds the young man made no answer. He had never been able to
+talk very readily, now he seemed to wish to think before he spoke.
+
+"I shall be a man, Madge, before you are back again," he replied slowly.
+"I am twenty now, so I shall be ready to vote. But, best of all, I shall
+be through college and ready to go to work." The young man threw back his
+square shoulders. His black eyes looked serious and steadfast. "I am
+going to make you proud of me, Madge. You remember I told you so, that
+day in the Virginia field, when you helped me out of a scrape and started
+me on the right road."
+
+The little captain nodded emphatically. "I am proud of you already,
+David," she declared warmly. "I think it is perfectly wonderful that you
+have been able to take two years' work in college instead of one, beside
+helping Mr. Preston on the farm. You are going to make me dreadfully
+ashamed when I come back, by knowing so much more than I. Phil enters
+Vassar this fall and Tom will graduate at Columbia in another year. I am
+going to try to study on the yacht, but I shall be so busy seeing things
+that I know I won't accomplish very much. Just think, David, I am going
+around the world in our own boat with my father and Captain Jules! Isn't
+it wonderful how one's dreams come true and things turn out even better
+than you expect them to? I believe, if it weren't for leaving my beloved
+houseboat chums and Mrs. Curtis and Tom, and Miss Jenny Ann and you, I
+should be the happiest girl in the world."
+
+"I don't suppose I count for much, Madge," answered David honestly, "but
+I am more grateful to you than you can know for putting me on that list.
+Some day----" The young man hesitated, then his sober face relaxed and a
+brilliant smile lighted it. "It's pretty early for a fellow like me to be
+talking about some day, isn't it, Madge?"
+
+Madge laughed, though she blushed a little and answered nothing.
+
+Just then Phyllis Alden and a young man in a lieutenant's uniform joined
+Madge and David Brewster.
+
+"Lieutenant Jimmy is saying dreadful things, Madge," announced Phil
+mournfully. "He says he is sure you won't come back home in a year.
+You'll stay over in Europe until you are grown up or married, or
+something else, and you'll never be a houseboat girl again!" Phil's voice
+broke.
+
+Lieutenant Jimmy looked uncomfortable. "See here, Miss Alden," he
+protested, "I never said anything as bad as all that. I only said that
+perhaps Captain Morton and Captain Jules would stay longer than a year.
+Almost any one would, if they owned that jolly little yacht."
+
+"I'll wager you, Lieutenant Jimmy, a torpedo boat full of the same kind
+of candy that you sent us at the end of our second houseboat holiday,
+that if you come down to this dock one year from to-day you will see our
+yacht, which Captain Jules has named 'The Little Captain,' paying her
+respects to the Statue of Liberty. Come, let's go and make Father and
+Captain Jules convince him, Phil," proposed Madge, hugging Phyllis close
+to her, as if the thought of being parted from her for so long as one
+year was not to be borne.
+
+"I'll take that wager, Miss Morton," replied Lieutenant Jimmy jokingly,
+"because I would be so awfully glad to have to pay it."
+
+"Madge simply must come back on time, Lieutenant Jimmy," whispered Phil,
+nodding her head mysteriously toward a young woman and a man. "It's a
+state secret, and I ought not to tell you, but Miss Jenny Ann and Mr.
+Theodore Brown, the artist, are to be married a year from this fall. We
+must all be at the wedding. Miss Jenny Ann couldn't possibly be married
+unless every one of the 'Mates of the Merry Maid' were there. If we can
+arrange it, Miss Jenny Ann is going to be married on the houseboat. Won't
+it be the greatest fun?"
+
+For the moment Phil was so cheered at the thought of another houseboat
+reunion, though a whole twelve months off, that she forgot that her best
+beloved Madge was to leave in another half-hour for her trip around the
+world.
+
+Phyllis and Lieutenant Jimmy were standing a little behind Madge. David
+Brewster stopped to talk to Mrs. Curtis and Tom.
+
+At the far end of the dock Captain Jules Fontaine was giving some orders
+to four sailors who formed the entire crew of his new yacht, for the old
+pearl diver was to pilot his own boat, which was to sail under Captain
+Morton's orders. The beautiful little yacht was Captain Jules's own
+property. The old man had made a comfortable fortune in his life in the
+tropics, but he had little use for it, and no desire, except to make
+Madge and her father happy. The little captain's love for the water was
+what endeared her most to the old sailor. He could not be happy away from
+the sea and he couldn't be happy away from Madge and Captain Morton. The
+fortunate girl's two fathers had discussed very seriously Madge's own
+proposal to come to keep house for them at "The Anchorage." Both men knew
+that she could not settle down at their lonely little house far up the
+bay and several miles from the nearest town, which was Cape May.
+Wonderful as the fathers thought Madge, they realized that she was very
+young and must go on with her education. They could not bear to send her
+away to college after all the long years of separation. Captain Jules
+conceived the brilliant idea of educating her by taking her on a trip
+around the world. The old sailor couldn't have borne being cooped up in
+liners and on trains with other people to run them. So Madge's dream of a
+ship all her own, which was to sail "strange countries for to see," had
+come true with her other good fortune.
+
+Leaving her friends for a moment, Madge made her way toward the end of
+the dock to beg Captain Jules to reassure her friends of their return at
+the end of a year. The captain did not notice her approach. Apparently no
+one was looking at her.
+
+On the end of the wharf were gathered three or four small street arabs.
+They had no business on the wharf, which was precisely their reason for
+being there. They were playing behind a number of large boxes and some
+other luggage, and, until Madge approached, no one had observed them.
+They were having a tug-of-war and it was hardly a fair battle. Two
+good-sized urchins were pulling against one other strong fellow and
+another small boy, so thin and pale, with such dark hair and big, black
+eyes that, for the moment, he made Madge think of Tania, who was almost
+well enough to leave the sanatorium and had sent her Fairy Godmother many
+loving messages by Mrs. Curtis. Madge stopped for half a minute to watch
+the boys. In her stateroom were so many boxes of candy she would never be
+able to eat it all in her trip around the world. If she only had some of
+them to give this lively little group of youngsters!
+
+Captain Jules was at one side of the wide wharf with his back toward her
+and the group of boys. His yacht was occupying his entire attention. The
+street urchins did not realize how near they were to the edge of the dock
+because of the pile of luggage that surrounded them.
+
+The tug-of-war grew exciting. Madge clapped her hands softly. She had not
+believed the smallest rascal had so much strength. Suddenly the older
+lad's grip broke. The boys fell back against a pile of trunks that were
+set uneasily one above the other. One of the trunks slid into the water
+and the smallest lad slipped backward after it with an almost noiseless
+splash. His boy companions stared helplessly after him, too frightened to
+make a sound.
+
+Of course, Madge might soon have summoned help. She did think of it for a
+brief instant, for she realized perfectly that her white serge suit would
+look anything but smart if she plunged into the river in it. Then, too,
+her friends, Captain Jules, and her father might be displeased with her.
+But the little lad had given her such an agonized, helpless look of
+appeal as he struck the water! And his eyes were so like Tania's!
+
+Captain Jules turned around at the sound of feet running down the dock.
+David Brewster and Tom Curtis were side by side. But they both looked
+more surprised than frightened. In the water, a few feet from the dock,
+Captain Jules espied Madge Morton, her white hat floating off the back of
+her head, her face and hair dripping with water. She was smiling in a
+half-apologetic and half-nervous way. In one hand she held a small boy
+firmly by the collar. "Fish us out, somebody?" she begged. "I am
+dreadfully sorry to spoil my clothes, but this little wretch would go and
+fall into the water at the very last moment."
+
+Captain Jules and one of his sailors pulled Madge and the small boy
+safely onto the wharf again. The captain frowned at her solemnly, while
+David and Tom laughed.
+
+"How am I ever going to keep her out of the bottom of the sea?" the
+captain inquired sternly. "I don't know that I care for the rôle of
+playing guardian to a mermaid."
+
+Madge could see Mrs. Curtis, Miss Jenny Ann, her chums and her father, as
+well as their other friends, hurrying down toward the end of the dock.
+She gave one swift glance at them, then she looked ruefully at her own
+dripping garments. Tom and David long remembered her as they saw her at
+that moment. Her white dress clung to her slender form; the water was
+dripping from her clothing, her cheeks were a brilliant crimson from
+embarrassment at her plight; her red-brown hair glinted in the bright
+sunlight, and her blue eyes sparkled with mischief and dismay. Before any
+one had a chance to scold or to reproach her, she had dashed across the
+wharf, run aboard the yacht and had shut herself up in her stateroom.
+
+A few minutes later, dressed in a fresh white serge frock, she emerged to
+say good-bye. The houseboat girls had made up their minds that not one
+tear would any one of them shed when the moment of parting came. Lillian
+and Phil stood on either side of Eleanor, for neither of them had much
+faith that Nellie could keep her word when it came to the test.
+
+Madge went first to Mr. and Mrs. John Randolph. "Miss Betsey" took both
+her hands and held them gravely. "Madge, dear, remember I have always
+told you that wherever you were exciting things were sure to happen. You
+have convinced me of it again to-day. Now, you are going around the world
+and I hope you will see and know only the best there is in it. Good-bye."
+Miss Betsey leaned on her distinguished old husband's arm for support and
+surreptitiously wiped her eyes.
+
+"Jenny Ann Jones, you promised I wouldn't have to say good-bye to you,"
+protested Madge chokingly. Miss Jenny Ann nodded, while Mr. Theodore
+Brown gazed at her comfortingly. Madge rallied her courage and smiled at
+both of them. "Do you remember, Jenny Ann," she questioned, "how on the
+very first of our houseboat trips you said that you would marry some day,
+just to be able to get rid of the name of 'Jones'? I am sure you will
+like 'Brown' a whole lot better." Madge turned saucily away to hide the
+trembling of her lips.
+
+Mrs. Curtis said nothing. She just kissed Madge's forehead, both rosy
+cheeks and once on her red lips. But when the little captain left her,
+and Mrs. Curtis turned to find her son standing near her, his face white
+and his lips set, his mother faltered brokenly: "I am trying hard not to
+be selfish, Tom, and I am glad, with all my heart, that Madge found her
+father, but no one will ever know how sorry I am not to have her for my
+daughter."
+
+"Maybe you will some day, after all, Mother," returned Tom steadily. "We
+are young, I know, and neither of us has seen much of the world. Still, I
+am fairly sure I know my own mind. Perhaps Madge will care as much as I
+do now when the right time comes."
+
+At the last, Madge could not say farewell to her three chums. Her eyes
+were so full of tears that Captain Jules had to lead her aboard the
+yacht. She stood on the deck, kissing both hands to them as long as she
+could see them, until their little boat had been towed far out into the
+great New York harbor.
+
+Madge's father stood by her, watching the sunlight dance upon the water.
+
+"My little girl," Captain Morton began, with a view of distracting her
+attention from the sorrow of parting, "I have always forgotten to tell
+you that I saw you graduate at Miss Tolliver's. Jules was not with me
+that day. He knew of you but never saw you until you went to Cape May. I
+wonder I didn't betray myself to you then, dear. It was I who first
+called out to you when I saw that arch tottering over your head."
+
+Madge nodded. "I know it now," she replied. "I must have caught a brief
+glimpse of your face. You and Captain Jules sent me the wonderful pearl.
+We never could guess from whom it had come."
+
+"Yes," answered Captain Morton, "Jules and I had kept it for you for many
+years. We determined that sooner or later you should have it. I shall
+never forget the day when Jules came hurrying into 'The Anchorage' with
+the news that he had seen you and talked with you about me. He was sure
+that you were our Madge even before he knew your name to be Morton. It
+was wonderful to hear that your dearest wish was to find me."
+
+Madge slipped her arm into that of her father and laid her curly head
+against his shoulder. "If it was Fate that separated us, then I shall
+never be dismayed by it again, for love and determination are far greater
+and through them I found you," she declared softly.
+
+"I am afraid I am very selfish to take you away for a whole year from
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom and the houseboat girls," said her father, almost
+wistfully. "You are not sorry you are going to spend the next few months
+with no one but two old men for company?"
+
+"But I spent eighteen years without you," reminded Madge. "Don't you
+believe I ought to begin to make up for lost time? Just think,"--her eyes
+grew tender with the pride of possession--"I have what I've longed for
+more than anything else in the world, my father's love. Perhaps when we
+come back next year we can anchor the 'Little Captain' in Pleasure Bay
+and invite the 'Merry Maid' and her crew to visit us. Then Miss Jenny Ann
+could be married on the houseboat. We must be very sure to come home on
+time if we carry out that plan."
+
+"Aye, aye, Captain Madge," smiled her father, "unless our good ship fails
+us we'll anchor next September in Pleasure Bay and send a special
+invitation to the crew of the 'Merry Maid' to meet us there."
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Madge Morton's Victory, by Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Madge Morton&#8217;s Victory, by Amy D. V. Chalmers.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton's Victory, by Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Madge Morton's Victory
+
+Author: Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2008 [EBook #26538]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/mmv-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 321px; height: 478px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 321px;'>
+Before the Hand Organ Danced a Little Figure.<br />
+Frontispiece.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:2.0em; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:;'>Madge Morton&#8217;s</p>
+<p style=' font-size:2em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:2em;'>Victory</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>By</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:0.5em;'>AMY D. V. CHALMERS</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>Author of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid; Madge</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>Morton&#8217;s Secret, Madge Morton&#8217;s Trust.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY</p>
+<p style=' font-size:; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>Akron, Ohio&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;New York</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>Made in U. S. A.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce' style=' font-size:0.8em;'>
+<p>Copyright MCMXIV</p>
+<p>By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>Contents</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='500' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-size:small;'>CHAPTER</span></td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small;'>PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>I.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Commencement Day at Miss Tolliver&#8217;s</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#I_COMMENCEMENT_DAY_AT_MISS_TOLLIVER_S'>7</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>II.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>How it Was All Arranged</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#II_HOW_IT_WAS_ALL_ARRANGED'>16</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>III.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Tania, a Princess</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#III_TANIA_A_PRINCESS'>24</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Uninvited Guest</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IV_THE_UNINVITED_GUEST'>37</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>V.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Tania, a Problem</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#V_TANIA_A_PROBLEM'>51</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Mischievous Mermaid</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VI_A_MISCHIEVOUS_MERMAID'>58</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Captain Jules, Deep Sea Diver</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VII_CAPTAIN_JULES_DEEP_SEA_DIVER'>65</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Wreck of the &#8220;Water Witch&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VIII_THE_WRECK_OF_THE__WATER_WITCH'>80</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Owner of the Disagreeable Voice</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IX_THE_OWNER_OF_THE_DISAGREEABLE_VOICE'>90</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>X.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Goody-Goody Young Man</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#X_THE_GOODYGOODY_YOUNG_MAN'>100</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Beginning of Trouble</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XI_THE_BEGINNING_OF_TROUBLE'>112</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;The Anchorage&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XII__THE_ANCHORAGE'>124</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Tania&#8217;s Nemesis</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIII_TANIA_S_NEMESIS'>131</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Captain Jules Makes a Promise</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIV_CAPTAIN_JULES_MAKES_A_PROMISE'>141</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Great Adventure</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XV_THE_GREAT_ADVENTURE'>150</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Strange Pearl</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVI_A_STRANGE_PEARL'>161</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Fairy Godmother&#8217;s Wish Comes True</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVII_THE_FAIRY_GODMOTHER_S_WISH_COMES_TRUE'>172</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Missing, a Fairy Godmother</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVIII_MISSING_A_FAIRY_GODMOTHER'>180</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Wicked Genii</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIX_THE_WICKED_GENII'>198</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Bow of Scarlet Ribbon</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XX_A_BOW_OF_SCARLET_RIBBON'>206</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Race for Life</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXI_THE_RACE_FOR_LIFE'>215</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Captain Jules Listens to a Story</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXII_CAPTAIN_JULES_LISTENS_TO_A_STORY'>224</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Victory Over Fate</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIII_THE_VICTORY_OVER_FATE'>232</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Little Captain Starts on a Journey</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIV_THE_LITTLE_CAPTAIN_STARTS_ON_A_JOURNEY'>243</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>Madge Morton&#8217;s Victory</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 0em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='I_COMMENCEMENT_DAY_AT_MISS_TOLLIVER_S' id='I_COMMENCEMENT_DAY_AT_MISS_TOLLIVER_S'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>COMMENCEMENT DAY AT MISS TOLLIVER&#8217;S</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;O Phil, dear! It is anything but
+fair. If you only knew how I hate to
+have to do it!&#8221; exclaimed Madge
+Morton impulsively, throwing her arms about
+her chum&#8217;s neck and burying her red-brown
+head in the soft, white folds of Phyllis Alden&#8217;s
+graduation gown. &#8220;No one in our class wishes
+me to be the valedictorian. You know you are the
+most popular girl in our school. Yet here I am
+the one chosen to stand up before everyone and
+read my stupid essay when your average was
+just exactly as high as mine.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge Morton and Phyllis Alden were alone
+in their own room at the end of the dormitory
+of Miss Matilda Tolliver&#8217;s Select School for
+Girls, at Harborpoint, one morning late in May.
+Through the halls one could hear occasional
+bursts of girlish laughter, and the murmur of
+voices betokened unusual excitement.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span></p>
+<p>It was the morning of the annual spring commencement.</p>
+<p>Phyllis slowly unclasped Madge&#8217;s arms from
+about her neck and gazed at her companion
+steadfastly, a flush on her usually pale cheeks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you say another word about that old valedictory,
+I shall never forgive you!&#8221; she declared
+vehemently. &#8220;You know that Miss Tolliver is
+going to announce to the audience that our averages
+were the same. You were chosen to deliver
+the valedictory because you can make a
+speech so much better than I. What is the use
+of bringing up this subject now, just a few minutes
+before our commencement begins? You
+know how often we have talked this over before,
+and that I told Miss Matilda that I wished
+you to be the valedictorian instead of me, even
+before she selected you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s earnest black eyes looked sternly into
+Madge&#8217;s troubled blue ones. &#8220;If you begin
+worrying about that now, you won&#8217;t be able to
+read your essay half as well,&#8221; declared Phil impatiently.
+&#8220;Please sit still for a minute and
+wait until Miss Jenny Ann calls us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil pushed Madge gently toward the big armchair.
+Then she walked over to stand by the
+window, in order to watch the carriages drive up
+to Miss Tolliver&#8217;s door and to keep her back
+turned directly upon her friend Madge.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></p>
+<p>The little captain sat very still for a few minutes.
+She had on an exquisite white organdie
+gown, a white sash, white slippers and white
+silk stockings. In the knot of sunny curled hair
+drawn high upon her head she wore a single
+white rose. A bunch of roses lay in her lap,
+also a manuscript in Madge&#8217;s slightly vertical
+handwriting, which she fingered restlessly.</p>
+<p>The silence grew monotonous to Madge.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you angry with me, Phil?&#8221; she asked
+forlornly.</p>
+<p>Madge and Phyllis Alden had been best
+friends for four years, and had never had a real
+disagreement until this morning.</p>
+<p>Phyllis was too honest to be deceitful. &#8220;I am
+a little cross,&#8221; she admitted without turning
+around. &#8220;I wish Lillian and Eleanor would
+come upstairs to tell us how many people have
+arrived for the commencement.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge started across the room toward Phil.
+But Phyllis&#8217;s back was uncompromising. She
+pretended not to hear her friend&#8217;s light step.
+Suddenly Madge&#8217;s expression changed. The
+color rose to her face and her eyes flashed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t apologize to you, Phil,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;I had intended to, but I see no reason why I
+should not say it is unfair for me to be the valedictorian
+when you have the same claim to it
+that I have. It is hateful in you not to understand
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span>
+how I feel about it. I am going to find
+Miss Jenny Ann.&#8221; Madge&#8217;s voice broke.</p>
+<p>A knock on the door interrupted the two girls.
+Madge opened the door to a boy, who handed her
+a small parcel addressed in a curious handwriting
+to &#8220;Miss Madge Morton.&#8221; The letters
+were printed, but the writing did not look
+like a child&#8217;s. It was the fiftieth graduating
+gift that she had received. Phil&#8217;s number had
+already reached the half-hundred mark.</p>
+<p>Madge dropped her newest package on the
+bed without opening it. She was half-way out
+in the hall when Phyllis pulled her back.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look me straight in the face,&#8221; ordered Phil.
+Madge obeyed, the flash in her eyes fading
+swiftly. &#8220;Now, see here, dear,&#8221; argued Phyllis,
+&#8220;suppose that Miss Matilda had chosen me to
+deliver the valedictory instead of you, wouldn&#8217;t
+you have been glad?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge nodded happily. &#8220;I should say I
+would,&#8221; she murmured fervently.</p>
+<p>Phyllis laughed, then leaned over and kissed
+her friend triumphantly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, you have said just what I wanted to
+make you say,&#8221; went on Phil. &#8220;You say you
+would be glad if Miss Tolliver had chosen me
+for the valedictorian instead of you. Why can&#8217;t
+you let me have the same feeling about you?
+Please, please understand, Madge, dear&#8221;&mdash;the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+tears started to Phil&#8217;s eyes&mdash;&#8220;that no one has
+been unfair to me because you were Miss Matilda&#8217;s
+choice.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge glanced nervously at the little gold
+clock on their mantel shelf. &#8220;It is nearly time
+for the entertainment to begin, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; she inquired.
+&#8220;I suppose Miss Jenny Ann will call
+us in time. What a lot of noise the girls are
+making in the hall!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She idly untied her latest graduating gift. It
+was a small box, made after a fashion of long
+years ago, and its tops and sides were encrusted
+with tiny shells. On one side of the box the
+word &#8220;Madge&#8221; was worked out in tiny shells
+as clear and beautiful as jewels. Inside the box,
+on a piece of cotton, was a single, wonderful
+pearl. It was unset, but the two girls realized
+that it was rarely beautiful. There was no name
+in the box, no card to show from whom it came.</p>
+<p>Madge turned the box upside down and peered
+inside of it. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know who could have
+sent this to me,&#8221; she declared, in a puzzled fashion.
+&#8220;Mrs. Curtis is the only rich person I
+know in the whole world, and she has already
+given us her presents. I must show this to
+Uncle and Aunt. I am afraid they won&#8217;t wish
+me to keep it. But I don&#8217;t know how we are
+ever going to return it to the giver when he or
+she is anonymous.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t that Miss Jenny Ann calling?&#8221; Madge
+turned pale with the excitement of the coming
+hour and thrust the gift under her pillow.</p>
+<p>Phyllis picked up a great bunch of red roses.
+The eventful moment had arrived. The graduating
+exercises at Miss Matilda Tolliver&#8217;s were
+about to begin!</p>
+<p>Neither of the two girls knew how they walked
+up on the stage. Before them swam &#8220;a sea of
+upturned faces.&#8221; It was impossible to tell one
+person from another. When Madge and Phil
+overcame their fright they discovered that they
+were among the twelve girl graduates, who
+formed a white semi-circle about the stage, and
+that Miss Matilda Tolliver was making an address
+of welcome to the audience.</p>
+<p>Phyllis had no dreaded speech ahead of her.
+She looked out over the audience and saw her
+father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Alden; and
+Madge&#8217;s uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Butler;
+but Madge could think of nothing save the terrifying
+fact that she must soon deliver her valedictory.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge,&#8221; whispered Phil softly, &#8220;don&#8217;t look
+so frightened. You know you have made
+speeches before and have acted before people.
+I am not a bit afraid you will fail. See if you
+can find Mrs. Curtis and Tom. There they are,
+smiling at us from behind Eleanor and Lillian.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></p>
+<p>Readers of &#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Madge Morton</span>, <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Captain of the
+&#8216;Merry Maid&#8217;</span>,&#8221; will remember the delightful
+fashion in which Madge Morton, Eleanor Butler,
+Lillian Seldon and Phyllis Alden spent a
+summer on a houseboat, which they evolved
+from an old canal boat and named the &#8220;Merry
+Maid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>How they anchored at quiet spots along
+Chesapeake Bay, made the acquaintance of Mrs.
+Curtis, a wealthy widow, and what came of the
+friendship that sprang up between her and
+Madge Morton made a story well worth the telling.</p>
+<p>In &#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Madge Morton&#8217;s Secret</span>&#8221; the scene of
+their second houseboat adventure found them
+at Old Point Comfort, where, as Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s
+guests, they partook of the social side of the
+Army and Navy life to be found there. The origin
+of Captain Madge&#8217;s secret, and of how she
+kept it in spite of the humiliation and sorrow
+it entailed, the mysterious way in which the
+&#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; slipped her cable and drifted
+through heavy seas to a deserted island, where
+her crew lived the lives of girl Crusoes for many
+weeks, form a narrative of lively interest.</p>
+<p>In &#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Madge Morton&#8217;s Trust</span>&#8221; the further adventures
+of the &#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; were fully related.
+For the sake of the trip the happy houseboat
+girls saddled themselves with Miss Betsey
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+Taylor, a crotchety spinster, who was troubled
+with nerves, and who offered to pay liberally
+for her passage on their cosy &#8220;Ship of
+Dreams.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s faith and unshakable trust in David
+Brewster, a poor young man who did the work
+on Tom Curtis&#8217;s yacht, which made the trip
+with the &#8220;Merry Maid,&#8221; her championing of
+David when suspicion pointed darkly toward
+him as a thief, and her unswerving loyalty to
+the unhappy youth until his innocence was
+established, revealed the little captain in the
+light of a staunch true comrade and doubly endeared
+her to all her companions.</p>
+<p>Madge heard Miss Matilda Tolliver announce
+that the valedictory would be delivered by Miss
+Madge Morton. Phyllis gave her companion a
+little nudge, and somehow Madge arrived at the
+front of the stage and stood under a huge arch
+of flowers. Just above her head swung a great
+bell. Everyone was smiling at her. Madge was
+seized with a dreadful case of stage fright. Her
+tongue felt dry and parched. She tried to
+speak, but no sound came forth.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s lovely face, with its crown of
+soft, white hair, smiled encouragingly at her.
+Tom was crimson with embarrassment. Lillian
+and Eleanor held each other&#8217;s hands. Would
+Madge never begin her valedictory?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></p>
+<p>She tried again. No one heard her except her
+friends and teachers on the stage. Her voice
+was no louder than a faint whisper.</p>
+<p>Miss Tolliver leaned over. &#8220;Madge, speak
+more distinctly,&#8221; she ordered.</p>
+<p>Then the little captain realized that the most
+humiliating moment of her whole life had arrived.
+She had been selected as the valedictorian
+of her class, she had been chosen above her
+beloved Phil because of her gift as a speaker,
+yet she would be obliged to return to her seat
+without having delivered a line of her address.
+She would be disgraced forever!</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s knees shook. Her lips trembled.
+Tears swam mistily in her eyes. She was a
+lovely picture despite her fright.</p>
+<p>At eighteen she was in the first glory of her
+youth, a tall, slender girl, with a curious warmth
+and glow of life. Her lips were deeply crimson,
+her hair a soft brown, with red and gold lights
+in it, and her eyes were full of the eagerness that
+foreshadows both happiness and pain.</p>
+<p>Phil and Miss Jenny Ann were exchanging
+glances of despair&mdash;Madge had broken down,
+there was no hope for her. Suddenly her
+face broke into one of its sunniest smiles. She
+lifted her head. Without glancing at the paper
+she held in her hand she began her address in a
+clear, penetrating voice.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='II_HOW_IT_WAS_ALL_ARRANGED' id='II_HOW_IT_WAS_ALL_ARRANGED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>HOW IT WAS ALL ARRANGED</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Madge&#8217;s valedictory address was almost
+over. She had spoken of
+&#8220;Friendship,&#8221; what it meant to a
+girl at school and what it must mean to a woman
+when the larger and more important difficulties
+come into her life. &#8220;Schoolgirl friendships are
+of no small consequence,&#8221; declaimed Madge;
+&#8220;the friendships made in youth are the truest,
+after all!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil listened to her chum&#8217;s voice, her eyes
+misty with tears. Only a half-hour before she
+and her beloved Madge had come very near to
+having the first real quarrel of their lives. Phil
+turned her gaze from Madge to glance idly at
+the arch of flowers above her friend&#8217;s head.
+Phil supposed that she must be dizzy from the
+heat of the room, or else that she could not see
+distinctly because of her tears; the arch seemed
+to be swaying lightly from side to side, as
+though it were blown by the wind. Yet the room
+was perfectly still. Phil looked again. She
+must be wrong. The arch was built of a framework
+of wood. It was heavy and she did not believe
+it would easily topple down.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></p>
+<p>Madge was happily unconscious of the wobbling
+arch. A few more lines and her speech
+would be ended! There was unbroken silence in
+the roomy chapel of the girls&#8217; school, where the
+commencement exercises were being held. Suddenly
+some one in the back part of the room
+jumped to his feet. A hoarse voice shouted,
+&#8220;Madge!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge started in amazement. Her manuscript
+dropped to the ground. Every face but
+hers blanched with terror. The swaying arch
+was now visible to other people besides Phil.
+Tom leaped to his feet, but he was tightly wedged
+in between rows of women. Phil Alden made
+a forward spring just as the arch tumbled. She
+was not in time to save Madge, but some one else
+had saved her; for, before Phil could reach the
+front of the stage, Madge&#8217;s name had been
+called again. Although the voice was an unknown
+one, Madge instinctively obeyed it. She
+made a little movement, leaning out to see who
+had summoned her, and the arch crashed down
+just at her back.</p>
+<p>The quick cry from the audience frightened
+Madge, whose face was turned away from the
+wreck. She swung around without discovering
+her rescuer. Some one had fallen on the stage.
+Phyllis Alden had reached her friend&#8217;s side, not
+in time to save her, but to receive, herself, a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span>
+heavy blow from the great bell that was suspended
+from the arch.</p>
+<p>Madge dropped on the stage at Phil&#8217;s side,
+forgetting her speech and the presence of strangers.</p>
+<p>Miss Tolliver and Miss Jenny Ann lifted
+Phyllis before Dr. Alden had had time to reach
+the stage. There was a dark bruise over Phil&#8217;s
+forehead. In a moment she opened her eyes and
+smiled. &#8220;I am not a bit hurt, Miss Matilda; <i>do</i>
+let the exercises go on,&#8221; she begged faintly.
+&#8220;Let Madge and me go up to the front of the
+stage and bow, Miss Matilda. Then I can show
+people that I am all right. We must not spoil
+our commencement in this way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Matilda agreed to this, and Madge and
+Phyllis went forward to the center of the stage.
+A storm of applause greeted them. Madge and
+Phil were a little overcome at the ovation.
+Madge supposed that they were being applauded
+because of Phil&#8217;s heroism, and Phil presumed
+that the demonstration was meant for Madge&#8217;s
+valedictory, therefore neither girl knew just
+what to do.</p>
+<p>It was then that Miss Matilda Tolliver came
+forward. She was usually a very severe and imposing
+looking person. Most of her pupils were
+dreadfully afraid of her. But the accident that
+had so nearly injured her two favorite graduates
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+had completely upset her nerves. Instead
+of making a formal speech, as she had planned
+to do, she stepped between the two girls,
+taking a hand of each. &#8220;I had meant to introduce
+Miss Alden a little later on to our friends
+at the commencement exercises,&#8221; announced
+Miss Tolliver, &#8220;but I believe I would rather do
+it now. I wish to state that, although Miss Morton
+has delivered the valedictory, Miss Phyllis
+Alden&#8217;s average during the four years she has
+spent at my preparatory school has been equally
+high. It was her wish that Miss Morton should
+be chosen to deliver the valedictory. But Miss
+Alden&#8217;s friends have another honor which they
+wish to bestow upon her. She has been voted,
+without her knowledge, the most popular girl in
+my school. Her fellow students have asked me
+to present her with this pin as a mark of their
+affection.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Matilda leaned over, and before Phil
+could grasp what was happening had pinned
+in the soft folds of her organdie gown the class
+pin, which was usually an enameled shield with
+a crown of laurel above it; but the center of
+Phil&#8217;s shield was formed of small rubies and
+the crown of tiny diamonds.</p>
+<p>Phyllis turned scarlet with embarrassment,
+but Madge&#8217;s eyes sparkled with delight. She
+was no longer ashamed of having been chosen
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+as valedictorian. In spite of herself, Phyllis
+Alden was the star of their commencement.</p>
+<p>It was not until the four girls were seated
+with their dear ones about a round luncheon
+table in the largest hotel in Harborpoint that
+Madge suddenly recalled the stranger whose
+warning cry had probably saved her from a serious
+hurt.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis and Tom were entertaining in
+honor of Madge and Phyllis. There were no
+other guests except the two houseboat girls,
+Eleanor and Lillian, Dr. and Mrs. Alden, and
+Mr. and Mrs. Butler.</p>
+<p>Madge sat next to Tom Curtis, and during the
+progress of the luncheon managed to say softly:
+&#8220;Did you see who it was that called my name
+so strangely this morning, Tom? I was so
+frightened at having to deliver my valedictory
+that when I heard that sudden shout, &#8216;Madge!&#8217;
+I was too much confused to recognize the voice.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom shook his head. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know who it
+was. I heard the voice but couldn&#8217;t discover its
+owner. It must have been some one at the very
+back of the room, for no one in the audience
+seems to know who called out to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose I&#8217;ll never know,&#8221; sighed Madge.
+&#8220;It is a real commencement day mystery, isn&#8217;t
+it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom nodded smilingly. &#8220;By the way, Madge,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
+where are the houseboat girls going to spend
+the summer after you come to Madeleine&#8217;s wedding?&#8221;
+he asked. &#8220;You must be tired after
+your winter&#8217;s work.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge shook her head soberly. &#8220;We are not
+going to be on the houseboat this year,&#8221; she
+whispered. &#8220;Going to New York to be bridesmaids
+is about as much as four girls can arrange.
+We haven&#8217;t even dared to think of the
+houseboat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have,&#8221; interposed Phyllis, who had heard
+the remark and the reply, &#8220;but we don&#8217;t wish
+our families to know. You see, Madge and I are
+hoping and planning to go to college next winter,
+so, of course, we can&#8217;t afford another summer
+holiday,&#8221; she ended under her breath.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that, Phil?&#8221; inquired Dr. Alden
+from the other end of the table.</p>
+<p>Phil blushed. &#8220;Nothing important, Father,&#8221;
+she answered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, then I must have been mistaken,&#8221; replied
+Dr. Alden, &#8220;for I thought I caught the
+magic word, &#8216;houseboat.&#8217; No one of you girls
+has ever spoken of the &#8216;Merry Maid&#8217; as unimportant.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A cloud instantaneously overspread five faces
+about the luncheon table. Neither Mrs. Curtis
+nor Dr. Alden realized that in mentioning the
+houseboat they had forced the houseboat passengers
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+to break a vow of silence. Only the day
+before the five of them had met in Miss Jenny
+Ann Jones&#8217;s room. There they had solemnly
+pledged themselves that, since it was impossible
+for them to have this year&#8217;s vacation aboard
+the &#8220;Merry Maid,&#8221; they would bear the sorrow
+in silence. This time there was no &#8220;Miss
+Betsey&#8221; to pay the expenses of the trip. The
+girls and Miss Jenny Ann hadn&#8217;t a dollar to
+spare. The cost of going to Madeleine Curtis&#8217;s
+New York wedding was appalling to all of the
+girls except Lillian, whose parents were in affluent
+circumstances. But, of course, Madeleine
+was almost a houseboat girl herself. Readers of
+the first houseboat story will recall how Madeleine&#8217;s
+fiancé, Judge Hilliard, rescued Madge
+and Phyllis from a serious situation and saved
+Madeleine from a far worse plight than that in
+which he found the two girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Curtis,&#8221; remarked Dr. Alden in the
+midst of the mournful silence, &#8220;Mr. and Mrs.
+Butler, my wife and I have just been talking
+things over. We have decided that it would be a
+good thing for our girls to spend several weeks
+on board their houseboat. But, of course, if
+they have decided differently&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was a good thing that Mrs. Curtis was not
+giving a formal luncheon. A united shriek of
+delight suddenly arose from four throats.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+Madge sprang from the table to hug her uncle,
+Eleanor blew kisses to her mother from across
+the room, Lillian clapped both hands, and Miss
+Jenny Ann smiled rapturously.</p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s face was the only serious one. &#8220;Are
+you sure we can afford it, Father?&#8221; she queried.</p>
+<p>Dr. Alden nodded convincingly. &#8220;For a few
+weeks, certainly,&#8221; he returned.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we don&#8217;t need to worry about afterward,&#8221;
+rejoined Madge. &#8220;And don&#8217;t you think,
+girls, it will be perfectly great, so long as we
+are going to Madeleine&#8217;s wedding in New York,
+for us to spend this holiday at the seashore?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where, Madge?&#8221; asked Lillian.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you,&#8221; answered Mrs. Curtis, &#8220;only,
+not to-day. It is a secret. Here is our pineapple
+lemonade. Let&#8217;s hope for the happiest of
+holidays for the little captain and her crew
+aboard the good ship &#8216;Merry Maid&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='III_TANIA_A_PRINCESS' id='III_TANIA_A_PRINCESS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>TANIA, A PRINCESS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Madge, do you think there is any
+chance that Tom won&#8217;t meet us?&#8221;
+inquired Eleanor Butler nervously.
+&#8220;I do wish we could have come on to New
+York with Lillian, Phil, and Miss Jenny Ann instead
+of making that visit to Baltimore. It
+seems so funny that they have been in New York
+two whole days before us. I suppose they have
+seen Madeleine&#8217;s presents, and our bridesmaids&#8217;
+dresses&mdash;and everything!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Eleanor sighed as she leaned back luxuriously
+in the chair of the Pullman coach, gazing
+down the aisle at her fellow passengers.</p>
+<p>Madge was occupied in staring very hard at
+her reflection in the small mirror between her
+seat and Eleanor&#8217;s. She had wrinkled her
+small nose and was surreptitiously applying
+powder to the tip end of it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course Tom and the girls will meet us,
+Eleanor,&#8221; she replied emphatically. &#8220;Tom
+would expect us to be lost forever if we were to
+be turned loose in New York by ourselves. Oh,
+dear me, isn&#8217;t it too splendid that we are going
+to be Madeleine&#8217;s bridesmaids? I wonder if
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+we shall look very &#8216;country&#8217; before so many society
+people?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we shall,&#8221; returned Eleanor
+calmly. &#8220;You need not look at yourself again
+in that mirror. You are very well satisfied with
+yourself, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221; teased Eleanor.</p>
+<p>Madge blushed and laughed. &#8220;I <i>do</i> like our
+clothes, Nellie,&#8221; she admitted candidly. &#8220;You
+know perfectly well that we have never had
+tailored suits before in our lives. You do
+look too sweet in that pale gray, like a little
+nun. That pink rose in your hat gives just the
+touch of color you need. I am sure I don&#8217;t see
+why you are so sure we shall seem countrified,&#8221;
+ended Madge. She had liked her reflection in
+the glass. She wore a light-weight blue serge
+traveling suit without a wrinkle in it, a spotless
+white linen waist, and her new hat was particularly
+attractive. Her cheeks were becomingly
+flushed and her eyes glowed with the excitement
+of arriving for the first time in New York City.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are almost in Jersey City now, aren&#8217;t
+we, Madge?&#8221; exclaimed Eleanor, making a leap
+for her bag, which promptly tumbled out of
+the rack above and fell directly on the head of
+a young man who was walking down the aisle
+of the car.</p>
+<p>Madge giggled. Eleanor, however, was crimson
+with mortification. The young man did not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+appear to be pleased. The girls had a brief
+glimpse of him. He had blue eyes and sandy
+hair and was exceedingly tall. Eleanor&#8217;s bag
+had knocked his glasses off and he was obliged
+to stoop in search of them in the aisle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so sorry,&#8221; apologized Eleanor in
+her soft, Southern voice, as she picked up the
+glasses and restored them to their owner. &#8220;I
+am glad they were not broken.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The young man paid not the slightest attention
+to her apology.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurry, Nellie,&#8221; advised Madge, &#8220;it is
+nearly time for us to get off the train and your
+hat is on crooked. Don&#8217;t be such a timid little
+goose! You are actually trembling. Of course
+Tom or some one will meet us, and if they don&#8217;t
+I shall not be in the least frightened.&#8221; Madge
+announced this grandly. &#8220;That whistle means
+we are entering Jersey City. We will find Tom
+waiting for us at the gate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Eleanor obediently followed Madge out of
+their coach. The little captain seemed older
+and more self-confident since she had been
+graduated at Miss Tolliver&#8217;s, but Nellie hoped
+devoutly that her cousin would not become imbued
+with the impression that she was really
+grown-up. It would spoil their good times.</p>
+<p>The two girls had never seen such a headlong
+rush of people in their lives. They clung
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+desperately to their bags when a porter attempted
+to carry them. A man bumped violently
+against Madge, but he made no effort to apologize
+as he rushed on through the crowd.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never saw so many people in such a hurry
+in my life,&#8221; declared Nellie pettishly. &#8220;They
+behave as though they thought New York City
+were on fire and they were all rushing to put
+the fire out. I shall be glad when Tom takes
+charge of us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Once through the great iron gates the girls
+looked anxiously about for Tom, but saw no
+trace of him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose Tom must have missed the
+ferry,&#8221; declared Madge with pretended cheerfulness.
+&#8220;We shall have to wait here for only
+about ten minutes until the next ferry boat
+comes across from New York.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When fifteen minutes had passed and there
+was still no sign of Tom, Madge began to feel
+worried.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge, I am sure you have made some kind
+of mistake,&#8221; argued Eleanor plaintively. &#8220;I
+know Mrs. Curtis would not fail to have some
+one here on time to meet us for anything in the
+world. Perhaps Tom wrote for us to come
+across the ferry, and that he would meet us on
+the New York side. Where is his letter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is in my trunk, Nellie,&#8221; replied Madge
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+in a crestfallen manner. She was not nearly so
+grown-up or so sure of herself as she had been
+half an hour before. &#8220;I know it was silly in me
+not to have brought Tom&#8217;s letter with me, but I
+was so sure that I knew just what it said. Perhaps
+we had better go on over to New York.
+Let&#8217;s hurry. Perhaps that boat is just about to
+start.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The two young women hurried aboard the
+boat, which left the dock a moment later, just
+as a tall, fair-haired young man, accompanied
+by two girls, hurried upon the scene. The young
+man was Tom Curtis and the young women
+were Phyllis Alden and Lillian Seldon.</p>
+<p>In the meantime Madge and her cousin had
+crossed the river and had landed on the New
+York side. What was the dreadful roar and
+rumble that met their ears? It sounded like an
+earthquake, with the noise of frightened people
+shrieking above it. After a horrified moment
+it dawned on the two little strangers that this
+was only the usual roar of New York, which
+Tom Curtis had so often described to them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There isn&#8217;t any use of our staying here
+very long, Eleanor,&#8221; declared Madge, feeling
+a great wave of loneliness and fear sweep over
+her. &#8220;An accident must have happened to
+Tom&#8217;s automobile on his way to the train to
+meet us. I am afraid we were foolish not to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+have stayed at the Jersey City station. I am
+sure Tom wrote he would meet us there. I
+have behaved like a perfect goose. It is because
+I boasted so much about not being frightened
+and knowing what to do. But I <i>do</i> know
+Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s address. We can take a cab and
+drive up there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Eleanor would fall in with Madge&#8217;s plans to
+a certain point; then she would strike. Now
+she positively refused to get into a cab. Her
+mother and father and Miss Jenny Ann had
+warned her never to trust herself in a cab in a
+strange city. New York was too terrifying!
+Eleanor would search for Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s home
+on foot, in a car, or a bus, but in a cab she
+would not ride.</p>
+<p>Madge was obliged to give in gracefully. A
+policeman showed the girls to a Twenty-third
+Street car. He explained that when they came
+to the Third Avenue L they must get out of the
+car and take the elevated train uptown, since
+Madge had explained to him that Mrs. Curtis
+lived on Seventieth Street between Madison and
+Fifth Avenues.</p>
+<p>There was only one point that the policeman
+failed to make clear to Eleanor and Madge. He
+neglected to tell them that elevated trains, as
+well as other cars, travel both up and down New
+York City, and the way to discover which way
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+the &#8220;L&#8221; train is moving is to consult the signs
+on the steps that lead up to the elevated road.
+The policeman supposed that the two young
+women would make this observation for themselves.
+Of course, under ordinary circumstances,
+Madge and Nellie would have been
+more sensible, but they were frightened and
+confused at the bare idea of being alone in New
+York and consequently lost their heads, and
+they dashed up the Third Avenue elevated steps
+without looking for signs, settled themselves in
+the train and were off, as they supposed, for
+Seventieth Street.</p>
+<p>They were too much interested in gazing into
+upstairs windows, where hundreds of people
+were at work in tiny, dark rooms, to pay much
+attention to the first stops at stations that their
+train made. They knew they were still some distance
+from Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s. Madge was completely
+fascinated at the spectacle of a fat,
+frowsy woman holding a baby by its skirt on
+the sill of a six-story tenement house. Just as
+the car went by the baby made a leap toward the
+train. Madge smothered her scream as the
+woman jerked the child out of danger just in
+time. Then it suddenly occurred to her that this
+was hardly the kind of neighborhood in which to
+find Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s house. The sign at the next
+stop was a name and not a street number. It
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+could not be possible that she and Eleanor had
+made another mistake!</p>
+<p>Madge hurried back to the end of the car to
+find the conductor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We wish to get out at the nearest station to
+Seventieth Street and Lexington Avenue,&#8221; she
+declared timidly.</p>
+<p>The man paid not the slightest attention to
+her. Madge repeated her question in a somewhat
+bolder tone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You ain&#8217;t going to get off near Seventieth
+Street for some time if you keep a-traveling
+away from it,&#8221; retorted the conductor crossly.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ve got on a downtown &#8216;L&#8217; &#8217;stead of an up.
+Better change at the next station. You&#8217;ll find
+an uptown train across the street,&#8221; the man
+ended more kindly, seeing the look of consternation
+on Madge&#8217;s white face.</p>
+<p>The girls walked sadly down the elevated
+steps, dragging their bags, which seemed to
+grow heavier with every moment. They
+found themselves in one of the downtown foreign
+slums of New York City. It was a bright,
+early summer afternoon. The streets were
+swarming with grown people and children.
+Pushcarts lined the sidewalks. On an opposite
+corner a hand organ played an Italian song. In
+front of it was a small open space, encircled by
+a group of idle men and women. Before the organ
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+danced a little figure that Madge and Eleanor
+stopped to watch. They forgot their own
+bewilderment in gazing at the strange sight.
+The dancer was a little girl about twelve years
+old, as thin as a wraith. Her hair was black and
+hung in straight, short locks to her shoulders.
+Her eyes were so big and burned so brightly
+that it was difficult to notice any other feature
+of her face. The child looked like a tropical
+flower. Her face was white, but her cheeks glowed
+with two scarlet patches. She flung her little
+arms over her head, pirouetted and stood on her
+tip toes. She did not seem to see the curious
+crowd about her, but kept her eyes turned toward
+the sky. Her dancing was as much a part
+of nature as the summer sunshine, and Madge
+and Eleanor were bewitched.</p>
+<p>A rough woman came out of a nearby doorway.
+She stood with her hands on her hips
+looking in the direction of the music. &#8220;Tania!&#8221;
+she called angrily. Elbowing her way through
+the crowd, she jostled Madge as she passed by
+her. &#8220;Tania!&#8221; she cried again. The men and
+women spectators let the woman make her way
+through them as though they knew her and were
+afraid of her heavy fist. Only the child appeared
+to be unconscious of the woman&#8217;s approach.
+Suddenly a big, red arm was thrust out. It
+caught the little girl by the skirt. With the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+other hand she rained down blows on the child&#8217;s
+upturned face. One blow followed the other in
+swift succession. The little dancer made no
+outcry. She simply put one thin arm over her
+head for protection.</p>
+<p>The music went on gayly. No one of the
+watching men and women tried to stop the woman&#8217;s
+brutality. But Madge was not used to
+the indifference of the New York crowd. Like
+a flash of lightning she darted away from Eleanor
+and rushed over to the woman, who was
+dragging the child along and cuffing her at each
+step.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop striking that child!&#8221; she ordered
+sharply. &#8220;How can you be so cruel? You are a
+wicked, heartless woman!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The woman paid no attention to Madge. She
+did not seem even to have heard her, but lifted
+her big, coarse arm for another blow.</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s breath came in swift gasps. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+strike that child again,&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know who she is, nor what she has done, but she
+is too little for you to beat her like that. I won&#8217;t
+endure it,&#8221; the little captain ended in sudden
+passion.</p>
+<p>The woman turned her cruel, bloodshot eyes
+slowly toward Madge. She was one of the
+strongest and most brutal characters in the
+slums of New York, and few dared to oppose
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+her. She was even a terror to the policemen in
+the neighborhood.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Git out!&#8221; she said briefly.</p>
+<p>Her arm descended. It did not strike the
+child. Quick as a flash, Madge Morton had
+flung herself between the woman and the child.
+For a moment the blow almost stunned the girl.
+The East Side crowd closed in on the girl and
+the woman. If there was going to be a fight, the
+spectators did not intend to miss it. Eleanor
+was numb with fear and sympathy. She did
+not know whether to be more frightened for
+Madge than sorry for the child.</p>
+<p>The woman&#8217;s face was mottled and crimson
+with anger. Madge&#8217;s face was very white. She
+held her head high and looked her enemy full
+in the face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Git out of this and stop your interferin&#8217;!&#8221;
+shouted the virago. &#8220;This here child belongs
+to me and I&#8217;ll do what I like with her. If you
+are one of them social settlers coming around
+into poor people&#8217;s places and meddlin&#8217; with
+their business, you&#8217;d better git back where you
+belong or I&#8217;ll social-settle you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this moment a thin, hot hand caught hold
+of Madge&#8217;s and pulled it gently. Madge gazed
+down into a little face, whose expression she
+never forgot. It was whiter than it had been
+before. The scarlet color had gone out of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+cheeks and the big, black eyes burned brighter.
+But there was not the slightest trace of fear in
+the look. Instead, the child&#8217;s lips were curved
+into an elf-like smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t stay here, lady, please,&#8221; she begged.
+&#8220;The ogress will be horrid to you. She can&#8217;t
+hurt me. You see, I am an enchanted Princess.&#8221;</p>
+<p>An instant later the child received a savage
+blow from the woman&#8217;s hard hand full in the
+face without shrinking. It was Madge who
+winced. Tears rose to her eyes. She put her
+arms about the child and tried to shelter her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be calling me no names, Tania,&#8221; the
+woman cried, dragging at the child&#8217;s thin skirts.
+&#8220;Jest you come along home with me and you&#8217;ll
+git what is comin&#8217; to you, you good-for-nothin&#8217;
+little imp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is she your mother?&#8221; asked Madge doubtfully,
+gazing at the brutal woman and the
+strange child.</p>
+<p>Tania shook her black head scornfully. &#8220;Oh,
+dear, no,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;It is only that I
+have to live with her now, while I am under the
+enchantment. Some day, when the wicked spell
+is broken, I shall go away, perhaps to a wonderful
+castle. My name is Titania. I think it
+means that I am the Queen of the Fairies.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The woman laughed brutishly. &#8220;Queen of
+gutter, you are, Miss Tania. I&#8217;ll tan you,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+she jeered, as she dragged the little girl from
+Madge&#8217;s arms.</p>
+<p>The little captain looked despairingly about
+her. There, a calm witness of the entire scene,
+was a big New York policeman. &#8220;Officer,&#8221; commanded
+Madge indignantly, &#8220;make that woman
+leave that child alone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The big policeman looked sheepish. &#8220;I can&#8217;t
+do nothing with Sal,&#8221; he protested. &#8220;If I make
+her stop beating Tania now, she&#8217;ll only be
+meaner to her when she gets her indoors. Best
+leave &#8217;em alone, I think. I have interfered, but
+the child says she don&#8217;t mind. I don&#8217;t think she
+does, somehow; she&#8217;s such a queer young &#8217;un&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Sal was now engaged in shaking Tania as she
+pushed her along in front of her. Madge and
+Eleanor were in despair.</p>
+<p>Suddenly a well-dressed young man appeared
+in the crowd. There was something oddly familiar
+in his appearance to Eleanor, but she
+failed to remember where she had seen him before.
+&#8220;Sal!&#8221; he called out sharply, &#8220;leave
+Tania alone!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Instantly the woman obeyed him. She slunk
+back into her open doorway. The crowd melted
+as though by magic; they also recognized the
+young man&#8217;s authority. A moment later he
+was gone. Madge, Eleanor, and the strange little
+girl stood on the street corner almost alone.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IV_THE_UNINVITED_GUEST' id='IV_THE_UNINVITED_GUEST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3>THE UNINVITED GUEST</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you good fairies who have strayed
+away from home?&#8221; inquired Tania,
+calmly gazing first at Madge and then
+at Eleanor. She was perfectly self-possessed
+and asked her question as though it were the
+most natural one in the world.</p>
+<p>The two girls stared hard at the child. Was
+her mind affected, or was she playing a game
+with them? Tania seemed not in the least disturbed.
+&#8220;Do go away now,&#8221; she urged. &#8220;I
+am all right, but something may happen to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You odd little thing!&#8221; laughed Madge. &#8220;We
+are not fairies. We are girls and we are lost.
+We are on our way to visit a friend, Mrs. Curtis,
+who lives on Seventieth Street near Fifth
+Avenue. She will be dreadfully worried about
+us if we don&#8217;t hurry on. But what can we do
+for you? We can&#8217;t take you with us, yet you
+must not go back to that wicked woman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, I must,&#8221; returned Tania cheerfully.
+&#8220;I am not afraid of her. When the time
+comes I shall go away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But who will take care of you, baby?&#8221; asked
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+Eleanor. &#8220;Fairies don&#8217;t live in big cities like
+New York. They live only in beautiful green
+woods and fields.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The black head nodded wisely. &#8220;Good fairies
+are everywhere,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;But I can
+make handfuls of pennies when I like,&#8221; she continued
+boastfully. &#8220;Let me show you how you
+must go on your way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t possibly know, little girl,&#8221; replied
+Madge gently. &#8220;It is so far from here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>However, it was Tania who finally saw the
+two lost houseboat girls on board the elevated
+train that would take them to within a few
+blocks of their destination. Tania explained
+that she knew almost all of New York, and particularly
+she liked to wander up and down Fifth
+Avenue to gaze at the beautiful palaces. She
+was not young, she was really dreadfully old&mdash;almost
+thirteen!</p>
+<p>The last look Madge and Eleanor had of
+Tania the child had apparently forgotten all
+about them. She was gazing up in the air, above
+all the traffic and roar of New York, with a
+happy smile on her elfish face.</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear children, I wouldn&#8217;t have had it
+happen for worlds!&#8221; was Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s first
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+greeting as she came out from behind the rose-colored
+curtains of her drawing room. &#8220;Tom
+has been telephoning me frantically for the past
+hour. How did he and the girls miss you? You
+poor dears, you must be nearly tired to death
+after your unpleasant experience.&#8221;</p>
+<p>While Mrs. Curtis was talking she was leading
+her visitors up a beautiful carved oak staircase
+to the floor above. Her house was so handsomely
+furnished that Madge and Eleanor were
+startled at its luxurious appointments.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis brought her guests into a large
+sleeping room which opened into another
+bedroom which was for the use of Phil and Lillian.</p>
+<p>Madeleine was to be married the next afternoon
+at four o &#8217;clock. The girls had not brought
+their bridesmaids&#8217; dresses along with them, as
+Mrs. Curtis had asked to be allowed to present
+them with their gowns.</p>
+<p>It was all that Madge could do not to beg Mrs.
+Curtis to show them their frocks. She hoped
+that their hostess would offer to do so, but during
+the rest of the day their time was occupied
+in seeing Madeleine, her hundreds of beautiful
+wedding gifts, meeting Judge Hilliard all over
+again, and being introduced to Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s
+other guests. The four girls went to bed at
+midnight, thinking of their bridesmaids&#8217; gowns,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+but without having had the chance even to inquire
+about them.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis belonged to the old and infinitely
+more aristocratic portion of New York society.
+She did not belong to the new smart set, which
+numbers nearer four thousand, and does so
+much to make society ridiculous. Madeleine
+had asked that she might be married very
+quietly. She had never become used to the gay
+world of fashion after her strange and unhappy
+youth. It made the girls and their teacher smile
+to see what Mrs. Curtis considered a quiet wedding.</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann and her four charges had
+their coffee and rolls in Madge&#8217;s room the next
+morning at about nine o&#8217;clock. Madge peeped
+out of the doorway, there were so many odd
+noises in the hall. The upstairs hall was a mass
+of beautiful evergreens. Men were hanging
+garlands of smilax on the balusters. The house
+was heavy with the scent of American Beauty
+roses. But there was no sign of Mrs. Curtis or
+of Madeleine or Tom, and still no mention of
+the bridesmaids&#8217; costumes for the girls.</p>
+<p>Lillian Seldon was looking extremely forlorn.
+&#8220;Suppose Mrs. Curtis has forgotten our
+frocks!&#8221; she suggested tragically, as Madge
+came back with her report of the house&#8217;s decorations.
+&#8220;She has had such an awful lot to attend
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+to that she may not have remembered that
+she offered to give us our frocks. Won&#8217;t it be
+dreadful if Madeleine has to be married without
+our being bridesmaids after all?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;O Lillian! what a dreadful idea!&#8221; exclaimed
+Eleanor.</p>
+<p>Even Phyllis looked sober and Miss Jenny
+Ann looked exceedingly uncomfortable.</p>
+<p>&#8220;O, you geese! cheer up!&#8221; laughed Madge.
+&#8220;I know Mrs. Curtis would not disappoint us
+for worlds. Why, she has all our measures. She
+couldn&#8217;t forget. Oh, dear, does my breakfast
+gown look all right? There is some one knocking
+at our door. It may be that Mrs. Curtis has
+sent up our frocks.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then open the door, for goodness&#8217; sake,&#8221;
+begged Eleanor. &#8220;Your breakfast gown is
+lovely; only at home we called it a wrapper,
+but then you were not visiting on Fifth Avenue.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge made a saucy little face at Eleanor.
+Then she saw a group of persons standing just
+outside their bedroom door. A man-servant
+held four enormous white boxes in his arms; a
+maid was almost obscured by four other boxes
+equally large. Behind her servants stood Mrs.
+Curtis, smiling radiantly, while Tom was peeping
+over his mother&#8217;s shoulder.</p>
+<p>Madge clasped her hands fervently, breathing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
+a quick sigh of relief. &#8220;Our bridesmaids&#8217;
+dresses! I&#8217;m too delighted for words.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Were you thinking about them, dear?&#8221;
+apologized Mrs. Curtis. &#8220;I ought to have sent
+the frocks to you sooner, but I wanted to bring
+them myself, and this is the first moment I have
+had. You&#8217;ll let Tom come in to see them, too,
+won&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The man-servant departed, but Mrs. Curtis
+kept the maid to help her lift out the gowns from
+the billows of white tissue paper that enfolded
+them. She lifted out one dress, Miss Jenny Ann
+another, and the maid the other two.</p>
+<p>The girls were speechless with pleasure.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis, however, was disappointed. Perhaps
+the girls did not like the costumes. She
+had used her own taste without consulting them.
+Then she glanced at the little group and was reassured
+by their radiant faces.</p>
+<p>&#8220;O you wonderful fairy godmother!&#8221; exclaimed
+Madge. &#8220;Cinderella&#8217;s dress at the ball
+couldn&#8217;t have been half so lovely!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madeleine&#8217;s wedding was to be in white and
+green. The bridesmaids&#8217; frocks were of the
+palest green silk, covered with clouds of white
+chiffon. About the bottom of the skirts were
+bands of pale green satin and the chiffon was
+caught here and there with embroidered
+wreaths of lilies of the valley. The hats were of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
+white chip, ornamented with white and pale
+green plumes.</p>
+<p>It was small wonder that four young girls,
+three of them poor, should have been awestruck
+at the thought of appearing in such
+gowns.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall save mine for my own wedding
+dress!&#8221; exclaimed Eleanor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall make my début in mine,&#8221; insisted
+Lillian.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t thank you enough,&#8221; declared
+Phyllis, a little overcome by so much grandeur.</p>
+<p>Tom was standing in a far corner of the
+room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I would like to suggest that I be allowed to
+come into this,&#8221; he demanded firmly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You, Tom?&#8221; teased Madge. &#8220;You&#8217;re
+merely the audience.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom took four small square boxes out of his
+pocket. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you be too sure, Miss Madge
+Morton. My future brother-in-law, Judge Robert
+Hilliard, has commissioned me to present
+his gifts to his bridesmaids. Madge shall be the
+last person to see in these boxes, just for her
+unkind treatment of me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, Tom,&#8221; agreed Madge; &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+think I could stand anything more just at this
+instant.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Nevertheless Madge peeped over Phil&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+shoulder. Judge Hilliard had presented each
+one of the houseboat girls with an exquisite little
+pin, an enameled model of their houseboat,
+done in white and blue, the colors of the &#8220;Merry
+Maid.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>The wedding was over. There were still a
+few guests in the dining room saying good-bye
+to Mrs. Curtis and Tom; but Madeleine and
+Judge Hilliard had gone. The four girls and
+Miss Jenny Ann found a resting place in the
+beautiful French music room.</p>
+<p>Madeleine&#8217;s wedding presents were in the library,
+just behind the music room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was simply perfect, wasn&#8217;t it, Miss Jenny
+Ann?&#8221; breathed Lillian, as they drew their
+chairs together for a talk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madeleine must be perfectly happy,&#8221; sighed
+Eleanor sentimentally. &#8220;Judge Hilliard is so
+good-looking.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear me!&#8221; broke in Madge, coming out
+of a brown study. She was sitting in a big
+carved French chair. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see how Madeleine
+Curtis could have left her mother and this
+beautiful home for any man in the world. I am
+sure if I had such an own mother I should never
+leave her,&#8221; finished the little captain.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Until some one came along whom you loved
+better,&#8221; interposed Miss Jenny Ann.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That could never be, Miss Jenny Ann,&#8221; declared
+Madge stoutly, her blue eyes wistful.
+&#8220;Why, if my father is alive and I find him, I
+shall never leave him for anybody else.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that noise?&#8221; demanded Phyllis
+sharply.</p>
+<p>It was after six o&#8217;clock and the Curtis home
+was brilliantly lighted. The window blinds
+were all closed. But there was a curious rapping
+and scratching at one of the windows that
+opened into a small side yard.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It may be one of the servants,&#8221; suggested
+Miss Jenny Ann, listening intently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can&#8217;t be,&#8221; rejoined Madge. &#8220;No one of
+them would make such a strange noise.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I had better call Tom,&#8221; breathed Eleanor
+faintly. &#8220;It must be a burglar trying to
+steal Madeleine&#8217;s wedding gifts.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge shook her head. &#8220;Wait, please,&#8221; she
+whispered. She ran to the window. There was
+the faint scratching noise again! Madge lifted
+the shade quickly. Perched on the window sill
+was the oddest figure that ever stepped out of
+the pages of a fairy book. It was impossible to
+see just what it was, yet it looked like a little
+girl. One hand clung to the window facing, a
+small nose pressed against the pane.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, it&#8217;s a child!&#8221; exclaimed Miss Jenny
+Ann in tones of relief. &#8220;Open the window and
+let her come in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge flung open the window. Light as a
+thistledown, the unexpected little visitor landed
+in the center of the room.</p>
+<p>Madge and Eleanor had completely forgotten
+the elfin child they had met in the slums of New
+York City; but now she appeared among them
+just as mysteriously as though she were the
+fairy she pretended to be.</p>
+<p>She wore a small red coat that was half a dozen
+sizes too tiny for her. Her skirt was patched
+with odds and ends of bright flowered materials.
+On her head perched a cap, a scarlet flower, cut
+from an odd scrap of old wall paper. In her
+hands Tania clasped a ridiculous bundle, done
+up in a dirty handkerchief.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You strange little witch!&#8221; exclaimed
+Madge. &#8220;However did you find your way here?
+Be very still and good until the lovely lady who
+owns this house sees you, then I wouldn&#8217;t be at
+all surprised if she gave you some cake and ice
+cream before she sends you away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tania sat down in the corner still as a mouse.
+Her thin knees were hunched close together.
+She held her poor bundle tightly. Her big black
+eyes grew larger and darker with wonder as she
+had her first glimpse of a fairyland, outside her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+own imagination, in the beautiful room and the
+group of lovely girls who occupied it.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis came in a minute later, followed
+by a man who had been one of the guests at the
+wedding. Madge, Eleanor, and Tania recognized
+him instantly. He was the young man who
+had protected Tania from the blows of the brutal
+woman the afternoon before, but Tania did
+not seem pleased to see him. Her face flushed
+hotly, her lips quivered, though she made no
+sound.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis smiled quizzically. Madge could
+see that there were tears behind her smiles.
+&#8220;Who is our latest guest, Madge?&#8221; she asked,
+gazing kindly at the odd little person.</p>
+<p>Tania rose gravely from her place on the
+floor. &#8220;I am a fairy who has been under the
+spell of a wicked witch,&#8221; she asserted with solemnity,
+&#8220;but now the spell is broken and I&#8217;ve
+run away from her. I shan&#8217;t go back ever any
+more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s young man guest took the child
+firmly by the shoulders.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by coming here to trouble
+these young ladies?&#8221; he demanded sternly. &#8220;I
+thought I recognized your friends, Mrs. Curtis.
+They saved this child yesterday from a punishment
+she probably well deserved. She is one of
+the children in our slum neighborhood that we
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+have not been able to reach. I will take her
+back to her home with me at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The child&#8217;s head was high in the air. She
+caught her breath. Her eyes had a queer, eerie
+look in them. &#8220;You can&#8217;t take me back now,&#8221;
+she insisted. &#8220;The spell is broken. I shall
+never see old Sal again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge put her arm about the small witch girl.
+&#8220;Let her stay here just to-night, Mrs. Curtis,
+please,&#8221; begged Madge earnestly. &#8220;I wish to
+find out something about her. I will look after
+her and see that she does not do any harm.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Quite seriously and gently Tania knelt on one
+knee and kissed Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s hand. &#8220;Let me
+stay. I shall be on my way again in the morning,&#8221;
+she pleaded, &#8220;but I am a little afraid of
+the night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear child,&#8221; said Mrs. Curtis, gently
+drawing the waif to her side, &#8220;you are far too
+little to be running away from home. You may
+stay here to-night, then to-morrow we will see
+what we can do for you. I won&#8217;t trouble you
+with her to-night, Philip,&#8221; she added, turning
+to her guest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be no trouble,&#8221; returned Philip Holt
+blandly. &#8220;She lives less than an hour&#8217;s ride
+from here. Her foster mother will be greatly
+worried at her absence.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis looked hesitatingly at Tania, who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+had been listening with alert ears. The child&#8217;s
+black eyes took on a look of lively terror.
+&#8220;Please, please let me stay,&#8221; she begged, clasping
+her thin little hands in anxious appeal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you let Tania stay here to-night,
+Mrs. Curtis?&#8221; asked Madge for the second
+time. &#8220;I am sorry to disagree with Mr. Holt,
+but I do not believe that poor little Tania is
+either lawless or incorrigible. The woman who
+claims her is the most cruel, brutal-looking person
+I ever saw. I am sure she is not Tania&#8217;s
+mother. Let me keep her here to-night, and to-morrow
+I will inquire into her case.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, Madge,&#8221; said Mrs. Curtis reluctantly.
+She glanced toward Philip Holt. His
+eyes, however, were fixed upon Madge with an
+expression of disapproval and dislike. For the
+first time it occurred to Mrs. Curtis that Philip
+Holt might be very disagreeable if thwarted.
+She immediately dismissed the thought as unworthy
+when the young man said smoothly: &#8220;I
+shall be only too glad to have Miss Morton investigate
+the child&#8217;s record. I am sorry that
+my word has not been sufficient to convince
+her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge made no reply to this thrust. Then an
+awkward silence ensued. Mrs. Curtis looked
+annoyed, Tania triumphant, Madge belligerent,
+and the other girls sympathetic. Making a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+strong effort, Philip Holt controlled his anger
+and, extending his hand to Mrs. Curtis, said:
+&#8220;Pray, pardon my interference. I was prompted
+to speak merely in your interest. I trust I
+shall see you again in the near future. Good
+night.&#8221; He bowed coldly to the young women
+and took his departure.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a disagreeable&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; Madge stopped
+abruptly. Her face flushed. &#8220;I beg your pardon,
+Mrs. Curtis,&#8221; she said contritely. &#8220;I
+shouldn&#8217;t have spoken my mind aloud.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I forgive you, my dear,&#8221; there was a
+slight tone of constraint in Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s voice,
+&#8220;but I am sure if you knew Mr. Holt as I do
+you would have an entirely different opinion of
+him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps I should,&#8221; returned Madge politely,
+but in her heart she knew that she and
+Philip Holt were destined not to be friends, but
+bitter enemies.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='V_TANIA_A_PROBLEM' id='V_TANIA_A_PROBLEM'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3>TANIA, A PROBLEM</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think it would be a splendid
+plan for Tania?&#8221; asked Madge
+eagerly. &#8220;Miss Jenny Ann and the
+girls are willing she should come to us. Tania
+is such a fascinating little person, with her
+dreams and her pretences, that she is the best
+kind of company. Besides, I am awfully sorry
+for her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis and Madge were seated in the latter&#8217;s
+bedroom indulging in one of their old-time
+confidential talks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tania would be a great deal of care for you,
+Madge,&#8221; argued Mrs. Curtis. &#8220;She is worrying
+my maids almost distracted with her foolishness.
+Last night she wrapped herself in a
+sheet and frightened poor Norah almost to death
+by dancing in the moonlight. She explained to
+Norah that she was pretending that she was a
+moonflower swaying in the wind. I wonder
+where the child got such odd fancies and bits of
+information? She has never seen a moonflower
+in her life.&#8221; Mrs. Curtis laughed and frowned
+at the same time. &#8220;Poor little daughter of the
+tenements! She is indeed a problem.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Shall I tell you all I have been able to find
+out about Tania?&#8221; asked Madge. &#8220;Her history
+is quite like a story-book tale. I think her father
+and mother were actors, but the father died
+when Tania was only a little baby. That is why,
+I suppose, they called the child by such an absurd
+name as &#8216;Titania.&#8217; I looked it up and it
+comes from Shakespeare&#8217;s play of &#8216;Midsummer
+Night&#8217;s Dream.&#8217; I think perhaps her mother
+was just a dancer, or had only a small part in
+the plays in which she appeared, for they never
+had any money. Tania has lived in a tenement
+always. The mother used to take care of her
+baby when she could, and then leave her to the
+neighbors. But the mother must have been unusual,
+too, for she taught Tania all sorts of
+poetry and music when Tania was only a tiny
+child. Indeed, Tania knows a great deal more
+about literature than I do now,&#8221; confessed
+Madge honestly. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t so strange, after all,
+that Tania pretends. Why, she and her mother
+used to play at pretending together. When they
+sat down to their dinner they used to rub their
+old lamp and play that it was Aladdin&#8217;s wonderful
+lamp, and that their poor table was spread
+with a wonderful feast, instead of just bread
+and cheese. They tried to make light of their
+poverty.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s eyes were full of tears. She
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+could understand better than Madge the scene
+the young girl pictured.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tania was eight years old when her mother
+died,&#8221; finished Madge pensively. &#8220;Since then
+poor Tania has had such a dreadful time, living
+with that wretched old Sal, who has made a
+regular slavey of her, and she just had to
+go on with her pretending in order to be able to
+bear her life at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge and Mrs. Curtis were both silent for a
+moment. The bright June sunshine flooded the
+room, offering a sharp contrast to Tania&#8217;s sad
+little story.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see why I wish to take her on the houseboat,&#8221;
+pleaded Madge. &#8220;It seems so wonderful
+that we are going to Cape May and will be
+on the really seashore, near you and Tom, that
+each one of us feels the desire to do something
+for somebody just to show how happy we are.
+Miss Jenny Ann says we may take Tania, if you
+think it wouldn&#8217;t be unwise.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She ought to go to school, Madge,&#8221; argued
+Mrs. Curtis half-heartedly. &#8220;Tania does not
+know any of the things she should. Philip Holt,
+who does so much good work among the poor in
+Tania&#8217;s tenement district, says that the child is
+most unreliable and does not tell the truth.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge wrinkled her nose with the familiar expression
+she wore when annoyed. Her investigations
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+had proved Philip Holt a liar, but she
+refrained from saying so.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t like Philip, do you?&#8221; continued
+Mrs. Curtis. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t fair to have prejudices
+without reason. Mr. Holt is a fine young man
+and does splendid work among the poor. Madeleine
+and I have entrusted him with the most of
+the money we have given to charity. I am sorry
+that you girls don&#8217;t like him, because he is coming
+to visit me at Cape May this summer.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge dutifully stifled her vague feeling of
+regret. &#8220;Of course, we will try to like him, if
+he is your friend,&#8221; she replied loyally. &#8220;It was
+only that we thought Mr. Holt had a terribly superior
+manner for such a young man, and looked
+too &#8216;goody-goody&#8217;! But you have not answered
+me yet about Tania. Do let us have
+Tania. I&#8217;ll teach her lots of things this summer,
+and it won&#8217;t be so hard for her when she
+goes to school in the fall. She is pretty good
+with me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; consented Mrs. Curtis reluctantly,
+&#8220;for this summer only. The child will
+get you into difficulties, but I suppose they
+won&#8217;t be serious. What is Madge Morton going
+to do next fall? Is she going to college with
+Phil, or is she coming to be my daughter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge lowered her red-brown head. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know, dear,&#8221; she faltered. &#8220;You know I have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+said all along to Uncle and Aunt that, just as
+soon as I was grown up, I was going to start out
+to find my father. I shall be nineteen next winter.
+It surely is time for me to begin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Madge, dear, you can&#8217;t find your father
+unless you know where to look for him. The
+world is a very large place! I am sorry&#8221;&mdash;Mrs.
+Curtis smoothed Madge&#8217;s soft hair tenderly&mdash;&#8220;but
+I agree with your uncle and aunt; your
+father must be dead. Were he alive he would
+surely have tried to find his little daughter long
+before this. Your uncle and aunt have never
+heard from or of him during all these years.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t feel sure that he is dead,&#8221; returned
+Madge thoughtfully. &#8220;You see, my father disappeared
+after his court-martial in the Navy.
+He never dreamed that some day his superior
+officer would confess his own guilt and declare
+Father innocent. I can&#8217;t, I won&#8217;t, believe he is
+dead. Somewhere in this world he lives and
+some day I shall find him, I am sure of it. Phil,
+Lillian and Eleanor have all pledged themselves
+to my cause, too,&#8221; she added, smiling faintly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll do all that I can to help you, Madge.
+Just have a good time this summer, and in the
+autumn, perhaps, there may be some information
+for you to work on. What is that dreadful
+noise? I never heard anything like it in my
+house before!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Curtis.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span></p>
+<p>Madge sprang to her feet. There was the
+sound of a heavy fall in the next room, a scream,
+then a discreet knock on Madge&#8217;s door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come!&#8221; commanded Mrs. Curtis.</p>
+<p>The door opened and the butler appeared in
+the doorway, his solemn, red face redder and
+more solemn than usual.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, it&#8217;s that child again,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;While the young ladies was out in the automobile
+with Mr. Tom, she went in their room, emptied
+out one of their trunks and shut herself inside.
+She said she was &#8216;Hope&#8217; and the trunk
+was &#8216;Pandory&#8217;s Box,&#8217; or some such crazy foolishness.
+She meant to jump out when the young
+ladies came back, but Norah went into the room
+with some clean towels, and when the little one
+bobs her head out of that box, just like a black
+witch, poor Norah is scared out of her wits and
+drops on the floor all of a heap. If that child
+doesn&#8217;t go away from here soon, Ma&#8217;am, I don&#8217;t
+know how we can ever bear it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will do, Richards,&#8221; answered Mrs.
+Curtis coldly. But Madge could see that she
+was dreadfully vexed at Tania&#8217;s latest naughtiness.</p>
+<p>The little captain gave Mrs. Curtis a penitent
+hug. &#8220;It is all my fault, dear. I should never
+have brought the little witch here,&#8221; she murmured.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll go and make it all right with Norah
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+and see that Tania does no more mischief&mdash;for
+a while, at least.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis looked somewhat mollified, nevertheless,
+she was far from pleased, and Madge&#8217;s
+championship of little Tania was to cause the
+little captain more than one unhappy hour.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VI_A_MISCHIEVOUS_MERMAID' id='VI_A_MISCHIEVOUS_MERMAID'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3>A MISCHIEVOUS MERMAID</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There was a splash over the side of a
+boat, then another, one more, and a
+fourth. The water rippled and broke
+away into smooth curves. Down a long streak
+of moonlight four dark objects floated above
+the surface of the waves. For a few seconds
+there was not a sound, not even a shout, to show
+that the mermaids were at play.</p>
+<p>Two dark heads kept in advance of the others.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge,&#8221; warned a voice, &#8220;we must not go
+too far out. Remember, we promised Jenny
+Ann. My, but isn&#8217;t this water glorious! I feel
+as though I could swim on forever.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A graceful figure turned over and the moonlight
+shone full on a happy face. The two
+swimmers moved along more slowly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nellie, Lillian!&#8221; Madge called back, &#8220;are
+you all right? Do you wish to go on farther?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil and Madge floated quietly until their two
+friends caught up with them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I feel as though I could go on all night at
+this rate,&#8221; declared Lillian Seldon. Eleanor
+put her hand out. &#8220;May I float along with you
+a little, Madge?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;I am tired. How
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+wide and empty the ocean looks to-night! We
+must not get out of sight of the lights of the
+&#8216;Merry Maid&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no danger!&#8221; scoffed Madge.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look out!&#8221; cried Phil Alden sharply. She
+was swimming ahead. She saw first the sails of
+a small yacht making across the bay with all
+speed to the line of the shore that the girls had
+just quitted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s follow the boat back home,&#8221; suggested
+Madge. &#8220;We can keep far enough away for
+them not to see us. It will be rather good fun
+if they take us for porpoises or mermaids, or
+any other queer sea creature.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t run into that Noah&#8217;s ark that we saw
+anchored in the creek this morning, Roy,&#8221; came
+a shrill voice from the deck of the yacht. &#8220;I
+saw half a dozen women going aboard her this
+afternoon laden with boxes and trunks&mdash;everything
+but the parrot and the monkey. It looked
+as though they meant to spend the summer
+aboard her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps they do, Mabel,&#8221; a man&#8217;s voice answered.
+&#8220;The &#8216;Noah&#8217;s Ark&#8217; is a houseboat. It
+looked very tiny for so many people, but I
+thought it was rather pretty.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we have girls enough at Cape May this
+summer&mdash;about six to every man,&#8221; argued Mabel
+crossly. &#8220;I vote that we give these new
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+persons the cold shoulder. Nobody knows who
+they are, nor where they come from. It is bad
+enough to have to associate with tiresome hotel
+visitors, but I shall draw the line at these water-rats,
+and I hope you will do the same.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She means us,&#8221; gasped Eleanor. &#8220;What a
+perfectly horrid girl!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The high, sharp voice on the yacht was distinctly
+audible over the water. The boat had
+slowed down as it drew nearer to the shore.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Swim along with Phil, Nellie,&#8221; proposed
+Madge. &#8220;I am going to have some fun with
+those young persons. I don&#8217;t care if I <i>am</i>
+nearly grown-up; I am not going to miss a lark
+when there&#8217;s a chance. I have that rubber ball
+that Phil and I brought out to play with in the
+water. Watch me throw it on their yacht.
+They&#8217;ll think it&#8217;s a bomb, or a meteor, if I can
+throw straight enough. I am going to settle
+with them this very minute for the disagreeable
+things they just said about us and our pretty
+&#8216;Merry Maid.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t do it, Madge!&#8221; expostulated Phil; but
+she was too late; Madge had dived and was
+swimming along almost completely under the
+water. She swam in the darkness cast by the
+shadow of the boat as it passed within a few
+yards of them.</p>
+<p>Like a flash she lifted her great rubber ball.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+She had better luck than she deserved. The
+ball came out of nowhere and landed in the center
+of the group of three young people on the
+yacht. It fell first on the deck, and then bounced
+into the lap of the offending Mabel.</p>
+<p>It was hard work for the waiting girls not to
+laugh aloud as naughty Madge came slowly
+back to them.</p>
+<p>A wild shriek went up from on board the
+yacht. &#8220;Oh, dear, what was that?&#8221; one girl
+asked faintly, when the first cries of alarm had
+died away.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is it? What was it?&#8221; growled a masculine
+voice. &#8220;Are you really hurt, Mabel?
+You are making so much fuss that I can&#8217;t tell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mabel had dropped back in a chair. She was
+white with fear and trembling violently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is in my lap,&#8221; she moaned. &#8220;It may explode
+any moment&mdash;do take it away!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The owner of the yacht, Roy Dennis, turned a
+small electric flashlight full on his two girl
+guests. There, in Mabel&#8217;s lap, was surely a
+round, globular-shaped object that had either
+dropped from the sky or had been thrown at
+them by an unknown hand. Roy had really no
+desire to pick it up without seeing it more
+clearly.</p>
+<p>The other girl was less timid. She reached
+over and took hold of Madge&#8217;s ball. Then she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+laughed aloud. Oddly enough, her laugh was
+repeated out on the water.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, it&#8217;s only a rubber ball!&#8221; she asserted.
+Ethel Swann, who was one of the old-time cottagers
+at Cape May, ran to the side of the boat.
+&#8220;See!&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;over there are some
+boys swimming. I suppose they threw the ball
+on board just to frighten us. They certainly
+were successful.&#8221; She hurled Madge&#8217;s ball
+back over the water, but Roy Dennis&#8217;s small
+yacht had gone some distance from the group
+of mischievous mermaids and he did not turn
+back. &#8220;If I find out who did that trick, I surely
+will get even with them,&#8221; muttered Roy. &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t like to be made a fool of.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t tell Jenny Ann, please, girls,&#8221; begged
+Madge, as the four girls clambered aboard
+the &#8220;Merry Maid.&#8221; &#8220;It was a very silly trick
+that I played. I should hate to have the cottagers
+at the Cape hear of it. I don&#8217;t suppose I
+shall ever grow up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Girls, whatever made you stay in the water
+so long?&#8221; demanded Miss Jenny Ann, coming
+into the girls&#8217; stateroom with a big pitcher of
+hot chocolate and a plate of cakes. &#8220;I have been
+uneasy about you. You have been in the water
+for half an hour. That&#8217;s too long for a first
+swim. Poor Tania is fast asleep. The child is
+utterly worn out with so much excitement. Think
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+of never having been out of a crowded city in her
+life, and then seeing this wonderful Cape May!
+Tania wanted to stay up to wish you good night.
+I left her staring out of the cabin window at the
+stars when I went into our kitchen to make the
+chocolate. When I came back she was asleep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear Jenny Ann,&#8221; said Madge penitently,
+pulling their chaperon down on the berth beside
+her, while Lillian poured the chocolate, &#8220;it was
+my fault we were late. The bad things are always
+my fault. But we are going to have a perfectly
+glorious time this summer, aren&#8217;t we?
+Just think, next year Phil and I shall be nineteen
+and nearly old ladies.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if anything special is going to happen
+to us this holiday?&#8221; pondered Phil, crunching
+away on her third cake.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something special always does happen to
+us,&#8221; declared Lillian. &#8220;Let&#8217;s go to bed now,
+because, if we are going to row up the bay in the
+morning to explore the shore, we shall have to
+get up early to put the &#8216;Merry Maid&#8217; in order.
+We must be regular old Cape May inhabitants
+by the time that Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Next morning bad news came to the crew of
+the little houseboat. Mrs. Curtis had been called
+to Chicago by the illness of her brother, and
+Tom had gone with her. They did not know
+how soon they would be able to come on to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
+Cape May; but within a very few days Philip
+Holt, the goody-goody young man who was one
+of Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s special favorites, would come
+on to Cape May, and Mrs. Curtis hoped that the
+girls would see that he had a good time.</p>
+<p>Neither Madge, Phil, Lillian nor Eleanor felt
+particularly pleased at this information. But
+Tania, who was the only one of the party that
+knew the young man well, burst unexpectedly
+into a flood of tears, the cause of which she obstinately
+refused to explain.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VII_CAPTAIN_JULES_DEEP_SEA_DIVER' id='VII_CAPTAIN_JULES_DEEP_SEA_DIVER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3>CAPTAIN JULES, DEEP SEA DIVER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The &#8220;Water Witch&#8221; rocked lazily on the
+breast of the waves, awaiting the coming
+of the four girls, who had planned to
+row up the bay on a voyage of discovery. They
+were not much interested in staying about
+among the Cape May cottagers, after the conversation
+which they had innocently overheard
+from the deck of the launch the night before. Of
+course, if Mrs. Curtis and Tom had come on to
+Cape May at once to occupy their cottage, as
+they had expected to do, all would have been
+well. The four young women and their chaperon
+would have been immediately introduced to
+the society of the Cape. However, the girls
+were not repining at their lack of society. They
+had each other; there was the old town of Cape
+May to be explored with the great ocean on one
+side and Delaware Bay on the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do be careful, children,&#8221; called Miss Jenny
+Ann warningly as the girls arranged themselves
+for a row in their skiff. &#8220;In all our experience
+on the water I never saw so many yachts and
+pleasure boats as there are on these waters. If
+you don&#8217;t keep a sharp lookout one of the larger
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+boats may run into you. Don&#8217;t get into trouble.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are going away from trouble, Miss
+Jenny Ann,&#8221; protested Phil. &#8220;There is a
+yacht club on the sound, but we are going to row
+up the bay past the shoals and get as far from
+civilization as possible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge stood up in the skiff and waved her
+hand to their chaperon. The girls looked like a
+small detachment of feminine naval cadets in
+their nautical uniforms. Each one of them wore
+a dark blue serge skirt of ankle length and a
+middy blouse with a blue sailor collar. They
+were without hats, as they hoped to get a coating
+of seashore tan without wasting any time.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall expect you home by noon,&#8221; were
+Miss Jenny Ann&#8217;s final words as the &#8220;Water
+Witch&#8221; danced away from the houseboat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aye, aye, Skipper!&#8221; the girls called back in
+chorus. &#8220;Shall we bring back lobsters or clams
+for luncheon, if we can find them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Clams!</i>&#8221; hallooed Miss Jenny Ann through
+her hands. &#8220;I am dreadfully afraid of live lobsters.&#8221;
+Then the houseboat chaperon retired to
+write a letter to an artist, a Mr. Theodore
+Brown, whose acquaintance she had made during
+the first of the houseboat holidays. He had
+suggested that he would like to come to Cape
+May some time later in the summer if any of his
+houseboat friends would be pleased to see him,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+and she was writing to tell him just how greatly
+pleased they would be.</p>
+<p>The &#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; had found a quiet anchorage
+in one of the smaller inlets of the Delaware
+Bay, not far from the town of Cape May. The
+larger number of the summer cottages were
+farther away on the tiny islands near the sound
+and along the ocean front.</p>
+<p>The &#8220;Water Witch&#8221; sped gayly over the blue
+waters of the bay in the brilliant late June sunshine.
+Madge and Phil, as usual, were at the
+oars. Tania crouched quietly at Lillian&#8217;s feet
+in the stern of the skiff. Eleanor sat in the
+prow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of it all, Tania?&#8221; Madge
+asked the little adopted houseboat daughter.
+Tania had been very silent since their arrival at
+the seashore. If she were impressed at the wonderful
+and beautiful things she had seen since
+she left New York City, she had, so far, said
+nothing.</p>
+<p>Her large black eyes blinked in the dazzling
+light. She was looking straight up toward the
+sky in a curious, absorbed fashion. &#8220;I was trying
+to make up my mind, Madge, if this place
+was as beautiful as my kingdom in Fairyland,&#8221;
+answered Tania seriously, &#8220;and I believe it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you a kingdom in Fairyland, little
+Tania?&#8221; inquired Phil gently. She did not understand
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span>
+the child&#8217;s odd fancies, as Madge did.</p>
+<p>Tania nodded her head quietly. &#8220;Of course
+I have,&#8221; she returned simply. &#8220;Hasn&#8217;t every
+one a Fairyland, where things are just as they
+should be, beautiful and good and kind? I am
+the queen of my kingdom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil looked puzzled, but Madge only laughed.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t mind Tania, Phil. She is going to be a
+very sensible little houseboat girl before our
+holiday is over. Besides, I understand her. She
+only says some of the things I used to think
+when I was a tiny child. But I do wish the people
+on the boats would not stare at us so; there
+is nothing very wonderful in our appearance.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls were trying to guide their rowboat
+among the other larger craft that were afloat on
+the bay. They wished to get into the more remote
+waters. In the meantime it was embarrassing
+to have smartly dressed women and girls
+put up their lorgnettes and opera glasses to gaze
+at the girls as the latter rowed by.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can there be anything the matter with us?&#8221;
+asked Phil solicitously. &#8220;I never saw anything
+like this fire of inquisitive stares.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not, Phil,&#8221; answered Lillian sensibly.
+&#8220;It is only because we are strangers at
+Cape May, and most of the people whom we see
+about come here each year. Then we are the
+only persons who live in a Noah&#8217;s ark, as those
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+pleasant people on the yacht called our pretty
+&#8216;Merry Maid&#8217; last night. Don&#8217;t worry. Have
+you thought how odd it is that we won&#8217;t even
+know them if we should be introduced to them
+later? We did not see either them or their boat
+very plainly last night; we only overheard them
+talking.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I&#8217;ll know the voice of that woman who
+screamed,&#8221; replied Madge rather grimly. &#8220;I
+just dare her to shriek again without my recognizing
+her dulcet tones.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls were now drawing away from the
+crowded end of the bay. They kept along fairly
+close to the shore. There was an occasional
+house near the water, but these dwellings were
+farther and farther apart. Finally the girls
+rowed for half a mile without seeing any residence
+save an occasional fisherman&#8217;s hut. They
+hoped to reach some place where they could
+catch at least a glimpse of the wonderful cedar
+woods that flourish farther up the coast of the
+bay.</p>
+<p>Suddenly Lillian sang out: &#8220;Look, girls, there
+is the dearest little house! It is almost in the
+water. It rivals our houseboat, it is so like a
+ship. Isn&#8217;t it too cunning for anything!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge and Phyllis rested on their oars. The
+girls stared curiously.</p>
+<p>They saw a house built of shingles that had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+turned a soft gray which exactly resembled an
+old three-masted schooner. It had a tiny porch
+in front, but the first roof ended in a point, the
+second rose higher, like a larger sail, and the
+third, which must have covered the kitchen, was
+about the height of the first.</p>
+<p>&#8220;See, Tania, I can make the funny house by
+putting my fingers together,&#8221; laughed Lillian.
+&#8220;My thumbs are the first roof, my three fingers
+the second, and my little fingers the last.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls rowed nearer the odd cottage. The
+place was deserted; at least they saw no one
+about. Over the front door of the house hung a
+trim little sign inscribed, &#8220;The Anchorage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me, here is a boathouse, and we&#8217;ve a
+houseboat!&#8221; exclaimed Eleanor. &#8220;I wish we
+dared go ashore and knock at the door, to ask
+some one to show us over it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we had better try it, Eleanor,&#8221;
+remonstrated Phil. &#8220;The house probably belongs
+to some grouchy old sea captain who has
+built it to get away from people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this moment a man at least six feet tall,
+wearing old yellow tarpaulins, came around the
+side of the house of the three sails with a large
+basket on each arm. He sat down on a rock in
+front of the house and began lifting mussel and
+oyster shells out of one of his baskets. He
+would peer at them earnestly before throwing
+them over to one side. He was a giant of a man,
+past middle age. His face was so weather-beaten
+that his skin was like leather. His eyes were
+blue as only a sailor&#8217;s eyes can be. On one of
+the man&#8217;s shoulders perched a wizened little
+monkey that every now and then tugged at its
+master&#8217;s grizzled hair or chattered in his ear.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/mmv-071.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 315px; height: 480px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 315px;'>
+&#8220;Good Morning&#8221; Shouted Madge.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></div>
+<p>The man did not observe the girls in the rowboat,
+although they were only a few yards away.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good morning,&#8221; sang out Madge cheerfully,
+forgetting the vow of silence which the girls
+had made that morning against the Cape Mayites.
+But then, the girls had never dreamed of
+seeing such a fascinating seafaring old mariner.
+Their vow had been taken against the society
+people.</p>
+<p>The sailor, however, did not return Madge&#8217;s
+friendly salutation; he went on examining his
+oyster and mussel shells.</p>
+<p>Madge looked crestfallen. The old sailor had
+such a splendid, strong face. He did not seem to
+be the kind of man who would fail to return a
+friendly good morning greeting.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think he heard you, Madge. Let&#8217;s
+all halloo together,&#8221; proposed Lillian.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good morning!&#8221; shouted five young voices
+in a mischievous chorus.</p>
+<p>The seaman lifted his big head. His smile
+came slowly, wrinkling his face into heavy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+creases. &#8220;Good morning, mates,&#8221; he called
+heartily. &#8220;Coming ashore?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, may we?&#8221; cried Madge in return. &#8220;We
+should <i>dearly</i> love to!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The five girls needed no further invitation.
+They piled out of the &#8220;Water Witch&#8221; before
+their host could come near enough to assist
+them.</p>
+<p>The seaman did not invite them into the
+house. The girls took their seats on the big
+rock near the water. Madge was farthest away,
+but promptly the monkey leaped from its master&#8217;s
+shoulder and planted itself in Madge&#8217;s
+hair, pulling the strands violently while he chattered
+angrily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You horrid little thing!&#8221; she cried; &#8220;you
+hurt. I wonder if you hate red hair. Is that
+the reason you are trying to pull mine out?
+Please, somebody, take this playful beast
+away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The old sea captain, as the girls guessed him
+to be, promptly came to Madge&#8217;s rescue and removed
+the angry monkey.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must forgive my pet,&#8221; he remarked
+kindly. &#8220;My little Madge is jealous. She
+doesn&#8217;t like strangers and we don&#8217;t often have
+young lady visitors.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge!&#8221; exclaimed the little captain, smiling
+as she tried to re-arrange her hair. &#8220;What
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+a funny name for a monkey. Why, that is my
+name!&#8221;</p>
+<p>After a few advances the monkey became very
+friendly with the other girls, but she would have
+nothing to do with Madge. She would fly into a
+perfect tempest of rage whenever Madge approached
+her or tried to talk to her. The monkey
+even deserted her master to perch in Tania&#8217;s
+arms. The animal put its little, scrawny arms
+about the queer child&#8217;s neck, and there was almost
+the same elfish, wistful look in both pairs
+of dark eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you catch many fish in these waters?&#8221;
+inquired Eleanor, whose housewifely soul was
+interested in the big basket of lobsters that she
+saw crawling about, writhing and twisting as
+though they were in agony.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Almost every kind that lives in temperate
+waters,&#8221; answered the sailor, &#8220;but there is
+nothing like the variety one finds in the tropics.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Were you once a sea captain?&#8221; asked Lillian
+curiously.</p>
+<p>The man shook his head. &#8220;I&#8217;m not a captain
+in the United States service,&#8221; he returned. &#8220;I
+am called captain in these parts, &#8216;Captain
+Jules,&#8217; but I have only commanded a freight
+schooner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know I have no right to be so curious,&#8221; interposed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
+Madge, &#8220;but I dearly love everything
+about the sea. Were you ever a deep sea diver?
+Somehow you look like one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was a pearl-fisher for many years,&#8221; the
+seaman answered as calmly as though diving for
+pearls was one of the most ordinary trades in
+the world. But his eyes twinkled as he heard
+Madge&#8217;s gasp of admiration and caught the expression
+on the faces of the other girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were looking for pearls in those oysters
+and mussel shells when our boat came
+along, weren&#8217;t you?&#8221; divined Madge, regarding
+him with large eyes.</p>
+<p>The man nodded a smiling answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but I didn&#8217;t expect to find any pearls,&#8221;
+he answered. &#8220;It is strange how a man&#8217;s old
+occupation will cling to him, even after he has
+long ago given it up. There are very few pearls
+to be found now in the Delaware Bay or the
+waters around here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules was gravely removing lobsters
+from his basket for Tania&#8217;s entertainment while
+he talked to Madge. Tania was watching him,
+breathless with admiration and terror. The
+captain would take hold of one of the great,
+crawling things, rub it softly on its horned head
+as one would rub a tabby cat to make it purr.
+He would then set the lobster up on its hind
+claws and the funny crustacean would fall
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+quietly asleep, as though it were nodding in a
+chair.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never saw anything so queer in my life,&#8221;
+chuckled Phil. &#8220;You hypnotize the lobsters,
+don&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules shook his shaggy head. He
+was proud of the appreciation his accomplishment
+had excited. &#8220;No; I don&#8217;t hypnotize
+them,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Anybody can make old
+Father Lobster fall asleep if he only rubs him
+in the right place. You are not going, are you?&#8221;
+for the girls had risen to depart.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid we must,&#8221; said Madge; &#8220;we
+promised to get back to our houseboat by noon.
+If you come down to Cape May, won&#8217;t you
+please come to see us? Our houseboat is a rival
+to your boathouse.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very kind,&#8221; answered the old captain,
+shaking his head, &#8220;but I don&#8217;t do much
+visiting. I thank you just the same. Let me fix
+you up a basket of fish. Afraid of the lobsters,
+aren&#8217;t you, little girl?&#8221; he said, smiling at Tania.</p>
+<p>The old sailor followed his visitors to help
+them aboard their rowboat. He walked beside
+Madge, keeping a careful watch on his monkey,
+which still chattered and gesticulated, showing
+her hatred of the little captain.</p>
+<p>The girls realized that this man had the manners
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+of a gentleman, although he looked as rough
+and uncouth as a common sailor. There was a
+kind of nobility about him, as of a man who has
+lived and fought with the big things of the
+earth.</p>
+<p>Madge looked at him beseechingly just before
+they arrived at their skiff. Now, when Madge
+desired anything very greatly she was hard to
+resist. Her blue eyes wore their most bewitching
+expression. &#8220;Please,&#8221; she faltered, &#8220;I
+want you to do me a favor. I know I have no
+right to ask it, but, but&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; inquired Captain Jules, smiling.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you your diving suit?&#8221; asked Madge.
+&#8220;If you have, and you would show it to me some
+day, I would be too happy for words.&#8221; Madge
+blushed at her own temerity.</p>
+<p>The captain shook his head. There was little
+encouragement in his expression. &#8220;Maybe,
+some day,&#8221; he replied vaguely; &#8220;but I have
+had the suit put away for some time. Who
+knows when I will go down into the sea again?
+Be careful in that small skiff,&#8221; he warned the
+girls. &#8220;There are so many launches about on
+these waters, run by men and women that don&#8217;t
+know the very first principles of running a boat,
+that a small craft like yours may easily drift
+into danger. You must look lively.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span></p>
+<p>The girls waved their good-byes as Madge
+and Phil pulled away. Madge noticed that the
+old sailor stared curiously at her, and every
+now and then he shook his head and frowned.
+Madge supposed it was because she had been so
+bold as to ask a favor of a perfect stranger.
+Yet, if she could only see Captain Jules again
+and he might be persuaded to show her his diving
+suit and to tell her something of the strange
+business of pearl-fishing, she couldn&#8217;t be really
+sorry for her impudence. This accidental meeting
+with an old sailor inspired Madge afresh
+with her love of the sea and the mystery of it.
+She could not get the man out of her mind, nor
+her own desire to see him soon again and to ask
+him more questions.</p>
+<p>As for Captain Jules, when the girls had
+fairly gone he lighted his pipe and strode along
+the line of the shore. &#8220;It&#8217;s a funny thing,
+Madge,&#8221; he said, addressing the monkey, &#8220;but
+when a man gets an idea in his head, everything
+and everybody he sees seems to start the same
+old idea a-going. I wish I had asked her to tell
+me her surname. I wonder if she is the real
+Madge?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VIII_THE_WRECK_OF_THE__WATER_WITCH' id='VIII_THE_WRECK_OF_THE__WATER_WITCH'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<h3>THE WRECK OF THE &#8220;WATER WITCH&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The girls began their row to the &#8220;Merry
+Maid&#8221; with all speed. They had had
+such an interesting morning that they
+did not realize how the time had flown. They
+did not know the exact hour now, but they feared
+it would be after twelve before they could rejoin
+Miss Jenny Ann. The sun was so nearly
+overhead and shining so brilliantly that the effect
+was almost dazzling. Madge and Phil did
+not try to see any distance ahead in their
+course. Lillian, however, was on the lookout.
+There were several inlets opening into the
+larger water-way down which the girls were
+rowing. Boats were likely to come unexpectedly
+out of these inlets, and the girls should have
+been far more watchful than they were.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s too bad about Mrs. Curtis and Tom not
+coming on to Cape May as soon as we expected
+them, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; remarked Phil, resting for half
+a moment from the strain of the steady pulling
+at her oars. &#8220;I hope they will arrive soon, before
+we have the responsibility of entertaining
+Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s friend, Philip Holt. It won&#8217;t be
+much fun to have a strange man following us
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+about everywhere, even if he should turn out
+to be nicer than we think he is.&#8221; Phil was the
+stroke oar. She was talking over her shoulder
+to Madge, who was paying more attention to her
+friend&#8217;s conversation than to her rowing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I think Mrs. Curtis and Tom will be
+along soon,&#8221; she rejoined. &#8220;I felt dreadfully
+when we received the telegram this morning.
+But now I hope Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s brother will get
+well in a hurry. Perhaps they will be here almost
+as soon as this Philip. I&#8217;ll wager you a
+pound of chocolates, Phil, that this goody-goody
+young man can&#8217;t swim or row, or do anything
+like an ordinary person. He will just think
+every single thing we do is perfectly dreadful,
+and will frighten Tania to death with his preaching.
+I know he thinks her fairy stories are lies.
+He told Mrs. Curtis that Tania never spoke the
+truth.&#8221; Madge lowered her voice. &#8220;I am sure
+we have never caught her in a lie. I suppose this
+Philip will think my exaggerations are as bad
+as Tania&#8217;s fairy stories. I hate too literal people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me, whom are you and Phil discussing,
+Madge?&#8221; inquired Lillian, leaning over from
+her seat in the stern with Tania, to try to catch
+her friends&#8217; low-voiced conversation. &#8220;If it is
+that Philip Holt, you need not think that he will
+trouble us very much when he comes to Cape
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+May. He is just the kind of person who will
+trot after all the rich people he meets, and waste
+very little energy on those who have neither
+money nor social position.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lillian was looking at Madge and Phil as she
+talked. For the moment she forgot to keep a
+sharp watch about on the water. But a moment
+since there had been no other boats in sight near
+them. Eleanor was resting in the prow with
+her eyes closed. The sun blazed hotly in her
+face, she could only see a bright light dancing
+before her eyes.</p>
+<p>As Lillian leaned back in her seat in the stern
+her face took on an expression of sudden alarm.
+At the same moment the four girls heard the
+distinct chug of a motor engine. Cutting down
+upon them was a pleasure yacht run by a gasoline
+motor. The prow of the yacht was head-on
+with the &#8220;Water Witch&#8221; and running at full
+speed. The boat had blown no whistle, so the
+girls had not seen its approach.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look ahead!&#8221; shouted Lillian.</p>
+<p>The young man who was steering the yacht
+paid no heed to her warning. He kept straight
+ahead, although he distinctly saw the rowboat
+and its passengers.</p>
+<p>Madge and Phyllis had no time to call out or
+to protest. They realized, almost instantly, that
+the motor launch meant to make no effort to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+slow down but to put the full responsibility of
+getting out of danger on the rowers.</p>
+<p>The girls had no particular desire to be
+thrown into the water, nor to have their boat
+cut in two, so they pulled for dear life, with
+white faces and straining throats and arms.</p>
+<p>They just missed making their escape by a
+hair&#8217;s breadth. The young man running the
+yacht must have believed that the skiff would get
+safely by or else when he found out his mistake
+it was too late for him to slow down. The prow
+of his yacht ran with full force into the frail side
+of the &#8220;Water Witch&#8221; near her stern.</p>
+<p>The little skiff whirled in the water almost in
+a semi-circle. By a miracle it escaped being
+completely run down by the launch. Yet a second
+later, before any one of the girls could stir,
+the water rushed into the hole in its side and it
+sank. Madge and Phyllis had had their oars
+wrenched from their hands. Then they found
+themselves struggling in the water.</p>
+<p>A cry rose from the launch as the &#8220;Water
+Witch&#8221; and her passengers disappeared. But
+there was no sound from the little rowboat, save
+the gurgle of the water and a shrill scream
+from Tania as the waves closed over her head.</p>
+<p>The yacht swept on past, borne perhaps by
+her own headway.</p>
+<p>As Madge went down under the water two
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+thoughts seemed to come to her mind in the
+same second: she must look after Eleanor and
+Tania. Her cousin, Nellie, was not able to swim
+as well as the other girls. She had always been
+more nervous and timid in the water and was
+liable to sudden cramp. Madge knew that being
+hurled from a boat in such sudden fashion with
+her clothes on instead of a bathing suit would
+completely terrify Eleanor. She might lose her
+presence of mind completely and fail to strike
+out when she rose to the surface of the water.
+As for Tania, Madge was aware that she, of
+course, could not swim a stroke. The little one
+had never been in deep water before in her life.</p>
+<p>Madge struggled for breath for a second as
+she came to the surface of the bay again. She
+had swallowed some salt water as she went
+down. In the next desperate instant she counted
+three heads above the waves besides her own.
+Phyllis was swimming quietly toward Eleanor.
+Evidently she had entertained Madge&#8217;s fear.
+&#8220;Make for the &#8216;Water Witch,&#8217; Nellie,&#8221; Madge
+heard Phil say in her calm, cool-headed fashion.
+&#8220;It has overturned and come up again and we
+can hang on to that. Don&#8217;t be frightened. I am
+coming after you. Try to float if your clothes
+are too heavy to swim. I&#8217;ll pull you to the
+boat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lillian&#8217;s golden head reflected the light
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+from the sun&#8217;s rays as she swam along after
+Phil. But nowhere could Madge see a sign of a
+little, wild, black head with its straight, short
+locks and frightened black eyes.</p>
+<p>She waited for another breathless moment.
+Why did Tania not rise to the surface like the
+rest of them? Madge was trying to tread water
+and to keep a sharp lookout about her, but her
+clothes were heavy and kept pulling her down;
+swimming in heavy shoes is an extremely difficult
+business, even for an experienced swimmer.
+All of a sudden it occurred to Madge that Tania
+might have risen under the overturned rowboat.
+Then her head would have struck against its
+bottom and she would have gone down again
+without ever having been seen.</p>
+<p>There was nothing else to be done. Madge
+must dive down to see what had become of her
+little friend, yet diving was difficult when she
+had no place from which to dive. Madge knew
+she must get all the way down to the very bottom
+of the bay to see if by any chance Tania&#8217;s
+body could have been entangled among the sea
+weed, or her clothes caught on a rock or snag.</p>
+<p>Once down, she looked in vain for the little
+body along the sandy bottom of the bay. She
+espied some rocks covered with shimmering
+shells and sea ferns, but there was no trace of
+Tania. For the second time she rose to the surface
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+of the water. She hoped to see Tania&#8217;s
+black head glistening among those of her older
+friends clustered about the overturned boat.
+She had grown very tired and was obliged to
+shake the water out of her eyes before she dared
+trust herself to look.</p>
+<p>Then she saw that Phil had hold of one of
+Eleanor&#8217;s hands and with the other was clinging
+to the slippery side of their overturned
+boat. Eleanor was numb with cold and shock.
+Although her free hand rested on the boat, Phil
+dared not let go of her for fear she would sink.</p>
+<p>Phyllis was beginning to feel uneasy about
+Madge. She had given no thought to her during
+the early part of the accident, she knew
+Madge to be a water witch herself, but when the
+little captain did not come to the skiff with the
+rest of them Phil&#8217;s heart grew heavy. What
+could she do? Dare she let go her hold on
+Eleanor? Strangely enough, in their peril,
+Phyllis had given no thought to the little stranger,
+Tania.</p>
+<p>Phyllis Alden breathed a happy sigh of relief
+when she saw Madge&#8217;s curly, red-brown head
+moving along toward them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you seen Tania?&#8221; she called faintly,
+trying to reserve both her breath and her
+strength.</p>
+<p>Then Phil remembered Tania with a rush of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+remorse and terror. &#8220;No, I haven&#8217;t, Madge.
+What could have become of the child?&#8221; she faltered.</p>
+<p>Lillian looked out over the water. Surely the
+launch that had wrecked them would have been
+able by this time to come back to their assistance.
+The boat had stopped, but it had not
+moved near to them. So far, its crew showed
+no sign of giving them any aid. Lillian could
+not believe her eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d better dive for Tania again,&#8221; said
+Madge quietly, without intimating to her chums
+that she was feeling a little tired and less sure
+of herself in the water than usual. She knew
+they would not allow her to dive.</p>
+<p>When she went down for Tania the second
+time she chose a different place to make her descent.
+She must find the little girl at once.</p>
+<p>She was swimming along, not many inches
+from the bottom of the bay, when she caught
+sight of what seemed to her a large fish floating
+near some rocks. Madge swam toward it slowly.
+It was Tania&#8217;s foot, swaying with the motion
+of the water. Caught on a spar, which
+might have once been part of a mast of an old
+ship, was Tania&#8217;s dress. On the other side of
+her was a rock, and her body had become wedged
+between the two objects. It was a beautiful
+place and might have been a cave for a mermaid,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+but it held the little earth-princess in a
+death-like grasp.</p>
+<p>It is possible to be sick with fear and yet
+to be brave. Madge knew her danger. She
+saw that Tania&#8217;s dress was caught fast. She
+would have to tug at it valiantly to get it away.
+First, she pulled desperately at Tania&#8217;s shoe,
+hoping she could free her body. A suffocating
+weight had begun to press down on her chest.
+She could hear a roaring and buzzing in her
+ears. She knew enough of the water to realize
+that she had been too long underneath; she
+should rise to the surface again to get her
+breath. But she dared not wait so long to release
+Tania. Nor did she know that she could
+find the child again when she returned. She
+must do her work now.</p>
+<p>So Madge pulled more slowly and carefully
+at Tania&#8217;s frock, unwinding it from the spar
+that held it. With a few gentle tugs she released
+it and Tania&#8217;s slender body rose slowly. The
+child&#8217;s eyes were closed, her face was as still
+and white as though she were dead. Madge was
+glad of Tania&#8217;s unconsciousness. She knew that
+in this lay the one chance of safety for herself
+and the child. If Tania came to consciousness
+and began to struggle the little captain knew
+that her strength was too far gone for her to
+save either the child or herself. She would not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+leave her. She would have to drown with her.</p>
+<p>She caught the little girl by her black hair, and
+swam out feebly with her one free arm. At this
+moment Tania&#8217;s black eyes opened wide. She
+realized their awful peril. She was only a child,
+and the fear of the drowning swept over her.
+She gave a despairing clutch upward, threw
+both her thin arms about Madge&#8217;s neck and held
+her in a grasp of steel. For a second Madge
+tried to fight Tania&#8217;s hands away. Then her
+strength gave out utterly. She realized that the
+end had come for them both.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IX_THE_OWNER_OF_THE_DISAGREEABLE_VOICE' id='IX_THE_OWNER_OF_THE_DISAGREEABLE_VOICE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<h3>THE OWNER OF THE DISAGREEABLE VOICE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It may be that Madge had another second of
+consciousness. Afterward she thought she
+could recall being caught up by a giant,
+who unloosed Tania&#8217;s hands from about her
+throat. Quietly the three of them began to float
+upward with such steadiness, such quietness,
+that she had that blessed sense of security and
+release from responsibility that a child must
+feel who has fallen asleep in its father&#8217;s arms.</p>
+<p>The first thing that she actually knew was,
+when she opened her eyes, to look into a pair of
+deep blue, kindly ones that were smiling bravely
+and encouragingly into hers. Near her were her
+three friends, looking very wet and miserable,
+and one little, dark-eyed elf who was sobbing
+bitterly. Farther away were two strange girls
+and one red-faced young man. Then Madge understood
+that she had been brought aboard the
+yacht that had run down their rowboat.</p>
+<p>The little captain sat up indignantly. &#8220;I am
+quite all right,&#8221; she said haughtily, looking with
+an unfriendly countenance at their wreckers.
+Then, feeling strangely dizzy, she sank back and
+with a little sigh closed her eyes.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t do that,&#8221; protested Eleanor tragically.
+&#8220;You must not faint. Captain Jules,
+please don&#8217;t let her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The old captain&#8217;s strong hands took hold of
+Madge&#8217;s cold ones. &#8220;Pull yourself together, my
+hearty,&#8221; he whispered. &#8220;A girl who can dive
+down into the bottom of the bay as you can
+shows she has good sea-blood in her. She can
+see the old captain&#8217;s diving suit any day she
+likes&mdash;own it if she has a mind to. Fishing for
+pearls isn&#8217;t half so good a trade as fishing for a
+human life. You&#8217;ll be yourself in a minute.
+Lucky I happened to walk down the beach in the
+same direction your boat went.&#8221;</p>
+<p>One of the two strange girls came to Madge&#8217;s
+side at this moment with a cup of strong tea.
+&#8220;<i>Do</i> drink this,&#8221; she pleaded. &#8220;It has taken
+some time to make the water boil. I wish to give
+some to the other girls, too. I am so sorry that
+we ran into you. You must know that it was
+an accident.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge drank the tea obediently, gazing a little
+less scornfully at the girl who was serving her,
+her face pale with fright and sympathy. The
+other girl stood apart at a little distance with a
+young man. They were both staring at the wet
+and shivering girls with poorly concealed
+amusement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are awfully sorry to give you so much
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+trouble,&#8221; said Madge to the girl with the tea.
+She was trying to control her feelings when she
+caught sight of the owner of the small yacht and
+his friend and her temper got the better of her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry,&#8221; she repeated, &#8220;that we are giving
+<i>you</i> trouble. But, really, your motor launch
+had no right to bear down on our boat without
+blowing its whistle or giving the faintest sign of
+its approach. It put the whole responsibility of
+getting out of the way on us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge was sitting beside the old captain. Her
+direct mode of attack showed that she was feeling
+more like herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What the young lady says is true,&#8221; declared
+Captain Jules with emphasis. &#8220;I doubt if you
+have the faintest legal right to navigate a boat
+in these waters. If I hadn&#8217;t happened to walk
+along down the shore of the bay after these
+young ladies left me two of them would have
+been drowned. I&#8217;ll have to see to it that you
+keep off this bay if you do any more such mischief
+as you did this morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The young man in a handsome yachting suit
+worthy of an admiral in the United States Navy
+frowned angrily at Madge and her champion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say it wasn&#8217;t my fault that I ran into your
+little paper boat,&#8221; he protested angrily. &#8220;I gave
+you plenty of time to get out of my way, but you
+girls pulled so slowly that we did slide into you.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+Still, if you will admit that it was your fault and
+not mine, I will have your old skiff mended, if
+she isn&#8217;t too much used up and you can get
+somebody to tow her back to land for you. I
+can&#8217;t; I have enough to carry as it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girl standing beside the young man giggled
+hysterically. Madge decided that she had
+heard her high, shrill notes before. Phyllis, Lillian
+and Eleanor were furiously angry at the
+young man&#8217;s retort to Madge and Captain
+Jules, but they bit their lips and said nothing.
+They were on his yacht, although they were enforced
+passengers; it was better not to express
+their feelings.</p>
+<p>But Madge was in a white heat of passion
+over the young man&#8217;s boorish retort.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was not our fault in the least that we were
+run down,&#8221; she said in a low, evenly pitched
+voice. &#8220;We are not willing to take the least
+bit of the blame. You not only ran into our little
+boat and sunk her, but you did not take the
+least trouble to come to our aid when you had
+not the faintest knowledge whether any one of
+us could swim. <i>Men</i> in the part of the world
+where I come from don&#8217;t do things of that kind.
+Put your boat back and tow our rowboat to
+land,&#8221; ordered Madge imperiously. &#8220;We certainly
+will not allow you to have it mended.
+Neither my friends nor I wish to accept any
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+kind of recompense from a man who is a <i>coward</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The word was out. Madge had not meant to
+use it, but somehow it slipped off her tongue.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Steady,&#8221; she heard the old sailor whisper in
+her ear. He was gazing at her intently, and
+something in his face calmed the hot tide of her
+anger. &#8220;I am sorry I said you were a coward,&#8221;
+she added, with one of her quick repentances.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t think you were very brave, but perhaps
+something may have happened that prevented
+your coming to our aid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Dennis does not swim very well,&#8221; the
+nicer of the two girls explained, sitting down
+beside Madge. She was blushing and biting her
+lips. &#8220;Mr. Dennis meant to put back as soon
+as he could. I am Ethel Swann. I received a
+letter from Mrs. Curtis this morning, who is one
+of my mother&#8217;s old friends. She wrote that she
+and her son would be down a little later to open
+their cottage, but she hoped that we would meet
+you girls before she came. I am so sorry that
+we have met first in such an unfortunate fashion.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, never mind,&#8221; interrupted Madge impatiently.
+&#8220;If you are Ethel Swann, Mrs. Curtis
+has talked to us about you. We are very glad to
+know you, I am sure.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;These are my friends, Roy Dennis and Mabel
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+Farrar,&#8221; Ethel went on, her face flushing.
+The four girls bowed coldly. Mabel Farrar
+acknowledged the introduction by a stiff nod.
+The young man took off his cap for the first
+time when Madge introduced Captain Jules.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Run your boat along the side of the overturned
+skiff and I&#8217;ll tie her on for you,&#8221; ordered
+Captain Jules quietly. &#8220;I think I had better
+go along back to land with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Roy Dennis, who was a little more frightened
+at his deed than he cared to own, was glad to
+obey the captain&#8217;s order.</p>
+<p>Just as the girls were landing from the launch
+Mabel Farrar&#8217;s foot slipped and she gave a
+shrill scream. Instantly the girls recognized the
+voice which they had heard the night before condemning
+them to social oblivion.</p>
+<p>Although Captain Jules had only a short time
+before positively refused the invitation of the
+girls to come aboard the &#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; to pay
+them a visit, it was he who handed each girl from
+the deck of Roy Dennis&#8217;s boat into the arms of
+their frightened chaperon. Finally he crossed
+over to the deck of the houseboat himself, bearing
+little Tania in his arms and looking in his
+wet tarpaulins like old King Neptune rising
+from the brine.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules was made to stay to luncheon
+on board the houseboat. There was no getting
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span>
+away from the determined young women. In his
+heart of hearts the old sailor had no desire to
+go. Something inspired him with the desire to
+know more of these charming girls.</p>
+<p>When the girls had put on dry clothing they
+led Captain Jules all over the houseboat, showing
+him each detail of it. He insisted that the
+&#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; was as trim a little craft as he
+had ever seen afloat.</p>
+<p>After luncheon, at which the captain devoured
+six of Miss Jenny Ann&#8217;s best cornbread
+gems, he sat down in a chair on the houseboat
+deck, holding Tania in his arms. He talked most
+to Phyllis, but he seldom took his eyes off
+Madge&#8217;s face. Sometimes he frowned at her;
+now and then he smiled. Once or twice Madge
+found herself blushing and wondering why her
+rescuer looked at her so hard, but she was too
+interested to care very much.</p>
+<p>She sat down in her favorite position on a
+pile of cushions on the deck, with her head resting
+against Miss Jenny Ann&#8217;s knee and her eyes
+on the water. &#8220;Do tell us, Captain Jules,&#8221; she
+pleaded, &#8220;something about your life as a pearl-fisher.
+You must have had wonderful experiences.
+We would dearly love to hear about
+them, wouldn&#8217;t we, girls?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls chorused an enthusiastic &#8220;Yes,&#8221;
+which included Miss Jenny Ann.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span></p>
+<p>Captain Jules laughed. &#8220;Haven&#8217;t you ever
+heard that it is dangerous to get an old sea dog
+started on his adventures? You never can tell
+when he will leave off,&#8221; he teased, stroking
+Tania&#8217;s black hair. &#8220;But I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised
+if Tania would like to hear how once I
+was nearly swallowed whole, diving suit and all,
+by a giant shark. I was hunting for pearls in
+those days off the Philippine Islands. I had
+been tearing some shells from the side of a great
+rock when, of a sudden, I felt a strange presence
+before I saw anything. I might have known it
+was time to expect trouble, because the little fish
+that are usually floating about in the water had
+all disappeared. A creepy feeling came over
+me. I was cold as ice inside my diving suit.
+Then I turned and looked up. Just a few feet
+in front of me was a giant shark that seemed
+about twenty-five feet long. He was an evil
+monster. The upper part of his body was a
+dirty, dark green and his fins were black. You
+never saw a diving suit, did you? So you don&#8217;t
+know that all the body is covered up but the
+hands. I tucked my hands under my breastplate
+in a hurry. It didn&#8217;t seem to me that a pearl
+diver would be much good without any hands.
+Well, the great fish made a sweep with its tail,
+and in a jiffy he and I were face to face. I stood
+still for about a second. I held my breath, my
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+heart pounding like a hammer. Nearer and
+nearer the monster came swimming toward me,
+with its shovel nose pointing directly at the
+glass that covered my face. I couldn&#8217;t stand it.
+I threw up my hands. I yelled way down at the
+bottom of the sea with no one to hear me. There
+was a swirl of water, a cloud of mud, and my
+enemy vanished. He didn&#8217;t like the noise any
+better than I liked him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls breathed sighs of relief. The captain
+chuckled. &#8220;Oh, a diver is not in real danger
+from a shark,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;his suit protects
+him. But there are plenty of other dangers.
+Maybe I&#8217;ll tell you some of them at another
+time. Why, I declare, it is nearly sunset.
+You don&#8217;t know it, children, but the bottom of
+the tropic sea has colors in it as beautiful as the
+lights in that sky. The sea-bottom, where the
+diver is apt to find pearl shells, is covered with
+all sorts of sea growths&mdash;sponges twelve feet
+high, coral cups like inverted mushrooms, sea-fans
+twenty feet broad.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As the old diver talked, the girls could see the
+magic coral wreaths, glowing rose color and
+crimson, the tall ferns and sea flowers that waved
+with the movement of the water as the earth
+flowers move to the stirring of the wind. And
+there in the land of the mermaids, hidden between
+wonderful shells of mother-of-pearl, lie
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+the jewels that are the purest and most beautiful
+in the world.</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s chin was in her hands. She did not
+hear the old captain get up and say good-bye.
+She was wishing, with all her heart, that she,
+too, might go down to the bottom of the sea to
+view its treasures.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge,&#8221; Phil interrupted her reverie,
+&#8220;Captain Jules is going.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge put her soft, warm hands into the big
+man&#8217;s hard, powerful ones. &#8220;Good-bye,&#8221; she
+said gratefully. &#8220;There is something I wish to
+tell you, but I won&#8217;t until another time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann stared thoughtfully after the
+giant figure as Captain Jules left the houseboat
+and strode up the shore in search of a small
+skiff to take him home.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You girls have made an unusual friend,&#8221;
+she said slowly to Madge. &#8220;In many ways Captain
+Jules is rough. He may be uneducated in
+the wisdom of schools and books, but he is a
+great man with a great heart.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Before Madge went to bed that night she
+wrote Tom Curtis. She told him how sorry they
+all were that he could not come at once to Cape
+May. She also described the day&#8217;s adventures.
+She made as light of their accident as possible,
+but she ended her letter by asking Tom if he
+would not send her a book about pearl fishing.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='X_THE_GOODYGOODY_YOUNG_MAN' id='X_THE_GOODYGOODY_YOUNG_MAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+<h3>THE GOODY-GOODY YOUNG MAN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Philip Holt has come, Madge,&#8221;
+announced Phyllis Alden a few days
+later. &#8220;He is staying at one of the
+hotels until Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive to open
+their cottage. He has already been calling on a
+number of Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s friends here. Now he
+has condescended to come to see us. Miss Jenny
+Ann says we must invite him to luncheon; so
+close that book, if you please, and come help us
+to entertain him. I am sure you will be <i>so</i> pleased
+to see him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge frowned, but closed her book obediently.
+&#8220;What a bore, Phil! I was just reading
+this fascinating book on pearl-fishing. A few
+valuable pearls have been found in these waters.
+There was one which was sold to a princess for
+twenty-five hundred dollars. Who knows but
+the &#8216;Merry Maid&#8217; may even now be reposing
+on a bank of pearls! Dear me, here is that tiresome
+Mr. Holt! Of course, we must be nice with
+him on Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s account. I hope she and
+Tom will soon come along. Let us take Mr. Holt
+with us to the golf club this afternoon. We
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+promised Ethel Swann to come and she won&#8217;t
+mind our bringing him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls were not altogether surprised that
+the young people whom they had lately met at
+Cape May were divided into two sets. The one
+had taken the girls under their protection and
+seemed to like them immensely. The other,
+headed by Mabel Farrar and Roy Dennis, treated
+them with cool contempt. But the girls felt
+able to take care of themselves. Not one of them
+even inquired what story Mr. Dennis and Miss
+Farrar had told about their memorable meeting
+on the water.</p>
+<p>The Cape May golf course stretches over
+miles of beautiful downs and the clubhouse is
+the gathering place for society at this summer
+resort.</p>
+<p>Ethel Swann bore off Lillian and Eleanor to
+introduce them to some of her friends, and the
+three girls followed the course of two of the
+players over the links.</p>
+<p>Philip Holt was plainly impressed by the
+smartly-dressed women and girls whom he saw
+about him. He was a tall, thin young man with
+sandy hair and he wore spectacles. He insisted
+that Madge and Phyllis should not forget to introduce
+him as the friend of Mrs. Curtis, who
+expected him to be her guest later on. Indeed,
+Philip Holt talked so constantly and so intimately
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
+of Mrs. Curtis that Madge had to stifle
+a little pang of jealousy. She had supposed,
+when she was in New York City, that Mrs. Curtis,
+who was very generous, only took a friendly
+interest in Philip Holt and his work among the
+New York poor, but to-day Philip Holt gave
+her to understand that Mrs. Curtis was as kind
+to him as though he were a member of her family.
+And Madge wondered wickedly to herself
+whether Tom Curtis would be pleased to have
+him for a brother. She determined to interview
+Tom on the subject as soon as he should return
+from Chicago.</p>
+<p>Later in the afternoon Madge and Phyllis
+were surprised to see Roy Dennis and Mabel
+Farrar come down the golf clubhouse steps and
+walk across the lawn toward them, smiling with
+apparent friendliness. Madge&#8217;s resentful expression
+softened. She did not bear malice, and
+she felt that she had said more to Roy Dennis
+about his treatment of them than she should
+have done. She, therefore, bowed pleasantly.
+Phil followed suit. To their amazement they
+were greeted with a frozen stare by the newcomers,
+who walked to where the two girls were
+standing without paying the least attention to
+the latter. Madge&#8217;s color rose to the very roots
+of her hair. Phil&#8217;s black eyes flashed, but she
+kept them steadily fixed on the girl and man.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do, Mr. Holt?&#8221; asked Mabel in
+bland tones, addressing the girls&#8217; companion.
+&#8220;I believe I am right in calling you Mr. Holt. I
+have heard that you were a friend of Mrs. Curtis
+and her son. This is my friend, Roy Dennis.
+We are so pleased to meet any of dear Mrs.
+Curtis&#8217;s <i>real</i> friends. We should like to have
+you take tea with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Philip Holt looked perplexed. He opened his
+mouth to introduce Madge and Phyllis to Miss
+Farrar, but the girls&#8217; expressions told the story.</p>
+<p>Miss Farrar and Mr. Dennis had purposely
+excluded the two girls from the conversation.</p>
+<p>For the fraction of a second Philip Holt wavered.
+Mabel Farrar was smartly dressed. Roy
+Dennis looked the rich, idle society man that he
+was. Moneyed friends were always the most
+useful in Mr. Holt&#8217;s opinion, he therefore turned
+to Miss Farrar with, &#8220;I shall be only too pleased
+to accompany you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll excuse me,&#8221; he turned condescendingly
+to Madge and Phil, &#8220;but Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s
+friends wish me to have tea with them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge smiled at the young man with such
+frank amusement that he was embarrassed.
+&#8220;Oh, yes, we will excuse you,&#8221; she said lightly.
+&#8220;Please don&#8217;t give another thought to us. Miss
+Alden and I wish you to consult your own pleasure.
+I am sure that you will find it in drinking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+tea!&#8221; She turned away, the picture of calm indifference,
+although she had a wicked twinkle
+in her eye.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, if that wasn&#8217;t the rudest behavior all
+around that I ever saw in my life!&#8221; burst out
+Phil indignantly after the disagreeable trio had
+departed. &#8220;Mrs. Curtis or no Mrs. Curtis, I
+don&#8217;t think we should be expected to speak to
+that ill-bred Mr. Holt again. The idea of his
+marching off with that girl and man after the
+way they treated us! I shall tell Mrs. Curtis
+just how he behaved as soon as I see her, then
+she won&#8217;t think him so delightful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge put her arm inside Phil&#8217;s. &#8220;You had
+better not mention it to Mrs. Curtis, Phil. Mrs.
+Curtis is the dearest person in the world, but she
+is so lovely and so rich that she is used always to
+having her own way. She thinks that we girls
+are prejudiced against this Mr. Holt because he
+said the things he did about Tania. By the way,
+I wonder what the little witch has against him?
+I mean to ask her some day. But let&#8217;s not
+trouble about Philip Holt any more. He is just
+a toady. I don&#8217;t care what he says or does. We
+have done our duty by him for this afternoon at
+least. He won&#8217;t join us again. Let&#8217;s go over to
+that lovely hill and have a good, old-fashioned
+talk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s face cleared. After all, she and Madge
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+could get along much, better without troublesome
+outsiders.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t it a wonderful afternoon, Phil?&#8221; asked
+the little captain after they had climbed the little
+hill and were seated on a grassy knoll. &#8220;We
+can see the ocean over there! Wouldn&#8217;t you like
+to be swimming down there under the water,
+where it is so cool and lovely and there would
+be nothing to trouble one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a water-baby you are,&#8221; smiled Phil,
+giving her chum&#8217;s arm a soft pressure. &#8220;I
+sometimes think that you must have come out
+of a sea-shell. I suppose you are thinking of the
+old pearl diver again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Phil,&#8221; demanded Madge abruptly, &#8220;have
+you ever thought of what profession you would
+have liked to follow if you had been born a boy
+instead of a girl?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not have to think to answer that,&#8221; replied
+Phyllis, &#8220;I know. If I were a boy, I should
+study to become a physician, like my father;
+but even though I am a girl, I am going to study
+medicine just the same. As soon as we get
+through college I shall begin my course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Phil,&#8221; Madge&#8217;s voice sounded unusually serious,
+&#8220;don&#8217;t set your heart too much, dear, on
+my going to college with you in the fall. I don&#8217;t
+know it positively, but I think that Uncle is having
+some business trouble. He and Aunt have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span>
+been worried for the past year about some stocks
+they own. I shan&#8217;t feel that I have any right to
+let them send me to college unless I can make
+up my mind that I shall be willing to teach to
+earn my living afterward. And I can&#8217;t teach,
+Phil, dear. I should never make a successful
+teacher,&#8221; ended Madge with a sigh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine you as a teacher,&#8221; smiled
+Phil, &#8220;but I am sure that you will marry before
+you are many years older.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Marry!&#8221; protested Madge indignantly.
+&#8220;Why do you think I shall marry? Why, I was
+wishing this very minute that I were a man so
+that I could set out on a voyage of discovery and
+sail around the world in a little ship of my own.
+Or, think, one might be a pearl-diver, or lead
+some exciting life like that. Now, Phil Alden,
+don&#8217;t you go and arrange for me just to marry
+and keep house and never have a bit of fun or
+any excitement in my whole life!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phyllis laughed teasingly. &#8220;Oh, you will
+have plenty of excitement, Madge dear, wherever
+you are or whatever you do. Don&#8217;t you remember
+how Miss Betsey used to say that she
+knew something was going to happen whenever
+you were about? I suppose you would like to be
+a captain in the Navy like your father, so that
+you could spend all your time on the sea.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; returned Madge, &#8220;I should want a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+ship of my own. I wouldn&#8217;t like to be a captain
+in the Navy. There, you always have to do just
+what you are told to do, and you know, Phil, that
+obedience is not my strong point.&#8221; The little
+captain laughed and shook her russet head.
+&#8220;You see, Phil, I think that if I could go around
+the world, perhaps in some far-away land I
+would find my father waiting for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For several minutes the two chums were silent.
+At last Phil leaned forward and gave
+Madge&#8217;s arm a gentle pinch. &#8220;Wake up, dear,&#8221;
+she laughed, &#8220;perhaps some day you will own
+that little ship and go around the world in it.
+Just now, however, we had better go on to the
+houseboat. I believe Nellie and Lillian are going
+to wait at the golf club until the last mail
+comes in, so they can bring our letters along
+home with them. We must say good-bye to that
+nice Ethel Swann. She is a dear, in spite of her
+ill-bred friends.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phyllis and Madge found Miss Jenny Ann sitting
+in a steamer chair on the houseboat deck
+exchanging fairy stories with Tania. The little
+girl knew almost as many as did her chaperon,
+but Tania&#8217;s stories were so full of her own odd
+fancies that it was hard to tell from what source
+they had come.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know the story of &#8216;The Little Tin
+Soldier,&#8217; Tania?&#8221; Miss Jenny Ann had just
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+asked. &#8220;He was the bravest little soldier in the
+world, because he bore all kinds of misfortunes
+and never complained.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a whirl Tania was out of Miss Jenny
+Ann&#8217;s lap and into Madge&#8217;s arms. The child
+was devoted to each member of the houseboat
+party, but she was Madge&#8217;s ardent adorer. She
+liked to play that she was the little captain&#8217;s
+Fairy Godmother, and that she could grant any
+wish that Madge might make.</p>
+<p>Phil, Madge and Tania sat down at Miss Jenny
+Ann&#8217;s feet to hear more about &#8220;The Brave
+Little Tin Soldier.&#8221; Tania huddled close to
+Madge, her black head resting against the older
+girl&#8217;s curls, as she listened to the harrowing adventures
+that befell the Tin Soldier.</p>
+<p>The sun was sinking. Away over the water
+the world seemed rose colored, but the shadows
+were deepening on the land. Phil espied Lillian
+and Eleanor coming toward the houseboat. Lillian
+waved a handful of white envelopes, but
+Eleanor walked more slowly and did not glance
+up toward her friends.</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann rose hurriedly. &#8220;I must go
+in to see to our dinner,&#8221; she announced. &#8220;Phil,
+after you have spoken to the girls, will you come
+in to help me? Madge may stay to look after
+Tania.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The little captain was absorbed in a quiet twilight
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+dream, and as Tania was in her lap she
+did not get up when Phil went forward to meet
+Lillian and Eleanor.</p>
+<p>Instantly Phil realized that something was the
+matter with Nellie. Eleanor&#8217;s face was white
+and drawn and there were tears in her gentle,
+brown eyes. Lillian also looked worried and
+sympathetic, but was evidently trying to appear
+cheerful.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter, Eleanor? Has any one
+hurt your feelings?&#8221; asked Phil immediately.
+Eleanor was the youngest of the girls and always
+the one to be protected. Phyllis guessed
+that perhaps some one of the unpleasant acquaintances
+of Roy Dennis and Mabel Farrar
+might have been unkind to her.</p>
+<p>But Eleanor shook her head dumbly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nellie has had some bad news from home,&#8221;
+answered Lillian, tenderly putting her arm
+about Eleanor. &#8220;Perhaps it isn&#8217;t so bad as she
+thinks.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge overheard Lillian&#8217;s speech and, lifting
+Tania from her lap, sprang to her feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nellie, darling, what is it? Tell me at
+once!&#8221; she demanded. &#8220;If Uncle and Aunt are
+ill, we must go to them at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t so bad as that, Madge,&#8221; answered
+Eleanor, finding her voice; &#8220;only Mother has
+written to tell us that Father has lost a great
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+deal of money. He has had to mortgage dear
+old &#8216;Forest House,&#8217; and if he doesn&#8217;t get a lot
+more money by fall, &#8216;Forest House&#8217; will have to
+be sold.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Nellie broke down. The thought of having to
+give up her dear old Virginia home, that had
+been in their family for five generations, was
+more than she could bear.</p>
+<p>Madge kissed Eleanor gently. In the face of
+great difficulties Madge was not the harum-scarum
+person she seemed. &#8220;Don&#8217;t worry too
+much, Nellie,&#8221; she urged. &#8220;If Uncle and Aunt
+are well, then the loss of the money isn&#8217;t so
+dreadful. Somehow, I don&#8217;t believe we shall
+have to give up &#8216;Forest House.&#8217; It would be too
+frightful! Perhaps Uncle will find the money in
+time to save it, or we shall get it in some way.
+I am nearly grown now. I ought to be able to
+help. Anyhow, I don&#8217;t mean to be an expense
+to Uncle and Aunt any more after this summer.&#8221;
+Madge&#8217;s face clouded, although she tried
+to conceal her dismay. &#8220;Do Uncle and Aunt
+want us to leave the houseboat and come home
+at once?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s and Lillian&#8217;s faces were as long and as
+gloomy as their other chums&#8217; at this suggestion.</p>
+<p>But Eleanor shook her head firmly. &#8220;No;
+Father says positively that he does not wish us
+to leave the houseboat until our holiday is over.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+It is not costing us very much and he wishes us
+to have a good time this summer, so that we can
+bear whatever happens next winter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>No one had noticed little Tania while the
+houseboat girls were talking. Her eyes were
+bigger and blacker than ever, and as Madge
+turned to go into the cabin she saw that there
+were tears in them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Tania?&#8221; putting her arms about
+the quaint child.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you say that you didn&#8217;t have all the
+money you wanted?&#8221; inquired Tania anxiously.
+&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that people like you ever needed
+money. I thought that all poor people lived in
+slums and took in washing like old Sal.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge laughed. &#8220;I don&#8217;t suppose the people
+in the tenements are as poor as we are sometimes,
+Tania, because they don&#8217;t need so many
+things. But don&#8217;t worry your head about me,
+little Fairy Godmother. I am sure that you
+will bring me good luck.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XI_THE_BEGINNING_OF_TROUBLE' id='XI_THE_BEGINNING_OF_TROUBLE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+<h3>THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Madge, I am afraid that you and the
+girls are not having as good
+a time at Cape May as I had hoped
+you would have,&#8221; remarked Mrs. Curtis to the
+little captain about a week later as they strolled
+along the beautiful ocean boulevard that overlooked
+the sea. Only the day before Mrs. Curtis
+and Tom had returned from Chicago. Just
+behind them, Lillian, Miss Jenny Ann, Phyllis,
+Tom Curtis and Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s protégé, Philip
+Holt, loitered along the beach. They were too
+far away to overhear the conversation of the
+two women.</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the contrary, we are having a perfectly
+beautiful time,&#8221; answered Madge, her face radiant
+with the pleasure of her surroundings. &#8220;I
+think Cape May is one of the loveliest places in
+the whole world! And we girls have met the
+most splendid old sea captain. He has the dearest,
+snuggest little house up the bay! He was
+once a deep-sea diver and knows the most fascinating
+stories about the treasures of the sea.&#8221;
+Madge ceased speaking. She could tell from
+her friend&#8217;s slightly bored expression that Mrs.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+Curtis was not interested in the story of a common
+sailor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Madge, I know about all that,&#8221; Mrs.
+Curtis returned a little coldly. &#8220;What I meant
+is that I fear you girls are not enjoying the social
+life of Cape May, which is what I looked
+forward to for you. I do wish, dear, that you
+cared more for society and less for such people
+as this old sailor and a tenement child like
+Tania. I doubt if this man is a fit associate for
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s blue eyes darkened. She thought of
+the splendid old sailor, with his great strength
+and gentle manners, his knowledge of the world
+and his fine simplicity, and of queer, loving little
+Tania, but she wisely held her peace. &#8220;I am
+sorry, too, that I don&#8217;t like society more if you
+wish it,&#8221; she replied sweetly. &#8220;I do like the
+society of clever, agreeable people, but not&mdash;I
+like Ethel Swann and her friends immensely,&#8221;
+she ended. &#8220;And, please, don&#8217;t say anything
+against my old pearl diver, Mrs. Curtis, until
+you see him. I am sure that you and Tom will
+think that he is splendid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis looked searchingly at Madge, and
+Madge returned her gaze without lowering her
+eyes. Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s face softened. She found
+it hard to scold her favorite, but she had been
+very much vexed at the story that Philip Holt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+had repeated to her of Madge&#8217;s escapades at
+Cape May, and how she accused Roy Dennis of
+cowardice when he had taken her and her
+friends on his boat after Madge&#8217;s and Phil&#8217;s
+own heedlessness had caused their skiff to be
+overturned. Somehow, the tale of the throwing
+of the ball on board Roy Dennis&#8217;s yacht and of
+frightening Mabel Farrar had also gone abroad
+in Cape May. Lillian had confided the anecdote
+to Ethel Swann under promise of the greatest
+secrecy. The story had seemed to Ethel too ridiculous
+to keep to herself, so she had repeated
+it to another friend, after demanding the same
+promise that Lillian had exacted from her. And
+so the story had traveled and grown until it was
+a very mischievous tale that Philip Holt had recounted
+to Mrs. Curtis, taking care that Tom
+Curtis was not about when he told it.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis thought Madge too old for such
+practical jokes. She also believed that Madge
+should have more dignity and self-control. She
+loved her very dearly, and she wished her to
+come to live with her as her daughter after her
+own, daughter, Madeleine, had married, but
+Mrs. Curtis was determined that the little captain
+should learn to be less impetuous and more
+conventional.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Philip Holt has told you something about
+me, hasn&#8217;t he, Mrs. Curtis?&#8221; asked Madge
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+meekly, hiding the flash in her eyes by lowering
+her lids.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Philip told me very little. He is the soul of
+honor,&#8221; answered Mrs. Curtis quickly. &#8220;You
+are absurdly prejudiced against him. But with
+the little that he told me and what I have gathered
+from other sources, I feel that you have
+been most indiscreet. I can&#8217;t help thinking that
+the various things that have happened may be
+laid at your door, and that the other girls have
+just stood by you, as they always do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge bit her lips. &#8220;Whatever has occurred
+that you don&#8217;t like is my fault, Mrs. Curtis,&#8221; she
+confessed, &#8220;and Phil, Lillian and Nellie <i>have</i>
+stood by me. I am sorry that you are angry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The other young people were coming closer.
+Not for worlds would Madge have had them
+overhear her conversation with Mrs. Curtis.
+She was too proud and too hurt to ask Mrs. Curtis
+just what Philip Holt had said against her.
+Neither would she retaliate against him by telling
+her friend of his rudeness.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis put one arm about Madge. &#8220;It is
+all right, my dear,&#8221; she said, softening a little,
+&#8220;but you must promise me that you will not do
+such harum-scarum things again, and that you
+will try to keep your temper.&#8221; Mrs. Curtis was
+on the point of asking Madge to give up her acquaintance
+with the sailor and not to see the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span>
+man again, but she knew that her young friend
+was feeling a little hurt and no doubt resentful
+toward her, so she put off making her request
+until a later time.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tania has behaved very well, so far, hasn&#8217;t
+she, Madge?&#8221; Mrs. Curtis tactfully changed
+the subject. &#8220;I confess I am surprised. Philip
+Holt assured me that the child was continually
+in mischief in the tenement neighborhood where
+she lives. When he took her into the neighborhood
+house to try to help her she positively stole
+something. I am afraid Tania&#8217;s mother was not
+the woman you think she was; she was only a
+cheap little actress, a dancer.&#8221; Mrs. Curtis
+glanced at her companion. Madge was eyeing
+her seriously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t like you, Mrs. Curtis, dear, to
+say things against people. Philip Holt must
+have&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; Madge stopped abruptly. At the
+same time Tom Curtis came up from behind to
+join his mother and the girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on, Madge, and have a race with me
+across the sands,&#8221; he urged. &#8220;Mother will be
+trying to make you so grown-up that we can&#8217;t
+have any sport at all. Besides, you are looking
+pale. I am sure you need exercise. There is a
+crowd over there in front of the music pavilion.
+I will wager a five-pound box of candy that I
+can beat you to it. Philip Holt will entertain
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+Mother. She likes him better than she does the
+rest of us, anyhow, because he devotes his time
+to good works and to working good people,&#8221;
+added Tom teasingly, under his breath.</p>
+<p>While Tom was talking Madge darted off
+across the sands. She never would get over her
+love of running, she felt sure, until she was old
+and rheumatic. The color came back to her
+cheeks and the laughter to her eyes.</p>
+<p>Tom was close behind her. &#8220;Madge Morton,
+you didn&#8217;t give me a fair start,&#8221; he protested,
+&#8220;you rushed away before I was ready. I
+thought you always played fair?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge dropped into a walk. &#8220;I do try to,
+Tom,&#8221; she answered more earnestly than Tom
+had expected. His remark had been made only
+in fun. &#8220;You believe in me, don&#8217;t you, Tom?&#8221;
+she added pleadingly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now and forever, Madge, through thick and
+thin,&#8221; answered Tom steadily.</p>
+<p>They had now come up nearer the crowd of
+people on the beach. Up on a grand stand a
+band was playing an Italian waltz, and an eager
+crowd had gathered, apparently to listen to the
+music.</p>
+<p>But the two young people soon saw that on
+the hard sand a child was dancing. Tom stopped
+outside the circle of watchers, but Madge
+went forward into it. She had at once recognized
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span>
+little Tania! Eleanor had been left on the
+houseboat to take care of the child, but Eleanor
+was now nowhere to be seen, and her charge had
+wandered into mischief.</p>
+<p>Tania was dancing in her most bewitching
+and wonderful fashion. Madge could not help
+feeling a little embarrassed pride in her. The
+child was moving like a flower swayed by the
+wind. She poised first on one foot, then on the
+other, then flitted forward on both pointed toes,
+her thin, eager arms outstretched, curving and
+bending with the rhythm of the music. She
+wore her best white dress, the pride of her life,
+which Eleanor had lately made for her. On her
+head she had placed a wreath of wild flowers,
+which she must have woven for herself. They
+were like a fairy crown on her dark head. With
+the love of bright colors, which she must have
+inherited from some Italian ancestor, she had
+twisted a bright scarlet sash about her waist.</p>
+<p>Again Madge saw that Tania was utterly unconscious
+of the audience about her. She looked
+neither to the right nor to the left, but straight
+upward to the turquoise-blue sky.</p>
+<p>How different Tania&#8217;s audience to-day from
+the crowd of people that had watched her on the
+street corner when Eleanor and Madge had first
+seen her! Yet these gay society folk were even
+more fascinated by the child&#8217;s wonderful art.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+They could better appreciate her remarkable
+dancing.</p>
+<p>Tania did not even see her beloved Madge,
+who was silently watching her. Tania&#8217;s usually
+pale cheeks glowed as scarlet as her sash. Unconsciously
+the little girl&#8217;s movements were like
+those of a butterfly, a-flutter with the joy of the
+sunshine and new life.</p>
+<p>The music stopped suddenly and with it Tania&#8217;s
+dance ceased as abruptly. She stood poised
+for a single instant on one dainty foot, with
+her graceful arms still swaying above her flower-crowned
+head. Her audience watched her
+breathlessly, for the effect of the child&#8217;s grace
+had been almost magical.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t that a wonderful performance?&#8221;
+whispered Tom in Madge&#8217;s ear. &#8220;The child is
+an artist! Where do you suppose she learned to
+dance like that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Tania had come back to earth in a brief
+second. To Madge&#8217;s mystification, Tania started
+about among the people who had been watching
+her performance with her small hands
+clasped together like a cup.</p>
+<p>The child courtesied shyly to a fat old lady.
+Her gesture was unmistakable. The woman
+rummaged in her chain pocket-book and dropped
+a silver quarter into Tania&#8217;s outstretched hands.
+The next onlooker was more generous. Tania&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+eyes shone as she felt the size and weight of a
+big silver dollar.</p>
+<p>Few people in the Cape May crowd knew who
+Tania was, or whence she had come. They probably
+thought that the object of the dance had
+been to earn money.</p>
+<p>For a few moments Madge had been paralyzed
+by Tania&#8217;s peculiar actions. She did not realize
+what they meant. In this lapse of time the
+rest of their party joined them.</p>
+<p>It was the expression on Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s face
+that made Madge appreciate what Tania was
+doing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What on earth is Tania about?&#8221; exclaimed
+Lillian in puzzled tones. She saw the child
+standing before a young man who was evidently
+teasing her and refusing her request for money.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has been dancing like a monkey with a
+hand organ,&#8221; answered Philip Holt scornfully.
+&#8220;I am afraid Cape May people will hardly understand
+it. It looks as though the young women
+on the &#8216;Merry Maid&#8217; were in need of
+money.&#8221; The young man laughed as though
+his last remark had been intended for a joke.</p>
+<p>&#8220;None of that talk, Holt.&#8221; Madge caught
+Tom&#8217;s angry tone as she hurried forward to
+Tania. The little captain could have cried with
+mortification and embarrassment. In the crowd
+of curious onlookers she caught sight of Mabel
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+Farrar&#8217;s and Roy Dennis&#8217;s sneering faces.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tania!&#8221; she cried sharply. &#8220;What in the
+world are you doing? Stop taking that money
+at once!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tania glanced around and discovered Madge.
+Instead of looking ashamed of herself, the
+child&#8217;s face grew radiant. &#8220;Madge,&#8221; she cried,
+in a high voice that could be heard all about
+them, &#8220;it is all for you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tania rushed forward with her outstretched
+hands overflowing with silver.</p>
+<p>Madge could have sunk through the sands for
+shame. Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s face flamed with anger
+and chagrin. She might have been able to explain
+to her friends that Tania was only a street
+child and knew no better than to dance for
+money; but how could she ever explain the remark
+to Madge? It looked as though Madge
+had been a party to Tania&#8217;s dancing and begging.</p>
+<p>Madge was overcome with embarrassment and
+humiliation. She knew that she must, for the
+minute, appear like a beggar to the crowd of
+Cape May people. For just that instant she
+would have liked to repulse Tania, to have
+thrust the child and her money away from her
+before every one. But a glance at Tania&#8217;s
+eager, happy face restrained her. She put her
+arm protectingly about the little girl, hiding her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+in the shelter of her body. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want the
+money, Tania,&#8221; she whispered. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t
+right for you to have taken it from these people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you want it?&#8221; faltered Tania. &#8220;I
+thought you said last night that you and
+Eleanor were very poor, and that you needed
+some money very much. All the time I was in
+bed last night I thought of what your Fairy
+Godmother could do to help you. I know how to
+do but one thing&mdash;to dance as my mother taught
+me. How can it be wrong to take the money
+from people? I have often done it in New York.
+They only gave it to me because they liked my
+dancing.&#8221; Madge could feel Tania&#8217;s hot tears
+on her hands.</p>
+<p>She clasped Tania closer. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t exactly
+wrong, Tania; I was mistaken. It was just different.
+I will have to explain it to you afterward.
+Now we must give the money back to the
+people again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Holding tight to Tania&#8217;s hand, Madge walked
+among the group of strangers, explaining Tania&#8217;s
+actions as best she could without hurting
+the little girl&#8217;s feelings. It was one of the hardest
+things that the proud little captain had ever
+been called upon to do. But a part of the crowd
+had scattered. It was not possible to find them
+all and return their silver. Tania was too puzzled
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+and heart-broken to continue her errand
+long. She did not understand why Madge had
+refused to take her gift, which she thought she
+had fairly earned. Finally she could hold back
+her sobs no longer. Dropping her few remaining
+nickels and dimes on the sand she broke
+away from Madge&#8217;s clasp and ran like a little
+wild creature away from everyone.</p>
+<p>Madge stopped for just a second among her
+friends before following Tania.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see, Madge,&#8221; remarked Mrs. Curtis
+coldly, &#8220;Tania is quite impossible. I knew the
+child would get you into difficulties, and it is just
+as I feared. She must be sent away at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Madge shook her head with a decision
+that was unmistakable.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered quietly, &#8220;Tania shall
+not be sent away. None of you understand, and
+I can&#8217;t explain it to you now, but Tania thought
+she was doing something for Nellie and me. She
+was foolish, of course, and I will see that she
+never does it again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With her head held high, Madge hurried away
+in pursuit of her Fairy Godmother.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XII__THE_ANCHORAGE' id='XII__THE_ANCHORAGE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;THE ANCHORAGE&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Madge was alone in the &#8220;Water Witch,&#8221;
+which had been mended and was as
+good as new. She had just come from
+an interview with Mrs. Curtis, in which she had
+tried to make her friend understand the reason
+for Tania&#8217;s behavior of the day before. Mrs.
+Curtis, however, would not take the little captain&#8217;s
+view of the matter. She dwelt on the fact
+that Tania had slipped away from the houseboat
+without letting Eleanor know of it, and
+that she was a naughty and disobedient child.</p>
+<p>Madge also believed that Mrs. Curtis no
+longer loved her so dearly as in the early days
+of their acquaintance. The young girl was sure
+that some influence was being brought to bear to
+prejudice her friend against her. But what
+could she do? Philip Holt was trying to destroy
+the affection Mrs. Curtis felt for Madge
+in order to ingratiate himself. It looked as
+though he were going to succeed. Madge was
+too proud to ask questions or to accuse Philip
+Holt with deliberately trying to influence her
+friend against her. Although she was only a
+young girl, she realized that love does not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+amount to very much in this world unless it has
+faith and sympathy behind it. So long as she
+had done nothing she knew to be wrong, and for
+which she should make an apology, she could
+only wait to see if Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s affection would
+be restored to her or cease altogether.</p>
+<p>As usual, when she was troubled, the impulse
+came to her to be alone on the water. She had
+explained to Miss Jenny Ann that she might be
+gone for several hours, so there was no immediate
+reason why she should return to the houseboat.
+The other girls were yachting with some
+Cape May friends.</p>
+<p>Madge rowed her boat up the bay toward the
+home of the old sailor. She was not far from
+the very place where Captain Jules had rescued
+Tania and her a short while before. She thought
+of the strange-looking beam sticking up out of
+the sandy bottom of the bay on which Tania&#8217;s
+dress had caught. It had certainly looked like
+the broken mast of an old ship. She determined
+to ask Captain Jules if any wrecks had recently
+occurred near that part of the bay, and concluded
+that she would row up to the sailor&#8217;s
+house for the express purpose of asking him
+this question. Of course, this was only an excuse.
+She was deeply anxious to call on the old
+sailor again and, if possible, persuade him to
+keep his promise to her to show her his diving
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+suit, and to tell her more of his strange experiences
+at the bottom of the sea.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules was sitting in his favorite place
+on the big rock just by the water in front of his
+house. He was mending the sail of his fishing
+boat.</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s boat came round a slight curve in the
+bay, dancing toward him. This time Captain
+Jules spied his guest and saluted her as he would
+have greeted a superior officer.</p>
+<p>The little captain blushed prettily as she returned
+his salute in her best naval fashion.</p>
+<p>The old captain looked hurriedly toward his
+small house. There was no sight or sound of
+any one about. He seemed uncomfortable for a
+moment, then his face cleared. His deep blue
+eyes gleamed and his mouth set squarely. &#8220;Coming
+ashore to make me a call, Miss Madge?&#8221; he
+asked invitingly.</p>
+<p>Madge nodded. &#8220;If I shan&#8217;t be in your way.
+You must let me just sit there on the rock by
+you. I have been reading a perfectly thrilling
+book about pearl-divers,&#8221; she announced as
+soon as she was comfortably settled, &#8220;but none
+of the stories were as thrilling as the ones you
+told us. The book said that pearls had been
+found in New Jersey. I wonder if you have
+ever thought of diving down to the bottom of
+this bay to see if it holds any treasures?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span></p>
+<p>The sailor was studying the girl&#8217;s face so earnestly
+that he forgot to answer her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, I have thought of it,&#8221; he replied a
+little later, smiling at his guest. &#8220;A man never
+wholly forgets his trade. But what a taste you
+have for sea yarns, little lady! I half-way
+think, now, that if you had not been born a girl
+you might have followed the sea for your calling.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should have loved it best of anything in the
+world,&#8221; answered Madge fervently, gazing at
+the beautiful expanse of sunny, blue water. &#8220;I
+never feel as much at home anywhere as I do on
+the sea. You see,&#8221; she continued confidingly,
+&#8220;I have a reason for loving the water. My
+father was a sailor. He was a captain in the
+United States Navy once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;A captain in the United States Navy,&#8217;&#8221;
+Captain Jules repeated huskily. &#8220;I thought so.
+I thought so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; asked Madge wonderingly.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules pulled his needle slowly
+through a heavy piece of sail cloth. It must have
+stuck, he was so long about it, and his big hands
+fumbled it so clumsily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, because of your liking for the water,
+Miss Madge,&#8221; he returned quietly. &#8220;You see,
+there are two great loves born in the hearts of
+men and women that you never can get away
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+from. The one is the love of the soil and the
+other is the love of the sea. No matter what
+your life is, if you have those two passions in
+you, you&#8217;ve got to get back to the country or to
+the water when your chance comes. But why
+do you say that your father was once a captain
+in the United States Navy? Is he dead?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid so,&#8221; replied Madge faintly. Of
+late she was beginning to believe that her uncle
+and aunt, Mrs. Curtis and all her older friends
+were right. If her father were not dead in all
+these long years, surely he would have tried to
+find her. He would have sought to discover
+some news of the daughter whom he had left
+when she was only a baby.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules seemed about to say something,
+then, changed his mind. He shook his great,
+shaggy, gray head and looked at Madge tenderly.
+&#8220;Is your mother living?&#8221; he inquired.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, she died soon after my father went
+away to join his ship on his last voyage,&#8221; Madge
+went on sadly, her eyes filling with tears. She
+was half tempted to tell the old sailor her father&#8217;s
+story, then decided to reserve it until some
+future day when she felt that she knew him better.
+In spite of her liking for the old sea captain,
+she realized that she had hardly known
+him long enough to make him her confidant.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules continued to sew. He opened
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+his mouth, to speak once or twice and then closed
+it again. Finally he asked Madge huskily,
+&#8220;What was your father&#8217;s name, child?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Captain Robert Morton,&#8221; replied Madge
+slowly. &#8220;He was from Virginia. If I knew him
+to be alive, I&#8217;d be the happiest girl in the
+world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules cast a peculiar glance in her direction
+which Madge did not see.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear little mate,&#8221; he said slowly, &#8220;some
+day a young man will come along who will be far
+more to you than any old father could have
+been. But what made your father go away? If
+he was a captain in the Navy, what made him resign
+his command?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t tell you that to-day, Captain Jules.
+Perhaps I&#8217;ll tell you some day when I know you
+better; in fact, I am sure I shall tell you. Perhaps
+when I do tell you I shall ask you to do me
+a great favor. Perhaps I shall ask you to help
+me hunt for him. I&#8217;ll tell you a secret. Uncle
+and Aunt have been good to me and I love them
+dearly, but I want my own father, and I can&#8217;t, I
+won&#8217;t, believe he is dead. That is, not until I
+have absolute proof.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little girl!&#8221; exclaimed Captain Jules in
+such a strange voice that Madge was startled,
+&#8220;I promise you that I&#8217;ll help you find him.&#8221;
+Then in a calmer tone of voice he said: &#8220;I told
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+you that I would show you my diver&#8217;s suit. If
+you will wait on my porch I will go around inside
+the house to see if I can find it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He rose hastily and disappeared into the
+house, leaving Madge to wonder why the few
+words she had spoken concerning her father had
+affected the old sea captain so strangely.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIII_TANIA_S_NEMESIS' id='XIII_TANIA_S_NEMESIS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+<h2>Chapter XIII</h2>
+<h3>TANIA&#8217;S NEMESIS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Captain Jules was gone a long time,
+but Madge did not mind waiting for
+him. She loved the odd house with its
+roof shaped like three sails and its restful name,
+&#8220;The Anchorage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Captain Jules came back with the great
+suit his face was pale, almost haggard, but he
+was smiling good-humoredly. &#8220;Come, stand
+over here by this window while I show you my
+old togs. I haven&#8217;t looked at this diving suit
+myself for several years.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge was too much interested in the diving
+dress to glance in at the captain&#8217;s window to see
+if she could catch a glimpse of the inside of the
+snug little house that she had not yet been invited
+to enter.</p>
+<p>The diving suit was much lighter than she had
+expected to find it. It weighed only about
+twenty pounds. It was made of water-proof
+material and had a large helmet of copper with
+great circular glasses in front that looked like
+goggle eyes.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules explained that there were two
+lines with which the diver communicated with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+the outside world. The one was the air line, and
+it was used to pump air down to the man below
+in the water. The life line was usually hitched
+around the diver&#8217;s waist. This line was let out
+to any depth the diver required, and by pulling
+on it the diver could signal to the men who followed
+his course: one jerk, pull up; two, more
+air; three, lower the bag. Madge was utterly
+fascinated with the netted bag, made of rope,
+that Captain Jules showed her. He told her that
+the pearl-diver always carried a bag to hold the
+treasures that he finds at the bottom of the sea.
+To her vivid imagination, the empty bag was
+even now filled with shining pearls, the rarest
+treasures of the sea.</p>
+<p>The young girl persuaded Captain Jules to let
+her dress up in his diver&#8217;s suit, when she stumbled
+about the veranda in it, her gay laughter
+mingling with the captain&#8217;s deep chuckles of
+delight.</p>
+<p>&#8220;O Captain Jules!&#8221; she pleaded, &#8220;do take
+me down to the bottom of the sea with you. I
+have always wanted to be a mermaid, and this
+may be the only chance I shall ever have. &#8216;Only
+divers know of things below, of water&#8217;s green
+and fishes&#8217; sheen,&#8217;&#8221; she chanted gayly.</p>
+<p>The old sea captain gazed at Madge, breathing
+a deep sigh of satisfaction. &#8220;I believe you have
+the courage to do it if I were to let you try,&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+murmured. &#8220;It comes nearer to convincing me
+than anything else.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Captain Jules,&#8221; continued the girl earnestly,
+&#8220;please, please let&#8217;s go down to the bottom
+of this bay. You could take me with you and
+then there wouldn&#8217;t be any danger. We have
+been down together without diving suits and
+here we are safe and sound on land again! You
+said you thought there might be pearls in the
+oyster beds of this bay. We could look, at any
+rate. I saw the most wonderful things when I
+was searching for Tania. It seemed as though
+her dress was caught on the broken spar of an
+old ship, though, of course, I couldn&#8217;t be sure.
+Have there been many wrecks in this bay? Do
+you suppose it was a ship&#8217;s spar?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are always wrecks on the water, child.
+And you mustn&#8217;t be talking nonsense about diving
+down in this bay along with me,&#8221; answered
+Captain Jules severely. He kept his eyes fastened
+on his diving suit with an affectionate
+gleam in them. &#8220;Maybe, though, I will make a
+diving party of one and go down in the bay
+alone. I&#8217;d give you the pearls I found down
+there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge shook her head. &#8220;That wouldn&#8217;t be
+fair,&#8221; she said, setting her red lips together obstinately.
+Captain Jules, she felt sure, would
+be easy to manage. If he did any diving in the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+Delaware Bay within the next few weeks, he
+must take her with him.</p>
+<p>She wrote secretly to New York City to ask
+what a diver&#8217;s suit would cost. She was discouraged
+by the answer, but she did not give up
+hope. She was also very careful not to let Miss
+Jenny Ann or Mrs. Curtis know anything of
+the wild scheme that was evolving in her head.</p>
+<p>Almost every day the girls saw Captain Jules.
+Either they went up the bay to call on him, or he
+made a visit to the houseboat.</p>
+<p>The old captain never invited the girls inside
+his house, but they had great frolics in his tidy
+yard. The captain explained that his house was
+not neat enough to be seen by young ladies, as it
+had only a man housekeeper.</p>
+<p>Even Mrs. Curtis became a little less prejudiced
+against Captain Jules. She could not but
+confess that he was a fine old man, though she
+still did not see why Madge was so much attracted
+by him. But the girl bided her time.
+The four girls and their friends went off on long
+fishing trips with Captain Jules. Sometimes
+Mrs. Curtis, Tom, and their guest, Philip Holt,
+went with them. The enmity between Madge
+and Philip increased every day, nor did Madge
+any longer make much effort to conceal her dislike
+for him.</p>
+<p>Philip Holt had a special reason for his dislike
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+for Madge Morton. He had come to Cape
+May with the idea of making Mrs. Curtis do an
+important favor for him upon which his whole
+future depended. He feared that Madge, who
+looked upon him as a hypocrite, would find out
+his true character, tell her friend, and thus ruin
+his prospects.</p>
+<p>A singular misfortune had befallen him. Who
+could have guessed that one of the few people
+who knew his real history, Tania, the little street
+child, would be picked up by the houseboat girls
+and brought to Cape May for the summer? Tania
+must not be allowed to betray him. If she
+did, Mrs. Curtis must not believe either Madge
+or Tania. The young man had to lay his plans
+carefully, but he was a born hypocrite and he
+meant to accomplish his end.</p>
+<p>His first opportunity to further his cause
+came one morning when he and Mrs. Curtis
+were sitting on the veranda of her summer cottage.
+Tom had gone out sailing and was not expected
+back for several hours, so that Philip believed
+that the coast was clear. He began by
+telling Mrs. Curtis something of the charity
+work that he had recently done in New York
+City and so brought the subject about to Tania.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear Mrs. Curtis, you are so generous,&#8221; the
+young man said admiringly. &#8220;I have just learned
+that after the summer holiday is over you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+intend to send Miss Morton&#8217;s protégé, Tania,
+to a boarding school. It is so kind in you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis shook her head. &#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; she
+answered, &#8220;it is very little to do. Really, I
+don&#8217;t see what else could be done with the child.
+She is very queer and not attractive to me, but
+Madge is fond of her and, as I am very fond of
+Madge, I shall do what is best for the little girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah,&#8221; murmured Philip Holt vaguely, &#8220;but
+do you feel sure that a boarding school is the
+best place for the girl? She is so unruly, so untruthful!
+I fear that she would give you a great
+deal of trouble and responsibility unless she
+were placed under greater restraint. I have
+wondered for some time what should be done
+for the child. She has caused a lot of mischief
+among the children on the street in her tenement
+section. It seems to me that she ought to
+be sent to some kind of an institution where she
+would be more closely watched&mdash;an asylum or
+home for incorrigible children.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis looked worried and bit her lips.
+&#8220;That is rather hard on the child, isn&#8217;t it? Still,
+I could not undertake to be responsible for Tania&#8217;s
+good behavior at school. She seems very
+hard to control. I will watch her more closely,
+and, if she shows more signs of untruthfulness,
+I shall have to consider your suggestion.
+However, I will talk the matter over with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+Madge. I wish you would walk down to the
+houseboat for me and invite the girls to come up
+to the hotel for luncheon. I hope they are not
+off somewhere with Captain Jules. He seems to
+claim the greater share of their attention
+lately.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Philip Holt walked off, very well pleased with
+his interview. He had conveyed to Mrs. Curtis
+precisely the impression he had intended to convey.</p>
+<p>Ever since his arrival at Cape May Philip
+Holt had wished to see little Tania alone. He
+had warned the child that she was not to behave
+as though she had ever seen him before, yet he
+was still afraid that she might make a confidante
+of Madge. He needed to make his threat
+to her more terrifying. He decided to find her
+and intimidate her so thoroughly that she would
+not dare betray her previous acquaintance with
+him.</p>
+<p>There was but one person in the world of
+whom the queer, elf-like Tania was afraid. That
+person was Philip Holt! She had feared him
+since the day of her own mother&#8217;s death, and
+the very thought of him was enough to fill her
+childish soul with terror.</p>
+<p>Tania was playing alone on the sands near that
+houseboat at the time Mrs. Curtis and Philip
+Holt were discussing her future. Madge and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+Miss Jenny Ann were inside the houseboat,
+within calling distance of Tania, but not where
+they could see her. The little girl had just built
+a house of shining pebbles and was gazing at it
+with a pleased smile when she heard a step near
+her on the sand. Tania stared up at Philip&#8217;s
+thin, blonde face in terror-stricken silence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tania,&#8221; the young man asked harshly,
+&#8220;have you told any one down here that you
+have ever seen or known me before?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tania shook her head mutely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Remember, if you do, I am going to have
+you shut up in a big house with iron bars at the
+windows where you can never go out or see your
+friends any more,&#8221; Philip Holt went on, keeping
+his voice lowered to a whisper.</p>
+<p>Slowly Tania&#8217;s black eyes dropped. She tried
+to be brave and to pretend that she did not care,
+but the loss of her freedom was the one thing
+that Tania feared with all her soul. If she were
+shut up somewhere, how could she ever talk to
+her fairies, or see the blue sky that she so loved?
+And now, to be parted from the girls forever
+was too dreadful! Indeed, she would not dare
+to tell what she knew. Philip Holt was sure
+of it.</p>
+<p>It was at that moment that Madge slipped out
+on the houseboat deck to see if Tania were all
+right. To her surprise she saw that Philip Holt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+was talking to the little girl. She had not
+thought that Philip Holt cared enough for children
+to waste a minute&#8217;s time with them. She
+therefore wondered at his sudden interest in
+Tania. Madge walked quietly off the houseboat.
+She was wearing tennis shoes and her softly-shod
+feet made no sound. She caught one
+glimpse of Tania&#8217;s mute, white face and stopped
+short in time to hear Philip say:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Even if you do tell that old Sal is my mother,
+Tania, no one will believe you. She herself
+will deny it and help me to have you shut up,&#8221;
+declared Philip Holt menacingly.</p>
+<p>Madge caught each word as though it had been
+addressed to her. For Tania&#8217;s sake, and because
+she knew that for many reasons it was
+wiser, she held her peace for the time being.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do, Mr. Holt?&#8221; she asked innocently.
+&#8220;I just saw you from the deck of the
+houseboat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Philip Holt leaped to his feet. But Madge&#8217;s
+eyes were so clear and serene, her face so calm,
+that it was utterly impossible she could have
+overheard him.</p>
+<p>Philip delivered Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s message and
+then left the two girls together. Madge dropped
+down on the sands by Tania and put her arm
+about her. &#8220;You need never tell me who Mr.
+Holt is, nor why you are afraid of him, Tania,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+she whispered; &#8220;I overheard what he said, and
+you need not be afraid. I will take care of
+you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is the Wicked Genii,&#8221; faltered Tania,
+&#8220;who hated the Princess and wanted to drive
+her away from her kingdom in Fairyland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But he can&#8217;t harm you, Tania, dear,&#8221; comforted
+Madge. &#8220;He dare not try to take you
+away from us. I am going to tell Mrs. Curtis
+all about this Wicked Genii and if I&#8217;m not mistaken
+it will be he, not you who is sent away.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIV_CAPTAIN_JULES_MAKES_A_PROMISE' id='XIV_CAPTAIN_JULES_MAKES_A_PROMISE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+<h3>CAPTAIN JULES MAKES A PROMISE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Little by little Madge was able to put together
+the whole story of Philip Holt&#8217;s
+life. He was old Sal&#8217;s son, and &#8220;Holt&#8221;
+was not his own name, but he rarely came near
+his mother, never gave her any help, and denied
+his relationship with her whenever it was necessary.
+When Philip Murphy was a small boy,
+he had been taken into the home of a wealthy
+family named Holt, but he had never been legally
+adopted as their child. He was raised in
+luxury and had made a great many wealthy
+friends, and he had learned to love money more
+than anything else in the world. But his rich patrons
+would not allow him entirely to desert his
+own mother. Twice every month he was made to
+go to see old Sal Murphy in her tenement home
+on the East Side. Philip Holt, who now went by
+the name of his foster parents, fairly loathed
+these visits. It was because of his hatred of
+them that he began to take his spite out on Tania
+when he was a lad of about fifteen, and poor Tania
+a baby of only six years old.</p>
+<p>Tania&#8217;s mother had died in the same tenement
+where old Sal lived. There had been no
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+one who wanted the little girl, so old Sal had
+taken her, beaten and starved her, and made her
+useful in any way that she could.</p>
+<p>When Philip Holt had grown to manhood his
+foster parents lost most of their money. A little
+later they died, leaving their foster son nothing.
+The young man had been used to luxury
+and rich friends, and he could not give them up,
+therefore he told his wealthy friends that because
+he had once been a poor boy he meant to
+devote his life to charity. He proposed to work
+among the New York poor and asked their cooperation.
+Large sums of money were given
+him to be used for charity, but Philip Holt believed
+too strongly in the theory that charity begins
+at home. Whenever it was possible he used
+a part of this money for himself. To make
+more, he began speculating in Wall Street. He
+lost two thousand, then five thousand dollars of
+the money that had been entrusted to him. For
+almost a year he had been the treasurer of a
+New York charitable organization, and the time
+was near at hand when he must give a report of
+the money that he had misused. He knew that
+disgrace, imprisonment, stared him in the face
+unless he could persuade Mrs. Curtis to advance
+him five thousand dollars for some charitable
+purpose, or give it to him for himself. He, therefore,
+did not intend to be balked in his plan by
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+either Madge or Tania, no matter what desperate
+measures he had to employ.</p>
+<p>So there were two persons at Cape May who
+came to believe that they stood in dire need of
+money. Yet they wished it for very different
+reasons: Philip Holt wanted money to save
+himself from disgrace; Madge desired it to help
+her uncle and aunt save their old home, &#8220;Forest
+House,&#8221; to send Eleanor back to graduate at
+Miss Tolliver&#8217;s in the fall, to start on her search
+for her father, and, last of all, to take care of
+Tania.</p>
+<p>For Madge had managed the little waif&#8217;s affairs
+most undiplomatically. When she discovered
+the threat that Philip held over Tania if
+she told his secret, the little captain went to
+Mrs. Curtis with the story. She did not wish
+her friend to be deceived by the young man, so
+she confided to Mrs. Curtis that Philip Holt,
+who was supposedly the son of some old friends,
+was really the child of old Sal of the tenements.
+Mrs. Curtis thought that Madge must
+be mistaken. She wrote to old Sal to ask her
+if it were true. The Irish woman was devoted
+to her son. She would have done anything in
+the world not to disgrace him. She answered
+Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s letter by declaring that Philip
+Holt was no relative of hers, but a young man
+whom she knew because of his kindness to the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+poor. Mrs. Curtis was indignant. She insisted
+that Tania had told Madge a falsehood, and that
+Philip Holt was right in his opinion of Tania.
+It would not be well to send the child to a school;
+she should be put in some kind of an institution.
+This, however, Madge was determined should
+never happen. She had no money of her own,
+nor did she know where she was to obtain the
+means, but she made up her mind to find some
+way to provide for her quaint little Fairy Godmother.</p>
+<p>The morning after Madge&#8217;s disquieting talk
+with Mrs. Curtis the four girls and Tania wandered
+up the bay to spend the morning in the
+woods near the water. Phyllis carried a book
+that she meant to read aloud, Madge a box of
+luncheon, and Eleanor and Lillian their sewing.
+Tania skipped along with her hand in Madge&#8217;s.
+John had promised to join them later in the day
+if he returned in time from his trip on the
+water.</p>
+<p>The girls settled themselves under some trees
+whence they could command a view of the land
+and the bay. Madge lay down in the soft grass
+and rested her head in her hands. She meant
+to listen to Phil&#8217;s reading, not to puzzle over her
+own worries. Phil&#8217;s book gave a thrilling account
+of the early days in the Delaware Bay,
+when it was the favorite cruising place for pirates.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+It was rather hard to believe, when the
+girls gazed out on the smooth, blue water, that
+it had once been the scene of so many fierce adventures
+with pirates. Once a crew of seventy
+men, belonging to the famous Captain Kidd, had
+actually sailed up the Delaware Bay and frightened
+the people of Philadelphia.</p>
+<p>Madge had forgotten to listen. She could
+hear Phil&#8217;s voice, but not her words. The history
+of piracy, of course, was very thrilling, but
+Madge did not see how any long-ago dead and
+buried pirates or their hidden treasures could
+help her out of her present difficulties. She stood
+in need of real riches.</p>
+<p>A sailboat dipped across the horizon and
+headed for the landing not far from where the
+girls were sitting, but no one of them noticed it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look ahoy! look ahoy!&#8221; a friendly voice
+cried out from across the water.</p>
+<p>Phyllis closed her book with a snap, Lillian
+and Eleanor dropped their sewing, Tania ran
+to the water&#8217;s edge, and Madge sat up.</p>
+<p>It was Captain Jules who had hailed them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, my hearties, is this a summer camp?&#8221;
+demanded the old sailor as his boat came near
+the land. &#8220;I have been all the way to the houseboat
+to find you. I have something to show
+you.&#8221; Captain Jules&#8217;s broad face shone with
+good humor. He was clad in his weather-beaten
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+tarpaulins, and on his shoulder perched the
+monkey.</p>
+<p>Madge covered the sides of her curly head
+with her hands. &#8220;Please don&#8217;t let the monkey
+pull my hair this morning,&#8221; she pleaded as the
+captain came up.</p>
+<p>He tossed the monkey over to Tania, who cuddled
+it affectionately in her arms, and began
+talking softly to it.</p>
+<p>Then Captain Jules seated himself on the
+grass and the houseboat girls gathered about
+him in a circle. He put one great hand in his
+pocket. &#8220;I&#8217;ve some presents for you,&#8221; he announced,
+trying to look very serious, but smiling
+in spite of himself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are they?&#8221; asked Lillian eagerly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s telling,&#8221; returned the captain. &#8220;You
+must guess.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shells,&#8221; said Tania quickly.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules shook his head. &#8220;You&#8217;re
+warm, little girl,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;but you haven&#8217;t
+guessed right yet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lillian sighed. &#8220;I never could guess anything,&#8221;
+she remarked sadly. &#8220;Please do tell us
+what it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The captain relented and drew out of his
+pocket a handful of what seemed to be either
+oyster or mussel shells.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve brought some oysters for our luncheon,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+haven&#8217;t you?&#8221; guessed Eleanor. &#8220;You
+must stay and eat them with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules chuckled. &#8220;Oysters are out of
+season, child, and these are never good to eat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Madge had clapped her hands together
+suddenly, her eyes shining. &#8220;You have been
+down to the bottom of the bay, haven&#8217;t you,
+Captain Jules? And you&#8217;ve found some
+pearls!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules shook his head. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t
+call them pearls, exactly. They&#8217;re too little and
+too poor. But come, now; maybe they are seed
+pearls. I went down under the water with the
+men who were looking over the oyster beds yesterday.
+Pearl oysters are not found in beds,
+like the edible oysters, so I wandered around on
+the bottom of the bay a bit and picked up these.&#8221;
+The captain extended his great hand. Five
+pairs of eager eyes peered into it. There lay
+four nearly round, thick shells, horny and rough
+with tiny little pearls embedded in them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Pearls are angel&#8217;s tears&#8217;,&#8221; quoted Phil
+softly.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules seemed worried. &#8220;I searched
+about everywhere in the bay, but I could only
+find these four tiny pearls, and pretty lucky I
+was to find them!&#8221; the sailor continued. &#8220;They
+aren&#8217;t of much value, but I wanted to give them
+to five girls, and that&#8217;s just the difficulty.&#8221; The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+captain looked at the houseboat party, which
+now included Tania, as though he did not know
+just what he should make up his mind to do.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s draw straws for them,&#8221; suggested
+Eleanor sensibly.</p>
+<p>Madge shook her head. &#8220;No; Captain Jules
+is to give them to you and to leave me out. Remember,
+some stranger gave me a handsome
+pearl when I graduated. I have never had it
+mounted.&#8221; Madge slipped her arm confidingly
+through the old sea captain&#8217;s and gazed into his
+face with her most earnest expression. &#8220;Captain
+Jules is going to do something else for me;
+he is going down to the bottom of the bay again
+in his diving suit, and he is going to take me
+with him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a ridiculous idea!&#8221; protested Eleanor.
+&#8220;Just as though Captain Jules would
+think of doing any such thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lillian laughed unbelievingly, but Phil&#8217;s face
+was serious. &#8220;It would be awfully jolly,
+wouldn&#8217;t it? There wouldn&#8217;t be any danger if
+Captain Jules should take you. Do please take
+Madge down with you, and then take me,&#8221; she
+insisted coaxingly.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules shook his head, but the little
+captain observed that he did not look half so
+shocked at the idea as he had the first time she
+proposed it. This was encouraging.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span></p>
+<p>Phil took hold of one of the captain&#8217;s hands,
+and Madge the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, please, <i>please</i>!&#8221; they pleaded in
+chorus.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Jenny Ann wouldn&#8217;t let you,&#8221; objected
+Captain Jules faintly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But if we were to get her permission,&#8221; argued
+Madge triumphantly, &#8220;then you would
+take us down to the bottom of the bay. I just
+knew you would, you are so splendid! I shall
+send to New York to see if we can rent a diving
+suit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind about that, I&#8217;ll see about the
+suit,&#8221; promised Captain Jules. &#8220;But it&#8217;s all
+nonsense, and I have never said that I would
+take you. I wish I weren&#8217;t a sailor. There is
+an old saying that a sailor can never refuse anything
+to a woman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here comes Tom,&#8221; announced Lillian hurriedly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then don&#8217;t say anything to him about the
+diving,&#8221; warned Madge. &#8220;He will think it is
+perfectly dreadful for girls to attempt it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XV_THE_GREAT_ADVENTURE' id='XV_THE_GREAT_ADVENTURE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+<h3>THE GREAT ADVENTURE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The news that old Captain Jules Fontaine,
+the retired pearl diver, whose history
+was a mystery to most of the inhabitants
+at Cape May, was to take Madge Morton down
+to the bottom of Delaware Bay with him spread
+through the town and seaside resort like wildfire.
+It was in vain that the houseboat party
+and Captain Jules tried to keep the affair a secret.
+There were necessary arrangements to be
+made, men to be engaged to assist in the diving
+operations; it was impossible to deny everything.</p>
+<p>At first the plan seemed to outsiders like mere
+midsummer madness. Then the story began to
+grow. Cape May residents learned that Captain
+Jules had found pearls in the bottom of the bay.
+No one would believe the captain&#8217;s statement
+that the pearls were of little value; gossip
+made the tiny pearls grow larger and larger,
+until they were fit for an empress.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules was besieged at his little house
+up the bay, although, as usual, he kept the door
+fastened against intruders. Half the fishermen
+and oystermen in the vicinity begged to be permitted
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+to accompany the old sea diver in his
+descent into the water. Captain Jules politely
+explained that he needed no companions; he
+was merely going on a diving expedition to
+amuse two of his friends, Phyllis Alden and
+Madge Morton, who had a taste for watery adventure.
+He did not expect to find anything of
+value in the bottom of the bay. They were going
+down merely for sport.</p>
+<p>There was one person at Cape May who listened
+eagerly to any tale of the fabulous riches
+that the old pearl diver was evidently expecting
+to unearth. He was Philip Holt. The time of
+his visit at Cape May was rapidly passing. Mrs.
+Curtis was exceedingly kind and interested in
+her guest, but Philip did not feel that he dared
+approach her too abruptly with the request for
+so large a sum of money as five thousand dollars.
+Besides, Philip Holt knew that Tom Curtis
+disliked him heartily. Tom was not likely
+to approve a man whom Madge mistrusted; nor
+would Mrs. Curtis give away or lend five thousand
+dollars without first consulting her son.
+So the marvelous tale of the pearls to be found
+in the Delaware Bay rooted itself in Philip
+Holt&#8217;s imagination. Here was another way to
+get out of his scrape. He was not fond of adventure,
+but he would do anything in the world
+for money. Perhaps he could find pearls enough
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
+not only to pay his debt, but to make him rich
+forever afterward.</p>
+<p>Quietly, and without a word to any one, Philip
+Holt made a secret visit to the house of the three
+sails. He implored Captain Jules to make him
+his diving companion. He attempted to bribe
+him with sums of money that he did not possess.
+He even threatened the old sailor that he would
+make investigations about his life and expose
+any secrets that the captain might wish to keep.
+Captain Jules only laughed at these threats.
+He was not going down in the bay for treasures,
+he declared. He expected to find absolutely
+nothing of any value. Positively he would not
+allow any one to accompany him but the two
+girls.</p>
+<p>Madge and Phyllis had a hard fight to persuade
+Miss Jenny Ann to give her consent to
+their plan for playing mermaid. But she was
+getting so accustomed to the exciting adventures
+of her girls that, when Captain Jules assured
+her there was really no special danger, so long
+as he kept a close watch on the diver with him,
+she finally agreed to the scheme. Captain Jules
+gave the two girls every kind of instruction in
+the art of diving that he thought necessary, and
+the day of the great watery adventure was set
+for the week ahead.</p>
+<p>On the morning of Tuesday, July 12th, Madge
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+awoke at daybreak. She felt a delicious, shivery
+thrill pass over her that was one part fear
+and the other part rapture.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Phil,&#8221; she whispered a few seconds later,
+when she heard her chum stirring in the berth
+above her, &#8220;can you feel fins growing where
+your feet are? Your flop in the bed sounded
+as though you were a real mermaid! Just think,
+at ten o&#8217;clock sharp we are going down to explore
+a new world! I wonder if there were
+ever any girl divers before? You are awfully
+good to let me go down first.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I am not,&#8221; answered Phil soberly. &#8220;If
+there is any danger, I am letting you go down
+to it first. But I shall watch above the water,
+with all my eyes, to see that everything goes
+right. The captain has explained the whole
+business of diving to us so thoroughly that I believe
+I can tell if anything is wrong with you below
+the surface. You&#8217;ll be careful, won&#8217;t you,
+Madge? You know you are usually rather reckless.
+Don&#8217;t stay down too long.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Captain Jules won&#8217;t let me be reckless
+this time. We are not going down into very
+deep water, anyway, and a professional diver
+can stay under several hours when the water
+is only about five fathoms deep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge and Phyllis ate a very light breakfast.
+Captain Jules had told them that a diver must
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+never go down into the water on a full stomach,
+as it would make him too short-winded. While
+the two prospective divers were eating poor
+Miss Jenny Ann was wondering what had ever
+induced her to give her consent to so mad an
+enterprise as this diving.</p>
+<p>Every effort had been made to keep a crowd
+away from the pier from which Captain Jules
+meant to send out the boats with the tenders,
+who were the men to look after the safety of
+Madge and himself.</p>
+<p>As the girls came up, with Miss Jenny Ann, to
+join Captain Jules they saw twenty or thirty
+people about. Mrs. Curtis and Tom, accompanied
+by Philip Holt, had come down to the
+pier. Mrs. Curtis would hardly speak to Madge,
+she was so angry at the risk she believed the little
+captain was running. She and Madge had
+not been very friendly since they had disagreed
+so utterly in Madge&#8217;s report of the real character
+and name of Philip Holt.</p>
+<p>Madge and Phyllis each wore a close fitting,
+warm woolen dress. Madge had tucked up her
+red-brown curls into a tight knot. Her eyes
+were glowing, but her face was white and her
+lips a little less red when Captain Jules came
+forward to fasten her into her diving suit.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t attempt it, Madge, if you are frightened,&#8221;
+urged Miss Jenny Ann, who was feeling
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+dreadfully frightened herself. &#8220;I am sure
+Captain Jules will forgive you if you back out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules looked at Madge searchingly.
+Her eyes smiled bravely into his, although her
+heart was going pit-a-pat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Madge is not afraid,&#8221; answered Captain
+Jules curtly. &#8220;Robert Morton&#8217;s daughter
+has no right to know fear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge first slipped her feet into a pair of
+heavy leather boots. She gave a gay laugh as
+she slipped into her rubber cloth suit, which was
+made in one piece. &#8220;I feel just like a walrus,&#8221;
+she confided to Tom Curtis, who was watching
+her with set lips.</p>
+<p>Then Madge and Captain Jules, who was in
+exactly the same costume, got into their boats
+and moved out a little distance from the shore.</p>
+<p>Tom Curtis had asked Captain Jules&#8217;s consent
+to sit in one of the boats with Phil. At the
+last moment Philip Holt stepped calmly into the
+other. No one stopped to argue with him, or to
+thrust him out; the whole party was too much
+excited.</p>
+<p>Not for all the pearls in all the seas would
+Captain Jules Fontaine have allowed one hair
+of Madge&#8217;s head to be injured. But he really
+did not believe that she would be in any danger
+under the water with him. He had arranged
+every detail of the diving perfectly. He would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+watch her every movement at the bottom of the
+bay. To tell the truth, Captain Jules was immensely
+proud of Madge&#8217;s and Phil&#8217;s bravery
+in desiring to accompany him.</p>
+<p>The final moment for the dive arrived. Madge
+waved her hand to the crowd of her friends lining
+the shore. She flung back her head and
+looked gayly, triumphantly, up at the blue sky
+above her, with its sweep of white, sailing
+clouds. Below her the water looked even more
+deeply blue.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Remember, Madge,&#8221; whispered Captain
+Jules calmly, &#8220;the one quality a diver needs
+more than anything else is presence of mind.
+Keep a clear head under the water and nothing
+shall harm you, I swear. But above all, don&#8217;t
+forget your signals.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With his own hands Captain Jules fastened
+the brass corselet about Madge&#8217;s slender neck
+and set a big copper helmet which he screwed
+over her head to her corselet. Madge then surveyed
+the world only through the glass windows
+at each side of her head and in front.
+Her air-tube entered her helmet at the back.
+Two men in one of the boats were to keep the
+young girl diver supplied with oxygen by pumping
+fresh air down through this tube.</p>
+<p>A moment later Captain Jules stood rigged
+in the same costume as Madge.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Steady, my girl,&#8221; Captain Jules warned
+her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aye, aye, Captain,&#8221; returned Madge quietly,
+&#8220;I&#8217;m ready. Let us go down together to the
+bottom of the bay.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pump away,&#8221; ordered the captain.</p>
+<p>There was a splash on the surface of the clear
+water, a long-drawn gasp from Madge&#8217;s
+friends; then a few bubbles rose. Rapidly, skillfully,
+Madge&#8217;s tenders played out her life and
+pipe lines, and Madge Morton disappeared from
+the world of men. Captain Jules made his
+plunge a few seconds in advance of his companion.</p>
+<p>In the boat where Tom Curtis and Phyllis Alden
+sat there was a breathless, intense silence.
+The boy and girl happened to be in the boat with
+the men who were looking out for the welfare
+of Captain Jules. Philip Holt was with Madge&#8217;s
+tenders.</p>
+<p>Phyllis knew that there was but one way in
+which she could follow her chum&#8217;s course below
+the surface of the water. She could watch her
+life and air lines. Captain Jules had made it
+plain to Phyllis that all the time the diver is under
+water small ripples will appear near his air
+line. These bubbles are caused by the air that
+the diver breathes out from the valve in the side
+of his diving helmet.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></p>
+<p>Phyllis watched the lines doggedly. Captain
+Jules was to keep Madge under water only about
+fifteen or twenty minutes, but at that a minute
+may appear longer than an hour.</p>
+<p>Suddenly Phyllis Alden discovered that the
+man who was tending Madge&#8217;s air pump seemed
+to be working less vigorously. He pumped unevenly.
+Once he swayed, as though he were
+about to fall over in his seat.</p>
+<p>In a second it flashed over Phyllis that the
+man was ill. He was a strong, red-faced individual,
+but his face turned to a kind of ghastly
+pallor. It was all so quick that Phil had no time
+to speak from her boat. Philip Holt, who was
+in the same boat with the man, grasped the situation
+as quickly as Phyllis did. With a single
+motion he took the tender&#8217;s place at the air-pump.
+Phil saw that he was pumping away
+with vigor.</p>
+<p>At this moment Phil turned to speak to Tom
+Curtis. &#8220;Tom, how long have they been under
+the water?&#8221; she whispered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ten minutes,&#8221; returned Tom, glancing hastily
+at his watch.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems ten hours,&#8221; murmured Phil, as
+though she dared not speak aloud.</p>
+<p>Tug, tug! Phil thought she saw Madge&#8217;s air
+line give two desperate jerks. Two pulls at the
+line was the diver&#8217;s signal for more air. Phil
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+knew that without a doubt. Yet Philip Holt
+seemed to be pumping vigorously. At least, he
+had been only the second before when Phil last
+looked at him.</p>
+<p>Again Phil saw Madge&#8217;s air line jerk twice.</p>
+<p>Tom Curtis and the two men in Captain
+Jules&#8217;s boat were vainly trying to interpret
+some signals that Captain Jules was making to
+them. The two boats were at no great distance
+apart.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid something is the matter below,
+Phil,&#8221; Tom Curtis turned to mutter hoarsely.
+But Phyllis Alden, who had been sitting near
+him a moment before, was no longer there.</p>
+<p>Phyllis believed she saw that Philip Holt was
+only pretending to pump sufficient air down to
+Madge. She may have been wrong. Who could
+ever tell? But Phil knew there was no time to
+discuss the matter. One minute, two minutes,
+five or ten&mdash;Phil did not know how long a diver
+at the bottom of the water can be shut off from
+his supply of fresh air and live. She did not
+mean to wait, to ask questions, or to lose time.
+Phil made a flying leap from the skiff that held
+her to the one in which Philip Holt sat by the
+air-pump. She landed in the water, just alongside
+the boat. Quietly, though more quickly
+than she had ever moved before in her life, Phil
+climbed into the boat and thrust Philip Holt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+away from the air pump. In the minute it had
+taken her to make her plunge she had seen
+Madge&#8217;s signal again, but this time the line
+jerked more feebly than it had before.</p>
+<p>Phil set the pump to working again; the signal
+answered from below, &#8220;All is well!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The tender had recovered from his attack of
+faintness and resumed his work at Madge&#8217;s
+airline.</p>
+<p>But Philip Holt sat crouched in the bottom of
+the boat, his face white with anger. What would
+Phyllis Alden&#8217;s action suggest but that he was
+trying to suffocate Madge in the water below?</p>
+<p>Whether or not Philip Holt meant to stifle
+Madge Morton he himself never really knew.
+The impulse came to him as he placed his hands
+on her air-pump. It flashed across his mind that
+it was Madge who had tried to injure his prospects
+with Mrs. Curtis, and who had kept him
+from going down with Captain Jules to search
+for the pearls that he firmly believed would
+be found at the bottom of the bay. It was while
+these thoughts passed through Philip Holt&#8217;s
+mind his pressure on Madge&#8217;s air-pump had
+wavered. But Phyllis Alden had discovered it.
+She gave him no opportunity either for action
+or regret.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVI_A_STRANGE_PEARL' id='XVI_A_STRANGE_PEARL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+<h3>A STRANGE PEARL</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Madge felt herself in a great fairy world
+peopled with giants. Every thing below
+the water is magnified a thousandfold.
+Slowly she went down and down! The
+fishes splashed and tumbled about her, hurrying
+to get away from this strange, new sea-monster
+that had come into their midst.</p>
+<p>The little captain felt no mental sensation except
+one of wonder and of awe; no physical impression
+save a pressure as of a great weight on
+her head and a roaring of mighty waters in her
+ears. She no longer had any idea of being
+afraid.</p>
+<p>At the first plunge into the water she had shut
+her eyes, but now, as she approached the bottom
+of the bay, she kept them wide open.</p>
+<p>The water was clear as crystal, like the reflection
+in a mammoth mirror. She could see
+nearly fifty feet ahead of her. Captain Jules
+walked just in front of her, swinging his great
+body from side to side, peering down into the
+sandy bottom of the bay. Madge discovered
+that the only way in which she could get a view,
+except the one directly in front of her, was by
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
+turning her head inside her helmet, to look
+through her side window glasses. The goggles
+over her eyes gave her just the view that a
+horse has with blinkers.</p>
+<p>There were hundreds of things that Madge
+would have liked to confide to Captain Jules.
+However, for once in her life, she was compelled
+to hold her tongue. Her eyes, her hands, and
+her feet she could keep busy. Now and then she
+gave a little ejaculation of wonder inside her
+copper helmet at the marvels she saw. No one
+heard her cry out. Captain Jules wasted no
+time. He was exceedingly business-like. He
+motioned to Madge just where she should go
+and what she should do, and she obediently followed.</p>
+<p>There were long, level flats of sand in the bottom
+of Delaware Bay, like small prairies. Then
+there were exquisite oases of waving green seaweed,
+gardens of sea flowers and ferns, and hillocks
+of rocks, with all sorts of queer sea animals,
+crabs, jelly-fish, and devil-fish, scurrying
+about them.</p>
+<p>Caught in the moss, encrusted on the rocks,
+sunken in the yellow sands, were opalescent,
+shining shells and pebbles, each one more beautiful
+than the last. Madge did not realize that
+if she carried these shells and pebbles above the
+water they would look like ordinary stones.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+Every now and then the young diver would
+stoop and drop one of them in her netted bag
+with a thrill of excitement.</p>
+<p>Again and again Captain Jules had assured
+Madge that she must not expect to find any
+pearls of much value in Delaware Bay. There
+were few pearls in edible oysters. The beds
+about Cape May were meant to supply the family
+table, not the family jewels. Of course, it
+was true, the Captain admitted, that a pearl did
+appear now and then in an ordinary oyster.
+Yet this was an accident and most unlikely to
+occur.</p>
+<p>Madge had really tried not to believe that she
+was going to find any kind of prize in the new
+world under the water. In spite of all her efforts
+she had been thinking and planning and
+hoping. Perhaps&mdash;perhaps she would find a
+pearl of great price. Then her troubles would
+be at an end.</p>
+<p>All this time Madge had been breathing naturally
+and comfortably inside her helmet as she
+traveled along the bed of the bay. She was so
+unconscious of any difficulty that she was beginning
+to believe that she was, in truth, a mermaid,
+and that water, and not air, was her natural
+element. Suddenly she felt a little uneasy,
+as though the windows of her room had been
+closed for too long a time. It was nothing, she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
+was sure. The stifling sensation would pass in
+another second.</p>
+<p>At this moment Captain Jules gazed hard at
+Madge. He had never forgotten his charge for
+a moment. But all seemed well with her, and
+the captain thought he saw ahead of him something
+that was well worth investigating. He
+dropped on his knees in the soft mud. With
+him he had a small hammer and a fork, not unlike
+a gardener&#8217;s. Shining through some green
+sea moss so soft and fine that it might have been
+the hair of a water-baby, Captain Jules had espied
+some glittering shells. To his experienced
+eye the glow was that of mother-of-pearl. It is
+the mother-of-pearl shell that usually covers the
+precious pearl. The old sailor set to work.
+Madge was eagerly watching him, when once
+again the faint stifling sensation swept over her.
+Surely it was not possible to faint in a diving
+suit. Besides, Madge&#8217;s heart was beating so furiously
+with excitement that it was small wonder
+she could not get her breath. She believed
+that Captain Jules was about to discover a wonderful
+pearl. He had wrenched the shells free
+and was trying to open them. Madge stood
+some feet away from him, quivering with excitement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And the sea shall give up its treasures&#8217;,&#8221;
+she quoted softly to herself as she watched.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span></p>
+<p>The next moment her hands made an involuntary
+movement in the water. Had she been on
+land her gesture would have meant that she
+was fighting for breath. To her horror she realized
+that she was slowly suffocating. Something
+must have happened to her air-pump
+above the water. She was not faint from any
+other cause, but was getting an insufficient supply
+of fresh air.</p>
+<p>At this moment Madge proved her mettle.
+She remembered Captain Jules&#8217;s injunction,
+&#8220;Keep a clear head under the water and there
+is nothing to fear.&#8221; She knew the signal for
+more fresh air, and gave two hard, quick pulls
+on her life line. Then she waited. Relief would
+surely come in a moment.</p>
+<p>For the first and only time since their descent
+to the bottom of the bay Captain Jules had temporarily
+neglected Madge. He certainly had
+not expected to find any pearls in so unlikely a
+place as Delaware Bay; yet the shells he held
+in his hand were most unusual. The thrill of his
+old occupation seized hold of the pearl fisher.
+His big hands fairly trembled with emotion. He
+felt, rather than saw, Madge jerk her life line
+twice, but it never dawned on him that her signal
+for more air might fail to be answered.</p>
+<p>Madge signaled again. A loud buzzing
+seemed to sound in her ears. Her tongue felt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+thick and swollen. She could not see a foot
+ahead of her. All the dazzling, shimmering
+beauty of the world under the water had passed
+into blackness. The little captain&#8217;s eyes were
+glazing behind the glass windows of her helmet.
+She felt that she must be dying. But she had
+strength to give one more signal. Air! air!
+How could she ever have believed that there
+was anything in the world so precious as fresh
+air? Madge had a vision of a field of new-mown
+hay in her old home at &#8220;Forest House.&#8221;
+The wind was blowing through it with a delicious
+fragrance. Had she the strength to pull her
+life line once again? The water that she loved
+so dearly was to claim her at last. She made a
+motion to go toward Captain Jules, but she had
+no control of her limbs.</p>
+<p>Then Captain Jules became aroused to action.
+He realized that Madge had signaled for air, not
+once, but several times. This meant that her
+signal had not been answered. The captain had
+been for too many years a deep-sea diver not to
+guess instantly the girl&#8217;s condition. The groan
+inside his helmet came from the bottom of his
+heart. Captain Jules&#8217;s hands shook. He dropped
+the shells that he believed might contain
+priceless pearls down into the soft sand in the
+bed of the bay.</p>
+<p>It was at this moment that Tom Curtis and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+Phyllis Alden, as well as the captain&#8217;s boat tenders,
+caught his confusing signals from below.
+More fresh air was pumped down the tube to
+Captain Jules, but not to Madge.</p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s leap and quick work at Madge&#8217;s air-pump
+must have taken place not more than
+three minutes afterward, but they were horrible,
+agonizing moments. Madge hardly knew how
+they passed. Captain Jules suffered the regret
+of a lifetime. How could he have been so unwise
+as to entrust the safety of this girl, whose
+life was so dear to him, to the perils of a diver&#8217;s
+experiences? In the few weeks of their acquaintance
+Madge Morton had become all in all
+to Captain Jules Fontaine.</p>
+<p>There was but one thing for Captain Jules to
+do for his companion. He must signal to have
+her drawn up to the surface of the water again,
+trusting that she would not suffocate for lack of
+air in her ascent.</p>
+<p>Madge was near enough to lay her hand on
+Captain Jules&#8217;s arm. Phil&#8217;s relief had come
+just in time. The life-giving fresh air from the
+world above pressed into her copper helmet. It
+filled her nose and mouth, it poured into her
+aching lungs. She received new life, new energy.
+Now she was no longer afraid. She
+did not wish to go above the surface of the
+water. Surely all above was now well. She
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+yearned to continue her adventures on the under
+side of the world.</p>
+<p>She it was, not Captain Jules, who dropped
+down on her hands and knees to grope for the
+captain&#8217;s lost pearl shells.</p>
+<p>But the sand had covered them up forever, or
+else the water had carried them away!</p>
+<p>Captain Jules wished to take Madge out of
+the water immediately, yet he yielded for a minute
+to her disappointment. What treasures had
+they lost when he threw the mother-of-pearl
+shells away? Neither of them would ever know.
+The old diver looked about in the soft mud, while
+Madge raked furiously near the spot where she
+thought the sailor had dropped the shells. Captain
+Jules walked on for a little distance. He
+had seen beyond them a tangled mass of other
+shells and seaweed and it occurred to him that
+the water might have carried his shells into
+some hidden crevice nearby.</p>
+<p>But Madge never left her chosen spot. Deeper
+and deeper she dug. What a swirl of mud arose
+and eddied about her, darkening the clear water
+in which she stood! The little captain&#8217;s hammer
+struck against something hard. Was it a
+rock embedded in the sand? Yet a distinct
+sound rang out, as of one metal striking against
+another!</p>
+<p>Madge did not know how she summoned Captain
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+Jules back to her side. She was wild with
+curiosity and excitement. Captain Jules was
+smiling behind his copper mask. The young girl
+diver had probably found a piece of old iron
+cast off from some ship. Still, she should unearth
+whatever she had discovered so near the
+dark kingdom of Pluto.</p>
+<p>The captain worked with her. Whatever her
+find might be, it was larger and heavier than
+Captain Jules had expected. They could afford
+to spend no more time with it. It was time for
+Madge to leave the water.</p>
+<p>It is difficult to make an imploring gesture in
+a diver&#8217;s suit. Yet, somehow, Madge must have
+managed to do so. For one moment longer the
+old pearl diver relented. The hole that they
+were digging in the bottom of the bay was widening
+before them. A chunk of what looked like
+solid iron was visible. Then a triangular end
+came into view. It was rusted until it shone like
+beautiful green enamel. The top was absolutely
+flat and of some depth, as it was so hard to excavate.</p>
+<p>The time was growing short. Madge had been
+under the water as long as was safe for any
+amateur diver. The captain was a man to be
+obeyed, as she knew instinctively. She gave one
+more dig into the mud about her iron treasure.
+It now became plain, both to her and to Captain
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span>
+Jules, that she had found an old iron chest. The
+captain tugged at it with both his great, strong
+hands. It was strangely heavy. But he managed
+to lift it in his arms.</p>
+<p>Straightway he gave the signal to ascend;
+three sharp tugs at his life line. Madge followed
+suit. But she cast one long backward glance at
+the watery world into which she might never
+again descend, as slowly, steadily, the boat tenders
+pulled up her long life line. Her feet dangled
+above the sandy bottom of the bay. Now
+she could see even farther off. About forty feet
+from the rapidly filling hole from which she and
+the captain had extracted the iron chest was a
+spar of a ship jutting above the sand. The little
+captain may have been wrong, but it looked
+like the very spar on which Tania&#8217;s dress had
+caught the day she was so nearly drowned.
+Madge could not tell how far she and Captain
+Jules had traveled on the bottom of the bay, but
+she knew they had made their descent at a place
+no very great distance from the spot where Roy
+Dennis&#8217;s yacht had run down their skiff, and
+Captain Jules had rescued Tania and herself.</p>
+<p>Thought travels swifter than anything else in
+the created world. So Madge&#8217;s thoughts had
+reached the upper world before she followed
+them. She wondered if the girls would be very
+sadly disappointed when she returned bearing,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+instead of a costly pearl, nothing but a rusted
+iron box!</p>
+<p>Would Phil have better luck when she descended
+to the depths of the bay? What had
+happened in the outside world since she had disappeared
+from it a long, long time ago?</p>
+<p>A flare of blinding sunlight smote across the
+glass goggles in Madge&#8217;s copper helmet. She
+felt herself picked up and lifted bodily into a
+boat. Her helmet and corselet were unscrewed.
+She lay still, smiling faintly as the boat made
+for her friends who crowded, watching, on the
+pier. Captain Jules, bearing the small iron
+chest, landed a moment later. The little captain
+had been in a new world, into which few men
+and rarely any women have ever entered. She
+had been out of her human element, a creature
+of the water, not of the air, and it seemed to her
+that she must have lived a whole new lifetime
+as a deep-sea diver.</p>
+<p>Tom Curtis stared anxiously at his watch
+and smiled into her white face. He breathed a
+sigh of relief and of wonder. Captain Jules
+Fontaine and Madge Morton had been down at
+the bottom of Delaware Bay exactly thirty minutes!</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVII_THE_FAIRY_GODMOTHER_S_WISH_COMES_TRUE' id='XVII_THE_FAIRY_GODMOTHER_S_WISH_COMES_TRUE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+<h3>THE FAIRY GODMOTHER&#8217;S WISH COMES TRUE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Captain Jules decided to wait until
+another day before taking Phyllis Alden
+on the journey from which he and
+Madge had just returned. The old sailor was
+too deeply thankful to see his first charge safe
+on land. Poor Miss Jenny Ann could do nothing
+but lean over Madge and cry; the nervous
+strain of waiting while the girl was under the
+water had been too great. Indeed, even the people
+who, Madge knew, were not in the least interested
+in her, appeared dreadfully upset.
+Philip Holt&#8217;s face was very pale and his eyes
+shifted uneasily from Phyllis&#8217;s to Madge&#8217;s
+face.</p>
+<p>Phyllis was the most self-possessed of the four
+girls. She was greatly disappointed at the captain&#8217;s
+determination to put off the time for her
+diving expedition until a later date. But Phyllis
+was always unselfish. She realized that her
+chaperon and her friends had had about as
+much anxiety as they could endure in one day.
+Madge had been under the water, and she could
+not dream of what the others had suffered
+above, while awaiting her return.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis put her arms about the little captain
+and embraced her with an affection she
+had not shown her during the summer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;will you ever
+stop being the most reckless girl in the world?
+What possible good could that wretched diving
+feat of yours do anybody on earth? If my hair
+weren&#8217;t already white I am sure it would have
+turned so in the last half-hour. Look at poor
+Philip Holt. He seems as nervous as though
+you were his own sister.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge and Captain Jules had both taken off
+their heavy diving suits and were soon shaking
+hands with every one on the pier. Even Roy
+Dennis and Mabel Farrar, much as they disliked
+Madge, could not conceal the fact that they
+thought her extremely plucky.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules had laid the iron chest on the
+ground and for the moment they had forgotten
+it.</p>
+<p>It was little Tania who danced up to it and
+tried to lift it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Show us the pearls you found, Madge,&#8221;
+Eleanor begged her cousin at this instant, her
+brown eyes twinkling.</p>
+<p>The little captain looked crestfallen. &#8220;I am
+afraid we didn&#8217;t find anything of value,&#8221; she
+said, trying to pretend that she was not disappointed.
+&#8220;I have only some pretty shells and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span>
+stones that I gathered on the bottom of the bay
+for Tania.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She pulled her sea treasures out of her netted
+diving bag. Sure enough, the water had
+dried on them and the shells and stones appeared
+quite dull and ugly. There were almost as
+pretty shells and pebbles to be picked up at any
+place along the Cape May beach.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Madge!&#8221; exclaimed Lillian, before she
+realized what she was saying, &#8220;surely, you
+didn&#8217;t waste your time in bringing up such silly
+trifles as these?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge shook her head humbly. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t
+find anything else but this old iron chest. Captain
+Jules, may I take it back to the houseboat
+with me as a souvenir, or do you wish it? Tania,
+child, you can&#8217;t lift it, it is too heavy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom Curtis brought the chest to Captain
+Jules. Some of the crowd had moved away,
+now that the diving was over. But a dozen or
+more strangers pressed about the girls and their
+friends.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is something in this little chest, Captain,&#8221;
+declared Tom Curtis quietly, as he set it
+down before the captain and Madge. &#8220;I could
+feel something roll around in the box as I lifted
+it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules shook the heavy safe. Something certainly
+rattled on the inside.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></p>
+<p>There were bits of moss and tiny shells and
+stones encrusted on the upper lid of the box.
+Deliberately Captain Jules scraped them off
+with a stick. The houseboat party and Tom
+were beginning to grow impatient. What made
+Captain Jules so slow? Philip Holt, who was
+standing by Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s side, gazed sneeringly
+at the operations. He was glad, indeed, that he
+had not risked his life in descending to the bottom
+of the bay in search for pearls, only to bring
+up a rusty chest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The box is fastened tightly; it will have to
+be broken open,&#8221; remarked Madge indifferently.
+She was feeling tired, now that the excitement
+of her diving trip was over. She wished
+to go home to the houseboat. She did not wish
+Captain Jules to guess for an instant how disappointed
+she was that they had found nothing
+of value on their diving adventure. If only the
+captain had not dropped the shells in which
+there might have been a chance of finding
+pearls!</p>
+<p>Captain Jules had hold of the iron hammer
+that he used when diving. Click! click! click!
+he struck three times on the lock of the iron
+safe. Like the magic tinder-box, the lid flew
+open. Tania&#8217;s long-drawn childish, &#8220;Oh!&#8221; was
+the only sound that broke the tense and breathless
+stillness that pervaded the group.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span></p>
+<p>A single pearl! The scorned iron chest
+almost full of shining coins and precious stones!
+There were coins of gold and silver&mdash;strange
+coins that no one in the watching crowd had
+ever seen before. Some of them bore dates and
+inscriptions of English mintings of the early
+part of the eighteenth century.</p>
+<p>Of course, it was incredible! No one believed
+his eyes. A treasure-chest unearthed after more
+than two hundred years? It was impossible!</p>
+<p>Yet instantly each one of the girls remembered
+that the pirates had sunk many vessels in
+Delaware Bay in the latter part of the seventeenth
+and the beginning of the eighteenth
+century. In those days many wealthy English
+families came over with their servants
+and their treasure to settle in the new country
+of America.</p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s book on the history of piracy had recalled
+this information to the girls only ten days
+before. It was then, when Madge lay with her
+head resting in her hands, looking dreamily out
+over the waters, that she had wondered how
+anything so remote from her as the story of the
+early American battles with pirate ships could
+help her to solve her present troubles? Yet
+here, like a miracle before her eyes, lay the answer!</p>
+<p>The little captain was the last of the onlookers
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+to know what had happened. She was too dazed,
+perhaps, from her stay under the water.</p>
+<p>It was only when Tania flung her eager, thin
+arms about her beloved Fairy Godmother&#8217;s neck
+that Madge actually woke up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fairies who live under the water have
+given you these wonderful things,&#8221; whispered
+Tania. &#8220;I prayed that they would come to see
+you, bringing you all the good gifts that they
+had.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules reached over and set the priceless
+box before Madge. She was encircled by
+Miss Jenny Ann and her beloved houseboat
+chums.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is all yours, Madge,&#8221; asserted Captain
+Jules solemnly. &#8220;You found it, child. I should
+never have discovered it but for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge shook her red-brown head. &#8220;Captain
+Jules, that chest is far more yours than it is
+mine. I should never have gone down under the
+water but for you. If Phil had only dived first,
+instead of me, she would have found it, I won&#8217;t
+have any of the money or the jewelry unless I
+can share it with the rest of you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Then, to Madge&#8217;s own surprise, she began to
+cry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, there, little mate, it will be all right,&#8221;
+Captain Jules assured her quietly. &#8220;You&#8217;ve
+had a bit too much for one day. We don&#8217;t know
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+the value of what we have found just yet, but
+the old jewelry will make pretty trinkets for you
+girls. We&#8217;ll see about the rest later on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann put her arm about Madge
+on one side. Phil was on the other side of her
+chum.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We will go home now, dear,&#8221; said Miss
+Jenny Ann to Madge. &#8220;You are worn out from
+all this excitement.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll look after the girls, Captain,&#8221; promised
+Tom Curtis quietly, &#8220;then I will come back to
+you.&#8221; A flash of understanding passed between
+Captain Jules and Tom Curtis. They had both
+guessed that Madge&#8217;s iron box of old jewelry
+and coins represented more money than the
+girls could comprehend, and that it was better
+for the news of the discovery to be kept as quiet
+as possible for the time being.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will walk home with me, won&#8217;t you,
+Philip?&#8221; Mrs. Curtis asked her guest. &#8220;I am
+rather tired from the excitement of this most
+unusual morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Philip Holt had forgotten that he wished
+to keep on the good side of his wealthy hostess.
+His eyes were staring eagerly and greedily at
+the closed iron box which old Captain Jules was
+guarding. He took a step forward, stopped and
+looked at the little crowd standing near.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I can&#8217;t go back with you now, Mrs.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+Curtis,&#8221; he answered abruptly, &#8220;I have some
+important business to transact.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis walked away deeply offended.
+Philip Holt, however, was too fully occupied
+with his own disappointment to note this. A
+sudden daring idea had taken possession of him.
+Perhaps Madge Morton was not so lucky after
+all. Finding a treasure did not necessarily mean
+keeping it.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVIII_MISSING_A_FAIRY_GODMOTHER' id='XVIII_MISSING_A_FAIRY_GODMOTHER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+<h3>MISSING, A FAIRY GODMOTHER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Several days after the finding of the
+treasure-chest experts came down from
+Philadelphia to appraise its value. It
+was not easy to decide, immediately, what market
+price the old jewels, set in quaintly chased
+gold, would bring. But the least that the coins
+and stones would be worth was ten thousand
+dollars! It might be more. An extra thousand
+dollars or so was hardly worth considering,
+when ten thousand would make things turn out
+so beautifully even.</p>
+<p>Madge and Captain Jules, Miss Jenny Ann
+and the other houseboat girls had many discussions
+about Madge&#8217;s discovery of the iron safe.</p>
+<p>The little captain was entirely alone on one
+side of the argument. The others were all
+against her. Yet she won her point. She continued
+to insist that her wonderful find was
+purely an accident. How could she ever have
+unearthed a box, lost from a sunken ship, that
+had probably been buried for centuries, if Captain
+Jules Fontaine had not listened to her
+pleadings and taken her on the wonderful diving
+trip with him? Though she had actually
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+struck the first blow on the piece of iron embedded
+in the bay, she could never have dragged the
+safe out of the mud, or been able to carry it up
+to the surface, without Captain Jules&#8217;s assistance.</p>
+<p>Madge and the old sailor started their discussion
+alone. The captain had come over to the
+houseboat, bringing the iron safe with him so
+that the girls might have a better view of its
+wonders. He had firmly made up his mind that
+Madge must be made to understand that the
+money the treasure would bring was to be all
+hers. He would not accept one cent of it. Fate
+had been kinder to him than he had hoped in
+allowing him to guide Madge to the discovery of
+her fortune.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ten thousand dollars!&#8221; exclaimed Madge
+ecstatically, when the old sailor reported the
+news to her. &#8220;It&#8217;s the most wonderful thing I
+ever heard of in my life. I didn&#8217;t dream it was
+worth so much money. Will you please lend me
+a piece of paper and a pencil, Captain Jules. I
+never have been clever at arithmetic.&#8221; Madge
+knitted her brows thoughtfully. &#8220;Ten thousand
+dollars divided by two means five thousand dollars
+for you and the same sum for us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The captain cleared his throat. &#8220;What&#8217;s the
+rest of the arithmetic?&#8221; he demanded gruffly.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t think much of that first division.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></p>
+<p>But Madge was hardly listening. She was
+biting the end of her pencil. &#8220;Six doesn&#8217;t go
+into five thousand just evenly,&#8221; she replied
+thoughtfully, &#8220;but with fractions I suppose we
+can manage. You see that will be eight hundred
+and thirty-three dollars and something over for
+Miss Jenny Ann to put in bank to take care of
+her if she ever gets sick, or has to stop teaching;
+and the same sum will pay for Phil&#8217;s first year
+at college and for Eleanor&#8217;s graduating at Miss
+Tolliver&#8217;s, so uncle won&#8217;t have to worry over
+that any more. Then my little Fairy Godmother
+can go to some beautiful school in the country,
+and not be shut up in a horrid home with a capital
+&#8216;H,&#8217; which is what Philip Holt has persuaded
+Mrs. Curtis ought to be done with her. And Lillian
+can save her money to buy pretty clothes,
+because she is not as poor as the rest of us and
+dearly loves nice things, and&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; Madge&#8217;s
+speech ended from lack of breath.</p>
+<p>The captain rubbed his rough chin reflectively.
+&#8220;Oh! I see,&#8221; he nodded, &#8220;I am to get half of the
+money and you are to get a sixth of a half. Is
+that it?&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/mmv-183.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 314px; height: 480px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 314px;'>
+Madge and Captain Jules Started Their Discussion Alone.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span></div>
+<p>Madge lowered her voice to a whisper. &#8220;Dear
+Captain Jules,&#8221; she said in a wheedling tone,
+&#8220;you&#8217;ll help me, won&#8217;t you? The girls and Miss
+Jenny Ann declare positively that they won&#8217;t accept
+a single dollar of the money. I shall be the
+most miserable girl in the world if they don&#8217;t.
+Why, we four girls and Miss Jenny Ann have
+shared everything in common, our misfortunes
+and our good fortunes, since we started out together.
+If any one of the other girls had happened
+to discover the treasure instead of me, she
+would certainly have divided it with the others.
+Phil, Lillian, Eleanor and Miss Jenny Ann don&#8217;t
+even dare to deny it. So they simply must give
+in to me about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; continued the captain, &#8220;I am yet to
+be told what Madge Morton means to do with the
+one-sixth of one-half of her wealth when it
+finally gets round to her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The little captain&#8217;s eyes shone, though her
+face sobered. &#8220;I am not going to college with
+Phil, though I hate to be parted from her,&#8221; she
+replied. &#8220;Somehow, I think I am not exactly
+meant for a college girl. I believe I will just advertise
+in all the papers in the world for my
+father. Then, if he is alive, I shall surely find
+him. With whatever money is left I shall go to
+him. If he is poor, I will manage to take care of
+him in some way,&#8221; ended Madge confidently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will, eh?&#8221; returned Captain Jules
+gruffly. &#8220;It seems to me, my girl, that this is a
+pretty position you have mapped out for me. I
+am to take half of our find&mdash;nice, selfish old
+codger that I am&mdash;while you divide yours with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+your friends. I am not going to take a cent of
+that money, so you can just do your sums over
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was at this point that Madge called Miss
+Jenny Ann and the other houseboat girls into
+the discussion. It ended with the captain&#8217;s
+agreeing to take one-seventh of the money, if all
+the others would follow suit.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because, if you don&#8217;t,&#8221; declared Madge in
+her usual impetuous fashion, &#8220;I shall just throw
+this chest of money and jewelry right overboard
+and it can go down to the bottom of the bay and
+stay there, for all I care.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules remained to dinner on the
+houseboat that evening. After dinner the girls
+proceeded to adorn themselves with the old sets
+of jewelry found in the safe. Madge wore the
+pearls because, she insisted, they were her
+special jewels, and she had gone down to the
+bottom of the bay to find them. Phil was more
+fascinated with some old-fashioned garnets, Lillian
+with a big, golden topaz pin, and Eleanor
+with some turquoises that had turned a curious
+greenish color from old age.</p>
+<p>It was well after ten o&#8217;clock when the captain
+announced that he must set out for home. Tom
+Curtis had been spending the evening on the
+houseboat with the girls, but he had gone home
+an hour before to join his mother and her guest,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+Philip Holt. Before going away the captain
+concluded that it would be best for him to leave
+the iron safe of coins and precious stones on the
+houseboat for the night. It was too late for
+him to carry it back to &#8220;The Anchorage&#8221; alone.
+As no one but Tom knew of its being on the
+houseboat, the valuables could be in no possible
+danger. The captain would call some time within
+the next day or so to take the iron box to a
+safety deposit vault in the town of Cape May.</p>
+<p>Together Miss Jenny Ann and the captain hid
+the precious chest in a small drawer in the sideboard
+built into the wall of the little dining room
+cabin of the houseboat. They locked this drawer
+carefully and Miss Jenny Ann hid the key under
+her pillow without speaking of it to any one.</p>
+<p>In spite of these precautions no one on the
+houseboat dreamed of any possible danger to
+the safety of their newly-found prize. Remember,
+no one knew of its being on the houseboat
+save Tom Curtis and Captain Jules. Up to to-night
+Captain Jules had been guarding the
+treasure at his house up the bay. No one had
+been allowed to see it since the famous day of
+its discovery, except the experts who had come
+down from Philadelphia to give some idea of the
+value of Madge&#8217;s remarkable find.</p>
+<p>Little Tania was in the habit of sleeping in
+the dining room of the houseboat on a cot which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+Miss Jenny Ann prepared for her each night.
+She went to bed earlier than the other girls, so
+in order not to disturb her, she was stowed away
+in there instead of occupying one of the berths
+in the two staterooms. Soon after the captain&#8217;s
+departure Miss Jenny Ann tucked Tania safely
+in bed. She closed the door of the dining room
+that led out on the cabin deck and also the door
+that connected with the stateroom occupied by
+Madge and Phil. The cabin of the &#8220;Merry
+Maid&#8221; was a square divided into four rooms,
+and Miss Jenny Ann&#8217;s bedroom did not open
+directly into the dining room.</p>
+<p>It was a dark night and a strangely still one.
+The weather was unusually warm and close for
+Cape May. Over the flat marshes and islands
+the heat was oppressive. The residents of the
+summer cottages left their doors and windows
+open, hoping that a stray breeze might spring
+up during the night to refresh them. No one
+seemed to have any fear of burglars.</p>
+<p>On the &#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; the night was so still
+and cloudy that the girls sat up for an hour
+after Captain Jules left them, talking over their
+wonderful good fortune. They were almost
+asleep before they tumbled into their berths.
+Once there, they slept soundly all night long.
+Nothing apparently happened to disturb them,
+but Madge, who was the lightest sleeper in the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+party, did half-waken at one time during the
+night. She thought she heard Tania cry out.
+It was a peculiar cry and was not repeated. She
+knew that Tania was given to dreaming. Almost
+every night the child made some kind of
+sound in her sleep. Madge sat up in bed and
+listened, but hearing no further sound, she went
+fast asleep again without a thought of anxiety.</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann was the first to open her
+eyes the next morning. It must have been as
+late as seven o&#8217;clock, for the sun was shining
+brilliantly. She slipped on her wrapper and
+went into the kitchen to start the fire. A few
+moments later she went into the dining room to
+call Tania and to help the child to dress. But
+the dining room door on to the cabin deck was
+open. Tania&#8217;s bedclothes were in a heap on the
+floor. The child had disappeared.</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann was not in the least uneasy
+or annoyed. She knew that Tania had a way of
+creeping in Madge&#8217;s bed in the early mornings
+and of snuggling close to her. Miss Jenny
+Ann tip-toed softly into Madge&#8217;s and Phil&#8217;s
+stateroom. There was no dark head with its
+straight, short black hair and quaint, elfish face
+pressed close against Madge&#8217;s lovely auburn
+one. Madge was slumbering peacefully. Miss
+Jenny Ann peered into the upper berth. Phil
+was alone and had not stirred.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span></p>
+<p>Tania was such a queer, wild little thing! Miss
+Jenny Ann felt annoyed. Perhaps Tania had
+awakened and slipped off the boat without telling
+any of them. She had solemnly promised
+never to run away again, but she might have
+broken her word. Miss Jenny Ann explored the
+houseboat decks. She called the child&#8217;s name
+softly once or twice so as not to disturb the other
+girls. There was no answer. She went back
+into the cabin dining room. Neatly folded on the
+chair, where Miss Jenny Ann herself had placed
+them the night before, were Tania&#8217;s clothes. The
+child could hardly have run away in her little
+white nightgown.</p>
+<p>When the girls finally wakened Madge was the
+only one of them who was alarmed at first. She
+recalled Tania&#8217;s strange cry in the night. She
+wondered if it could have been possible that she
+had heard a sound before the little girl cried
+out. But she could not decide. She would not
+believe, however, that Tania had forgotten her
+promise and gone away again without permission.</p>
+<p>As soon as Eleanor and Lillian were dressed
+they went ashore and walked up and down near
+the houseboat, calling aloud for Tania. Phyllis
+was the most composed of the party. She had
+two small twin sisters of her own and knew that
+children were in the habit of creating just such
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+unnecessary excitements. Still, it was better to
+look for a lost child before she had had time to
+wander too far away.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge,&#8221; suggested Phil quietly, &#8220;don&#8217;t be
+so frightened about Tania. I have an idea the
+child has walked off the houseboat in her sleep.
+She must have done so, for the dining room door
+is unlocked from the inside. Our door on to the
+deck was not locked, but Tania&#8217;s was, because
+Miss Jenny Ann recalls having locked it herself.
+She came through our room when she joined us
+outdoors after putting Tania to bed. You and
+I had better go up at once to find Tom Curtis.
+Dear old Tom is such a comfort! He will help
+us search for Tania. Then, if it is necessary, he
+will ask the Cape May authorities to have the police
+on the lookout for her. If Tania has wandered
+off in her sleep, the poor little thing will be
+terrified when she wakes up and finds herself in
+a strange place. Surely, some one will take her
+in and care for her until we find her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge and Phil were wonderfully glad to find
+Tom Curtis up and alone on his front veranda.
+He had just come in from a swim. He seemed
+so strong, clean, and fine after his morning&#8217;s
+dip in the ocean that his two girl friends were
+immediately reassured. Tom would tell them
+just what had better be done to find Tania.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s and Philip Holt&#8217;s window
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+blinds are still down, thank goodness!&#8221; whispered
+Madge to Phil, &#8220;so I suppose they are
+both asleep. Let us not tell them anything
+about Tania&#8217;s disappearance. They would just
+put it down to naughtiness in her, and that
+would make me awfully cross.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom Curtis felt perfectly sure that he would
+soon run across the lost Tania. So he left word
+for his mother that he had gone to the houseboat
+and that she was not to expect him until
+she saw him again.</p>
+<p>For two hours Tom and the houseboat party
+continued the hunt for the lost child without
+calling in assistance. Then Madge and Tom
+went to the town authorities of Cape May. The
+police investigated the city and the houses in the
+nearby seaside resort without finding the least
+clue to Tania. Toward the close of the long day
+Tom Curtis began to fear that Tania had fallen
+into the water. Cape May is only a strip of
+land between the great ocean and the bay, and
+the land is broken into many small islands nearly
+surrounded by salt water and marshes.</p>
+<p>Tom managed to get the girls safely out of
+the way; then, with Miss Jenny Ann&#8217;s permission,
+he had the water near the houseboat thoroughly
+dredged. But Tania&#8217;s little body was
+not found for the second time down in the bottom
+of the bay. It was not possible to have all
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+the water in the neighborhood dragged in a
+single day, so Tom said nothing of his fears to
+his anxious friends.</p>
+<p>It was late in the evening. Miss Jenny Ann
+had prepared dinner for the weary and disheartened
+girls. She had snowy biscuit, broiled ham,
+roasted potatoes, milk, and honey, the very
+things her charges usually loved. Tom Curtis
+felt impelled to go back home. All that day he
+had seen nothing of his mother or of their visitor,
+Philip Holt, and Tom was afraid they would
+begin to wonder what had become of him.</p>
+<p>Madge caught Tom by the sleeve and looked
+at him with beseeching eyes. &#8220;Please don&#8217;t go,
+Tom,&#8221; she begged, with a catch in her voice,
+&#8220;I am sure your mother won&#8217;t mind. She has
+Mr. Holt with her, and I can&#8217;t bear to see you
+go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom and Madge were near the gangplank of
+the houseboat and Tom was trying to make up
+his mind what he should do, when he and Madge
+caught sight of a gray-clad figure walking toward
+them through the twilight mists.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Mother,&#8221; explained Tom in a relieved
+tone. &#8220;Now I can make it all right with her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that horrid Philip Holt isn&#8217;t along,&#8221;
+declared Madge delightedly, &#8220;so I can tell her
+about poor little Tania.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis caught Madge, who had run out
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+to meet her, by the hand. &#8220;My dear child, what
+is the matter with you?&#8221; the older woman asked
+immediately. &#8220;Even in this half-light I can see
+that your face is pale as death and you look utterly
+worn out. If one of you is ill, why have
+you not sent for me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Madge faltered out her story of the lost
+Tania Mrs. Curtis hugged her to her in the old
+sympathetic way that the little captain knew and
+loved.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so sorry, dear,&#8221; soothed Mrs. Curtis,
+&#8220;but I am sure than Tom and Philip Holt will
+find her. I suppose that is why they have both
+been away all day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Philip Holt!&#8221; exclaimed Tom in surprise.
+&#8220;He hasn&#8217;t been with us. I thought he was at
+home with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis shook her head indifferently.
+&#8220;No; he hasn&#8217;t been at the cottage all day.
+Have any of you thought to send word to Captain
+Jules to ask him about Tania? It may be
+that the child is with him. In any event, I know
+Captain Jules would give us good advice.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bully for you, Mother!&#8221; cried Tom, glad to
+catch a straw as he saw the shadow on Madge&#8217;s
+face lighten. &#8220;As soon as I have had a bite of
+supper with the girls I&#8217;ll get hold of a boat and
+go after the captain.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom did not have to make his journey up the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span>
+bay to &#8220;The Anchorage&#8221; that night. While he
+and his mother were at supper with the girls
+they heard the sound of Captain Jules&#8217;s voice
+calling to them over the water. He had to come
+ashore lower down the bay, where the water was
+deeper than it was near the houseboat, but he
+always hallooed as he approached.</p>
+<p>&#8220;O Jenny Ann!&#8221; faltered Madge, trembling
+like a leaf, &#8220;it is our captain. Perhaps he has
+brought Tania back with him. I&mdash;I&mdash;hope nothing
+dreadful has happened to her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without a word Tom fled off the houseboat.
+A moment later he espied Captain Jules coming
+toward him, alone!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Halloo, son!&#8221; called out Captain Jules
+cheerfully. &#8220;Glad to know that you are down
+here with the girls. Funny thing, but I&#8217;ve had
+these girls on my mind all day. It seemed to
+me that they needed me, and I couldn&#8217;t go to
+bed without finding out that everything was
+well with them. What&#8217;s wrong?&#8221; Captain
+Jules had caught a fleeting glimpse of Tom&#8217;s
+harassed face. &#8220;Is it&mdash;is it Madge?&#8221; he asked
+anxiously. &#8220;Is anything the matter with my
+girl?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tom shook his head reassuringly. It took
+very few words to make the captain understand
+that the trouble was over Tania and not Madge.</p>
+<p>When, a moment later, the captain went
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+aboard the &#8220;Merry Maid&#8221; he was able to smile
+bravely at the discouraged women.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, here!&#8221; he cried gruffly, while Madge
+clung to one of his horny hands for support and
+Eleanor to the other, &#8220;what is all this nonsense
+I hear? Tania is not really lost, of course.
+I&#8217;ll bet you we find the little witch in no time.
+She has just gone off somewhere in these New
+Jersey woods to join the fairies she talks so
+much about. They are sure to take good care
+of her. We can&#8217;t do much more looking for her
+to-night, but I&#8217;ll find her first thing in the morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Both Captain Jules and Mrs. Curtis insisted
+that the girls and Miss Jenny Ann go early to
+bed. Just as Captain Jules was saying good
+night it occurred to Miss Jenny Ann that she
+would rather turn over to the old sailor the box
+of coins and jewelry. While Tania was lost
+there would be so many persons in and out of
+the houseboat that Miss Jenny Ann feared
+something might happen to the valuables.</p>
+<p>She went to the drawer in the sideboard in the
+saloon cabin without thinking of the key under
+her pillow, and took hold of the knob. To her
+surprise the drawer opened readily. There was
+no iron safe inside it. Miss Jenny Ann ran to
+her bed and felt under her pillow. The key was
+still there as though it had never been disturbed.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span></p>
+<p>Captain Jules and Tom decided that the simple
+lock to the houseboat sideboard had been
+easily broken open. When, or how, or by whom,
+nobody knew, but it was certain that the jewels
+and money were gone. Fortune, the fickle jade,
+who had brought the houseboat girls such good
+luck only a short time before, had now cruelly
+stolen it away from them.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIX_THE_WICKED_GENII' id='XIX_THE_WICKED_GENII'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+<h3>THE WICKED GENII</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Tania had been aroused in the night by
+seeing a dark figure standing with his
+back to her only a few feet from her bed.
+Involuntarily the child stirred. In that instant
+a black-masked face turned toward her and
+Tania gave the single, terrified scream that
+Madge had heard. Before Tania could call out
+again, a handkerchief was tied so closely around
+her mouth that she could make no further sound.</p>
+<p>A moment later the mysterious, sinister visitor
+picked the child up in his arms and bore her
+swiftly and quietly away from the shelter of the
+houseboat and her beloved friends. The little
+girl was very slender, yet her abductor staggered
+as he walked. He had something besides
+Tania that he was carrying.</p>
+<p>About a quarter of a mile from the houseboat
+Tania was dumped into the rear end of an
+automobile and covered with a heavy steamer
+blanket. Then the automobile started off
+through the night, going faster and faster, it
+seemed to her, with each hour of darkness that
+remained.</p>
+<p>At times the little prisoner slept. When she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+awakened she cried softly to herself, wondering
+who had stolen away with her and what was now
+to become of her. But Tania was only a child of
+the streets and she had been reared in a harder
+school than other happier children, so she made
+no effort to cry out or escape. She knew there
+was no one near to hear her, and the motor car
+was moving so swiftly that she could not possibly
+escape from it.</p>
+<p>Tania and her unknown companion must have
+ridden all night. Evidently the driver of the
+car had not cared about the roads. He had
+pushed through heavy sand and ploughed over
+deep holes regardless of his machine. Speed
+was the only thing he thought of.</p>
+<p>By and by the automobile stopped, after a
+particularly bad piece of traveling. The driver
+got down, lifted Tania, still wrapped in her
+blanket, in his arms and carried her inside a
+house. The child first saw the light in an old
+room, up several flights of steps, which was
+drearier and more miserable than anything she
+had ever beheld in her life in the tenements. It
+was big and mouldy, and dark with cobwebs
+swinging like dusty curtains over the windows
+that had not been washed for years. The windows
+looked out over a swamp that was thick
+with old trees.</p>
+<p>But Tania saw none of these things when the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+blanket was first lifted from her head. She
+gave a gasp of fright and horror. For the first
+time she now realized that her captor was her
+childhood&#8217;s enemy and evil genius, Philip Holt.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; she exclaimed, with a long-drawn sigh
+that was almost a sob, &#8220;it is <i>you</i>! Why have
+you brought me here? What have I done?&#8221;
+Then a look of unearthly wisdom came into Tania&#8217;s
+solemn, black eyes. She continued to
+stare at the young man so silently and gravely
+that Philip Holt&#8217;s blonde face twitched with
+nervousness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t you recognize me before?&#8221; he asked
+fiercely. &#8220;You were quite likely to shriek out in
+the night and spoil everything, so I had to carry
+you off with me, little nuisance that you are!
+You can just make up your mind, young woman,
+that you will stay right here in this room until
+I can take you to that nice institution for bad
+children that I have been telling you about for
+such a long time. You&#8217;ll never see your houseboat
+friends again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tania made no answer, and Philip Holt left
+her sitting on the floor of the gloomy room wide-eyed
+and silent.</p>
+<p>For three days Tania stayed alone in that
+cheerless room. She saw no one but an old, half-foolish
+man who came to her three times a
+day to bring her food. He gave Tania a few
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+rough garments to dress herself in and treated
+the little prisoner kindly, but Tania found it
+was quite useless to ask the old man questions.
+She was a wise, silent child, with considerable
+knowledge of life, and she understood
+that there was nothing to be gained by talking
+to her jailer, who would now and then grin foolishly
+and tell her that she was to be good and
+everything would soon be all right. Her nice,
+kind brother was going to take her away to
+school as soon as he could. The wicked people
+who had been trying to steal her away from her
+own brother should never find her if her brother
+could help it.</p>
+<p>So the long nights passed and the longer days,
+and little Tania would have been very miserable
+indeed except for her fairies and her dreams.
+It is never possible to be unhappy all the time, if
+you own a dream world of your own. Still, Tania
+found it much harder to pretend things, now
+that she had tasted real happiness with her
+houseboat girls, than she had when she lived
+with old Sal. It wasn&#8217;t much fun to play at being
+an enchanted princess when you knew what
+it was to feel like a really happy little girl. And
+no one would care to be taken away to the most
+wonderful castle in fairyland if she had to leave
+the darling houseboat and Madge and Miss
+Jenny Ann and the other girls behind.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></p>
+<p>So all through the daylight Tania sat with her
+small, pale face pressed against the dirty window
+pane, waiting for Madge to come and find
+her. She even hoped that a stranger might walk
+along close enough to the house for her to call
+for aid. But a dreary rain set in and all the
+countryside near Tania&#8217;s prison house looked
+desolate. More than anything Tania feared the
+return of Philip Holt. Once he got hold of her
+again, she knew he would fulfill his threats.</p>
+<p>During this dreadful time Tania had no human
+companion, but she was not like other children.
+She was part little girl and the rest of
+her an elf or a fay. The trees, the birds, and
+flowers were almost as real to her as human beings.
+For, until Madge and Eleanor had found
+her dancing on the New York City street corner,
+she had never had anybody to be kind to her, or
+whom she could love.</p>
+<p>Just outside Tania&#8217;s window there was a tall
+old cedar tree. Its long arms reached quite up
+to her window sill, and when the wind blew it
+used to wave her its greetings. Inside the comfortable
+branches of the tree there was a regular
+apartment house of birds, the nests rising one
+above the other to the topmost limbs.</p>
+<p>Tania held long conversations with these birds
+in the mornings and in the late afternoons. She
+told them all her troubles, and how very much
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+she would like to get away from the place where
+she was now staying. However, the birds were
+great gad-abouts during the day, and Tania
+could hardly blame them.</p>
+<p>There was one fat, fatherly robin that became
+Tania&#8217;s particular friend. He used to hop
+about near her window and nod and chirp to her
+as though to reassure her. &#8220;Your friends will
+come for you to-day, I am quite sure of it,&#8221; he
+used to say, until one day Tania really spoke
+aloud to him and was startled at the sound of
+her own voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe you are a robin at all,&#8221; she
+announced. &#8220;I just believe you are a nice, fat
+father of a whole lot of funny little boys and
+girls. I believe you are enchanted, like me. Oh,
+dear! I was just beginning to believe that I
+wasn&#8217;t a fairy after all but a real little girl with
+pretty clothes and friends to kiss me good
+night.&#8221; Tania sighed. &#8220;I suppose I must be
+a fairy princess after all, for if I was a real
+little girl no one would have cast another wicked
+spell over me and shut me up in this dungeon in
+the woods, which is a whole lot worse than living
+with old Sal.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Yet playing and pretending, and, worse than
+anything, waiting, grew very tiresome to Tania.
+On the morning of the fourth day of her imprisonment
+Tania awoke with a start. Something
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+had knocked on her window pane. It was
+only the old cedar tree, and Tania turned over
+in bed with a sob. But the tapping went on.
+She got up and went to her window. Quick as a
+flash Tania made up her mind to run away. Why
+had she never thought of it before? It was true,
+her bedroom door was always locked, but here
+were the branches of the cedar tree reaching
+close up to her window. Really, this morning
+they seemed to speak quite distinctly to Tania:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why in the world don&#8217;t you come to me? I
+shall hold you quite safe! You can climb down
+through all my arms to the warm earth and then
+run away to your friends.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was just after dawn. The pink sky was
+showing against the earlier grayness when Tania
+slipped into her coarse clothes and, like a
+small elf, crept out of her window into the
+friendly branches of the old tree. She was silent
+and swift as a squirrel as she clambered
+down. But she need not have feared. No one in
+the lonely country place was awake but the
+child.</p>
+<p>Once on the ground, Tania ran on and on,
+without thinking where she was going. She only
+wished to get far away from the dreary house
+where Philip Holt had hidden her. There was a
+thick woods about a mile or so from Tania&#8217;s
+starting place. No one would find her there.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
+Once she was through it Tania hoped to find
+a town, or at least a farm, where she could ask
+for help. In spite of her queer, unchildlike ways,
+Tania knew enough to understand that if she
+could only find some one to telegraph to her
+friends they would soon come to her.</p>
+<p>But the forest through which Tania hoped to
+pass was a dreadful cedar swamp, and in trying
+to cross it Tania wandered far into it and found
+herself hopelessly lost.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XX_A_BOW_OF_SCARLET_RIBBON' id='XX_A_BOW_OF_SCARLET_RIBBON'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+<h3>A BOW OF SCARLET RIBBON</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the three days that had passed since the
+disappearance of Tania from the houseboat
+everything that was possible had been
+done to discover her whereabouts.</p>
+<p>It never occurred to Tom or to Mrs. Curtis
+to connect Philip Holt&#8217;s odd behavior with the
+lost Tania or the vanished treasure box. True,
+he had not been seen for the past three days, but
+Mrs. Curtis had received a note from him the
+day after his disappearance from her house,
+saying that he had been unexpectedly called
+away on very important business so early in
+the morning that he had not wished to awaken
+her, but he had left word with the servants and
+he hoped that they had explained matters to her.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s maids and butler insisted that
+Mr. Holt had given them no message. They had
+not seen or heard him go. So, as Mrs. Curtis
+did not regard Philip Holt&#8217;s withdrawal as of
+any importance, she gave very little thought to
+it.</p>
+<p>Madge Morton, however, had a different idea.
+She laid Tania&#8217;s disappearance at Philip Holt&#8217;s
+door. She, therefore, determined to take Tom
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+Curtis into her confidence, but to ask him not to
+betray their suspicions of Philip Holt to Mrs.
+Curtis until they had better proof of the young
+man&#8217;s guilt. Madge had never told even Tom
+that she had once overheard Philip Holt reveal
+his real identity, nor how much she had guessed
+of the young man&#8217;s true character from Tania&#8217;s
+unconscious and frightened reports of him.</p>
+<p>Tom at first was indignant with Madge, not
+because she and the other girls believed that
+Philip Holt had stolen both their little friend
+and their new-found wealth, but because she had
+not sooner shared her suspicion of his mother&#8217;s
+guest with him. Tom had never liked Philip, so
+it was easy for him to think the worst of the
+goody-goody young man.</p>
+<p>Without a word to Mrs. Curtis, Tom and the
+houseboat girls set to work to trace Philip Holt,
+believing that once he was overtaken Tania and
+the stolen treasure would be accounted for.</p>
+<p>It was not easy work. Philip Holt had not
+been a hypocrite all his life without knowing
+how to play the game of deception. A detective
+sent to New York City to talk to old Sal had
+nothing worth while to report. The woman declared
+positively that Philip was no connection
+of hers; that she had neither seen nor heard of
+the young man lately. As for Tania, Sal had
+truly not set eyes on her from the day that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span>
+Madge had taken the little one under her protection.</p>
+<p>Philip Holt knew well enough that his mother
+would be questioned about his disappearance.
+He believed that Tania had told Madge his true
+history. So old Sal was prepared with her
+story when the detective interviewed her. Yet
+it was curious that the Cape May police were
+unable to find out in what manner the young man
+had left the town. Inquiries at the railroad stations,
+livery stables, and garages gave no clue
+to him.</p>
+<p>The houseboat girls were in despair. Madge
+neither ate nor slept. She felt particularly responsible
+for Tania, as the child had been her
+special charge and protégé. Madge had been
+deeply grieved when her friend, David Brewster,
+had been falsely accused of a crime in their
+previous houseboat holiday, when they had
+spent a part of their time with Mr. and Mrs.
+Preston in Virginia; but that sorrow was as
+nothing to this, for David was almost a grown
+boy and able to look after himself, while Tania
+was little more than a baby. When no news
+came of either Philip Holt or Tania, Madge began
+to believe that Philip Holt had accomplished
+his design. He had managed to shut Tania up
+in some kind of dreadful institution. The little
+captain did not believe that they would ever find
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+the child, and was so unhappy over the loss of
+her Fairy Godmother that she lost her usual
+power to act.</p>
+<p>Phyllis Alden, however, was wide awake and
+on the alert. She knew that it was not possible
+for Philip Holt to leave Cape May without some
+one&#8217;s assistance. Some one must know how and
+when he had disappeared. The whole point was
+to find that person.</p>
+<p>Phil thought over the matter for some time.
+Then she quietly telephoned to Ethel Swann
+and asked her to arrange something for her.
+She made an appointment to call on Ethel the
+same afternoon, and she and Lillian walked over
+to the Swann cottage together. It seemed
+strange to Madge that her two friends could
+have the heart for making calls, but, as there was
+absolutely nothing for them to do save to wait
+for news of Tania that did not come, she said
+nothing save that she did not feel well enough
+to accompany them.</p>
+<p>As Lillian and Phyllis Alden approached the
+Swann summer cottage they saw that Ethel had
+with her on the veranda the two young people
+who had been most unfriendly to them during
+their stay at Cape May, Roy Dennis and Mabel
+Farrar.</p>
+<p>Roy Dennis got up hurriedly. His face flushed
+a dull red, and he began backing down the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+veranda steps, explaining to Ethel that he must
+be off at once.</p>
+<p>Phyllis Alden was always direct. Before Roy
+Dennis could get away from her she walked directly
+up to him, and looking him squarely in
+the eyes said quietly: &#8220;Mr. Dennis, please don&#8217;t
+go away before I have a chance to speak to you.
+It seems absurd to me for us to be such enemies,
+simply because something happened between
+us in the beginning of the summer that
+wasn&#8217;t very agreeable. I wished to ask you a
+question, so I asked Ethel to arrange this meeting
+between us this afternoon.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you wish to ask me?&#8221; he returned
+awkwardly.</p>
+<p>Phil plunged directly into her subject.
+&#8220;Weren&#8217;t you and Philip Holt great friends
+while he was Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s guest?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>Roy Dennis looked uncomfortable. &#8220;We were
+fairly good friends, but not pals,&#8221; he assured
+Phil.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you, perhaps, know him well enough to
+have him tell you where he was going when he
+left Mrs. Curtis&#8217;s,&#8221; continued Phil in a calmly
+assured tone. &#8220;Mrs. Curtis has not received a
+letter from him since he left here, so she does
+not know just where he is. We girls on the
+houseboat would also like very much to know
+what has become of Mr. Holt.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; demanded Roy Dennis sharply.</p>
+<p>Phyllis determined to be perfectly frank. &#8220;I
+will tell you my reason for asking you that
+question,&#8221; she began. &#8220;You may not know it,
+but our little friend, Tania, disappeared from
+Cape May the very same day that Philip Holt
+left the Cape. We all knew that Mr. Holt had
+known Tania for a number of years before we
+met her. He thought that the child ought to be
+shut up in some kind of an institution, but Miss
+Morton wished to put the little girl in a school.
+So it may just be barely possible that Mr. Holt
+took Tania away without asking leave of any
+one.&#8221; Phil made absolutely no reference to the
+stolen money and jewels in her talk with Roy
+Dennis. If they could run down Philip Holt
+and Tania the treasure-box would be disclosed
+as a matter of course.</p>
+<p>Roy Dennis hesitated for barely a second.
+Then he remarked to Phil, half-admiringly:
+&#8220;You have been frank with me, Miss Alden, and,
+to tell you the truth, I think it is about time that
+I be equally frank with you. I have no idea
+where Philip Holt now is, but I do know something
+about how he got away from Cape May,
+and I am beginning to have my suspicions that
+there might have been something &#8216;shady&#8217; in his
+behavior that I did not think of at the time.
+Three nights ago, it must have been about
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span>
+eleven o&#8217;clock, I was just about ready for bed
+when Mr. Holt rang me up and asked to speak
+to me alone. He said that he had just had bad
+news and wished to get out of Cape May as
+soon as possible. He asked me if I would lend
+him my car so that he could drive to a nearby
+railroad station where he could get a train that
+would take him sooner to the place he wished
+to go. I thought it was rather a strange request
+and asked him why he didn&#8217;t borrow Tom
+Curtis&#8217;s car? He said that Mrs. Curtis had
+gone to bed and that he did not like to disturb
+her. He and Tom had never been friendly, so
+he did not wish to ask him a favor. Well, I
+can&#8217;t say I felt very cheerful at letting Philip
+Holt have the use of my car, but he said that he
+would send it back in a few hours and it would
+be all right. I got it out for him myself and he
+drove away in it. It didn&#8217;t come back until this
+morning, and you never saw such a sight in your
+life, covered with mud and the tires almost used
+up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil nodded sympathetically. &#8220;Who brought
+the car back to you?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;Was it Mr.
+Holt?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Roy Dennis shrugged his heavy shoulders.
+&#8220;No, indeed! He sent it back by a chap who
+wouldn&#8217;t say a word about himself, Holt, or
+from which direction he had come.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Is the man still in town?&#8221; asked Phil, her
+voice trembling, &#8220;and would you mind Tom
+Curtis&#8217;s asking him some questions? We are
+so awfully anxious.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Roy Dennis rose quickly. &#8220;I believe the fellow
+is around yet, and I&#8217;ll get hold of him and
+take him to Tom at once. I don&#8217;t think that
+Philip Holt has had anything to do with the kidnapping
+of the little girl, but his whole behavior
+looks pretty funny. We will make the chauffeur
+chap tell us where Philip Holt was when he
+turned over my car to him.&#8221; Roy was off like a
+flash.</p>
+<p>Phyllis and Lillian were making their apologies
+to Ethel for being obliged to hurry off at
+once to the houseboat when Mabel Farrar took
+hold of Phil&#8217;s hand. Her usually haughty expression
+had changed to one of the deepest interest.
+&#8220;I am <i>so</i> sorry about the little lost girl,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;I hope you will soon find her. She
+is a queer, fascinating little thing. I have
+watched her all summer, and she certainly can
+dance. I can&#8217;t believe that Philip Holt has actually
+stolen her, yet I don&#8217;t know. Roy Dennis
+just told Ethel Swann and me something awfully
+queer. He says he found a bright scarlet
+ribbon, like a bow that a child would wear in her
+hair, in the bottom of his motor car when the
+chauffeur brought it back to him to-day.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span></p>
+<p>Phil&#8217;s black eyes flashed. &#8220;If I ever needed
+anything to convince me that Philip Holt stole
+Tania away from us that would do it,&#8221; she returned
+indignantly. &#8220;Little Tania slept every
+night with her hair tied up with a scarlet ribbon
+so as to keep it out of her eyes. When we
+find where Philip Holt is we shall find Tania,
+and if I have any say in the matter he shall answer
+to the law for what he has done.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXI_THE_RACE_FOR_LIFE' id='XXI_THE_RACE_FOR_LIFE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+<h3>THE RACE FOR LIFE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It took the united efforts of the Cape May
+police, Tom Curtis, and Roy Dennis to
+make the chauffeur who had come back
+with Roy&#8217;s car say where he had met Philip
+Holt, and when Philip had turned over the automobile
+to him to be brought back to Roy.</p>
+<p>The chauffeur was frightened; he finally
+broke down and told the whole story. Philip
+Holt had driven from the farmhouse where he
+left Tania to the nearest village. There he had
+hired the chauffeur and the man had taken
+Philip within a few miles of New York. In
+the course of the ride, Philip had told the automobile
+driver the same story about Tania that
+he had told the old man in the tumbled-down
+farmhouse:</p>
+<p>Tania was Philip&#8217;s sister. He was hiding her
+from enemies, who wished to steal the child
+away from him. If anybody inquired about the
+child or about him the chauffeur was to say
+nothing. Philip would pay him handsomely for
+bringing the car back to Cape May.</p>
+<p>The reason that Philip Holt had sent back
+Roy Dennis&#8217;s automobile was because he knew
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+that Roy would put detectives on his track if
+he failed to return it. Besides, it would be far
+easier for Philip Holt to get away with his precious
+iron safe if he were free of all other entanglements.</p>
+<p>It was nearly midnight before the story that
+the chauffeur told was clear to Tom Curtis. The
+man believed that he knew the very house in
+which Tania was probably concealed. There
+was no other place like it near the town where
+the chauffeur lived.</p>
+<p>Tom got out his own automobile. The chauffeur
+would ride with him. They would go directly
+to the old farmhouse. Tania would be
+there and all would soon be well.</p>
+<p>It was about nine o&#8217;clock the next morning
+when Tom&#8217;s thundering knock at the rickety
+farmhouse door brought the foolish old man
+to open it. As soon as Tom mentioned Tania,
+the old fellow was alarmed. He was stupid and
+poor, but Philip Holt&#8217;s behavior had begun to
+look strange even to him.</p>
+<p>The old farmer was glad to tell Tom Curtis
+everything he knew. It was all right. Tania
+was safe upstairs. He would take Tom up at
+once to see her. He was just on his way up to
+take Tania her breakfast. Indeed, the old man
+explained with tears in his eyes, he had not
+meant to assist in the kidnapping of a child. He
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+was only a poor, lonely old fellow and he hadn&#8217;t
+meant any harm. He had never seen Philip
+until the moment that the young man appeared
+at his door in his automobile and asked him to
+look after his sister for a few days.</p>
+<p>The farmer&#8217;s story was true. Philip Holt
+had no idea how he could safely dispose of
+Tania. Quite by accident, as he hurried through
+the country, he had espied the old house. If
+Tania could be kept hidden there for a few days
+he would then be able to decide what he could do
+with her.</p>
+<p>Tom would have liked to bound up the old
+stairs three steps at a time to Tania&#8217;s bedroom
+door. Poor little girl, what she must have suffered
+in the last three days! But Tom&#8217;s thought
+was always for Madge. Before he followed the
+farmer to Tania&#8217;s chamber he wrote a telegram
+which he made the chauffeur take over to the
+village to send immediately. It read: &#8220;All is
+well with Tania. Come at once.&#8221; And it was
+addressed to Madge Morton.</p>
+<p>Tom was trembling like a girl with sympathy
+and compassion when he finally reached little
+Tania&#8217;s bedroom door. He wished Madge or
+his mother were with him. How could he comfort
+poor Tania for all she had suffered?</p>
+<p>Tania&#8217;s jailer unlocked the door and knocked
+at it softly. The child did not answer. He
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+knocked at it again and tried to make his voice
+friendly. &#8220;Come to the door, little one,&#8221; he entreated.
+&#8220;I know you will be glad to see who it
+is that has come to take you back to your home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Still no answer. Tom could endure the waiting
+no longer, but flung the door wide open. No
+Tania was to be seen. There was no place to
+look for her in the empty room, which held only
+a bed and a single chair. But a window was
+open and the arm of the old cedar tree still
+pressed close against the sill. Tom could see
+that small twigs had been broken off of some of
+the branches. He guessed at once what had
+happened. Tania had climbed down this tree
+and run away. But Tom felt perfectly sure that
+he would be able to find her before the houseboat
+party and his mother could arrive.</p>
+<p>The houseboat girls and Miss Jenny Ann
+were overjoyed at Tom&#8217;s telegram. Mrs. Curtis
+was with them when the message came. She
+was perhaps the happiest of them all, although
+she had never been an especial friend of little
+Tania&#8217;s. In the last few days her conscience
+had pricked her a little and her warm heart had
+sorrowed over the missing child.</p>
+<p>Yet, up to this very moment, Mrs. Curtis did
+not know the truth about Philip Holt. Just before
+they started for the train that was to bear
+them to Tom and Tania Madge told Mrs. Curtis
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span>
+that Philip had stolen the child from them and
+that they also believed he had run off with their
+treasure-chest.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis listened very quietly to Madge&#8217;s
+story. When the little captain had finished
+she asked humbly, &#8220;Can you ever forgive me,
+dear? I am an obstinate and spoiled woman.
+If only I had listened to what you told me about
+Philip this sorrow would never have come to
+you. Tom also warned me that I was being deceived
+in Philip Holt. But I believed you were
+both prejudiced against him. When we recover
+Tania I shall try to make up to her the wrong I
+have done her, if it is ever possible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During the journey Madge and Mrs. Curtis
+sat hand in hand. Captain Jules looked after
+Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian, Phil and Eleanor, although
+he was almost as excited by Tom&#8217;s news
+as they were.</p>
+<p>At the country station the chauffeur was waiting
+to drive Tania&#8217;s friends to the lonely old
+farmhouse that the child had thought a dungeon.</p>
+<p>Tom and Tania would probably be standing in
+the front yard when the automobile arrived.
+They were not there. The old farmer explained
+that Tom and Tania had gone out together. They
+would be back in a few minutes. To tell the
+truth, the man did expect them to appear at any
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span>
+time. He could not believe that Tania was really
+lost, although Tom had been searching for
+her since early morning and it was now about
+four o&#8217;clock in the afternoon.</p>
+<p>For two hours the houseboat party waited.
+The girls walked up and down the rickety farmhouse
+porch, clinging to Captain Jules. Mrs.
+Curtis and Miss Jenny Ann remained indoors.
+At dusk Tom returned. He was alone and
+could hardly drag one foot after the other, he
+was so weary and heartsick. To think that after
+wiring her he had found Tania he must face
+Madge with the dreadful news that the child
+was lost again!</p>
+<p>Two long, weary days passed without news of
+the lost Tania. The houseboat party made the
+old farmhouse their headquarters while conducting
+the search. At first no one thought to
+penetrate the cedar swamp where Tania had
+hidden herself, but the idea finally occurred to
+Tom Curtis, and on the third morning he and
+Captain Jules started out.</p>
+<p>All that third anxious day the girls searched
+the immediate neighborhood for Tania. When
+evening came they gathered sadly in the wretched
+farmhouse, to await the return of Tom Curtis
+and the old sea captain.</p>
+<p>Madge was lying on a rickety lounge, with her
+face buried in her hands. Phyllis was sitting
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+near the door. Mrs. Curtis stood at the window,
+watching for the return of her son. In a
+further corner of the room, Miss Jenny Ann,
+Lillian and Eleanor were talking softly together.</p>
+<p>Suddenly each one of the sad women became
+aware of the captain&#8217;s presence as his big form
+darkened the doorway. A ray of light from
+their single oil lamp shone across his weather-beaten
+face. Phil saw him most distinctly and
+read disaster in his glance. With the unselfish
+thought of others that invariably marks a great
+nature, she went swiftly across the room and
+dropped on her knees beside Madge.</p>
+<p>Madge sprang from her lounge and stumbled
+across the room toward the old sailor. Phil kept
+close beside her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tania!&#8221; whispered Madge faintly, for she
+too had seen the captain&#8217;s face. &#8220;Where is my
+little Fairy Godmother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have found Tania, Madge,&#8221; said Captain
+Jules gently, &#8220;but she is very ill. We
+found her lying under a tree in the swamp, delirious
+with fever. She is almost starved, and
+she is so frail&mdash;that&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; The old man&#8217;s voice
+broke.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t say she is going to die, Captain
+Jules,&#8221; implored Mrs. Curtis. &#8220;If she does, I
+shall feel that I am responsible. Surely, something
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+can be done for her.&#8221; The proud woman
+buried her face in her hands.</p>
+<p>At that moment Tom entered, bearing in his
+arms a frail little figure, whose thin hands
+moved incessantly and whose black eyes were
+bright with fever.</p>
+<p>With a cry of &#8220;Tania, dear little Fairy Godmother,
+you mustn&#8217;t, you shan&#8217;t die!&#8221; Madge
+sprang to Tom&#8217;s side and caught the little, restless
+hands in hers.</p>
+<p>For an instant the black eyes looked recognition.
+&#8220;Madge,&#8221; Tania said clearly, &#8220;he took
+me away&mdash;the Wicked Genii.&#8221; Her voice trailed
+off into indistinct muttering.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She must be rushed to a hospital at once.&#8221;
+Captain Jules&#8217;s calm voice roused the sorrowing
+friends of little Tania to action.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have my car at the door in ten minutes,&#8221;
+declared Tom huskily. &#8220;Make her as comfortable
+as you can for the journey.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was in Captain Jules&#8217;s strong arms that
+little Tania made the journey to a private sanatorium
+at Cape May. Madge sat beside the
+captain, her eyes fixed upon the little, dark head
+that lay against the captain&#8217;s broad shoulder.
+The strong, magnetic touch of the old sailor
+seemed to quiet the fever-stricken child, and, for
+the first time since they had found her, Tania
+lay absolutely still in his arms.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis occupied the front seat with her
+son, who drove his car at a rate of speed that
+would have caused a traffic officer to hold up his
+hands in horror. It had been arranged that
+Tom should return to the farmhouse as soon as
+possible for the rest of the party.</p>
+<p>No one of the occupants of the car ever forgot
+that ride. Once at the hospital, no time was lost
+in caring for Tania. The physician in attendance,
+however, would give them no satisfaction
+as to Tania&#8217;s condition beyond the admission
+that it was very serious. Mrs. Curtis engaged
+the most expensive room in the hospital for the
+child, as well as a day and night nurse, and, surrounded
+by every comfort and the prayers of
+anxious and loving friends, Tania began her
+fight for life.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXII_CAPTAIN_JULES_LISTENS_TO_A_STORY' id='XXII_CAPTAIN_JULES_LISTENS_TO_A_STORY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+<h3>CAPTAIN JULES LISTENS TO A STORY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Tania did not die. After a few days the
+fever left her, but she was so weak and
+frail that the physician in charge of her
+case advised Mrs. Curtis to allow her to remain
+in the sanatorium for at least a month. When
+she should have sufficiently recovered Mrs. Curtis
+had decided to take upon herself the responsibility
+of the child&#8217;s future. She had been a
+constant visitor in the sickroom and during the
+long hours she had spent with the imaginative
+little one had grown to love her, while Tania in
+turn adored the stately, white-haired woman and
+clung to her even as she did to Madge, a fact
+which pleased Mrs. Curtis more than she would
+admit.</p>
+<p>Philip Holt was discovered hiding in New
+York City. The treasure-box was in the keeping
+of old Sal, for Philip had not dared to dispose
+of the coins or the jewelry while the detectives
+were on the lookout for him. Tom Curtis
+saw that the case against Philip Holt was
+conducted very quietly. The houseboat girls
+had had enough trouble and excitement. Their
+treasure was restored to them and they had no
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
+desire ever to hear Philip Holt&#8217;s name mentioned
+again.</p>
+<p>Tom Curtis was more curious. In questioning
+Philip, Tom learned that he himself was innocently
+to blame for Philip&#8217;s crime. Holt recalled
+to Tom the fact that, on returning from
+the houseboat after spending the evening with
+Captain Jules and his friends, Tom had mentioned
+to his mother that the precious iron safe
+was on the houseboat, and that if she cared to
+look at the old jewelry again Miss Jenny Ann
+would unlock the sideboard drawer and show it
+to her the next day. In that moment Philip Holt
+decided on his theft, but he did not expect Tania
+to thwart him. He had slipped through one of
+the open staterooms into the dining room of the
+houseboat, broken the lock of the sideboard and
+opened the dining room door from the inside to
+make his escape. Philip Holt believed that in
+taking Tania with him he had accomplished his
+own downfall.</p>
+<p>If he had not stopped to leave the child at the
+deserted farmhouse, his movements would never
+have been traced.</p>
+<p>Madge Morton was a good deal changed by
+the events of the last few weeks. She was so unlike
+her usual happy, light-hearted and impetuous
+self that Miss Jenny Ann and the houseboat
+girls were worried about her. They ardently
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+wished that Madge would fly into a temper
+again just to show she possessed her old spirit.
+But she was very gentle and quiet and liked to
+spend a good deal of the time alone.</p>
+<p>Miss Jenny Ann consulted with Lillian, Phil
+and Eleanor. They decided to write to David
+Brewster to ask him to come to spend a few
+days with them on the houseboat. Madge was
+fond of David and the young man had done such
+fine things for himself in the past year that her
+friends hoped a sight of him would stir her out
+of her depression.</p>
+<p>David was visiting Mrs. Randolph&mdash;&#8220;Miss
+Betsey&#8221;&mdash;in Hartford. He replied that he
+would try to come to Cape May in another week
+or ten days, but please not to mention the fact to
+Madge until he was more sure of coming.</p>
+<p>One bright summer afternoon Madge returned
+alone from a long motor ride with Mrs. Curtis
+and Tom. She found the houseboat entirely
+deserted and remembered that the girls and
+Miss Jenny Ann had had an engagement to go
+sailing. She curled up on the big steamer chair
+and gave herself over to dreams.</p>
+<p>A small boat, pulled by a pair of strong arms,
+came along close to the deck of the &#8220;Merry
+Maid.&#8221; Madge looked up to see Captain Jules&#8217;s
+faithful face beaming at her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All alone?&#8221; he called out cheerfully. &#8220;Come
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+for a row with me. I&#8217;ll get you back before
+tea.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge wanted to refuse, but she hardly
+knew how, so she slipped into the prow of the
+skiff and sat there idly facing him.</p>
+<p>Captain Jules frowned at the girl&#8217;s pale face,
+which looked even paler under the loose twists
+of her soft auburn hair. Madge looked older
+and more womanly than she had the day the
+captain first saw her. There was a deeper
+meaning to the upper curves of her full, red lips
+and a gentler sweep to the downward droop of
+her heavy, black lashes. She was fulfilling the
+promise of the great beauty that was to be hers.
+It was easy to see that she had the charm that
+would make her life full of interest.</p>
+<p>Still Captain Jules frowned as though the picture
+of Madge and her future did not please him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How much longer are you going to stay at
+Cape May, Miss Morton?&#8221; he inquired.</p>
+<p>Madge smiled at him. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know anything
+about &#8216;Miss Morton&#8217;s&#8217; plans, but Madge
+expects to be here for about two weeks more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Recently the captain had been calling the
+houseboat girls by their first names, as he was
+with them so constantly in their trouble. But
+he had now decided that he must return to the
+formality of the beginning of their acquaintance.
+It was best to do so.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;And afterward?&#8221; the old sailor questioned,
+pretending that he was really not greatly interested
+in Madge&#8217;s reply.</p>
+<p>The girl&#8217;s expression changed. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know,&#8221; she returned. &#8220;Of course, Eleanor and
+I will go back to &#8216;Forest House&#8217; for a while.
+Aren&#8217;t you glad that Uncle has been able to pay
+off the mortgage? When Nellie and Lillian go
+to Miss Tolliver&#8217;s and Phil to college I don&#8217;t
+know exactly what I shall do. Mrs. Curtis and
+Tom have asked me to make them a visit in New
+York next winter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The captain frowned again. It was well that
+Madge was looking over the water and not at
+him, for she never could have told why he
+looked so displeased.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You and Tom Curtis are very good friends,
+aren&#8217;t you, Madge?&#8221; said Captain Jules abruptly.</p>
+<p>Madge smiled to herself. She felt as though
+she were in the witness box. Was her dear old
+captain trying to cross-examine her?</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, I like Tom better than almost any
+one else. He is awfully good to me. You know
+you like Tom yourself, so why shouldn&#8217;t I?&#8221; she
+ended wickedly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I like him. Certainly I do. He is a fine, upright
+fellow and his money hasn&#8217;t hurt him a
+mite, which you can&#8217;t say of the most of us.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span>
+But it&#8217;s a different matter with you, young lady,
+and I want you to go slowly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I am not going at all, Captain,&#8221; laughed
+Madge. &#8220;It seems to me that I want only one
+thing in the world, and that&#8217;s to find my father.
+Sometimes I am afraid that perhaps I shall
+never find my father after all!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules coughed and his voice sounded
+rather husky. It had a different note in it
+from any that Madge had ever heard him use
+to her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t play the coward, child,&#8221; he said sternly;
+&#8220;just because you have had one defeat don&#8217;t
+go about the world saying you must give up. It
+may be that your father did that once and is
+sorry for it now. Keep up the fight. No matter
+how many times we may be knocked down in this
+world, if we have the right sort of courage we&#8217;ll
+always get up again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge sat up very straight. Her blue eyes
+flashed back at Captain Jules with an expression
+that he liked to see. &#8220;I am not going to
+give up my search,&#8221; she answered defiantly.
+&#8220;One hears that it is Fate which separates two
+persons. If I find Father, I shall feel that I
+have won a victory over Fate. But I can&#8217;t help
+longing to tell my father that I know that he is
+innocent of the fault for which he was disgraced
+and dismissed from the Navy, and that I have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+the proof in my possession that would make it
+clear to all the world as well as to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The old captain gave vent to a sudden exclamation
+that sounded like a groan. His face
+looked strangely drawn under his coat of tan.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you sick, Captain Jules?&#8221; asked Madge
+hastily. &#8220;Do take my place and let me have the
+oars. I am sure I can row you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules smiled back at her. &#8220;What
+made you think I was sick?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;What
+was that you were telling me? How do you
+know that your father was guiltless of his fault?
+Why, Captain Robert Morton was one of the
+kindest men that ever trod a deck, and yet he
+was convicted of cruelty to one of his own sailors.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Captain Jules,&#8221; continued Madge earnestly,
+&#8220;I would like to tell you the whole story if you
+have time to listen to it. You know I promised
+long ago to tell you. Two years ago, when we
+were on the second of our houseboat excursions,
+we spent part of our holiday near Old Point
+Comfort. There I met the man who had been
+my father&#8217;s superior officer. Some unpleasant
+things happened between his granddaughter and
+me, and she told my father&#8217;s story at a dinner
+in order to humiliate me. Long afterward her
+grandfather heard of what his granddaughter
+had done and he made a statement before my
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+friends which cleared my father&#8217;s name. He
+confessed to having allowed my father to suffer
+for something he had commanded him to do.
+My father was too great a man to clear himself
+at the expense of his superior officer, so he left
+the Navy in disgrace and has never been heard
+of since that dreadful time.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There isn&#8217;t much more to tell. Only the old
+admiral has died since I met him. However, he
+left a paper that was sent to me, in which he acquits
+my father of all blame and takes the whole
+responsibility for my father&#8217;s act on himself.
+Must we go back home, Captain Jules?&#8221; for,
+at the end of her speech, Madge observed that
+the captain had turned his skiff and was rowing
+directly toward the houseboat. He handed
+Madge aboard a few moments later with the air
+of one whose mind is elsewhere.</p>
+<p>It was impossible for Miss Jenny Ann to persuade
+the old pearl diver to remain to supper.
+With very few words to any of the party he
+turned Madge over to her friends and rowed
+hurriedly away toward his home.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIII_THE_VICTORY_OVER_FATE' id='XXIII_THE_VICTORY_OVER_FATE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+<h3>THE VICTORY OVER FATE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Early the next morning word was brought
+by a small boy that Captain Jules Fontaine
+wished Miss Madge Morton to
+come out to &#8220;The Anchorage&#8221; alone, as he had
+some important business that he wished to talk
+over with her.</p>
+<p>It was a wonderful morning, all fresh sea
+breezes and sparkling sunshine. Madge had not
+felt so gay in a long time as when the other
+houseboat girls fell to guessing as to why Captain
+Jules desired her presence at his house.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He intends to make you his heiress,
+Madge,&#8221; insisted Lillian. &#8220;Then, when you
+are an old lady, you can come down here to live
+in the house with the roof like three sails, and
+ride around in the captain&#8217;s rowboat and sailboat
+and be as happy as a clam.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge shook her head. &#8220;No such thing, Lillian.
+I don&#8217;t believe the captain wants me for
+anything important. He may be going to lecture
+me, as he did yesterday afternoon. At any
+rate, I&#8217;ll be back before long. Please save some
+luncheon for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge was surprised when her boat landed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+near &#8220;The Anchorage&#8221; not to see Captain Jules
+in his front yard, with his funny pet monkey on
+his shoulder, waiting to receive her. She began
+to feel afraid that the captain was ill. She had
+never been inside his house in all their acquaintance.
+But Captain Jules had sent for her, so
+there was nothing for her to do but to march up
+boldly to his front door and knock.</p>
+<p>She lifted the heavy brass knocker, which
+looked like the head of a dolphin, and gave three
+brisk blows on the closed door.</p>
+<p>At first no one answered. The little captain
+was beginning to think that the boy who came
+to her had made some mistake in his message
+and that Captain Jules had gone out in his fishing
+boat for the day, when she heard some one
+coming down the passage to open the door for
+her.</p>
+<p>She gave a little start of surprise. A tall,
+middle-aged man, with a single streak of white
+hair through the brown, was gazing at her curiously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I would like to see Captain Jules,&#8221; murmured
+Madge stupidly, unable to at once recover
+from the surprise of finding that Captain Jules
+did not live alone.</p>
+<p>The strange man invited Madge into a tiny
+parlor which rather surprised her. The room
+was filled with bookshelves, reaching almost up
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
+to the top of the wall. The young girl had never
+dreamed that her captain was much of a student.
+The only things that reminded her of
+Captain Jules were the fishnets that were hung
+at the windows for curtains and the great sprays
+of coral and sponge which decorated the mantelpiece.</p>
+<p>The man sat down with his back to the light,
+so that he could look straight into Madge&#8217;s face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Captain Jules will be here after a little, Miss
+Morton,&#8221; he said gravely, &#8220;but he wished me
+to have a talk with you first.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge looked curiously at the unknown man.
+She could not obtain a very distinct view of his
+face, but she saw that he was very distinguished
+looking, that his eyes seemed quite dark, and
+that he wore a pointed beard. He did not look
+like an American. At least, there was something
+in his appearance that Madge did not
+quite understand. It struck her that perhaps
+the man was a lawyer. It could not be that Lillian
+was right in her guess. The treasure in the
+iron safe had not yet been sold, so it might be
+that this man wished to make some offer for it.
+Whoever he might be the silence was becoming
+uncomfortable. The little captain decided to
+break it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if you wish to talk to me about the
+treasure that we found?&#8221; she inquired, smiling.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span>
+&#8220;I would rather that Captain Jules should be in
+here when we speak of that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The stranger shook his head. He had a very
+beautiful voice that in some way fascinated the
+girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t wish to talk about your treasure,
+but I do wish to speak of something else that
+was lost and is found again. I don&#8217;t know that
+you will value it, child, or that it is worth having,
+but Captain Jules thinks you might.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s heart began to beat faster. This
+strange man had something of great importance
+to tell her. She wondered if she had ever seen
+him anywhere before. There was something in
+his look that was oddly familiar. But why did
+he look at her so strangely and why did not her
+old friend come to her to end this foolish suspense?</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been down here on a visit to Captain
+Jules a number of times this summer and he has
+always talked of you,&#8221; went on the fascinating
+voice. &#8220;I have longed to see you, but&mdash;&mdash;Miss
+Morton, Captain Jules Fontaine and I knew
+your father once, long years ago. The news that
+you had proof of his innocence made us very
+happy last night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge would have liked to bounce up and
+down in her chair, like an impatient child. Only
+her age restrained her. Why didn&#8217;t this man
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span>
+tell her the thing he was trying to say? What
+made him hesitate so long?</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; she returned impatiently, &#8220;but
+do you know whether my father is alive now?
+That is the only thing I care about.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge gripped both arms of her chair to control
+herself. She was trembling so that she felt
+that she must be having a chill, though it was a
+warm summer day, for the stranger had risen
+and was coming toward her, his face white and
+haggard. Then, as he advanced into the brighter
+light of the room, Madge saw that his eyes
+were very blue.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your father isn&#8217;t dead,&#8221; the man replied
+quietly. &#8220;He is here in this very house, and he
+cares for you more than all the world in spite of
+his long silence!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The little captain sprang to her feet, her face
+flaming. &#8220;Captain Jules! <i>He</i> is my father?
+He seemed so old that I didn&#8217;t realize it. Yet
+he has said so many things to me that might
+have made me guess he knew everything in the
+world about me. Oh, where is he? My own,
+own Captain Jules?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The stranger, whose arms had been outstretched
+toward Madge, let them fall at his
+sides, but Madge had no eyes for him. Captain
+Jules had entered the room and she had flung
+herself straight into his kindly arms.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span></p>
+<p>So, after all, it was Captain Jules Fontaine
+who had to make it clear to Madge that he was
+not her father, but her father&#8217;s lifelong and devoted
+friend. The captain told Madge the story
+while he held both her cold hands in his big,
+rough ones, and the man who was her own
+father sat watching and waiting for her verdict.</p>
+<p>Jules Fontaine had never been captain of
+anything but a sailing schooner, but he had been
+a gunner&#8217;s mate on Captain Robert Morton&#8217;s
+ship. He alone knew that Captain Morton had
+been forced into the fault that he had committed
+by order of his admiral. When Captain
+Morton was dismissed from the United States
+Naval Service Jules Fontaine, gunner&#8217;s mate,
+had procured his discharge and followed the fortunes
+of his captain. The two men drifted south
+to the tropics. Every American vessel is equipped
+with a diving outfit, and some of the men
+are taught to go down under the water to examine
+the bottoms of the boats. Jules Fontaine
+liked the business of diving. When the two men
+found themselves in a strange land, without any
+occupations, Captain Jules joined his fortunes
+with the pearl divers and for many years followed
+their perilous trade.</p>
+<p>Captain Morton had a harder time to get
+along, but after a while he studied foreign languages
+and began to translate books. Five
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+years before the two men had come back to the
+United States. Since that time Captain Morton
+had tried to follow every movement of his
+daughter. Captain Jules wanted his friend to
+make himself known to his own people, but Robert
+Morton feared that they would never forgive
+his long silence or his early disgrace. He believed
+that Madge would be happier without
+knowledge of him. It was her own longing for
+her father, reported by Captain Jules, that had
+impelled Robert Morton at last to reveal himself
+to her.</p>
+<p>Madge could not comprehend all of this at
+once. She did not even try to do so. She realized
+only that, after being without any parents,
+she had suddenly come into two fathers at the
+same time, her own father and Captain Jules,
+who was her more than foster father.</p>
+<p>With a low, glad cry she went swiftly across
+the room. She did not try to think or to ask
+questions at that moment about the past, she
+only flung her young arms about her father&#8217;s
+neck in a long embrace, feeling that at last she
+had some one in the world who was her very
+own.</p>
+<p>While Madge, her father, and Captain Jules
+were trying to see how they could bear the miracle
+and shock of their great happiness, a
+small, dark object darted into the room and
+planted its claws in Madge&#8217;s hair. It pulled
+and chattered with all its might.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/mmv-239.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 316px; height: 477px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 316px;'>
+&#8220;I am Going to Keep House for You at &#8216;The Anchorage.&#8217;&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span></div>
+<p>The little captain laughed with the tears in
+her eyes. &#8220;It&#8217;s that good-for-nothing monkey!&#8221;
+she exclaimed as she disentangled the
+creature&#8217;s tiny hands. Then she kissed her
+father and afterwards Captain Jules. &#8220;Now I
+know why this monkey is called Madge, and I
+am sorry to have such a jealous, bad-tempered
+namesake.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The captain scolded the monkey gently.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t you fret about this particular namesake.
+If you only knew all the others you have
+had! Every single pet that two lonely old men
+could get to stay around the house with them we
+have named for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Morton did not go back to the houseboat
+with his daughter. Madge thought she
+would rather tell her friends of her great happiness
+alone. She wouldn&#8217;t even let Captain
+Jules escort her. &#8220;You&#8217;ll both have plenty of
+my society after a while,&#8221; she argued, &#8220;for I
+am going to come to keep house for you at &#8216;The
+Anchorage&#8217; some day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge rowed slowly back to the &#8220;Merry
+Maid.&#8221; She was thinking over what she would
+say to Miss Jennie Ann and the girls. How
+should she announce to them that her quest was
+ended, her victory over Fate won?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span></p>
+<p>As she neared the houseboat she saw that her
+companions were gathered on deck, evidently
+watching for her. Madge rested on her oars
+and waved one hand to them. Four hands waved
+promptly back to her. A moment more and
+she had come alongside the &#8220;Merry Maid.&#8221; As
+she clambered on deck she cast a swift upward
+glance at her friends, who, with one accord, were
+looking down on her, their faces full of loving
+concern.</p>
+<p>With a little cry of rapture Madge threw herself
+into Miss Jenny Ann&#8217;s arms. &#8220;O, my
+dear!&#8221; she cried, &#8220;I&#8217;ve found him! I&#8217;ve found
+my father!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And it was with her faithful mates&#8217; arms
+around her that Madge told the strange story
+of how her quest had ended in the little sitting
+room of &#8220;The Anchorage.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIV_THE_LITTLE_CAPTAIN_STARTS_ON_A_JOURNEY' id='XXIV_THE_LITTLE_CAPTAIN_STARTS_ON_A_JOURNEY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+<h3>THE LITTLE CAPTAIN STARTS ON A JOURNEY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Six weeks had passed since Madge Morton&#8217;s
+discovery of her father, and many things
+had happened since then. It was now toward
+the latter part of September, and on a
+beautiful fall morning one of the busy steamship
+docks in the lower end of New York City
+was crowded with a gay company of people.
+There were four young girls and three young
+men, a beautiful older woman, with soft, white
+hair and a look of wonderful distinction; a woman
+of about twenty-six or seven, with a man
+by her side, who in some way suggested the calling
+of the artist; a white-haired old man and an
+elderly lady, who, in spite of the fact that she
+answered to the name of Mrs. John Randolph,
+would have been mistaken anywhere for a New
+England spinster. Two men were the only other
+important members of the group. One of them
+was a distinguished-looking man of about fifty-three
+with a rather sad expression, and the last
+a bluff old sea captain, whose laugh rang out
+clear and hearty above the sound of the many
+voices.</p>
+<p>In front of the wharf lay a beautiful steam
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+yacht, painted pure white and flying a United
+States flag. The boat was of good size and capable
+of making many knots an hour, but she
+looked like a little toy ship alongside the immense
+ocean-going steamers that were entering
+and leaving the New York harbor, or waiting
+their sailing day at their docks.</p>
+<p>One of the girls, dressed in a white serge frock
+and wearing a white felt hat, was walking up
+and down at the back of the crowd, talking to a
+young man.</p>
+<p>&#8220;David, more than almost anything, I believe
+I appreciate your coming to New York to see me
+off. It would have been dreadful to go away for
+a whole year, or maybe longer, without having
+had a glimpse of you. Who knows what may
+happen before I am back again?&#8221; The girl&#8217;s
+eyes looked wistfully about among her friends,
+although her lips smiled happily.</p>
+<p>For a few seconds the young man made no
+answer. He had never been able to talk very
+readily, now he seemed to wish to think before
+he spoke.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall be a man, Madge, before you are back
+again,&#8221; he replied slowly. &#8220;I am twenty now,
+so I shall be ready to vote. But, best of all, I
+shall be through college and ready to go to
+work.&#8221; The young man threw back his square
+shoulders. His black eyes looked serious and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span>
+steadfast. &#8220;I am going to make you proud of
+me, Madge. You remember I told you so, that
+day in the Virginia field, when you helped me out
+of a scrape and started me on the right road.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The little captain nodded emphatically. &#8220;I
+am proud of you already, David,&#8221; she declared
+warmly. &#8220;I think it is perfectly wonderful that
+you have been able to take two years&#8217; work in
+college instead of one, beside helping Mr. Preston
+on the farm. You are going to make me
+dreadfully ashamed when I come back, by knowing
+so much more than I. Phil enters Vassar
+this fall and Tom will graduate at Columbia in
+another year. I am going to try to study on the
+yacht, but I shall be so busy seeing things that I
+know I won&#8217;t accomplish very much. Just think,
+David, I am going around the world in our own
+boat with my father and Captain Jules! Isn&#8217;t
+it wonderful how one&#8217;s dreams come true and
+things turn out even better than you expect them
+to? I believe, if it weren&#8217;t for leaving my beloved
+houseboat chums and Mrs. Curtis and
+Tom, and Miss Jenny Ann and you, I should be
+the happiest girl in the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t suppose I count for much, Madge,&#8221;
+answered David honestly, &#8220;but I am more
+grateful to you than you can know for putting
+me on that list. Some day&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; The young man
+hesitated, then his sober face relaxed and a brilliant
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span>
+smile lighted it. &#8220;It&#8217;s pretty early for a
+fellow like me to be talking about some day, isn&#8217;t
+it, Madge?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge laughed, though she blushed a little
+and answered nothing.</p>
+<p>Just then Phyllis Alden and a young man in
+a lieutenant&#8217;s uniform joined Madge and David
+Brewster.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lieutenant Jimmy is saying dreadful
+things, Madge,&#8221; announced Phil mournfully.
+&#8220;He says he is sure you won&#8217;t come back home
+in a year. You&#8217;ll stay over in Europe until you
+are grown up or married, or something else, and
+you&#8217;ll never be a houseboat girl again!&#8221; Phil&#8217;s
+voice broke.</p>
+<p>Lieutenant Jimmy looked uncomfortable.
+&#8220;See here, Miss Alden,&#8221; he protested, &#8220;I
+never said anything as bad as all that. I only
+said that perhaps Captain Morton and Captain
+Jules would stay longer than a year. Almost
+any one would, if they owned that jolly little
+yacht.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll wager you, Lieutenant Jimmy, a torpedo
+boat full of the same kind of candy that you sent
+us at the end of our second houseboat holiday,
+that if you come down to this dock one year
+from to-day you will see our yacht, which Captain
+Jules has named &#8216;The Little Captain,&#8217;
+paying her respects to the Statue of Liberty.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+Come, let&#8217;s go and make Father and Captain
+Jules convince him, Phil,&#8221; proposed Madge,
+hugging Phyllis close to her, as if the thought
+of being parted from her for so long as one
+year was not to be borne.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll take that wager, Miss Morton,&#8221; replied
+Lieutenant Jimmy jokingly, &#8220;because I would
+be so awfully glad to have to pay it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madge simply must come back on time, Lieutenant
+Jimmy,&#8221; whispered Phil, nodding her
+head mysteriously toward a young woman and
+a man. &#8220;It&#8217;s a state secret, and I ought not to
+tell you, but Miss Jenny Ann and Mr. Theodore
+Brown, the artist, are to be married a year from
+this fall. We must all be at the wedding. Miss
+Jenny Ann couldn&#8217;t possibly be married unless
+every one of the &#8216;Mates of the Merry Maid&#8217;
+were there. If we can arrange it, Miss Jenny
+Ann is going to be married on the houseboat.
+Won&#8217;t it be the greatest fun?&#8221;</p>
+<p>For the moment Phil was so cheered at the
+thought of another houseboat reunion, though
+a whole twelve months off, that she forgot that
+her best beloved Madge was to leave in another
+half-hour for her trip around the world.</p>
+<p>Phyllis and Lieutenant Jimmy were standing
+a little behind Madge. David Brewster stopped
+to talk to Mrs. Curtis and Tom.</p>
+<p>At the far end of the dock Captain Jules Fontaine
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span>
+was giving some orders to four sailors who
+formed the entire crew of his new yacht, for
+the old pearl diver was to pilot his own boat,
+which was to sail under Captain Morton&#8217;s orders.
+The beautiful little yacht was Captain
+Jules&#8217;s own property. The old man had made
+a comfortable fortune in his life in the tropics,
+but he had little use for it, and no desire, except
+to make Madge and her father happy. The little
+captain&#8217;s love for the water was what endeared
+her most to the old sailor. He could not
+be happy away from the sea and he couldn&#8217;t be
+happy away from Madge and Captain Morton.
+The fortunate girl&#8217;s two fathers had discussed
+very seriously Madge&#8217;s own proposal to come
+to keep house for them at &#8220;The Anchorage.&#8221;
+Both men knew that she could not settle down at
+their lonely little house far up the bay and several
+miles from the nearest town, which was
+Cape May. Wonderful as the fathers thought
+Madge, they realized that she was very young
+and must go on with her education. They could
+not bear to send her away to college after all the
+long years of separation. Captain Jules conceived
+the brilliant idea of educating her by
+taking her on a trip around the world. The old
+sailor couldn&#8217;t have borne being cooped up in
+liners and on trains with other people to run
+them. So Madge&#8217;s dream of a ship all her own,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span>
+which was to sail &#8220;strange countries for to
+see,&#8221; had come true with her other good fortune.</p>
+<p>Leaving her friends for a moment, Madge
+made her way toward the end of the dock to beg
+Captain Jules to reassure her friends of their
+return at the end of a year. The captain did
+not notice her approach. Apparently no one
+was looking at her.</p>
+<p>On the end of the wharf were gathered three
+or four small street arabs. They had no business
+on the wharf, which was precisely their reason
+for being there. They were playing behind
+a number of large boxes and some other luggage,
+and, until Madge approached, no one had
+observed them. They were having a tug-of-war
+and it was hardly a fair battle. Two good-sized
+urchins were pulling against one other strong
+fellow and another small boy, so thin and pale,
+with such dark hair and big, black eyes that, for
+the moment, he made Madge think of Tania, who
+was almost well enough to leave the sanatorium
+and had sent her Fairy Godmother many loving
+messages by Mrs. Curtis. Madge stopped for
+half a minute to watch the boys. In her stateroom
+were so many boxes of candy she would
+never be able to eat it all in her trip around the
+world. If she only had some of them to give
+this lively little group of youngsters!
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span></p>
+<p>Captain Jules was at one side of the wide
+wharf with his back toward her and the group
+of boys. His yacht was occupying his entire attention.
+The street urchins did not realize how
+near they were to the edge of the dock because
+of the pile of luggage that surrounded them.</p>
+<p>The tug-of-war grew exciting. Madge clapped
+her hands softly. She had not believed the
+smallest rascal had so much strength. Suddenly
+the older lad&#8217;s grip broke. The boys fell back
+against a pile of trunks that were set uneasily
+one above the other. One of the trunks slid into
+the water and the smallest lad slipped backward
+after it with an almost noiseless splash.
+His boy companions stared helplessly after him,
+too frightened to make a sound.</p>
+<p>Of course, Madge might soon have summoned
+help. She did think of it for a brief instant,
+for she realized perfectly that her white
+serge suit would look anything but smart if she
+plunged into the river in it. Then, too, her
+friends, Captain Jules, and her father might be
+displeased with her. But the little lad had given
+her such an agonized, helpless look of appeal as
+he struck the water! And his eyes were so like
+Tania&#8217;s!</p>
+<p>Captain Jules turned around at the sound of
+feet running down the dock. David Brewster
+and Tom Curtis were side by side. But they
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+both looked more surprised than frightened. In
+the water, a few feet from the dock, Captain
+Jules espied Madge Morton, her white hat floating
+off the back of her head, her face and hair
+dripping with water. She was smiling in a half-apologetic
+and half-nervous way. In one hand
+she held a small boy firmly by the collar. &#8220;Fish
+us out, somebody?&#8221; she begged. &#8220;I am dreadfully
+sorry to spoil my clothes, but this little
+wretch would go and fall into the water at the
+very last moment.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Jules and one of his sailors pulled
+Madge and the small boy safely onto the wharf
+again. The captain frowned at her solemnly,
+while David and Tom laughed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How am I ever going to keep her out of the
+bottom of the sea?&#8221; the captain inquired sternly.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t know that I care for the rôle of
+playing guardian to a mermaid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge could see Mrs. Curtis, Miss Jenny
+Ann, her chums and her father, as well as their
+other friends, hurrying down toward the end of
+the dock. She gave one swift glance at them,
+then she looked ruefully at her own dripping
+garments. Tom and David long remembered
+her as they saw her at that moment. Her white
+dress clung to her slender form; the water was
+dripping from her clothing, her cheeks were a
+brilliant crimson from embarrassment at her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
+plight; her red-brown hair glinted in the bright
+sunlight, and her blue eyes sparkled with mischief
+and dismay. Before any one had a chance
+to scold or to reproach her, she had dashed
+across the wharf, run aboard the yacht and had
+shut herself up in her stateroom.</p>
+<p>A few minutes later, dressed in a fresh white
+serge frock, she emerged to say good-bye. The
+houseboat girls had made up their minds that
+not one tear would any one of them shed when
+the moment of parting came. Lillian and Phil
+stood on either side of Eleanor, for neither of
+them had much faith that Nellie could keep her
+word when it came to the test.</p>
+<p>Madge went first to Mr. and Mrs. John Randolph.
+&#8220;Miss Betsey&#8221; took both her hands and
+held them gravely. &#8220;Madge, dear, remember I
+have always told you that wherever you were
+exciting things were sure to happen. You have
+convinced me of it again to-day. Now, you are
+going around the world and I hope you will see
+and know only the best there is in it. Good-bye.&#8221;
+Miss Betsey leaned on her distinguished
+old husband&#8217;s arm for support and surreptitiously
+wiped her eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jenny Ann Jones, you promised I wouldn&#8217;t
+have to say good-bye to you,&#8221; protested Madge
+chokingly. Miss Jenny Ann nodded, while Mr.
+Theodore Brown gazed at her comfortingly.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span>
+Madge rallied her courage and smiled at both
+of them. &#8220;Do you remember, Jenny Ann,&#8221; she
+questioned, &#8220;how on the very first of our houseboat
+trips you said that you would marry some
+day, just to be able to get rid of the name of
+&#8216;Jones&#8217;? I am sure you will like &#8216;Brown&#8217; a
+whole lot better.&#8221; Madge turned saucily away
+to hide the trembling of her lips.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Curtis said nothing. She just kissed
+Madge&#8217;s forehead, both rosy cheeks and once
+on her red lips. But when the little captain
+left her, and Mrs. Curtis turned to find her son
+standing near her, his face white and his lips
+set, his mother faltered brokenly: &#8220;I am trying
+hard not to be selfish, Tom, and I am glad, with
+all my heart, that Madge found her father, but
+no one will ever know how sorry I am not to
+have her for my daughter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe you will some day, after all, Mother,&#8221;
+returned Tom steadily. &#8220;We are young, I
+know, and neither of us has seen much of the
+world. Still, I am fairly sure I know my own
+mind. Perhaps Madge will care as much as I
+do now when the right time comes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At the last, Madge could not say farewell to
+her three chums. Her eyes were so full of tears
+that Captain Jules had to lead her aboard the
+yacht. She stood on the deck, kissing both
+hands to them as long as she could see them,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span>
+until their little boat had been towed far out into
+the great New York harbor.</p>
+<p>Madge&#8217;s father stood by her, watching the
+sunlight dance upon the water.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My little girl,&#8221; Captain Morton began, with
+a view of distracting her attention from the sorrow
+of parting, &#8220;I have always forgotten to tell
+you that I saw you graduate at Miss Tolliver&#8217;s.
+Jules was not with me that day. He knew of
+you but never saw you until you went to Cape
+May. I wonder I didn&#8217;t betray myself to you
+then, dear. It was I who first called out to you
+when I saw that arch tottering over your head.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge nodded. &#8220;I know it now,&#8221; she replied.
+&#8220;I must have caught a brief glimpse of
+your face. You and Captain Jules sent me the
+wonderful pearl. We never could guess from
+whom it had come.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Captain Morton, &#8220;Jules and
+I had kept it for you for many years. We determined
+that sooner or later you should have
+it. I shall never forget the day when Jules came
+hurrying into &#8216;The Anchorage&#8217; with the news
+that he had seen you and talked with you about
+me. He was sure that you were our Madge even
+before he knew your name to be Morton. It
+was wonderful to hear that your dearest wish
+was to find me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Madge slipped her arm into that of her father
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span>
+and laid her curly head against his shoulder.
+&#8220;If it was Fate that separated us, then I shall
+never be dismayed by it again, for love and determination
+are far greater and through them
+I found you,&#8221; she declared softly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid I am very selfish to take you
+away for a whole year from Mrs. Curtis and
+Tom and the houseboat girls,&#8221; said her father,
+almost wistfully. &#8220;You are not sorry you are
+going to spend the next few months with no one
+but two old men for company?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I spent eighteen years without you,&#8221;
+reminded Madge. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you believe I ought
+to begin to make up for lost time? Just think,&#8221;&mdash;her
+eyes grew tender with the pride of possession&mdash;&#8220;I
+have what I&#8217;ve longed for more
+than anything else in the world, my father&#8217;s
+love. Perhaps when we come back next year
+we can anchor the &#8216;Little Captain&#8217; in Pleasure
+Bay and invite the &#8216;Merry Maid&#8217; and her crew
+to visit us. Then Miss Jenny Ann could be married
+on the houseboat. We must be very sure
+to come home on time if we carry out that plan.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aye, aye, Captain Madge,&#8221; smiled her father,
+&#8220;unless our good ship fails us we&#8217;ll anchor
+next September in Pleasure Bay and send a
+special invitation to the crew of the &#8216;Merry
+Maid&#8217; to meet us there.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The End</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.25 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Thu Sep 04 09:37:35 -0400 2008 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Madge Morton's Victory, by Amy D.V. Chalmers
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@@ -0,0 +1,6036 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madge Morton's Victory, by Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Madge Morton's Victory
+
+Author: Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2008 [EBook #26538]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[Illustration: Before the Hand Organ Danced a Little Figure.
+Frontispiece.]
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Madge Morton's Victory
+
+By
+AMY D. V. CHALMERS
+
+Author of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid;
+Madge Morton's Secret, Madge Morton's Trust.
+
+THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+Akron, Ohio--New York
+
+Made in U. S. A.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright MCMXIV
+By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                                          PAGE
+     I.  Commencement Day at Miss Tolliver's        7
+    II.  How it Was All Arranged                   16
+   III.  Tania, a Princess                         24
+    IV.  The Uninvited Guest                       37
+     V.  Tania, a Problem                          51
+    VI.  A Mischievous Mermaid                     58
+   VII.  Captain Jules, Deep Sea Diver             65
+  VIII.  The Wreck of the "Water Witch"            80
+    IX.  The Owner of the Disagreeable Voice       90
+     X.  The Goody-Goody Young Man                100
+    XI.  The Beginning of Trouble                 112
+   XII.  "The Anchorage"                          124
+  XIII.  Tania's Nemesis                          131
+   XIV.  Captain Jules Makes a Promise            141
+    XV.  The Great Adventure                      150
+   XVI.  A Strange Pearl                          161
+  XVII.  The Fairy Godmother's Wish Comes True    172
+ XVIII.  Missing, a Fairy Godmother               180
+   XIX.  The Wicked Genii                         198
+    XX.  A Bow of Scarlet Ribbon                  206
+   XXI.  The Race for Life                        215
+  XXII.  Captain Jules Listens to a Story         224
+ XXIII.  The Victory Over Fate                    232
+  XXIV.  The Little Captain Starts on a Journey   243
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+COMMENCEMENT DAY AT MISS TOLLIVER'S
+
+
+"O Phil, dear! It is anything but fair. If you only knew how I hate to
+have to do it!" exclaimed Madge Morton impulsively, throwing her arms
+about her chum's neck and burying her red-brown head in the soft, white
+folds of Phyllis Alden's graduation gown. "No one in our class wishes me
+to be the valedictorian. You know you are the most popular girl in our
+school. Yet here I am the one chosen to stand up before everyone and read
+my stupid essay when your average was just exactly as high as mine."
+
+Madge Morton and Phyllis Alden were alone in their own room at the end of
+the dormitory of Miss Matilda Tolliver's Select School for Girls, at
+Harborpoint, one morning late in May. Through the halls one could hear
+occasional bursts of girlish laughter, and the murmur of voices betokened
+unusual excitement.
+
+It was the morning of the annual spring commencement.
+
+Phyllis slowly unclasped Madge's arms from about her neck and gazed at
+her companion steadfastly, a flush on her usually pale cheeks.
+
+"If you say another word about that old valedictory, I shall never
+forgive you!" she declared vehemently. "You know that Miss Tolliver is
+going to announce to the audience that our averages were the same. You
+were chosen to deliver the valedictory because you can make a speech so
+much better than I. What is the use of bringing up this subject now, just
+a few minutes before our commencement begins? You know how often we have
+talked this over before, and that I told Miss Matilda that I wished you
+to be the valedictorian instead of me, even before she selected you."
+
+Phil's earnest black eyes looked sternly into Madge's troubled blue ones.
+"If you begin worrying about that now, you won't be able to read your
+essay half as well," declared Phil impatiently. "Please sit still for a
+minute and wait until Miss Jenny Ann calls us."
+
+Phil pushed Madge gently toward the big armchair. Then she walked over to
+stand by the window, in order to watch the carriages drive up to Miss
+Tolliver's door and to keep her back turned directly upon her friend
+Madge.
+
+The little captain sat very still for a few minutes. She had on an
+exquisite white organdie gown, a white sash, white slippers and white
+silk stockings. In the knot of sunny curled hair drawn high upon her head
+she wore a single white rose. A bunch of roses lay in her lap, also a
+manuscript in Madge's slightly vertical handwriting, which she fingered
+restlessly.
+
+The silence grew monotonous to Madge.
+
+"Are you angry with me, Phil?" she asked forlornly.
+
+Madge and Phyllis Alden had been best friends for four years, and had
+never had a real disagreement until this morning.
+
+Phyllis was too honest to be deceitful. "I am a little cross," she
+admitted without turning around. "I wish Lillian and Eleanor would come
+upstairs to tell us how many people have arrived for the commencement."
+
+Madge started across the room toward Phil. But Phyllis's back was
+uncompromising. She pretended not to hear her friend's light step.
+Suddenly Madge's expression changed. The color rose to her face and her
+eyes flashed.
+
+"I won't apologize to you, Phil," she said. "I had intended to, but I see
+no reason why I should not say it is unfair for me to be the
+valedictorian when you have the same claim to it that I have. It is
+hateful in you not to understand how I feel about it. I am going to find
+Miss Jenny Ann." Madge's voice broke.
+
+A knock on the door interrupted the two girls. Madge opened the door to a
+boy, who handed her a small parcel addressed in a curious handwriting to
+"Miss Madge Morton." The letters were printed, but the writing did not
+look like a child's. It was the fiftieth graduating gift that she had
+received. Phil's number had already reached the half-hundred mark.
+
+Madge dropped her newest package on the bed without opening it. She was
+half-way out in the hall when Phyllis pulled her back.
+
+"Look me straight in the face," ordered Phil. Madge obeyed, the flash in
+her eyes fading swiftly. "Now, see here, dear," argued Phyllis, "suppose
+that Miss Matilda had chosen me to deliver the valedictory instead of
+you, wouldn't you have been glad?"
+
+Madge nodded happily. "I should say I would," she murmured fervently.
+
+Phyllis laughed, then leaned over and kissed her friend triumphantly.
+
+"There, you have said just what I wanted to make you say," went on Phil.
+"You say you would be glad if Miss Tolliver had chosen me for the
+valedictorian instead of you. Why can't you let me have the same feeling
+about you? Please, please understand, Madge, dear"--the tears started to
+Phil's eyes--"that no one has been unfair to me because you were Miss
+Matilda's choice."
+
+Madge glanced nervously at the little gold clock on their mantel shelf.
+"It is nearly time for the entertainment to begin, isn't it?" she
+inquired. "I suppose Miss Jenny Ann will call us in time. What a lot of
+noise the girls are making in the hall!"
+
+She idly untied her latest graduating gift. It was a small box, made
+after a fashion of long years ago, and its tops and sides were encrusted
+with tiny shells. On one side of the box the word "Madge" was worked out
+in tiny shells as clear and beautiful as jewels. Inside the box, on a
+piece of cotton, was a single, wonderful pearl. It was unset, but the two
+girls realized that it was rarely beautiful. There was no name in the
+box, no card to show from whom it came.
+
+Madge turned the box upside down and peered inside of it. "I don't know
+who could have sent this to me," she declared, in a puzzled fashion.
+"Mrs. Curtis is the only rich person I know in the whole world, and she
+has already given us her presents. I must show this to Uncle and Aunt. I
+am afraid they won't wish me to keep it. But I don't know how we are ever
+going to return it to the giver when he or she is anonymous."
+
+"Isn't that Miss Jenny Ann calling?" Madge turned pale with the
+excitement of the coming hour and thrust the gift under her pillow.
+
+Phyllis picked up a great bunch of red roses. The eventful moment had
+arrived. The graduating exercises at Miss Matilda Tolliver's were about
+to begin!
+
+Neither of the two girls knew how they walked up on the stage. Before
+them swam "a sea of upturned faces." It was impossible to tell one person
+from another. When Madge and Phil overcame their fright they discovered
+that they were among the twelve girl graduates, who formed a white
+semi-circle about the stage, and that Miss Matilda Tolliver was making an
+address of welcome to the audience.
+
+Phyllis had no dreaded speech ahead of her. She looked out over the
+audience and saw her father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Alden; and Madge's
+uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Butler; but Madge could think of nothing
+save the terrifying fact that she must soon deliver her valedictory.
+
+"Madge," whispered Phil softly, "don't look so frightened. You know you
+have made speeches before and have acted before people. I am not a bit
+afraid you will fail. See if you can find Mrs. Curtis and Tom. There they
+are, smiling at us from behind Eleanor and Lillian."
+
+Readers of "MADGE MORTON, CAPTAIN OF THE 'MERRY MAID'," will remember the
+delightful fashion in which Madge Morton, Eleanor Butler, Lillian Seldon
+and Phyllis Alden spent a summer on a houseboat, which they evolved from
+an old canal boat and named the "Merry Maid."
+
+How they anchored at quiet spots along Chesapeake Bay, made the
+acquaintance of Mrs. Curtis, a wealthy widow, and what came of the
+friendship that sprang up between her and Madge Morton made a story well
+worth the telling.
+
+In "MADGE MORTON'S SECRET" the scene of their second houseboat adventure
+found them at Old Point Comfort, where, as Mrs. Curtis's guests, they
+partook of the social side of the Army and Navy life to be found there.
+The origin of Captain Madge's secret, and of how she kept it in spite of
+the humiliation and sorrow it entailed, the mysterious way in which the
+"Merry Maid" slipped her cable and drifted through heavy seas to a
+deserted island, where her crew lived the lives of girl Crusoes for many
+weeks, form a narrative of lively interest.
+
+In "MADGE MORTON'S TRUST" the further adventures of the "Merry Maid" were
+fully related. For the sake of the trip the happy houseboat girls saddled
+themselves with Miss Betsey Taylor, a crotchety spinster, who was
+troubled with nerves, and who offered to pay liberally for her passage on
+their cosy "Ship of Dreams."
+
+Madge's faith and unshakable trust in David Brewster, a poor young man
+who did the work on Tom Curtis's yacht, which made the trip with the
+"Merry Maid," her championing of David when suspicion pointed darkly
+toward him as a thief, and her unswerving loyalty to the unhappy youth
+until his innocence was established, revealed the little captain in the
+light of a staunch true comrade and doubly endeared her to all her
+companions.
+
+Madge heard Miss Matilda Tolliver announce that the valedictory would be
+delivered by Miss Madge Morton. Phyllis gave her companion a little
+nudge, and somehow Madge arrived at the front of the stage and stood
+under a huge arch of flowers. Just above her head swung a great bell.
+Everyone was smiling at her. Madge was seized with a dreadful case of
+stage fright. Her tongue felt dry and parched. She tried to speak, but no
+sound came forth.
+
+Mrs. Curtis's lovely face, with its crown of soft, white hair, smiled
+encouragingly at her. Tom was crimson with embarrassment. Lillian and
+Eleanor held each other's hands. Would Madge never begin her
+valedictory?
+
+She tried again. No one heard her except her friends and teachers on the
+stage. Her voice was no louder than a faint whisper.
+
+Miss Tolliver leaned over. "Madge, speak more distinctly," she ordered.
+
+Then the little captain realized that the most humiliating moment of her
+whole life had arrived. She had been selected as the valedictorian of her
+class, she had been chosen above her beloved Phil because of her gift as
+a speaker, yet she would be obliged to return to her seat without having
+delivered a line of her address. She would be disgraced forever!
+
+Madge's knees shook. Her lips trembled. Tears swam mistily in her eyes.
+She was a lovely picture despite her fright.
+
+At eighteen she was in the first glory of her youth, a tall, slender
+girl, with a curious warmth and glow of life. Her lips were deeply
+crimson, her hair a soft brown, with red and gold lights in it, and her
+eyes were full of the eagerness that foreshadows both happiness and
+pain.
+
+Phil and Miss Jenny Ann were exchanging glances of despair--Madge had
+broken down, there was no hope for her. Suddenly her face broke into one
+of its sunniest smiles. She lifted her head. Without glancing at the
+paper she held in her hand she began her address in a clear, penetrating
+voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+HOW IT WAS ALL ARRANGED
+
+
+Madge's valedictory address was almost over. She had spoken of
+"Friendship," what it meant to a girl at school and what it must mean to
+a woman when the larger and more important difficulties come into her
+life. "Schoolgirl friendships are of no small consequence," declaimed
+Madge; "the friendships made in youth are the truest, after all!"
+
+Phil listened to her chum's voice, her eyes misty with tears. Only a
+half-hour before she and her beloved Madge had come very near to having
+the first real quarrel of their lives. Phil turned her gaze from Madge to
+glance idly at the arch of flowers above her friend's head. Phil supposed
+that she must be dizzy from the heat of the room, or else that she could
+not see distinctly because of her tears; the arch seemed to be swaying
+lightly from side to side, as though it were blown by the wind. Yet the
+room was perfectly still. Phil looked again. She must be wrong. The arch
+was built of a framework of wood. It was heavy and she did not believe it
+would easily topple down.
+
+Madge was happily unconscious of the wobbling arch. A few more lines and
+her speech would be ended! There was unbroken silence in the roomy chapel
+of the girls' school, where the commencement exercises were being held.
+Suddenly some one in the back part of the room jumped to his feet. A
+hoarse voice shouted, "Madge!"
+
+Madge started in amazement. Her manuscript dropped to the ground. Every
+face but hers blanched with terror. The swaying arch was now visible to
+other people besides Phil. Tom leaped to his feet, but he was tightly
+wedged in between rows of women. Phil Alden made a forward spring just as
+the arch tumbled. She was not in time to save Madge, but some one else
+had saved her; for, before Phil could reach the front of the stage,
+Madge's name had been called again. Although the voice was an unknown
+one, Madge instinctively obeyed it. She made a little movement, leaning
+out to see who had summoned her, and the arch crashed down just at her
+back.
+
+The quick cry from the audience frightened Madge, whose face was turned
+away from the wreck. She swung around without discovering her rescuer.
+Some one had fallen on the stage. Phyllis Alden had reached her friend's
+side, not in time to save her, but to receive, herself, a heavy blow from
+the great bell that was suspended from the arch.
+
+Madge dropped on the stage at Phil's side, forgetting her speech and the
+presence of strangers.
+
+Miss Tolliver and Miss Jenny Ann lifted Phyllis before Dr. Alden had had
+time to reach the stage. There was a dark bruise over Phil's forehead. In
+a moment she opened her eyes and smiled. "I am not a bit hurt, Miss
+Matilda; _do_ let the exercises go on," she begged faintly. "Let Madge
+and me go up to the front of the stage and bow, Miss Matilda. Then I can
+show people that I am all right. We must not spoil our commencement in
+this way."
+
+Miss Matilda agreed to this, and Madge and Phyllis went forward to the
+center of the stage. A storm of applause greeted them. Madge and Phil
+were a little overcome at the ovation. Madge supposed that they were
+being applauded because of Phil's heroism, and Phil presumed that the
+demonstration was meant for Madge's valedictory, therefore neither girl
+knew just what to do.
+
+It was then that Miss Matilda Tolliver came forward. She was usually a
+very severe and imposing looking person. Most of her pupils were
+dreadfully afraid of her. But the accident that had so nearly injured her
+two favorite graduates had completely upset her nerves. Instead of making
+a formal speech, as she had planned to do, she stepped between the two
+girls, taking a hand of each. "I had meant to introduce Miss Alden a
+little later on to our friends at the commencement exercises," announced
+Miss Tolliver, "but I believe I would rather do it now. I wish to state
+that, although Miss Morton has delivered the valedictory, Miss Phyllis
+Alden's average during the four years she has spent at my preparatory
+school has been equally high. It was her wish that Miss Morton should be
+chosen to deliver the valedictory. But Miss Alden's friends have another
+honor which they wish to bestow upon her. She has been voted, without her
+knowledge, the most popular girl in my school. Her fellow students have
+asked me to present her with this pin as a mark of their affection."
+
+Miss Matilda leaned over, and before Phil could grasp what was happening
+had pinned in the soft folds of her organdie gown the class pin, which
+was usually an enameled shield with a crown of laurel above it; but the
+center of Phil's shield was formed of small rubies and the crown of tiny
+diamonds.
+
+Phyllis turned scarlet with embarrassment, but Madge's eyes sparkled with
+delight. She was no longer ashamed of having been chosen as
+valedictorian. In spite of herself, Phyllis Alden was the star of their
+commencement.
+
+It was not until the four girls were seated with their dear ones about a
+round luncheon table in the largest hotel in Harborpoint that Madge
+suddenly recalled the stranger whose warning cry had probably saved her
+from a serious hurt.
+
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom were entertaining in honor of Madge and Phyllis.
+There were no other guests except the two houseboat girls, Eleanor and
+Lillian, Dr. and Mrs. Alden, and Mr. and Mrs. Butler.
+
+Madge sat next to Tom Curtis, and during the progress of the luncheon
+managed to say softly: "Did you see who it was that called my name so
+strangely this morning, Tom? I was so frightened at having to deliver my
+valedictory that when I heard that sudden shout, 'Madge!' I was too much
+confused to recognize the voice."
+
+Tom shook his head. "I don't know who it was. I heard the voice but
+couldn't discover its owner. It must have been some one at the very back
+of the room, for no one in the audience seems to know who called out to
+you."
+
+"I suppose I'll never know," sighed Madge. "It is a real commencement day
+mystery, isn't it?"
+
+Tom nodded smilingly. "By the way, Madge, where are the houseboat girls
+going to spend the summer after you come to Madeleine's wedding?" he
+asked. "You must be tired after your winter's work."
+
+Madge shook her head soberly. "We are not going to be on the houseboat
+this year," she whispered. "Going to New York to be bridesmaids is about
+as much as four girls can arrange. We haven't even dared to think of the
+houseboat."
+
+"I have," interposed Phyllis, who had heard the remark and the reply,
+"but we don't wish our families to know. You see, Madge and I are hoping
+and planning to go to college next winter, so, of course, we can't afford
+another summer holiday," she ended under her breath.
+
+"What's that, Phil?" inquired Dr. Alden from the other end of the table.
+
+Phil blushed. "Nothing important, Father," she answered.
+
+"Oh, then I must have been mistaken," replied Dr. Alden, "for I thought I
+caught the magic word, 'houseboat.' No one of you girls has ever spoken
+of the 'Merry Maid' as unimportant."
+
+A cloud instantaneously overspread five faces about the luncheon table.
+Neither Mrs. Curtis nor Dr. Alden realized that in mentioning the
+houseboat they had forced the houseboat passengers to break a vow of
+silence. Only the day before the five of them had met in Miss Jenny Ann
+Jones's room. There they had solemnly pledged themselves that, since it
+was impossible for them to have this year's vacation aboard the "Merry
+Maid," they would bear the sorrow in silence. This time there was no
+"Miss Betsey" to pay the expenses of the trip. The girls and Miss Jenny
+Ann hadn't a dollar to spare. The cost of going to Madeleine Curtis's New
+York wedding was appalling to all of the girls except Lillian, whose
+parents were in affluent circumstances. But, of course, Madeleine was
+almost a houseboat girl herself. Readers of the first houseboat story
+will recall how Madeleine's fiance, Judge Hilliard, rescued Madge and
+Phyllis from a serious situation and saved Madeleine from a far worse
+plight than that in which he found the two girls.
+
+"Mrs. Curtis," remarked Dr. Alden in the midst of the mournful silence,
+"Mr. and Mrs. Butler, my wife and I have just been talking things over.
+We have decided that it would be a good thing for our girls to spend
+several weeks on board their houseboat. But, of course, if they have
+decided differently----"
+
+It was a good thing that Mrs. Curtis was not giving a formal luncheon. A
+united shriek of delight suddenly arose from four throats. Madge sprang
+from the table to hug her uncle, Eleanor blew kisses to her mother from
+across the room, Lillian clapped both hands, and Miss Jenny Ann smiled
+rapturously.
+
+Phil's face was the only serious one. "Are you sure we can afford it,
+Father?" she queried.
+
+Dr. Alden nodded convincingly. "For a few weeks, certainly," he
+returned.
+
+"Then we don't need to worry about afterward," rejoined Madge. "And don't
+you think, girls, it will be perfectly great, so long as we are going to
+Madeleine's wedding in New York, for us to spend this holiday at the
+seashore?"
+
+"Where, Madge?" asked Lillian.
+
+"I'll tell you," answered Mrs. Curtis, "only, not to-day. It is a secret.
+Here is our pineapple lemonade. Let's hope for the happiest of holidays
+for the little captain and her crew aboard the good ship 'Merry Maid'."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+TANIA, A PRINCESS
+
+
+"Madge, do you think there is any chance that Tom won't meet us?"
+inquired Eleanor Butler nervously. "I do wish we could have come on to
+New York with Lillian, Phil, and Miss Jenny Ann instead of making that
+visit to Baltimore. It seems so funny that they have been in New York two
+whole days before us. I suppose they have seen Madeleine's presents, and
+our bridesmaids' dresses--and everything!"
+
+Eleanor sighed as she leaned back luxuriously in the chair of the Pullman
+coach, gazing down the aisle at her fellow passengers.
+
+Madge was occupied in staring very hard at her reflection in the small
+mirror between her seat and Eleanor's. She had wrinkled her small nose
+and was surreptitiously applying powder to the tip end of it.
+
+"Of course Tom and the girls will meet us, Eleanor," she replied
+emphatically. "Tom would expect us to be lost forever if we were to be
+turned loose in New York by ourselves. Oh, dear me, isn't it too splendid
+that we are going to be Madeleine's bridesmaids? I wonder if we shall
+look very 'country' before so many society people?"
+
+"Of course we shall," returned Eleanor calmly. "You need not look at
+yourself again in that mirror. You are very well satisfied with yourself,
+aren't you?" teased Eleanor.
+
+Madge blushed and laughed. "I _do_ like our clothes, Nellie," she
+admitted candidly. "You know perfectly well that we have never had
+tailored suits before in our lives. You do look too sweet in that pale
+gray, like a little nun. That pink rose in your hat gives just the touch
+of color you need. I am sure I don't see why you are so sure we shall
+seem countrified," ended Madge. She had liked her reflection in the
+glass. She wore a light-weight blue serge traveling suit without a
+wrinkle in it, a spotless white linen waist, and her new hat was
+particularly attractive. Her cheeks were becomingly flushed and her eyes
+glowed with the excitement of arriving for the first time in New York
+City.
+
+"We are almost in Jersey City now, aren't we, Madge?" exclaimed Eleanor,
+making a leap for her bag, which promptly tumbled out of the rack above
+and fell directly on the head of a young man who was walking down the
+aisle of the car.
+
+Madge giggled. Eleanor, however, was crimson with mortification. The
+young man did not appear to be pleased. The girls had a brief glimpse of
+him. He had blue eyes and sandy hair and was exceedingly tall. Eleanor's
+bag had knocked his glasses off and he was obliged to stoop in search of
+them in the aisle.
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry," apologized Eleanor in her soft, Southern voice, as
+she picked up the glasses and restored them to their owner. "I am glad
+they were not broken."
+
+The young man paid not the slightest attention to her apology.
+
+"Hurry, Nellie," advised Madge, "it is nearly time for us to get off the
+train and your hat is on crooked. Don't be such a timid little goose! You
+are actually trembling. Of course Tom or some one will meet us, and if
+they don't I shall not be in the least frightened." Madge announced this
+grandly. "That whistle means we are entering Jersey City. We will find
+Tom waiting for us at the gate."
+
+Eleanor obediently followed Madge out of their coach. The little captain
+seemed older and more self-confident since she had been graduated at Miss
+Tolliver's, but Nellie hoped devoutly that her cousin would not become
+imbued with the impression that she was really grown-up. It would spoil
+their good times.
+
+The two girls had never seen such a headlong rush of people in their
+lives. They clung desperately to their bags when a porter attempted to
+carry them. A man bumped violently against Madge, but he made no effort
+to apologize as he rushed on through the crowd.
+
+"I never saw so many people in such a hurry in my life," declared Nellie
+pettishly. "They behave as though they thought New York City were on fire
+and they were all rushing to put the fire out. I shall be glad when Tom
+takes charge of us."
+
+Once through the great iron gates the girls looked anxiously about for
+Tom, but saw no trace of him.
+
+"I suppose Tom must have missed the ferry," declared Madge with pretended
+cheerfulness. "We shall have to wait here for only about ten minutes
+until the next ferry boat comes across from New York."
+
+When fifteen minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Tom, Madge
+began to feel worried.
+
+"Madge, I am sure you have made some kind of mistake," argued Eleanor
+plaintively. "I know Mrs. Curtis would not fail to have some one here on
+time to meet us for anything in the world. Perhaps Tom wrote for us to
+come across the ferry, and that he would meet us on the New York side.
+Where is his letter?"
+
+"It is in my trunk, Nellie," replied Madge in a crestfallen manner. She
+was not nearly so grown-up or so sure of herself as she had been half an
+hour before. "I know it was silly in me not to have brought Tom's letter
+with me, but I was so sure that I knew just what it said. Perhaps we had
+better go on over to New York. Let's hurry. Perhaps that boat is just
+about to start."
+
+The two young women hurried aboard the boat, which left the dock a moment
+later, just as a tall, fair-haired young man, accompanied by two girls,
+hurried upon the scene. The young man was Tom Curtis and the young women
+were Phyllis Alden and Lillian Seldon.
+
+In the meantime Madge and her cousin had crossed the river and had landed
+on the New York side. What was the dreadful roar and rumble that met
+their ears? It sounded like an earthquake, with the noise of frightened
+people shrieking above it. After a horrified moment it dawned on the two
+little strangers that this was only the usual roar of New York, which Tom
+Curtis had so often described to them.
+
+"There isn't any use of our staying here very long, Eleanor," declared
+Madge, feeling a great wave of loneliness and fear sweep over her. "An
+accident must have happened to Tom's automobile on his way to the train
+to meet us. I am afraid we were foolish not to have stayed at the Jersey
+City station. I am sure Tom wrote he would meet us there. I have behaved
+like a perfect goose. It is because I boasted so much about not being
+frightened and knowing what to do. But I _do_ know Mrs. Curtis's address.
+We can take a cab and drive up there."
+
+Eleanor would fall in with Madge's plans to a certain point; then she
+would strike. Now she positively refused to get into a cab. Her mother
+and father and Miss Jenny Ann had warned her never to trust herself in a
+cab in a strange city. New York was too terrifying! Eleanor would search
+for Mrs. Curtis's home on foot, in a car, or a bus, but in a cab she
+would not ride.
+
+Madge was obliged to give in gracefully. A policeman showed the girls to
+a Twenty-third Street car. He explained that when they came to the Third
+Avenue L they must get out of the car and take the elevated train uptown,
+since Madge had explained to him that Mrs. Curtis lived on Seventieth
+Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues.
+
+There was only one point that the policeman failed to make clear to
+Eleanor and Madge. He neglected to tell them that elevated trains, as
+well as other cars, travel both up and down New York City, and the way to
+discover which way the "L" train is moving is to consult the signs on the
+steps that lead up to the elevated road. The policeman supposed that the
+two young women would make this observation for themselves. Of course,
+under ordinary circumstances, Madge and Nellie would have been more
+sensible, but they were frightened and confused at the bare idea of being
+alone in New York and consequently lost their heads, and they dashed up
+the Third Avenue elevated steps without looking for signs, settled
+themselves in the train and were off, as they supposed, for Seventieth
+Street.
+
+They were too much interested in gazing into upstairs windows, where
+hundreds of people were at work in tiny, dark rooms, to pay much
+attention to the first stops at stations that their train made. They knew
+they were still some distance from Mrs. Curtis's. Madge was completely
+fascinated at the spectacle of a fat, frowsy woman holding a baby by its
+skirt on the sill of a six-story tenement house. Just as the car went by
+the baby made a leap toward the train. Madge smothered her scream as the
+woman jerked the child out of danger just in time. Then it suddenly
+occurred to her that this was hardly the kind of neighborhood in which to
+find Mrs. Curtis's house. The sign at the next stop was a name and not a
+street number. It could not be possible that she and Eleanor had made
+another mistake!
+
+Madge hurried back to the end of the car to find the conductor.
+
+"We wish to get out at the nearest station to Seventieth Street and
+Lexington Avenue," she declared timidly.
+
+The man paid not the slightest attention to her. Madge repeated her
+question in a somewhat bolder tone.
+
+"You ain't going to get off near Seventieth Street for some time if you
+keep a-traveling away from it," retorted the conductor crossly. "You've
+got on a downtown 'L' 'stead of an up. Better change at the next station.
+You'll find an uptown train across the street," the man ended more
+kindly, seeing the look of consternation on Madge's white face.
+
+The girls walked sadly down the elevated steps, dragging their bags,
+which seemed to grow heavier with every moment. They found themselves in
+one of the downtown foreign slums of New York City. It was a bright,
+early summer afternoon. The streets were swarming with grown people and
+children. Pushcarts lined the sidewalks. On an opposite corner a hand
+organ played an Italian song. In front of it was a small open space,
+encircled by a group of idle men and women. Before the organ danced a
+little figure that Madge and Eleanor stopped to watch. They forgot their
+own bewilderment in gazing at the strange sight. The dancer was a little
+girl about twelve years old, as thin as a wraith. Her hair was black and
+hung in straight, short locks to her shoulders. Her eyes were so big and
+burned so brightly that it was difficult to notice any other feature of
+her face. The child looked like a tropical flower. Her face was white,
+but her cheeks glowed with two scarlet patches. She flung her little arms
+over her head, pirouetted and stood on her tip toes. She did not seem to
+see the curious crowd about her, but kept her eyes turned toward the sky.
+Her dancing was as much a part of nature as the summer sunshine, and
+Madge and Eleanor were bewitched.
+
+A rough woman came out of a nearby doorway. She stood with her hands on
+her hips looking in the direction of the music. "Tania!" she called
+angrily. Elbowing her way through the crowd, she jostled Madge as she
+passed by her. "Tania!" she cried again. The men and women spectators let
+the woman make her way through them as though they knew her and were
+afraid of her heavy fist. Only the child appeared to be unconscious of
+the woman's approach. Suddenly a big, red arm was thrust out. It caught
+the little girl by the skirt. With the other hand she rained down blows
+on the child's upturned face. One blow followed the other in swift
+succession. The little dancer made no outcry. She simply put one thin arm
+over her head for protection.
+
+The music went on gayly. No one of the watching men and women tried to
+stop the woman's brutality. But Madge was not used to the indifference of
+the New York crowd. Like a flash of lightning she darted away from
+Eleanor and rushed over to the woman, who was dragging the child along
+and cuffing her at each step.
+
+"Stop striking that child!" she ordered sharply. "How can you be so
+cruel? You are a wicked, heartless woman!"
+
+The woman paid no attention to Madge. She did not seem even to have heard
+her, but lifted her big, coarse arm for another blow.
+
+Madge's breath came in swift gasps. "Don't strike that child again," she
+repeated. "I don't know who she is, nor what she has done, but she is too
+little for you to beat her like that. I won't endure it," the little
+captain ended in sudden passion.
+
+The woman turned her cruel, bloodshot eyes slowly toward Madge. She was
+one of the strongest and most brutal characters in the slums of New York,
+and few dared to oppose her. She was even a terror to the policemen in
+the neighborhood.
+
+"Git out!" she said briefly.
+
+Her arm descended. It did not strike the child. Quick as a flash, Madge
+Morton had flung herself between the woman and the child. For a moment
+the blow almost stunned the girl. The East Side crowd closed in on the
+girl and the woman. If there was going to be a fight, the spectators did
+not intend to miss it. Eleanor was numb with fear and sympathy. She did
+not know whether to be more frightened for Madge than sorry for the
+child.
+
+The woman's face was mottled and crimson with anger. Madge's face was
+very white. She held her head high and looked her enemy full in the
+face.
+
+"Git out of this and stop your interferin'!" shouted the virago. "This
+here child belongs to me and I'll do what I like with her. If you are one
+of them social settlers coming around into poor people's places and
+meddlin' with their business, you'd better git back where you belong or
+I'll social-settle you."
+
+At this moment a thin, hot hand caught hold of Madge's and pulled it
+gently. Madge gazed down into a little face, whose expression she never
+forgot. It was whiter than it had been before. The scarlet color had gone
+out of the cheeks and the big, black eyes burned brighter. But there was
+not the slightest trace of fear in the look. Instead, the child's lips
+were curved into an elf-like smile.
+
+"Don't stay here, lady, please," she begged. "The ogress will be horrid
+to you. She can't hurt me. You see, I am an enchanted Princess."
+
+An instant later the child received a savage blow from the woman's hard
+hand full in the face without shrinking. It was Madge who winced. Tears
+rose to her eyes. She put her arms about the child and tried to shelter
+her.
+
+"Don't be calling me no names, Tania," the woman cried, dragging at the
+child's thin skirts. "Jest you come along home with me and you'll git
+what is comin' to you, you good-for-nothin' little imp."
+
+"Is she your mother?" asked Madge doubtfully, gazing at the brutal woman
+and the strange child.
+
+Tania shook her black head scornfully. "Oh, dear, no," she answered. "It
+is only that I have to live with her now, while I am under the
+enchantment. Some day, when the wicked spell is broken, I shall go away,
+perhaps to a wonderful castle. My name is Titania. I think it means that
+I am the Queen of the Fairies."
+
+The woman laughed brutishly. "Queen of gutter, you are, Miss Tania. I'll
+tan you," she jeered, as she dragged the little girl from Madge's arms.
+
+The little captain looked despairingly about her. There, a calm witness
+of the entire scene, was a big New York policeman. "Officer," commanded
+Madge indignantly, "make that woman leave that child alone."
+
+The big policeman looked sheepish. "I can't do nothing with Sal," he
+protested. "If I make her stop beating Tania now, she'll only be meaner
+to her when she gets her indoors. Best leave 'em alone, I think. I have
+interfered, but the child says she don't mind. I don't think she does,
+somehow; she's such a queer young 'un'."
+
+Sal was now engaged in shaking Tania as she pushed her along in front of
+her. Madge and Eleanor were in despair.
+
+Suddenly a well-dressed young man appeared in the crowd. There was
+something oddly familiar in his appearance to Eleanor, but she failed to
+remember where she had seen him before. "Sal!" he called out sharply,
+"leave Tania alone!"
+
+Instantly the woman obeyed him. She slunk back into her open doorway. The
+crowd melted as though by magic; they also recognized the young man's
+authority. A moment later he was gone. Madge, Eleanor, and the strange
+little girl stood on the street corner almost alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE UNINVITED GUEST
+
+
+"Are you good fairies who have strayed away from home?" inquired Tania,
+calmly gazing first at Madge and then at Eleanor. She was perfectly
+self-possessed and asked her question as though it were the most natural
+one in the world.
+
+The two girls stared hard at the child. Was her mind affected, or was she
+playing a game with them? Tania seemed not in the least disturbed. "Do go
+away now," she urged. "I am all right, but something may happen to you."
+
+"You odd little thing!" laughed Madge. "We are not fairies. We are girls
+and we are lost. We are on our way to visit a friend, Mrs. Curtis, who
+lives on Seventieth Street near Fifth Avenue. She will be dreadfully
+worried about us if we don't hurry on. But what can we do for you? We
+can't take you with us, yet you must not go back to that wicked woman."
+
+"Oh, yes, I must," returned Tania cheerfully. "I am not afraid of her.
+When the time comes I shall go away."
+
+"But who will take care of you, baby?" asked Eleanor. "Fairies don't live
+in big cities like New York. They live only in beautiful green woods and
+fields."
+
+The black head nodded wisely. "Good fairies are everywhere," she
+declared. "But I can make handfuls of pennies when I like," she continued
+boastfully. "Let me show you how you must go on your way."
+
+"You can't possibly know, little girl," replied Madge gently. "It is so
+far from here."
+
+However, it was Tania who finally saw the two lost houseboat girls on
+board the elevated train that would take them to within a few blocks of
+their destination. Tania explained that she knew almost all of New York,
+and particularly she liked to wander up and down Fifth Avenue to gaze at
+the beautiful palaces. She was not young, she was really dreadfully
+old--almost thirteen!
+
+The last look Madge and Eleanor had of Tania the child had apparently
+forgotten all about them. She was gazing up in the air, above all the
+traffic and roar of New York, with a happy smile on her elfish face.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+"My dear children, I wouldn't have had it happen for worlds!" was Mrs.
+Curtis's first greeting as she came out from behind the rose-colored
+curtains of her drawing room. "Tom has been telephoning me frantically
+for the past hour. How did he and the girls miss you? You poor dears, you
+must be nearly tired to death after your unpleasant experience."
+
+While Mrs. Curtis was talking she was leading her visitors up a beautiful
+carved oak staircase to the floor above. Her house was so handsomely
+furnished that Madge and Eleanor were startled at its luxurious
+appointments.
+
+Mrs. Curtis brought her guests into a large sleeping room which opened
+into another bedroom which was for the use of Phil and Lillian.
+
+Madeleine was to be married the next afternoon at four o 'clock. The
+girls had not brought their bridesmaids' dresses along with them, as Mrs.
+Curtis had asked to be allowed to present them with their gowns.
+
+It was all that Madge could do not to beg Mrs. Curtis to show them their
+frocks. She hoped that their hostess would offer to do so, but during the
+rest of the day their time was occupied in seeing Madeleine, her hundreds
+of beautiful wedding gifts, meeting Judge Hilliard all over again, and
+being introduced to Mrs. Curtis's other guests. The four girls went to
+bed at midnight, thinking of their bridesmaids' gowns, but without having
+had the chance even to inquire about them.
+
+Mrs. Curtis belonged to the old and infinitely more aristocratic portion
+of New York society. She did not belong to the new smart set, which
+numbers nearer four thousand, and does so much to make society
+ridiculous. Madeleine had asked that she might be married very quietly.
+She had never become used to the gay world of fashion after her strange
+and unhappy youth. It made the girls and their teacher smile to see what
+Mrs. Curtis considered a quiet wedding.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann and her four charges had their coffee and rolls in Madge's
+room the next morning at about nine o'clock. Madge peeped out of the
+doorway, there were so many odd noises in the hall. The upstairs hall was
+a mass of beautiful evergreens. Men were hanging garlands of smilax on
+the balusters. The house was heavy with the scent of American Beauty
+roses. But there was no sign of Mrs. Curtis or of Madeleine or Tom, and
+still no mention of the bridesmaids' costumes for the girls.
+
+Lillian Seldon was looking extremely forlorn. "Suppose Mrs. Curtis has
+forgotten our frocks!" she suggested tragically, as Madge came back with
+her report of the house's decorations. "She has had such an awful lot to
+attend to that she may not have remembered that she offered to give us
+our frocks. Won't it be dreadful if Madeleine has to be married without
+our being bridesmaids after all?"
+
+"O Lillian! what a dreadful idea!" exclaimed Eleanor.
+
+Even Phyllis looked sober and Miss Jenny Ann looked exceedingly
+uncomfortable.
+
+"O, you geese! cheer up!" laughed Madge. "I know Mrs. Curtis would not
+disappoint us for worlds. Why, she has all our measures. She couldn't
+forget. Oh, dear, does my breakfast gown look all right? There is some
+one knocking at our door. It may be that Mrs. Curtis has sent up our
+frocks."
+
+"Then open the door, for goodness' sake," begged Eleanor. "Your breakfast
+gown is lovely; only at home we called it a wrapper, but then you were
+not visiting on Fifth Avenue."
+
+Madge made a saucy little face at Eleanor. Then she saw a group of
+persons standing just outside their bedroom door. A man-servant held four
+enormous white boxes in his arms; a maid was almost obscured by four
+other boxes equally large. Behind her servants stood Mrs. Curtis, smiling
+radiantly, while Tom was peeping over his mother's shoulder.
+
+Madge clasped her hands fervently, breathing a quick sigh of relief. "Our
+bridesmaids' dresses! I'm too delighted for words."
+
+"Were you thinking about them, dear?" apologized Mrs. Curtis. "I ought to
+have sent the frocks to you sooner, but I wanted to bring them myself,
+and this is the first moment I have had. You'll let Tom come in to see
+them, too, won't you?"
+
+The man-servant departed, but Mrs. Curtis kept the maid to help her lift
+out the gowns from the billows of white tissue paper that enfolded them.
+She lifted out one dress, Miss Jenny Ann another, and the maid the other
+two.
+
+The girls were speechless with pleasure.
+
+Mrs. Curtis, however, was disappointed. Perhaps the girls did not like
+the costumes. She had used her own taste without consulting them. Then
+she glanced at the little group and was reassured by their radiant
+faces.
+
+"O you wonderful fairy godmother!" exclaimed Madge. "Cinderella's dress
+at the ball couldn't have been half so lovely!"
+
+Madeleine's wedding was to be in white and green. The bridesmaids' frocks
+were of the palest green silk, covered with clouds of white chiffon.
+About the bottom of the skirts were bands of pale green satin and the
+chiffon was caught here and there with embroidered wreaths of lilies of
+the valley. The hats were of white chip, ornamented with white and pale
+green plumes.
+
+It was small wonder that four young girls, three of them poor, should
+have been awestruck at the thought of appearing in such gowns.
+
+"I shall save mine for my own wedding dress!" exclaimed Eleanor.
+
+"I shall make my debut in mine," insisted Lillian.
+
+"We can't thank you enough," declared Phyllis, a little overcome by so
+much grandeur.
+
+Tom was standing in a far corner of the room.
+
+"I would like to suggest that I be allowed to come into this," he
+demanded firmly.
+
+"You, Tom?" teased Madge. "You're merely the audience."
+
+Tom took four small square boxes out of his pocket. "Don't you be too
+sure, Miss Madge Morton. My future brother-in-law, Judge Robert Hilliard,
+has commissioned me to present his gifts to his bridesmaids. Madge shall
+be the last person to see in these boxes, just for her unkind treatment
+of me."
+
+"All right, Tom," agreed Madge; "I don't think I could stand anything
+more just at this instant."
+
+Nevertheless Madge peeped over Phil's shoulder. Judge Hilliard had
+presented each one of the houseboat girls with an exquisite little pin,
+an enameled model of their houseboat, done in white and blue, the colors
+of the "Merry Maid."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+The wedding was over. There were still a few guests in the dining room
+saying good-bye to Mrs. Curtis and Tom; but Madeleine and Judge Hilliard
+had gone. The four girls and Miss Jenny Ann found a resting place in the
+beautiful French music room.
+
+Madeleine's wedding presents were in the library, just behind the music
+room.
+
+"It was simply perfect, wasn't it, Miss Jenny Ann?" breathed Lillian, as
+they drew their chairs together for a talk.
+
+"Madeleine must be perfectly happy," sighed Eleanor sentimentally. "Judge
+Hilliard is so good-looking."
+
+"Oh, dear me!" broke in Madge, coming out of a brown study. She was
+sitting in a big carved French chair. "I don't see how Madeleine Curtis
+could have left her mother and this beautiful home for any man in the
+world. I am sure if I had such an own mother I should never leave her,"
+finished the little captain.
+
+"Until some one came along whom you loved better," interposed Miss Jenny
+Ann.
+
+"That could never be, Miss Jenny Ann," declared Madge stoutly, her blue
+eyes wistful. "Why, if my father is alive and I find him, I shall never
+leave him for anybody else."
+
+"What's that noise?" demanded Phyllis sharply.
+
+It was after six o'clock and the Curtis home was brilliantly lighted. The
+window blinds were all closed. But there was a curious rapping and
+scratching at one of the windows that opened into a small side yard.
+
+"It may be one of the servants," suggested Miss Jenny Ann, listening
+intently.
+
+"It can't be," rejoined Madge. "No one of them would make such a strange
+noise."
+
+"I think I had better call Tom," breathed Eleanor faintly. "It must be a
+burglar trying to steal Madeleine's wedding gifts."
+
+Madge shook her head. "Wait, please," she whispered. She ran to the
+window. There was the faint scratching noise again! Madge lifted the
+shade quickly. Perched on the window sill was the oddest figure that ever
+stepped out of the pages of a fairy book. It was impossible to see just
+what it was, yet it looked like a little girl. One hand clung to the
+window facing, a small nose pressed against the pane.
+
+"Why, it's a child!" exclaimed Miss Jenny Ann in tones of relief. "Open
+the window and let her come in."
+
+Madge flung open the window. Light as a thistledown, the unexpected
+little visitor landed in the center of the room.
+
+Madge and Eleanor had completely forgotten the elfin child they had met
+in the slums of New York City; but now she appeared among them just as
+mysteriously as though she were the fairy she pretended to be.
+
+She wore a small red coat that was half a dozen sizes too tiny for her.
+Her skirt was patched with odds and ends of bright flowered materials. On
+her head perched a cap, a scarlet flower, cut from an odd scrap of old
+wall paper. In her hands Tania clasped a ridiculous bundle, done up in a
+dirty handkerchief.
+
+"You strange little witch!" exclaimed Madge. "However did you find your
+way here? Be very still and good until the lovely lady who owns this
+house sees you, then I wouldn't be at all surprised if she gave you some
+cake and ice cream before she sends you away."
+
+Tania sat down in the corner still as a mouse. Her thin knees were
+hunched close together. She held her poor bundle tightly. Her big black
+eyes grew larger and darker with wonder as she had her first glimpse of a
+fairyland, outside her own imagination, in the beautiful room and the
+group of lovely girls who occupied it.
+
+Mrs. Curtis came in a minute later, followed by a man who had been one of
+the guests at the wedding. Madge, Eleanor, and Tania recognized him
+instantly. He was the young man who had protected Tania from the blows of
+the brutal woman the afternoon before, but Tania did not seem pleased to
+see him. Her face flushed hotly, her lips quivered, though she made no
+sound.
+
+Mrs. Curtis smiled quizzically. Madge could see that there were tears
+behind her smiles. "Who is our latest guest, Madge?" she asked, gazing
+kindly at the odd little person.
+
+Tania rose gravely from her place on the floor. "I am a fairy who has
+been under the spell of a wicked witch," she asserted with solemnity,
+"but now the spell is broken and I've run away from her. I shan't go back
+ever any more."
+
+Mrs. Curtis's young man guest took the child firmly by the shoulders.
+
+"What do you mean by coming here to trouble these young ladies?" he
+demanded sternly. "I thought I recognized your friends, Mrs. Curtis. They
+saved this child yesterday from a punishment she probably well deserved.
+She is one of the children in our slum neighborhood that we have not been
+able to reach. I will take her back to her home with me at once."
+
+The child's head was high in the air. She caught her breath. Her eyes had
+a queer, eerie look in them. "You can't take me back now," she insisted.
+"The spell is broken. I shall never see old Sal again."
+
+Madge put her arm about the small witch girl. "Let her stay here just
+to-night, Mrs. Curtis, please," begged Madge earnestly. "I wish to find
+out something about her. I will look after her and see that she does not
+do any harm."
+
+Quite seriously and gently Tania knelt on one knee and kissed Mrs.
+Curtis's hand. "Let me stay. I shall be on my way again in the morning,"
+she pleaded, "but I am a little afraid of the night."
+
+"My dear child," said Mrs. Curtis, gently drawing the waif to her side,
+"you are far too little to be running away from home. You may stay here
+to-night, then to-morrow we will see what we can do for you. I won't
+trouble you with her to-night, Philip," she added, turning to her guest.
+
+"It will be no trouble," returned Philip Holt blandly. "She lives less
+than an hour's ride from here. Her foster mother will be greatly worried
+at her absence."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked hesitatingly at Tania, who had been listening with
+alert ears. The child's black eyes took on a look of lively terror.
+"Please, please let me stay," she begged, clasping her thin little hands
+in anxious appeal.
+
+"Won't you let Tania stay here to-night, Mrs. Curtis?" asked Madge for
+the second time. "I am sorry to disagree with Mr. Holt, but I do not
+believe that poor little Tania is either lawless or incorrigible. The
+woman who claims her is the most cruel, brutal-looking person I ever saw.
+I am sure she is not Tania's mother. Let me keep her here to-night, and
+to-morrow I will inquire into her case."
+
+"Very well, Madge," said Mrs. Curtis reluctantly. She glanced toward
+Philip Holt. His eyes, however, were fixed upon Madge with an expression
+of disapproval and dislike. For the first time it occurred to Mrs. Curtis
+that Philip Holt might be very disagreeable if thwarted. She immediately
+dismissed the thought as unworthy when the young man said smoothly: "I
+shall be only too glad to have Miss Morton investigate the child's
+record. I am sorry that my word has not been sufficient to convince
+her."
+
+Madge made no reply to this thrust. Then an awkward silence ensued. Mrs.
+Curtis looked annoyed, Tania triumphant, Madge belligerent, and the other
+girls sympathetic. Making a strong effort, Philip Holt controlled his
+anger and, extending his hand to Mrs. Curtis, said: "Pray, pardon my
+interference. I was prompted to speak merely in your interest. I trust I
+shall see you again in the near future. Good night." He bowed coldly to
+the young women and took his departure.
+
+"What a disagreeable----" Madge stopped abruptly. Her face flushed. "I
+beg your pardon, Mrs. Curtis," she said contritely. "I shouldn't have
+spoken my mind aloud."
+
+"I forgive you, my dear," there was a slight tone of constraint in Mrs.
+Curtis's voice, "but I am sure if you knew Mr. Holt as I do you would
+have an entirely different opinion of him."
+
+"Perhaps I should," returned Madge politely, but in her heart she knew
+that she and Philip Holt were destined not to be friends, but bitter
+enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TANIA, A PROBLEM
+
+
+"Don't you think it would be a splendid plan for Tania?" asked Madge
+eagerly. "Miss Jenny Ann and the girls are willing she should come to us.
+Tania is such a fascinating little person, with her dreams and her
+pretences, that she is the best kind of company. Besides, I am awfully
+sorry for her."
+
+Mrs. Curtis and Madge were seated in the latter's bedroom indulging in
+one of their old-time confidential talks.
+
+"Tania would be a great deal of care for you, Madge," argued Mrs. Curtis.
+"She is worrying my maids almost distracted with her foolishness. Last
+night she wrapped herself in a sheet and frightened poor Norah almost to
+death by dancing in the moonlight. She explained to Norah that she was
+pretending that she was a moonflower swaying in the wind. I wonder where
+the child got such odd fancies and bits of information? She has never
+seen a moonflower in her life." Mrs. Curtis laughed and frowned at the
+same time. "Poor little daughter of the tenements! She is indeed a
+problem."
+
+"Shall I tell you all I have been able to find out about Tania?" asked
+Madge. "Her history is quite like a story-book tale. I think her father
+and mother were actors, but the father died when Tania was only a little
+baby. That is why, I suppose, they called the child by such an absurd
+name as 'Titania.' I looked it up and it comes from Shakespeare's play of
+'Midsummer Night's Dream.' I think perhaps her mother was just a dancer,
+or had only a small part in the plays in which she appeared, for they
+never had any money. Tania has lived in a tenement always. The mother
+used to take care of her baby when she could, and then leave her to the
+neighbors. But the mother must have been unusual, too, for she taught
+Tania all sorts of poetry and music when Tania was only a tiny child.
+Indeed, Tania knows a great deal more about literature than I do now,"
+confessed Madge honestly. "It isn't so strange, after all, that Tania
+pretends. Why, she and her mother used to play at pretending together.
+When they sat down to their dinner they used to rub their old lamp and
+play that it was Aladdin's wonderful lamp, and that their poor table was
+spread with a wonderful feast, instead of just bread and cheese. They
+tried to make light of their poverty."
+
+Mrs. Curtis's eyes were full of tears. She could understand better than
+Madge the scene the young girl pictured.
+
+"Tania was eight years old when her mother died," finished Madge
+pensively. "Since then poor Tania has had such a dreadful time, living
+with that wretched old Sal, who has made a regular slavey of her, and she
+just had to go on with her pretending in order to be able to bear her
+life at all."
+
+Madge and Mrs. Curtis were both silent for a moment. The bright June
+sunshine flooded the room, offering a sharp contrast to Tania's sad
+little story.
+
+"You see why I wish to take her on the houseboat," pleaded Madge. "It
+seems so wonderful that we are going to Cape May and will be on the
+really seashore, near you and Tom, that each one of us feels the desire
+to do something for somebody just to show how happy we are. Miss Jenny
+Ann says we may take Tania, if you think it wouldn't be unwise."
+
+"She ought to go to school, Madge," argued Mrs. Curtis half-heartedly.
+"Tania does not know any of the things she should. Philip Holt, who does
+so much good work among the poor in Tania's tenement district, says that
+the child is most unreliable and does not tell the truth."
+
+Madge wrinkled her nose with the familiar expression she wore when
+annoyed. Her investigations had proved Philip Holt a liar, but she
+refrained from saying so.
+
+"You don't like Philip, do you?" continued Mrs. Curtis. "It isn't fair to
+have prejudices without reason. Mr. Holt is a fine young man and does
+splendid work among the poor. Madeleine and I have entrusted him with the
+most of the money we have given to charity. I am sorry that you girls
+don't like him, because he is coming to visit me at Cape May this
+summer."
+
+Madge dutifully stifled her vague feeling of regret. "Of course, we will
+try to like him, if he is your friend," she replied loyally. "It was only
+that we thought Mr. Holt had a terribly superior manner for such a young
+man, and looked too 'goody-goody'! But you have not answered me yet about
+Tania. Do let us have Tania. I'll teach her lots of things this summer,
+and it won't be so hard for her when she goes to school in the fall. She
+is pretty good with me."
+
+"Very well," consented Mrs. Curtis reluctantly, "for this summer only.
+The child will get you into difficulties, but I suppose they won't be
+serious. What is Madge Morton going to do next fall? Is she going to
+college with Phil, or is she coming to be my daughter?"
+
+Madge lowered her red-brown head. "I don't know, dear," she faltered.
+"You know I have said all along to Uncle and Aunt that, just as soon as I
+was grown up, I was going to start out to find my father. I shall be
+nineteen next winter. It surely is time for me to begin."
+
+"But, Madge, dear, you can't find your father unless you know where to
+look for him. The world is a very large place! I am sorry"--Mrs. Curtis
+smoothed Madge's soft hair tenderly--"but I agree with your uncle and
+aunt; your father must be dead. Were he alive he would surely have tried
+to find his little daughter long before this. Your uncle and aunt have
+never heard from or of him during all these years."
+
+"I don't feel sure that he is dead," returned Madge thoughtfully. "You
+see, my father disappeared after his court-martial in the Navy. He never
+dreamed that some day his superior officer would confess his own guilt
+and declare Father innocent. I can't, I won't, believe he is dead.
+Somewhere in this world he lives and some day I shall find him, I am sure
+of it. Phil, Lillian and Eleanor have all pledged themselves to my cause,
+too," she added, smiling faintly.
+
+"I'll do all that I can to help you, Madge. Just have a good time this
+summer, and in the autumn, perhaps, there may be some information for you
+to work on. What is that dreadful noise? I never heard anything like it
+in my house before!" exclaimed Mrs. Curtis.
+
+Madge sprang to her feet. There was the sound of a heavy fall in the next
+room, a scream, then a discreet knock on Madge's door.
+
+"Come!" commanded Mrs. Curtis.
+
+The door opened and the butler appeared in the doorway, his solemn, red
+face redder and more solemn than usual.
+
+"Please, it's that child again," he said. "While the young ladies was out
+in the automobile with Mr. Tom, she went in their room, emptied out one
+of their trunks and shut herself inside. She said she was 'Hope' and the
+trunk was 'Pandory's Box,' or some such crazy foolishness. She meant to
+jump out when the young ladies came back, but Norah went into the room
+with some clean towels, and when the little one bobs her head out of that
+box, just like a black witch, poor Norah is scared out of her wits and
+drops on the floor all of a heap. If that child doesn't go away from here
+soon, Ma'am, I don't know how we can ever bear it."
+
+"That will do, Richards," answered Mrs. Curtis coldly. But Madge could
+see that she was dreadfully vexed at Tania's latest naughtiness.
+
+The little captain gave Mrs. Curtis a penitent hug. "It is all my fault,
+dear. I should never have brought the little witch here," she murmured.
+"I'll go and make it all right with Norah and see that Tania does no more
+mischief--for a while, at least."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked somewhat mollified, nevertheless, she was far from
+pleased, and Madge's championship of little Tania was to cause the little
+captain more than one unhappy hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A MISCHIEVOUS MERMAID
+
+
+There was a splash over the side of a boat, then another, one more, and a
+fourth. The water rippled and broke away into smooth curves. Down a long
+streak of moonlight four dark objects floated above the surface of the
+waves. For a few seconds there was not a sound, not even a shout, to show
+that the mermaids were at play.
+
+Two dark heads kept in advance of the others.
+
+"Madge," warned a voice, "we must not go too far out. Remember, we
+promised Jenny Ann. My, but isn't this water glorious! I feel as though I
+could swim on forever."
+
+A graceful figure turned over and the moonlight shone full on a happy
+face. The two swimmers moved along more slowly.
+
+"Nellie, Lillian!" Madge called back, "are you all right? Do you wish to
+go on farther?"
+
+Phil and Madge floated quietly until their two friends caught up with
+them.
+
+"I feel as though I could go on all night at this rate," declared Lillian
+Seldon. Eleanor put her hand out. "May I float along with you a little,
+Madge?" she asked. "I am tired. How wide and empty the ocean looks
+to-night! We must not get out of sight of the lights of the 'Merry
+Maid'."
+
+"There is no danger!" scoffed Madge.
+
+"Look out!" cried Phil Alden sharply. She was swimming ahead. She saw
+first the sails of a small yacht making across the bay with all speed to
+the line of the shore that the girls had just quitted.
+
+"Let's follow the boat back home," suggested Madge. "We can keep far
+enough away for them not to see us. It will be rather good fun if they
+take us for porpoises or mermaids, or any other queer sea creature."
+
+"Don't run into that Noah's ark that we saw anchored in the creek this
+morning, Roy," came a shrill voice from the deck of the yacht. "I saw
+half a dozen women going aboard her this afternoon laden with boxes and
+trunks--everything but the parrot and the monkey. It looked as though
+they meant to spend the summer aboard her."
+
+"Perhaps they do, Mabel," a man's voice answered. "The 'Noah's Ark' is a
+houseboat. It looked very tiny for so many people, but I thought it was
+rather pretty."
+
+"Well, we have girls enough at Cape May this summer--about six to every
+man," argued Mabel crossly. "I vote that we give these new persons the
+cold shoulder. Nobody knows who they are, nor where they come from. It is
+bad enough to have to associate with tiresome hotel visitors, but I shall
+draw the line at these water-rats, and I hope you will do the same."
+
+"She means us," gasped Eleanor. "What a perfectly horrid girl!"
+
+The high, sharp voice on the yacht was distinctly audible over the water.
+The boat had slowed down as it drew nearer to the shore.
+
+"Swim along with Phil, Nellie," proposed Madge. "I am going to have some
+fun with those young persons. I don't care if I _am_ nearly grown-up; I
+am not going to miss a lark when there's a chance. I have that rubber
+ball that Phil and I brought out to play with in the water. Watch me
+throw it on their yacht. They'll think it's a bomb, or a meteor, if I can
+throw straight enough. I am going to settle with them this very minute
+for the disagreeable things they just said about us and our pretty 'Merry
+Maid.'"
+
+"Don't do it, Madge!" expostulated Phil; but she was too late; Madge had
+dived and was swimming along almost completely under the water. She swam
+in the darkness cast by the shadow of the boat as it passed within a few
+yards of them.
+
+Like a flash she lifted her great rubber ball. She had better luck than
+she deserved. The ball came out of nowhere and landed in the center of
+the group of three young people on the yacht. It fell first on the deck,
+and then bounced into the lap of the offending Mabel.
+
+It was hard work for the waiting girls not to laugh aloud as naughty
+Madge came slowly back to them.
+
+A wild shriek went up from on board the yacht. "Oh, dear, what was that?"
+one girl asked faintly, when the first cries of alarm had died away.
+
+"Where is it? What was it?" growled a masculine voice. "Are you really
+hurt, Mabel? You are making so much fuss that I can't tell."
+
+Mabel had dropped back in a chair. She was white with fear and trembling
+violently.
+
+"It is in my lap," she moaned. "It may explode any moment--do take it
+away!"
+
+The owner of the yacht, Roy Dennis, turned a small electric flashlight
+full on his two girl guests. There, in Mabel's lap, was surely a round,
+globular-shaped object that had either dropped from the sky or had been
+thrown at them by an unknown hand. Roy had really no desire to pick it up
+without seeing it more clearly.
+
+The other girl was less timid. She reached over and took hold of Madge's
+ball. Then she laughed aloud. Oddly enough, her laugh was repeated out on
+the water.
+
+"Why, it's only a rubber ball!" she asserted. Ethel Swann, who was one of
+the old-time cottagers at Cape May, ran to the side of the boat. "See!"
+she exclaimed, "over there are some boys swimming. I suppose they threw
+the ball on board just to frighten us. They certainly were successful."
+She hurled Madge's ball back over the water, but Roy Dennis's small yacht
+had gone some distance from the group of mischievous mermaids and he did
+not turn back. "If I find out who did that trick, I surely will get even
+with them," muttered Roy. "I don't like to be made a fool of."
+
+"Don't tell Jenny Ann, please, girls," begged Madge, as the four girls
+clambered aboard the "Merry Maid." "It was a very silly trick that I
+played. I should hate to have the cottagers at the Cape hear of it. I
+don't suppose I shall ever grow up."
+
+"Girls, whatever made you stay in the water so long?" demanded Miss Jenny
+Ann, coming into the girls' stateroom with a big pitcher of hot chocolate
+and a plate of cakes. "I have been uneasy about you. You have been in the
+water for half an hour. That's too long for a first swim. Poor Tania is
+fast asleep. The child is utterly worn out with so much excitement. Think
+of never having been out of a crowded city in her life, and then seeing
+this wonderful Cape May! Tania wanted to stay up to wish you good night.
+I left her staring out of the cabin window at the stars when I went into
+our kitchen to make the chocolate. When I came back she was asleep."
+
+"Dear Jenny Ann," said Madge penitently, pulling their chaperon down on
+the berth beside her, while Lillian poured the chocolate, "it was my
+fault we were late. The bad things are always my fault. But we are going
+to have a perfectly glorious time this summer, aren't we? Just think,
+next year Phil and I shall be nineteen and nearly old ladies."
+
+"I wonder if anything special is going to happen to us this holiday?"
+pondered Phil, crunching away on her third cake.
+
+"Something special always does happen to us," declared Lillian. "Let's go
+to bed now, because, if we are going to row up the bay in the morning to
+explore the shore, we shall have to get up early to put the 'Merry Maid'
+in order. We must be regular old Cape May inhabitants by the time that
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive."
+
+Next morning bad news came to the crew of the little houseboat. Mrs.
+Curtis had been called to Chicago by the illness of her brother, and Tom
+had gone with her. They did not know how soon they would be able to come
+on to Cape May; but within a very few days Philip Holt, the goody-goody
+young man who was one of Mrs. Curtis's special favorites, would come on
+to Cape May, and Mrs. Curtis hoped that the girls would see that he had a
+good time.
+
+Neither Madge, Phil, Lillian nor Eleanor felt particularly pleased at
+this information. But Tania, who was the only one of the party that knew
+the young man well, burst unexpectedly into a flood of tears, the cause
+of which she obstinately refused to explain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CAPTAIN JULES, DEEP SEA DIVER
+
+
+The "Water Witch" rocked lazily on the breast of the waves, awaiting the
+coming of the four girls, who had planned to row up the bay on a voyage
+of discovery. They were not much interested in staying about among the
+Cape May cottagers, after the conversation which they had innocently
+overheard from the deck of the launch the night before. Of course, if
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom had come on to Cape May at once to occupy their
+cottage, as they had expected to do, all would have been well. The four
+young women and their chaperon would have been immediately introduced to
+the society of the Cape. However, the girls were not repining at their
+lack of society. They had each other; there was the old town of Cape May
+to be explored with the great ocean on one side and Delaware Bay on the
+other.
+
+"Do be careful, children," called Miss Jenny Ann warningly as the girls
+arranged themselves for a row in their skiff. "In all our experience on
+the water I never saw so many yachts and pleasure boats as there are on
+these waters. If you don't keep a sharp lookout one of the larger boats
+may run into you. Don't get into trouble."
+
+"We are going away from trouble, Miss Jenny Ann," protested Phil. "There
+is a yacht club on the sound, but we are going to row up the bay past the
+shoals and get as far from civilization as possible."
+
+Madge stood up in the skiff and waved her hand to their chaperon. The
+girls looked like a small detachment of feminine naval cadets in their
+nautical uniforms. Each one of them wore a dark blue serge skirt of ankle
+length and a middy blouse with a blue sailor collar. They were without
+hats, as they hoped to get a coating of seashore tan without wasting any
+time.
+
+"I shall expect you home by noon," were Miss Jenny Ann's final words as
+the "Water Witch" danced away from the houseboat.
+
+"Aye, aye, Skipper!" the girls called back in chorus. "Shall we bring
+back lobsters or clams for luncheon, if we can find them?"
+
+"_Clams!_" hallooed Miss Jenny Ann through her hands. "I am dreadfully
+afraid of live lobsters." Then the houseboat chaperon retired to write a
+letter to an artist, a Mr. Theodore Brown, whose acquaintance she had
+made during the first of the houseboat holidays. He had suggested that he
+would like to come to Cape May some time later in the summer if any of
+his houseboat friends would be pleased to see him, and she was writing to
+tell him just how greatly pleased they would be.
+
+The "Merry Maid" had found a quiet anchorage in one of the smaller inlets
+of the Delaware Bay, not far from the town of Cape May. The larger number
+of the summer cottages were farther away on the tiny islands near the
+sound and along the ocean front.
+
+The "Water Witch" sped gayly over the blue waters of the bay in the
+brilliant late June sunshine. Madge and Phil, as usual, were at the oars.
+Tania crouched quietly at Lillian's feet in the stern of the skiff.
+Eleanor sat in the prow.
+
+"What do you think of it all, Tania?" Madge asked the little adopted
+houseboat daughter. Tania had been very silent since their arrival at the
+seashore. If she were impressed at the wonderful and beautiful things she
+had seen since she left New York City, she had, so far, said nothing.
+
+Her large black eyes blinked in the dazzling light. She was looking
+straight up toward the sky in a curious, absorbed fashion. "I was trying
+to make up my mind, Madge, if this place was as beautiful as my kingdom
+in Fairyland," answered Tania seriously, "and I believe it is."
+
+"Have you a kingdom in Fairyland, little Tania?" inquired Phil gently.
+She did not understand the child's odd fancies, as Madge did.
+
+Tania nodded her head quietly. "Of course I have," she returned simply.
+"Hasn't every one a Fairyland, where things are just as they should be,
+beautiful and good and kind? I am the queen of my kingdom."
+
+Phil looked puzzled, but Madge only laughed. "Don't mind Tania, Phil. She
+is going to be a very sensible little houseboat girl before our holiday
+is over. Besides, I understand her. She only says some of the things I
+used to think when I was a tiny child. But I do wish the people on the
+boats would not stare at us so; there is nothing very wonderful in our
+appearance."
+
+The girls were trying to guide their rowboat among the other larger craft
+that were afloat on the bay. They wished to get into the more remote
+waters. In the meantime it was embarrassing to have smartly dressed women
+and girls put up their lorgnettes and opera glasses to gaze at the girls
+as the latter rowed by.
+
+"Can there be anything the matter with us?" asked Phil solicitously. "I
+never saw anything like this fire of inquisitive stares."
+
+"Of course not, Phil," answered Lillian sensibly. "It is only because we
+are strangers at Cape May, and most of the people whom we see about come
+here each year. Then we are the only persons who live in a Noah's ark, as
+those pleasant people on the yacht called our pretty 'Merry Maid' last
+night. Don't worry. Have you thought how odd it is that we won't even
+know them if we should be introduced to them later? We did not see either
+them or their boat very plainly last night; we only overheard them
+talking."
+
+"But I'll know the voice of that woman who screamed," replied Madge
+rather grimly. "I just dare her to shriek again without my recognizing
+her dulcet tones."
+
+The girls were now drawing away from the crowded end of the bay. They
+kept along fairly close to the shore. There was an occasional house near
+the water, but these dwellings were farther and farther apart. Finally
+the girls rowed for half a mile without seeing any residence save an
+occasional fisherman's hut. They hoped to reach some place where they
+could catch at least a glimpse of the wonderful cedar woods that flourish
+farther up the coast of the bay.
+
+Suddenly Lillian sang out: "Look, girls, there is the dearest little
+house! It is almost in the water. It rivals our houseboat, it is so like
+a ship. Isn't it too cunning for anything!"
+
+Madge and Phyllis rested on their oars. The girls stared curiously.
+
+They saw a house built of shingles that had turned a soft gray which
+exactly resembled an old three-masted schooner. It had a tiny porch in
+front, but the first roof ended in a point, the second rose higher, like
+a larger sail, and the third, which must have covered the kitchen, was
+about the height of the first.
+
+"See, Tania, I can make the funny house by putting my fingers together,"
+laughed Lillian. "My thumbs are the first roof, my three fingers the
+second, and my little fingers the last."
+
+The girls rowed nearer the odd cottage. The place was deserted; at least
+they saw no one about. Over the front door of the house hung a trim
+little sign inscribed, "The Anchorage."
+
+"Dear me, here is a boathouse, and we've a houseboat!" exclaimed Eleanor.
+"I wish we dared go ashore and knock at the door, to ask some one to show
+us over it."
+
+"I don't think we had better try it, Eleanor," remonstrated Phil. "The
+house probably belongs to some grouchy old sea captain who has built it
+to get away from people."
+
+At this moment a man at least six feet tall, wearing old yellow
+tarpaulins, came around the side of the house of the three sails with a
+large basket on each arm. He sat down on a rock in front of the house and
+began lifting mussel and oyster shells out of one of his baskets. He
+would peer at them earnestly before throwing them over to one side. He
+was a giant of a man, past middle age. His face was so weather-beaten
+that his skin was like leather. His eyes were blue as only a sailor's
+eyes can be. On one of the man's shoulders perched a wizened little
+monkey that every now and then tugged at its master's grizzled hair or
+chattered in his ear.
+
+[Illustration: "Good Morning" Shouted Madge.]
+
+The man did not observe the girls in the rowboat, although they were only
+a few yards away.
+
+"Good morning," sang out Madge cheerfully, forgetting the vow of silence
+which the girls had made that morning against the Cape Mayites. But then,
+the girls had never dreamed of seeing such a fascinating seafaring old
+mariner. Their vow had been taken against the society people.
+
+The sailor, however, did not return Madge's friendly salutation; he went
+on examining his oyster and mussel shells.
+
+Madge looked crestfallen. The old sailor had such a splendid, strong
+face. He did not seem to be the kind of man who would fail to return a
+friendly good morning greeting.
+
+"I don't think he heard you, Madge. Let's all halloo together," proposed
+Lillian.
+
+"Good morning!" shouted five young voices in a mischievous chorus.
+
+The seaman lifted his big head. His smile came slowly, wrinkling his face
+into heavy creases. "Good morning, mates," he called heartily. "Coming
+ashore?"
+
+"Oh, may we?" cried Madge in return. "We should _dearly_ love to!"
+
+The five girls needed no further invitation. They piled out of the "Water
+Witch" before their host could come near enough to assist them.
+
+The seaman did not invite them into the house. The girls took their seats
+on the big rock near the water. Madge was farthest away, but promptly the
+monkey leaped from its master's shoulder and planted itself in Madge's
+hair, pulling the strands violently while he chattered angrily.
+
+"You horrid little thing!" she cried; "you hurt. I wonder if you hate red
+hair. Is that the reason you are trying to pull mine out? Please,
+somebody, take this playful beast away."
+
+The old sea captain, as the girls guessed him to be, promptly came to
+Madge's rescue and removed the angry monkey.
+
+"You must forgive my pet," he remarked kindly. "My little Madge is
+jealous. She doesn't like strangers and we don't often have young lady
+visitors."
+
+"Madge!" exclaimed the little captain, smiling as she tried to re-arrange
+her hair. "What a funny name for a monkey. Why, that is my name!"
+
+After a few advances the monkey became very friendly with the other
+girls, but she would have nothing to do with Madge. She would fly into a
+perfect tempest of rage whenever Madge approached her or tried to talk to
+her. The monkey even deserted her master to perch in Tania's arms. The
+animal put its little, scrawny arms about the queer child's neck, and
+there was almost the same elfish, wistful look in both pairs of dark
+eyes.
+
+"Do you catch many fish in these waters?" inquired Eleanor, whose
+housewifely soul was interested in the big basket of lobsters that she
+saw crawling about, writhing and twisting as though they were in agony.
+
+"Almost every kind that lives in temperate waters," answered the sailor,
+"but there is nothing like the variety one finds in the tropics."
+
+"Were you once a sea captain?" asked Lillian curiously.
+
+The man shook his head. "I'm not a captain in the United States service,"
+he returned. "I am called captain in these parts, 'Captain Jules,' but I
+have only commanded a freight schooner."
+
+"I know I have no right to be so curious," interposed Madge, "but I
+dearly love everything about the sea. Were you ever a deep sea diver?
+Somehow you look like one."
+
+"I was a pearl-fisher for many years," the seaman answered as calmly as
+though diving for pearls was one of the most ordinary trades in the
+world. But his eyes twinkled as he heard Madge's gasp of admiration and
+caught the expression on the faces of the other girls.
+
+"You were looking for pearls in those oysters and mussel shells when our
+boat came along, weren't you?" divined Madge, regarding him with large
+eyes.
+
+The man nodded a smiling answer.
+
+"Yes, but I didn't expect to find any pearls," he answered. "It is
+strange how a man's old occupation will cling to him, even after he has
+long ago given it up. There are very few pearls to be found now in the
+Delaware Bay or the waters around here."
+
+Captain Jules was gravely removing lobsters from his basket for Tania's
+entertainment while he talked to Madge. Tania was watching him,
+breathless with admiration and terror. The captain would take hold of one
+of the great, crawling things, rub it softly on its horned head as one
+would rub a tabby cat to make it purr. He would then set the lobster up
+on its hind claws and the funny crustacean would fall quietly asleep, as
+though it were nodding in a chair.
+
+"I never saw anything so queer in my life," chuckled Phil. "You hypnotize
+the lobsters, don't you?"
+
+Captain Jules shook his shaggy head. He was proud of the appreciation his
+accomplishment had excited. "No; I don't hypnotize them," he explained.
+"Anybody can make old Father Lobster fall asleep if he only rubs him in
+the right place. You are not going, are you?" for the girls had risen to
+depart.
+
+"I am afraid we must," said Madge; "we promised to get back to our
+houseboat by noon. If you come down to Cape May, won't you please come to
+see us? Our houseboat is a rival to your boathouse."
+
+"You are very kind," answered the old captain, shaking his head, "but I
+don't do much visiting. I thank you just the same. Let me fix you up a
+basket of fish. Afraid of the lobsters, aren't you, little girl?" he
+said, smiling at Tania.
+
+The old sailor followed his visitors to help them aboard their rowboat.
+He walked beside Madge, keeping a careful watch on his monkey, which
+still chattered and gesticulated, showing her hatred of the little
+captain.
+
+The girls realized that this man had the manners of a gentleman, although
+he looked as rough and uncouth as a common sailor. There was a kind of
+nobility about him, as of a man who has lived and fought with the big
+things of the earth.
+
+Madge looked at him beseechingly just before they arrived at their skiff.
+Now, when Madge desired anything very greatly she was hard to resist. Her
+blue eyes wore their most bewitching expression. "Please," she faltered,
+"I want you to do me a favor. I know I have no right to ask it, but,
+but----"
+
+"What is it?" inquired Captain Jules, smiling.
+
+"Have you your diving suit?" asked Madge. "If you have, and you would
+show it to me some day, I would be too happy for words." Madge blushed at
+her own temerity.
+
+The captain shook his head. There was little encouragement in his
+expression. "Maybe, some day," he replied vaguely; "but I have had the
+suit put away for some time. Who knows when I will go down into the sea
+again? Be careful in that small skiff," he warned the girls. "There are
+so many launches about on these waters, run by men and women that don't
+know the very first principles of running a boat, that a small craft like
+yours may easily drift into danger. You must look lively."
+
+The girls waved their good-byes as Madge and Phil pulled away. Madge
+noticed that the old sailor stared curiously at her, and every now and
+then he shook his head and frowned. Madge supposed it was because she had
+been so bold as to ask a favor of a perfect stranger. Yet, if she could
+only see Captain Jules again and he might be persuaded to show her his
+diving suit and to tell her something of the strange business of
+pearl-fishing, she couldn't be really sorry for her impudence. This
+accidental meeting with an old sailor inspired Madge afresh with her love
+of the sea and the mystery of it. She could not get the man out of her
+mind, nor her own desire to see him soon again and to ask him more
+questions.
+
+As for Captain Jules, when the girls had fairly gone he lighted his pipe
+and strode along the line of the shore. "It's a funny thing, Madge," he
+said, addressing the monkey, "but when a man gets an idea in his head,
+everything and everybody he sees seems to start the same old idea
+a-going. I wish I had asked her to tell me her surname. I wonder if she
+is the real Madge?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE WRECK OF THE "WATER WITCH"
+
+
+The girls began their row to the "Merry Maid" with all speed. They had
+had such an interesting morning that they did not realize how the time
+had flown. They did not know the exact hour now, but they feared it would
+be after twelve before they could rejoin Miss Jenny Ann. The sun was so
+nearly overhead and shining so brilliantly that the effect was almost
+dazzling. Madge and Phil did not try to see any distance ahead in their
+course. Lillian, however, was on the lookout. There were several inlets
+opening into the larger water-way down which the girls were rowing. Boats
+were likely to come unexpectedly out of these inlets, and the girls
+should have been far more watchful than they were.
+
+"It's too bad about Mrs. Curtis and Tom not coming on to Cape May as soon
+as we expected them, isn't it?" remarked Phil, resting for half a moment
+from the strain of the steady pulling at her oars. "I hope they will
+arrive soon, before we have the responsibility of entertaining Mrs.
+Curtis's friend, Philip Holt. It won't be much fun to have a strange man
+following us about everywhere, even if he should turn out to be nicer
+than we think he is." Phil was the stroke oar. She was talking over her
+shoulder to Madge, who was paying more attention to her friend's
+conversation than to her rowing.
+
+"Oh, I think Mrs. Curtis and Tom will be along soon," she rejoined. "I
+felt dreadfully when we received the telegram this morning. But now I
+hope Mrs. Curtis's brother will get well in a hurry. Perhaps they will be
+here almost as soon as this Philip. I'll wager you a pound of chocolates,
+Phil, that this goody-goody young man can't swim or row, or do anything
+like an ordinary person. He will just think every single thing we do is
+perfectly dreadful, and will frighten Tania to death with his preaching.
+I know he thinks her fairy stories are lies. He told Mrs. Curtis that
+Tania never spoke the truth." Madge lowered her voice. "I am sure we have
+never caught her in a lie. I suppose this Philip will think my
+exaggerations are as bad as Tania's fairy stories. I hate too literal
+people."
+
+"Dear me, whom are you and Phil discussing, Madge?" inquired Lillian,
+leaning over from her seat in the stern with Tania, to try to catch her
+friends' low-voiced conversation. "If it is that Philip Holt, you need
+not think that he will trouble us very much when he comes to Cape May. He
+is just the kind of person who will trot after all the rich people he
+meets, and waste very little energy on those who have neither money nor
+social position."
+
+Lillian was looking at Madge and Phil as she talked. For the moment she
+forgot to keep a sharp watch about on the water. But a moment since there
+had been no other boats in sight near them. Eleanor was resting in the
+prow with her eyes closed. The sun blazed hotly in her face, she could
+only see a bright light dancing before her eyes.
+
+As Lillian leaned back in her seat in the stern her face took on an
+expression of sudden alarm. At the same moment the four girls heard the
+distinct chug of a motor engine. Cutting down upon them was a pleasure
+yacht run by a gasoline motor. The prow of the yacht was head-on with the
+"Water Witch" and running at full speed. The boat had blown no whistle,
+so the girls had not seen its approach.
+
+"Look ahead!" shouted Lillian.
+
+The young man who was steering the yacht paid no heed to her warning. He
+kept straight ahead, although he distinctly saw the rowboat and its
+passengers.
+
+Madge and Phyllis had no time to call out or to protest. They realized,
+almost instantly, that the motor launch meant to make no effort to slow
+down but to put the full responsibility of getting out of danger on the
+rowers.
+
+The girls had no particular desire to be thrown into the water, nor to
+have their boat cut in two, so they pulled for dear life, with white
+faces and straining throats and arms.
+
+They just missed making their escape by a hair's breadth. The young man
+running the yacht must have believed that the skiff would get safely by
+or else when he found out his mistake it was too late for him to slow
+down. The prow of his yacht ran with full force into the frail side of
+the "Water Witch" near her stern.
+
+The little skiff whirled in the water almost in a semi-circle. By a
+miracle it escaped being completely run down by the launch. Yet a second
+later, before any one of the girls could stir, the water rushed into the
+hole in its side and it sank. Madge and Phyllis had had their oars
+wrenched from their hands. Then they found themselves struggling in the
+water.
+
+A cry rose from the launch as the "Water Witch" and her passengers
+disappeared. But there was no sound from the little rowboat, save the
+gurgle of the water and a shrill scream from Tania as the waves closed
+over her head.
+
+The yacht swept on past, borne perhaps by her own headway.
+
+As Madge went down under the water two thoughts seemed to come to her
+mind in the same second: she must look after Eleanor and Tania. Her
+cousin, Nellie, was not able to swim as well as the other girls. She had
+always been more nervous and timid in the water and was liable to sudden
+cramp. Madge knew that being hurled from a boat in such sudden fashion
+with her clothes on instead of a bathing suit would completely terrify
+Eleanor. She might lose her presence of mind completely and fail to
+strike out when she rose to the surface of the water. As for Tania, Madge
+was aware that she, of course, could not swim a stroke. The little one
+had never been in deep water before in her life.
+
+Madge struggled for breath for a second as she came to the surface of the
+bay again. She had swallowed some salt water as she went down. In the
+next desperate instant she counted three heads above the waves besides
+her own. Phyllis was swimming quietly toward Eleanor. Evidently she had
+entertained Madge's fear. "Make for the 'Water Witch,' Nellie," Madge
+heard Phil say in her calm, cool-headed fashion. "It has overturned and
+come up again and we can hang on to that. Don't be frightened. I am
+coming after you. Try to float if your clothes are too heavy to swim.
+I'll pull you to the boat."
+
+Lillian's golden head reflected the light from the sun's rays as she swam
+along after Phil. But nowhere could Madge see a sign of a little, wild,
+black head with its straight, short locks and frightened black eyes.
+
+She waited for another breathless moment. Why did Tania not rise to the
+surface like the rest of them? Madge was trying to tread water and to
+keep a sharp lookout about her, but her clothes were heavy and kept
+pulling her down; swimming in heavy shoes is an extremely difficult
+business, even for an experienced swimmer. All of a sudden it occurred to
+Madge that Tania might have risen under the overturned rowboat. Then her
+head would have struck against its bottom and she would have gone down
+again without ever having been seen.
+
+There was nothing else to be done. Madge must dive down to see what had
+become of her little friend, yet diving was difficult when she had no
+place from which to dive. Madge knew she must get all the way down to the
+very bottom of the bay to see if by any chance Tania's body could have
+been entangled among the sea weed, or her clothes caught on a rock or
+snag.
+
+Once down, she looked in vain for the little body along the sandy bottom
+of the bay. She espied some rocks covered with shimmering shells and sea
+ferns, but there was no trace of Tania. For the second time she rose to
+the surface of the water. She hoped to see Tania's black head glistening
+among those of her older friends clustered about the overturned boat. She
+had grown very tired and was obliged to shake the water out of her eyes
+before she dared trust herself to look.
+
+Then she saw that Phil had hold of one of Eleanor's hands and with the
+other was clinging to the slippery side of their overturned boat. Eleanor
+was numb with cold and shock. Although her free hand rested on the boat,
+Phil dared not let go of her for fear she would sink.
+
+Phyllis was beginning to feel uneasy about Madge. She had given no
+thought to her during the early part of the accident, she knew Madge to
+be a water witch herself, but when the little captain did not come to the
+skiff with the rest of them Phil's heart grew heavy. What could she do?
+Dare she let go her hold on Eleanor? Strangely enough, in their peril,
+Phyllis had given no thought to the little stranger, Tania.
+
+Phyllis Alden breathed a happy sigh of relief when she saw Madge's curly,
+red-brown head moving along toward them.
+
+"Have you seen Tania?" she called faintly, trying to reserve both her
+breath and her strength.
+
+Then Phil remembered Tania with a rush of remorse and terror. "No, I
+haven't, Madge. What could have become of the child?" she faltered.
+
+Lillian looked out over the water. Surely the launch that had wrecked
+them would have been able by this time to come back to their assistance.
+The boat had stopped, but it had not moved near to them. So far, its crew
+showed no sign of giving them any aid. Lillian could not believe her
+eyes.
+
+"I'd better dive for Tania again," said Madge quietly, without intimating
+to her chums that she was feeling a little tired and less sure of herself
+in the water than usual. She knew they would not allow her to dive.
+
+When she went down for Tania the second time she chose a different place
+to make her descent. She must find the little girl at once.
+
+She was swimming along, not many inches from the bottom of the bay, when
+she caught sight of what seemed to her a large fish floating near some
+rocks. Madge swam toward it slowly. It was Tania's foot, swaying with the
+motion of the water. Caught on a spar, which might have once been part of
+a mast of an old ship, was Tania's dress. On the other side of her was a
+rock, and her body had become wedged between the two objects. It was a
+beautiful place and might have been a cave for a mermaid, but it held the
+little earth-princess in a death-like grasp.
+
+It is possible to be sick with fear and yet to be brave. Madge knew her
+danger. She saw that Tania's dress was caught fast. She would have to tug
+at it valiantly to get it away. First, she pulled desperately at Tania's
+shoe, hoping she could free her body. A suffocating weight had begun to
+press down on her chest. She could hear a roaring and buzzing in her
+ears. She knew enough of the water to realize that she had been too long
+underneath; she should rise to the surface again to get her breath. But
+she dared not wait so long to release Tania. Nor did she know that she
+could find the child again when she returned. She must do her work now.
+
+So Madge pulled more slowly and carefully at Tania's frock, unwinding it
+from the spar that held it. With a few gentle tugs she released it and
+Tania's slender body rose slowly. The child's eyes were closed, her face
+was as still and white as though she were dead. Madge was glad of Tania's
+unconsciousness. She knew that in this lay the one chance of safety for
+herself and the child. If Tania came to consciousness and began to
+struggle the little captain knew that her strength was too far gone for
+her to save either the child or herself. She would not leave her. She
+would have to drown with her.
+
+She caught the little girl by her black hair, and swam out feebly with
+her one free arm. At this moment Tania's black eyes opened wide. She
+realized their awful peril. She was only a child, and the fear of the
+drowning swept over her. She gave a despairing clutch upward, threw both
+her thin arms about Madge's neck and held her in a grasp of steel. For a
+second Madge tried to fight Tania's hands away. Then her strength gave
+out utterly. She realized that the end had come for them both.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE OWNER OF THE DISAGREEABLE VOICE
+
+
+It may be that Madge had another second of consciousness. Afterward she
+thought she could recall being caught up by a giant, who unloosed Tania's
+hands from about her throat. Quietly the three of them began to float
+upward with such steadiness, such quietness, that she had that blessed
+sense of security and release from responsibility that a child must feel
+who has fallen asleep in its father's arms.
+
+The first thing that she actually knew was, when she opened her eyes, to
+look into a pair of deep blue, kindly ones that were smiling bravely and
+encouragingly into hers. Near her were her three friends, looking very
+wet and miserable, and one little, dark-eyed elf who was sobbing
+bitterly. Farther away were two strange girls and one red-faced young
+man. Then Madge understood that she had been brought aboard the yacht
+that had run down their rowboat.
+
+The little captain sat up indignantly. "I am quite all right," she said
+haughtily, looking with an unfriendly countenance at their wreckers.
+Then, feeling strangely dizzy, she sank back and with a little sigh
+closed her eyes.
+
+"Don't do that," protested Eleanor tragically. "You must not faint.
+Captain Jules, please don't let her."
+
+The old captain's strong hands took hold of Madge's cold ones. "Pull
+yourself together, my hearty," he whispered. "A girl who can dive down
+into the bottom of the bay as you can shows she has good sea-blood in
+her. She can see the old captain's diving suit any day she likes--own it
+if she has a mind to. Fishing for pearls isn't half so good a trade as
+fishing for a human life. You'll be yourself in a minute. Lucky I
+happened to walk down the beach in the same direction your boat went."
+
+One of the two strange girls came to Madge's side at this moment with a
+cup of strong tea. "_Do_ drink this," she pleaded. "It has taken some
+time to make the water boil. I wish to give some to the other girls, too.
+I am so sorry that we ran into you. You must know that it was an
+accident."
+
+Madge drank the tea obediently, gazing a little less scornfully at the
+girl who was serving her, her face pale with fright and sympathy. The
+other girl stood apart at a little distance with a young man. They were
+both staring at the wet and shivering girls with poorly concealed
+amusement.
+
+"We are awfully sorry to give you so much trouble," said Madge to the
+girl with the tea. She was trying to control her feelings when she caught
+sight of the owner of the small yacht and his friend and her temper got
+the better of her.
+
+"I am sorry," she repeated, "that we are giving _you_ trouble. But,
+really, your motor launch had no right to bear down on our boat without
+blowing its whistle or giving the faintest sign of its approach. It put
+the whole responsibility of getting out of the way on us."
+
+Madge was sitting beside the old captain. Her direct mode of attack
+showed that she was feeling more like herself.
+
+"What the young lady says is true," declared Captain Jules with emphasis.
+"I doubt if you have the faintest legal right to navigate a boat in these
+waters. If I hadn't happened to walk along down the shore of the bay
+after these young ladies left me two of them would have been drowned.
+I'll have to see to it that you keep off this bay if you do any more such
+mischief as you did this morning."
+
+The young man in a handsome yachting suit worthy of an admiral in the
+United States Navy frowned angrily at Madge and her champion.
+
+"I say it wasn't my fault that I ran into your little paper boat," he
+protested angrily. "I gave you plenty of time to get out of my way, but
+you girls pulled so slowly that we did slide into you. Still, if you will
+admit that it was your fault and not mine, I will have your old skiff
+mended, if she isn't too much used up and you can get somebody to tow her
+back to land for you. I can't; I have enough to carry as it is."
+
+The girl standing beside the young man giggled hysterically. Madge
+decided that she had heard her high, shrill notes before. Phyllis,
+Lillian and Eleanor were furiously angry at the young man's retort to
+Madge and Captain Jules, but they bit their lips and said nothing. They
+were on his yacht, although they were enforced passengers; it was better
+not to express their feelings.
+
+But Madge was in a white heat of passion over the young man's boorish
+retort.
+
+"It was not our fault in the least that we were run down," she said in a
+low, evenly pitched voice. "We are not willing to take the least bit of
+the blame. You not only ran into our little boat and sunk her, but you
+did not take the least trouble to come to our aid when you had not the
+faintest knowledge whether any one of us could swim. _Men_ in the part of
+the world where I come from don't do things of that kind. Put your boat
+back and tow our rowboat to land," ordered Madge imperiously. "We
+certainly will not allow you to have it mended. Neither my friends nor I
+wish to accept any kind of recompense from a man who is a _coward_!"
+
+The word was out. Madge had not meant to use it, but somehow it slipped
+off her tongue.
+
+"Steady," she heard the old sailor whisper in her ear. He was gazing at
+her intently, and something in his face calmed the hot tide of her anger.
+"I am sorry I said you were a coward," she added, with one of her quick
+repentances. "I don't think you were very brave, but perhaps something
+may have happened that prevented your coming to our aid."
+
+"Mr. Dennis does not swim very well," the nicer of the two girls
+explained, sitting down beside Madge. She was blushing and biting her
+lips. "Mr. Dennis meant to put back as soon as he could. I am Ethel
+Swann. I received a letter from Mrs. Curtis this morning, who is one of
+my mother's old friends. She wrote that she and her son would be down a
+little later to open their cottage, but she hoped that we would meet you
+girls before she came. I am so sorry that we have met first in such an
+unfortunate fashion."
+
+"Oh, never mind," interrupted Madge impatiently. "If you are Ethel Swann,
+Mrs. Curtis has talked to us about you. We are very glad to know you, I
+am sure."
+
+"These are my friends, Roy Dennis and Mabel Farrar," Ethel went on, her
+face flushing. The four girls bowed coldly. Mabel Farrar acknowledged the
+introduction by a stiff nod. The young man took off his cap for the first
+time when Madge introduced Captain Jules.
+
+"Run your boat along the side of the overturned skiff and I'll tie her on
+for you," ordered Captain Jules quietly. "I think I had better go along
+back to land with you."
+
+Roy Dennis, who was a little more frightened at his deed than he cared to
+own, was glad to obey the captain's order.
+
+Just as the girls were landing from the launch Mabel Farrar's foot
+slipped and she gave a shrill scream. Instantly the girls recognized the
+voice which they had heard the night before condemning them to social
+oblivion.
+
+Although Captain Jules had only a short time before positively refused
+the invitation of the girls to come aboard the "Merry Maid" to pay them a
+visit, it was he who handed each girl from the deck of Roy Dennis's boat
+into the arms of their frightened chaperon. Finally he crossed over to
+the deck of the houseboat himself, bearing little Tania in his arms and
+looking in his wet tarpaulins like old King Neptune rising from the
+brine.
+
+Captain Jules was made to stay to luncheon on board the houseboat. There
+was no getting away from the determined young women. In his heart of
+hearts the old sailor had no desire to go. Something inspired him with
+the desire to know more of these charming girls.
+
+When the girls had put on dry clothing they led Captain Jules all over
+the houseboat, showing him each detail of it. He insisted that the "Merry
+Maid" was as trim a little craft as he had ever seen afloat.
+
+After luncheon, at which the captain devoured six of Miss Jenny Ann's
+best cornbread gems, he sat down in a chair on the houseboat deck,
+holding Tania in his arms. He talked most to Phyllis, but he seldom took
+his eyes off Madge's face. Sometimes he frowned at her; now and then he
+smiled. Once or twice Madge found herself blushing and wondering why her
+rescuer looked at her so hard, but she was too interested to care very
+much.
+
+She sat down in her favorite position on a pile of cushions on the deck,
+with her head resting against Miss Jenny Ann's knee and her eyes on the
+water. "Do tell us, Captain Jules," she pleaded, "something about your
+life as a pearl-fisher. You must have had wonderful experiences. We would
+dearly love to hear about them, wouldn't we, girls?"
+
+The girls chorused an enthusiastic "Yes," which included Miss Jenny Ann.
+
+Captain Jules laughed. "Haven't you ever heard that it is dangerous to
+get an old sea dog started on his adventures? You never can tell when he
+will leave off," he teased, stroking Tania's black hair. "But I wouldn't
+be surprised if Tania would like to hear how once I was nearly swallowed
+whole, diving suit and all, by a giant shark. I was hunting for pearls in
+those days off the Philippine Islands. I had been tearing some shells
+from the side of a great rock when, of a sudden, I felt a strange
+presence before I saw anything. I might have known it was time to expect
+trouble, because the little fish that are usually floating about in the
+water had all disappeared. A creepy feeling came over me. I was cold as
+ice inside my diving suit. Then I turned and looked up. Just a few feet
+in front of me was a giant shark that seemed about twenty-five feet long.
+He was an evil monster. The upper part of his body was a dirty, dark
+green and his fins were black. You never saw a diving suit, did you? So
+you don't know that all the body is covered up but the hands. I tucked my
+hands under my breastplate in a hurry. It didn't seem to me that a pearl
+diver would be much good without any hands. Well, the great fish made a
+sweep with its tail, and in a jiffy he and I were face to face. I stood
+still for about a second. I held my breath, my heart pounding like a
+hammer. Nearer and nearer the monster came swimming toward me, with its
+shovel nose pointing directly at the glass that covered my face. I
+couldn't stand it. I threw up my hands. I yelled way down at the bottom
+of the sea with no one to hear me. There was a swirl of water, a cloud of
+mud, and my enemy vanished. He didn't like the noise any better than I
+liked him."
+
+The girls breathed sighs of relief. The captain chuckled. "Oh, a diver is
+not in real danger from a shark," he went on, "his suit protects him. But
+there are plenty of other dangers. Maybe I'll tell you some of them at
+another time. Why, I declare, it is nearly sunset. You don't know it,
+children, but the bottom of the tropic sea has colors in it as beautiful
+as the lights in that sky. The sea-bottom, where the diver is apt to find
+pearl shells, is covered with all sorts of sea growths--sponges twelve
+feet high, coral cups like inverted mushrooms, sea-fans twenty feet
+broad."
+
+As the old diver talked, the girls could see the magic coral wreaths,
+glowing rose color and crimson, the tall ferns and sea flowers that waved
+with the movement of the water as the earth flowers move to the stirring
+of the wind. And there in the land of the mermaids, hidden between
+wonderful shells of mother-of-pearl, lie the jewels that are the purest
+and most beautiful in the world.
+
+Madge's chin was in her hands. She did not hear the old captain get up
+and say good-bye. She was wishing, with all her heart, that she, too,
+might go down to the bottom of the sea to view its treasures.
+
+"Madge," Phil interrupted her reverie, "Captain Jules is going."
+
+Madge put her soft, warm hands into the big man's hard, powerful ones.
+"Good-bye," she said gratefully. "There is something I wish to tell you,
+but I won't until another time."
+
+Miss Jenny Ann stared thoughtfully after the giant figure as Captain
+Jules left the houseboat and strode up the shore in search of a small
+skiff to take him home.
+
+"You girls have made an unusual friend," she said slowly to Madge. "In
+many ways Captain Jules is rough. He may be uneducated in the wisdom of
+schools and books, but he is a great man with a great heart."
+
+Before Madge went to bed that night she wrote Tom Curtis. She told him
+how sorry they all were that he could not come at once to Cape May. She
+also described the day's adventures. She made as light of their accident
+as possible, but she ended her letter by asking Tom if he would not send
+her a book about pearl fishing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE GOODY-GOODY YOUNG MAN
+
+
+"Philip Holt has come, Madge," announced Phyllis Alden a few days later.
+"He is staying at one of the hotels until Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive to
+open their cottage. He has already been calling on a number of Mrs.
+Curtis's friends here. Now he has condescended to come to see us. Miss
+Jenny Ann says we must invite him to luncheon; so close that book, if you
+please, and come help us to entertain him. I am sure you will be _so_
+pleased to see him."
+
+Madge frowned, but closed her book obediently. "What a bore, Phil! I was
+just reading this fascinating book on pearl-fishing. A few valuable
+pearls have been found in these waters. There was one which was sold to a
+princess for twenty-five hundred dollars. Who knows but the 'Merry Maid'
+may even now be reposing on a bank of pearls! Dear me, here is that
+tiresome Mr. Holt! Of course, we must be nice with him on Mrs. Curtis's
+account. I hope she and Tom will soon come along. Let us take Mr. Holt
+with us to the golf club this afternoon. We promised Ethel Swann to come
+and she won't mind our bringing him."
+
+The girls were not altogether surprised that the young people whom they
+had lately met at Cape May were divided into two sets. The one had taken
+the girls under their protection and seemed to like them immensely. The
+other, headed by Mabel Farrar and Roy Dennis, treated them with cool
+contempt. But the girls felt able to take care of themselves. Not one of
+them even inquired what story Mr. Dennis and Miss Farrar had told about
+their memorable meeting on the water.
+
+The Cape May golf course stretches over miles of beautiful downs and the
+clubhouse is the gathering place for society at this summer resort.
+
+Ethel Swann bore off Lillian and Eleanor to introduce them to some of her
+friends, and the three girls followed the course of two of the players
+over the links.
+
+Philip Holt was plainly impressed by the smartly-dressed women and girls
+whom he saw about him. He was a tall, thin young man with sandy hair and
+he wore spectacles. He insisted that Madge and Phyllis should not forget
+to introduce him as the friend of Mrs. Curtis, who expected him to be her
+guest later on. Indeed, Philip Holt talked so constantly and so
+intimately of Mrs. Curtis that Madge had to stifle a little pang of
+jealousy. She had supposed, when she was in New York City, that Mrs.
+Curtis, who was very generous, only took a friendly interest in Philip
+Holt and his work among the New York poor, but to-day Philip Holt gave
+her to understand that Mrs. Curtis was as kind to him as though he were a
+member of her family. And Madge wondered wickedly to herself whether Tom
+Curtis would be pleased to have him for a brother. She determined to
+interview Tom on the subject as soon as he should return from Chicago.
+
+Later in the afternoon Madge and Phyllis were surprised to see Roy Dennis
+and Mabel Farrar come down the golf clubhouse steps and walk across the
+lawn toward them, smiling with apparent friendliness. Madge's resentful
+expression softened. She did not bear malice, and she felt that she had
+said more to Roy Dennis about his treatment of them than she should have
+done. She, therefore, bowed pleasantly. Phil followed suit. To their
+amazement they were greeted with a frozen stare by the newcomers, who
+walked to where the two girls were standing without paying the least
+attention to the latter. Madge's color rose to the very roots of her
+hair. Phil's black eyes flashed, but she kept them steadily fixed on the
+girl and man.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Holt?" asked Mabel in bland tones, addressing the
+girls' companion. "I believe I am right in calling you Mr. Holt. I have
+heard that you were a friend of Mrs. Curtis and her son. This is my
+friend, Roy Dennis. We are so pleased to meet any of dear Mrs. Curtis's
+_real_ friends. We should like to have you take tea with us."
+
+Philip Holt looked perplexed. He opened his mouth to introduce Madge and
+Phyllis to Miss Farrar, but the girls' expressions told the story.
+
+Miss Farrar and Mr. Dennis had purposely excluded the two girls from the
+conversation.
+
+For the fraction of a second Philip Holt wavered. Mabel Farrar was
+smartly dressed. Roy Dennis looked the rich, idle society man that he
+was. Moneyed friends were always the most useful in Mr. Holt's opinion,
+he therefore turned to Miss Farrar with, "I shall be only too pleased to
+accompany you."
+
+"You'll excuse me," he turned condescendingly to Madge and Phil, "but
+Mrs. Curtis's friends wish me to have tea with them."
+
+Madge smiled at the young man with such frank amusement that he was
+embarrassed. "Oh, yes, we will excuse you," she said lightly. "Please
+don't give another thought to us. Miss Alden and I wish you to consult
+your own pleasure. I am sure that you will find it in drinking tea!" She
+turned away, the picture of calm indifference, although she had a wicked
+twinkle in her eye.
+
+"Well, if that wasn't the rudest behavior all around that I ever saw in
+my life!" burst out Phil indignantly after the disagreeable trio had
+departed. "Mrs. Curtis or no Mrs. Curtis, I don't think we should be
+expected to speak to that ill-bred Mr. Holt again. The idea of his
+marching off with that girl and man after the way they treated us! I
+shall tell Mrs. Curtis just how he behaved as soon as I see her, then she
+won't think him so delightful."
+
+Madge put her arm inside Phil's. "You had better not mention it to Mrs.
+Curtis, Phil. Mrs. Curtis is the dearest person in the world, but she is
+so lovely and so rich that she is used always to having her own way. She
+thinks that we girls are prejudiced against this Mr. Holt because he said
+the things he did about Tania. By the way, I wonder what the little witch
+has against him? I mean to ask her some day. But let's not trouble about
+Philip Holt any more. He is just a toady. I don't care what he says or
+does. We have done our duty by him for this afternoon at least. He won't
+join us again. Let's go over to that lovely hill and have a good,
+old-fashioned talk."
+
+Phil's face cleared. After all, she and Madge could get along much,
+better without troublesome outsiders.
+
+"Isn't it a wonderful afternoon, Phil?" asked the little captain after
+they had climbed the little hill and were seated on a grassy knoll. "We
+can see the ocean over there! Wouldn't you like to be swimming down there
+under the water, where it is so cool and lovely and there would be
+nothing to trouble one?"
+
+"What a water-baby you are," smiled Phil, giving her chum's arm a soft
+pressure. "I sometimes think that you must have come out of a sea-shell.
+I suppose you are thinking of the old pearl diver again."
+
+"Phil," demanded Madge abruptly, "have you ever thought of what
+profession you would have liked to follow if you had been born a boy
+instead of a girl?"
+
+"I do not have to think to answer that," replied Phyllis, "I know. If I
+were a boy, I should study to become a physician, like my father; but
+even though I am a girl, I am going to study medicine just the same. As
+soon as we get through college I shall begin my course."
+
+"Phil," Madge's voice sounded unusually serious, "don't set your heart
+too much, dear, on my going to college with you in the fall. I don't know
+it positively, but I think that Uncle is having some business trouble. He
+and Aunt have been worried for the past year about some stocks they own.
+I shan't feel that I have any right to let them send me to college unless
+I can make up my mind that I shall be willing to teach to earn my living
+afterward. And I can't teach, Phil, dear. I should never make a
+successful teacher," ended Madge with a sigh.
+
+"I can't imagine you as a teacher," smiled Phil, "but I am sure that you
+will marry before you are many years older."
+
+"Marry!" protested Madge indignantly. "Why do you think I shall marry?
+Why, I was wishing this very minute that I were a man so that I could set
+out on a voyage of discovery and sail around the world in a little ship
+of my own. Or, think, one might be a pearl-diver, or lead some exciting
+life like that. Now, Phil Alden, don't you go and arrange for me just to
+marry and keep house and never have a bit of fun or any excitement in my
+whole life!"
+
+Phyllis laughed teasingly. "Oh, you will have plenty of excitement, Madge
+dear, wherever you are or whatever you do. Don't you remember how Miss
+Betsey used to say that she knew something was going to happen whenever
+you were about? I suppose you would like to be a captain in the Navy like
+your father, so that you could spend all your time on the sea."
+
+"No," returned Madge, "I should want a ship of my own. I wouldn't like to
+be a captain in the Navy. There, you always have to do just what you are
+told to do, and you know, Phil, that obedience is not my strong point."
+The little captain laughed and shook her russet head. "You see, Phil, I
+think that if I could go around the world, perhaps in some far-away land
+I would find my father waiting for me."
+
+For several minutes the two chums were silent. At last Phil leaned
+forward and gave Madge's arm a gentle pinch. "Wake up, dear," she
+laughed, "perhaps some day you will own that little ship and go around
+the world in it. Just now, however, we had better go on to the houseboat.
+I believe Nellie and Lillian are going to wait at the golf club until the
+last mail comes in, so they can bring our letters along home with them.
+We must say good-bye to that nice Ethel Swann. She is a dear, in spite of
+her ill-bred friends."
+
+Phyllis and Madge found Miss Jenny Ann sitting in a steamer chair on the
+houseboat deck exchanging fairy stories with Tania. The little girl knew
+almost as many as did her chaperon, but Tania's stories were so full of
+her own odd fancies that it was hard to tell from what source they had
+come.
+
+"Do you know the story of 'The Little Tin Soldier,' Tania?" Miss Jenny
+Ann had just asked. "He was the bravest little soldier in the world,
+because he bore all kinds of misfortunes and never complained."
+
+With a whirl Tania was out of Miss Jenny Ann's lap and into Madge's arms.
+The child was devoted to each member of the houseboat party, but she was
+Madge's ardent adorer. She liked to play that she was the little
+captain's Fairy Godmother, and that she could grant any wish that Madge
+might make.
+
+Phil, Madge and Tania sat down at Miss Jenny Ann's feet to hear more
+about "The Brave Little Tin Soldier." Tania huddled close to Madge, her
+black head resting against the older girl's curls, as she listened to the
+harrowing adventures that befell the Tin Soldier.
+
+The sun was sinking. Away over the water the world seemed rose colored,
+but the shadows were deepening on the land. Phil espied Lillian and
+Eleanor coming toward the houseboat. Lillian waved a handful of white
+envelopes, but Eleanor walked more slowly and did not glance up toward
+her friends.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann rose hurriedly. "I must go in to see to our dinner," she
+announced. "Phil, after you have spoken to the girls, will you come in to
+help me? Madge may stay to look after Tania."
+
+The little captain was absorbed in a quiet twilight dream, and as Tania
+was in her lap she did not get up when Phil went forward to meet Lillian
+and Eleanor.
+
+Instantly Phil realized that something was the matter with Nellie.
+Eleanor's face was white and drawn and there were tears in her gentle,
+brown eyes. Lillian also looked worried and sympathetic, but was
+evidently trying to appear cheerful.
+
+"What is the matter, Eleanor? Has any one hurt your feelings?" asked Phil
+immediately. Eleanor was the youngest of the girls and always the one to
+be protected. Phyllis guessed that perhaps some one of the unpleasant
+acquaintances of Roy Dennis and Mabel Farrar might have been unkind to
+her.
+
+But Eleanor shook her head dumbly.
+
+"Nellie has had some bad news from home," answered Lillian, tenderly
+putting her arm about Eleanor. "Perhaps it isn't so bad as she thinks."
+
+Madge overheard Lillian's speech and, lifting Tania from her lap, sprang
+to her feet.
+
+"Nellie, darling, what is it? Tell me at once!" she demanded. "If Uncle
+and Aunt are ill, we must go to them at once."
+
+"It isn't so bad as that, Madge," answered Eleanor, finding her voice;
+"only Mother has written to tell us that Father has lost a great deal of
+money. He has had to mortgage dear old 'Forest House,' and if he doesn't
+get a lot more money by fall, 'Forest House' will have to be sold."
+
+Nellie broke down. The thought of having to give up her dear old Virginia
+home, that had been in their family for five generations, was more than
+she could bear.
+
+Madge kissed Eleanor gently. In the face of great difficulties Madge was
+not the harum-scarum person she seemed. "Don't worry too much, Nellie,"
+she urged. "If Uncle and Aunt are well, then the loss of the money isn't
+so dreadful. Somehow, I don't believe we shall have to give up 'Forest
+House.' It would be too frightful! Perhaps Uncle will find the money in
+time to save it, or we shall get it in some way. I am nearly grown now. I
+ought to be able to help. Anyhow, I don't mean to be an expense to Uncle
+and Aunt any more after this summer." Madge's face clouded, although she
+tried to conceal her dismay. "Do Uncle and Aunt want us to leave the
+houseboat and come home at once?"
+
+Phil's and Lillian's faces were as long and as gloomy as their other
+chums' at this suggestion.
+
+But Eleanor shook her head firmly. "No; Father says positively that he
+does not wish us to leave the houseboat until our holiday is over. It is
+not costing us very much and he wishes us to have a good time this
+summer, so that we can bear whatever happens next winter."
+
+No one had noticed little Tania while the houseboat girls were talking.
+Her eyes were bigger and blacker than ever, and as Madge turned to go
+into the cabin she saw that there were tears in them.
+
+"What is it, Tania?" putting her arms about the quaint child.
+
+"Did you say that you didn't have all the money you wanted?" inquired
+Tania anxiously. "I didn't know that people like you ever needed money. I
+thought that all poor people lived in slums and took in washing like old
+Sal."
+
+Madge laughed. "I don't suppose the people in the tenements are as poor
+as we are sometimes, Tania, because they don't need so many things. But
+don't worry your head about me, little Fairy Godmother. I am sure that
+you will bring me good luck."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE
+
+
+"Madge, I am afraid that you and the girls are not having as good a time
+at Cape May as I had hoped you would have," remarked Mrs. Curtis to the
+little captain about a week later as they strolled along the beautiful
+ocean boulevard that overlooked the sea. Only the day before Mrs. Curtis
+and Tom had returned from Chicago. Just behind them, Lillian, Miss Jenny
+Ann, Phyllis, Tom Curtis and Mrs. Curtis's protege, Philip Holt, loitered
+along the beach. They were too far away to overhear the conversation of
+the two women.
+
+"On the contrary, we are having a perfectly beautiful time," answered
+Madge, her face radiant with the pleasure of her surroundings. "I think
+Cape May is one of the loveliest places in the whole world! And we girls
+have met the most splendid old sea captain. He has the dearest, snuggest
+little house up the bay! He was once a deep-sea diver and knows the most
+fascinating stories about the treasures of the sea." Madge ceased
+speaking. She could tell from her friend's slightly bored expression that
+Mrs. Curtis was not interested in the story of a common sailor.
+
+"Yes, Madge, I know about all that," Mrs. Curtis returned a little
+coldly. "What I meant is that I fear you girls are not enjoying the
+social life of Cape May, which is what I looked forward to for you. I do
+wish, dear, that you cared more for society and less for such people as
+this old sailor and a tenement child like Tania. I doubt if this man is a
+fit associate for you."
+
+Madge's blue eyes darkened. She thought of the splendid old sailor, with
+his great strength and gentle manners, his knowledge of the world and his
+fine simplicity, and of queer, loving little Tania, but she wisely held
+her peace. "I am sorry, too, that I don't like society more if you wish
+it," she replied sweetly. "I do like the society of clever, agreeable
+people, but not--I like Ethel Swann and her friends immensely," she
+ended. "And, please, don't say anything against my old pearl diver, Mrs.
+Curtis, until you see him. I am sure that you and Tom will think that he
+is splendid."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked searchingly at Madge, and Madge returned her gaze
+without lowering her eyes. Mrs. Curtis's face softened. She found it hard
+to scold her favorite, but she had been very much vexed at the story that
+Philip Holt had repeated to her of Madge's escapades at Cape May, and how
+she accused Roy Dennis of cowardice when he had taken her and her friends
+on his boat after Madge's and Phil's own heedlessness had caused their
+skiff to be overturned. Somehow, the tale of the throwing of the ball on
+board Roy Dennis's yacht and of frightening Mabel Farrar had also gone
+abroad in Cape May. Lillian had confided the anecdote to Ethel Swann
+under promise of the greatest secrecy. The story had seemed to Ethel too
+ridiculous to keep to herself, so she had repeated it to another friend,
+after demanding the same promise that Lillian had exacted from her. And
+so the story had traveled and grown until it was a very mischievous tale
+that Philip Holt had recounted to Mrs. Curtis, taking care that Tom
+Curtis was not about when he told it.
+
+Mrs. Curtis thought Madge too old for such practical jokes. She also
+believed that Madge should have more dignity and self-control. She loved
+her very dearly, and she wished her to come to live with her as her
+daughter after her own, daughter, Madeleine, had married, but Mrs. Curtis
+was determined that the little captain should learn to be less impetuous
+and more conventional.
+
+"Philip Holt has told you something about me, hasn't he, Mrs. Curtis?"
+asked Madge meekly, hiding the flash in her eyes by lowering her lids.
+
+"Philip told me very little. He is the soul of honor," answered Mrs.
+Curtis quickly. "You are absurdly prejudiced against him. But with the
+little that he told me and what I have gathered from other sources, I
+feel that you have been most indiscreet. I can't help thinking that the
+various things that have happened may be laid at your door, and that the
+other girls have just stood by you, as they always do."
+
+Madge bit her lips. "Whatever has occurred that you don't like is my
+fault, Mrs. Curtis," she confessed, "and Phil, Lillian and Nellie _have_
+stood by me. I am sorry that you are angry."
+
+The other young people were coming closer. Not for worlds would Madge
+have had them overhear her conversation with Mrs. Curtis. She was too
+proud and too hurt to ask Mrs. Curtis just what Philip Holt had said
+against her. Neither would she retaliate against him by telling her
+friend of his rudeness.
+
+Mrs. Curtis put one arm about Madge. "It is all right, my dear," she
+said, softening a little, "but you must promise me that you will not do
+such harum-scarum things again, and that you will try to keep your
+temper." Mrs. Curtis was on the point of asking Madge to give up her
+acquaintance with the sailor and not to see the man again, but she knew
+that her young friend was feeling a little hurt and no doubt resentful
+toward her, so she put off making her request until a later time.
+
+"Tania has behaved very well, so far, hasn't she, Madge?" Mrs. Curtis
+tactfully changed the subject. "I confess I am surprised. Philip Holt
+assured me that the child was continually in mischief in the tenement
+neighborhood where she lives. When he took her into the neighborhood
+house to try to help her she positively stole something. I am afraid
+Tania's mother was not the woman you think she was; she was only a cheap
+little actress, a dancer." Mrs. Curtis glanced at her companion. Madge
+was eyeing her seriously.
+
+"It isn't like you, Mrs. Curtis, dear, to say things against people.
+Philip Holt must have----" Madge stopped abruptly. At the same time Tom
+Curtis came up from behind to join his mother and the girl.
+
+"Come on, Madge, and have a race with me across the sands," he urged.
+"Mother will be trying to make you so grown-up that we can't have any
+sport at all. Besides, you are looking pale. I am sure you need exercise.
+There is a crowd over there in front of the music pavilion. I will wager
+a five-pound box of candy that I can beat you to it. Philip Holt will
+entertain Mother. She likes him better than she does the rest of us,
+anyhow, because he devotes his time to good works and to working good
+people," added Tom teasingly, under his breath.
+
+While Tom was talking Madge darted off across the sands. She never would
+get over her love of running, she felt sure, until she was old and
+rheumatic. The color came back to her cheeks and the laughter to her
+eyes.
+
+Tom was close behind her. "Madge Morton, you didn't give me a fair
+start," he protested, "you rushed away before I was ready. I thought you
+always played fair?"
+
+Madge dropped into a walk. "I do try to, Tom," she answered more
+earnestly than Tom had expected. His remark had been made only in fun.
+"You believe in me, don't you, Tom?" she added pleadingly.
+
+"Now and forever, Madge, through thick and thin," answered Tom steadily.
+
+They had now come up nearer the crowd of people on the beach. Up on a
+grand stand a band was playing an Italian waltz, and an eager crowd had
+gathered, apparently to listen to the music.
+
+But the two young people soon saw that on the hard sand a child was
+dancing. Tom stopped outside the circle of watchers, but Madge went
+forward into it. She had at once recognized little Tania! Eleanor had
+been left on the houseboat to take care of the child, but Eleanor was now
+nowhere to be seen, and her charge had wandered into mischief.
+
+Tania was dancing in her most bewitching and wonderful fashion. Madge
+could not help feeling a little embarrassed pride in her. The child was
+moving like a flower swayed by the wind. She poised first on one foot,
+then on the other, then flitted forward on both pointed toes, her thin,
+eager arms outstretched, curving and bending with the rhythm of the
+music. She wore her best white dress, the pride of her life, which
+Eleanor had lately made for her. On her head she had placed a wreath of
+wild flowers, which she must have woven for herself. They were like a
+fairy crown on her dark head. With the love of bright colors, which she
+must have inherited from some Italian ancestor, she had twisted a bright
+scarlet sash about her waist.
+
+Again Madge saw that Tania was utterly unconscious of the audience about
+her. She looked neither to the right nor to the left, but straight upward
+to the turquoise-blue sky.
+
+How different Tania's audience to-day from the crowd of people that had
+watched her on the street corner when Eleanor and Madge had first seen
+her! Yet these gay society folk were even more fascinated by the child's
+wonderful art. They could better appreciate her remarkable dancing.
+
+Tania did not even see her beloved Madge, who was silently watching her.
+Tania's usually pale cheeks glowed as scarlet as her sash. Unconsciously
+the little girl's movements were like those of a butterfly, a-flutter
+with the joy of the sunshine and new life.
+
+The music stopped suddenly and with it Tania's dance ceased as abruptly.
+She stood poised for a single instant on one dainty foot, with her
+graceful arms still swaying above her flower-crowned head. Her audience
+watched her breathlessly, for the effect of the child's grace had been
+almost magical.
+
+"Wasn't that a wonderful performance?" whispered Tom in Madge's ear. "The
+child is an artist! Where do you suppose she learned to dance like
+that?"
+
+But Tania had come back to earth in a brief second. To Madge's
+mystification, Tania started about among the people who had been watching
+her performance with her small hands clasped together like a cup.
+
+The child courtesied shyly to a fat old lady. Her gesture was
+unmistakable. The woman rummaged in her chain pocket-book and dropped a
+silver quarter into Tania's outstretched hands. The next onlooker was
+more generous. Tania's eyes shone as she felt the size and weight of a
+big silver dollar.
+
+Few people in the Cape May crowd knew who Tania was, or whence she had
+come. They probably thought that the object of the dance had been to earn
+money.
+
+For a few moments Madge had been paralyzed by Tania's peculiar actions.
+She did not realize what they meant. In this lapse of time the rest of
+their party joined them.
+
+It was the expression on Mrs. Curtis's face that made Madge appreciate
+what Tania was doing.
+
+"What on earth is Tania about?" exclaimed Lillian in puzzled tones. She
+saw the child standing before a young man who was evidently teasing her
+and refusing her request for money.
+
+"She has been dancing like a monkey with a hand organ," answered Philip
+Holt scornfully. "I am afraid Cape May people will hardly understand it.
+It looks as though the young women on the 'Merry Maid' were in need of
+money." The young man laughed as though his last remark had been intended
+for a joke.
+
+"None of that talk, Holt." Madge caught Tom's angry tone as she hurried
+forward to Tania. The little captain could have cried with mortification
+and embarrassment. In the crowd of curious onlookers she caught sight of
+Mabel Farrar's and Roy Dennis's sneering faces.
+
+"Tania!" she cried sharply. "What in the world are you doing? Stop taking
+that money at once!"
+
+Tania glanced around and discovered Madge. Instead of looking ashamed of
+herself, the child's face grew radiant. "Madge," she cried, in a high
+voice that could be heard all about them, "it is all for you!"
+
+Tania rushed forward with her outstretched hands overflowing with
+silver.
+
+Madge could have sunk through the sands for shame. Mrs. Curtis's face
+flamed with anger and chagrin. She might have been able to explain to her
+friends that Tania was only a street child and knew no better than to
+dance for money; but how could she ever explain the remark to Madge? It
+looked as though Madge had been a party to Tania's dancing and begging.
+
+Madge was overcome with embarrassment and humiliation. She knew that she
+must, for the minute, appear like a beggar to the crowd of Cape May
+people. For just that instant she would have liked to repulse Tania, to
+have thrust the child and her money away from her before every one. But a
+glance at Tania's eager, happy face restrained her. She put her arm
+protectingly about the little girl, hiding her in the shelter of her
+body. "I don't want the money, Tania," she whispered. "It wasn't right
+for you to have taken it from these people."
+
+"Don't you want it?" faltered Tania. "I thought you said last night that
+you and Eleanor were very poor, and that you needed some money very much.
+All the time I was in bed last night I thought of what your Fairy
+Godmother could do to help you. I know how to do but one thing--to dance
+as my mother taught me. How can it be wrong to take the money from
+people? I have often done it in New York. They only gave it to me because
+they liked my dancing." Madge could feel Tania's hot tears on her hands.
+
+She clasped Tania closer. "It isn't exactly wrong, Tania; I was mistaken.
+It was just different. I will have to explain it to you afterward. Now we
+must give the money back to the people again."
+
+Holding tight to Tania's hand, Madge walked among the group of strangers,
+explaining Tania's actions as best she could without hurting the little
+girl's feelings. It was one of the hardest things that the proud little
+captain had ever been called upon to do. But a part of the crowd had
+scattered. It was not possible to find them all and return their silver.
+Tania was too puzzled and heart-broken to continue her errand long. She
+did not understand why Madge had refused to take her gift, which she
+thought she had fairly earned. Finally she could hold back her sobs no
+longer. Dropping her few remaining nickels and dimes on the sand she
+broke away from Madge's clasp and ran like a little wild creature away
+from everyone.
+
+Madge stopped for just a second among her friends before following
+Tania.
+
+"You see, Madge," remarked Mrs. Curtis coldly, "Tania is quite
+impossible. I knew the child would get you into difficulties, and it is
+just as I feared. She must be sent away at once."
+
+But Madge shook her head with a decision that was unmistakable.
+
+"No," she answered quietly, "Tania shall not be sent away. None of you
+understand, and I can't explain it to you now, but Tania thought she was
+doing something for Nellie and me. She was foolish, of course, and I will
+see that she never does it again."
+
+With her head held high, Madge hurried away in pursuit of her Fairy
+Godmother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"THE ANCHORAGE"
+
+
+Madge was alone in the "Water Witch," which had been mended and was as
+good as new. She had just come from an interview with Mrs. Curtis, in
+which she had tried to make her friend understand the reason for Tania's
+behavior of the day before. Mrs. Curtis, however, would not take the
+little captain's view of the matter. She dwelt on the fact that Tania had
+slipped away from the houseboat without letting Eleanor know of it, and
+that she was a naughty and disobedient child.
+
+Madge also believed that Mrs. Curtis no longer loved her so dearly as in
+the early days of their acquaintance. The young girl was sure that some
+influence was being brought to bear to prejudice her friend against her.
+But what could she do? Philip Holt was trying to destroy the affection
+Mrs. Curtis felt for Madge in order to ingratiate himself. It looked as
+though he were going to succeed. Madge was too proud to ask questions or
+to accuse Philip Holt with deliberately trying to influence her friend
+against her. Although she was only a young girl, she realized that love
+does not amount to very much in this world unless it has faith and
+sympathy behind it. So long as she had done nothing she knew to be wrong,
+and for which she should make an apology, she could only wait to see if
+Mrs. Curtis's affection would be restored to her or cease altogether.
+
+As usual, when she was troubled, the impulse came to her to be alone on
+the water. She had explained to Miss Jenny Ann that she might be gone for
+several hours, so there was no immediate reason why she should return to
+the houseboat. The other girls were yachting with some Cape May friends.
+
+Madge rowed her boat up the bay toward the home of the old sailor. She
+was not far from the very place where Captain Jules had rescued Tania and
+her a short while before. She thought of the strange-looking beam
+sticking up out of the sandy bottom of the bay on which Tania's dress had
+caught. It had certainly looked like the broken mast of an old ship. She
+determined to ask Captain Jules if any wrecks had recently occurred near
+that part of the bay, and concluded that she would row up to the sailor's
+house for the express purpose of asking him this question. Of course,
+this was only an excuse. She was deeply anxious to call on the old sailor
+again and, if possible, persuade him to keep his promise to her to show
+her his diving suit, and to tell her more of his strange experiences at
+the bottom of the sea.
+
+Captain Jules was sitting in his favorite place on the big rock just by
+the water in front of his house. He was mending the sail of his fishing
+boat.
+
+Madge's boat came round a slight curve in the bay, dancing toward him.
+This time Captain Jules spied his guest and saluted her as he would have
+greeted a superior officer.
+
+The little captain blushed prettily as she returned his salute in her
+best naval fashion.
+
+The old captain looked hurriedly toward his small house. There was no
+sight or sound of any one about. He seemed uncomfortable for a moment,
+then his face cleared. His deep blue eyes gleamed and his mouth set
+squarely. "Coming ashore to make me a call, Miss Madge?" he asked
+invitingly.
+
+Madge nodded. "If I shan't be in your way. You must let me just sit there
+on the rock by you. I have been reading a perfectly thrilling book about
+pearl-divers," she announced as soon as she was comfortably settled, "but
+none of the stories were as thrilling as the ones you told us. The book
+said that pearls had been found in New Jersey. I wonder if you have ever
+thought of diving down to the bottom of this bay to see if it holds any
+treasures?"
+
+The sailor was studying the girl's face so earnestly that he forgot to
+answer her.
+
+"Oh, yes, I have thought of it," he replied a little later, smiling at
+his guest. "A man never wholly forgets his trade. But what a taste you
+have for sea yarns, little lady! I half-way think, now, that if you had
+not been born a girl you might have followed the sea for your calling."
+
+"I should have loved it best of anything in the world," answered Madge
+fervently, gazing at the beautiful expanse of sunny, blue water. "I never
+feel as much at home anywhere as I do on the sea. You see," she continued
+confidingly, "I have a reason for loving the water. My father was a
+sailor. He was a captain in the United States Navy once."
+
+"'A captain in the United States Navy,'" Captain Jules repeated huskily.
+"I thought so. I thought so."
+
+"Why?" asked Madge wonderingly.
+
+Captain Jules pulled his needle slowly through a heavy piece of sail
+cloth. It must have stuck, he was so long about it, and his big hands
+fumbled it so clumsily.
+
+"Oh, because of your liking for the water, Miss Madge," he returned
+quietly. "You see, there are two great loves born in the hearts of men
+and women that you never can get away from. The one is the love of the
+soil and the other is the love of the sea. No matter what your life is,
+if you have those two passions in you, you've got to get back to the
+country or to the water when your chance comes. But why do you say that
+your father was once a captain in the United States Navy? Is he dead?"
+
+"I am afraid so," replied Madge faintly. Of late she was beginning to
+believe that her uncle and aunt, Mrs. Curtis and all her older friends
+were right. If her father were not dead in all these long years, surely
+he would have tried to find her. He would have sought to discover some
+news of the daughter whom he had left when she was only a baby.
+
+Captain Jules seemed about to say something, then, changed his mind. He
+shook his great, shaggy, gray head and looked at Madge tenderly. "Is your
+mother living?" he inquired.
+
+"No, she died soon after my father went away to join his ship on his last
+voyage," Madge went on sadly, her eyes filling with tears. She was half
+tempted to tell the old sailor her father's story, then decided to
+reserve it until some future day when she felt that she knew him better.
+In spite of her liking for the old sea captain, she realized that she had
+hardly known him long enough to make him her confidant.
+
+Captain Jules continued to sew. He opened his mouth, to speak once or
+twice and then closed it again. Finally he asked Madge huskily, "What was
+your father's name, child?"
+
+"Captain Robert Morton," replied Madge slowly. "He was from Virginia. If
+I knew him to be alive, I'd be the happiest girl in the world."
+
+Captain Jules cast a peculiar glance in her direction which Madge did not
+see.
+
+"My dear little mate," he said slowly, "some day a young man will come
+along who will be far more to you than any old father could have been.
+But what made your father go away? If he was a captain in the Navy, what
+made him resign his command?"
+
+"I can't tell you that to-day, Captain Jules. Perhaps I'll tell you some
+day when I know you better; in fact, I am sure I shall tell you. Perhaps
+when I do tell you I shall ask you to do me a great favor. Perhaps I
+shall ask you to help me hunt for him. I'll tell you a secret. Uncle and
+Aunt have been good to me and I love them dearly, but I want my own
+father, and I can't, I won't, believe he is dead. That is, not until I
+have absolute proof."
+
+"Little girl!" exclaimed Captain Jules in such a strange voice that Madge
+was startled, "I promise you that I'll help you find him." Then in a
+calmer tone of voice he said: "I told you that I would show you my
+diver's suit. If you will wait on my porch I will go around inside the
+house to see if I can find it."
+
+He rose hastily and disappeared into the house, leaving Madge to wonder
+why the few words she had spoken concerning her father had affected the
+old sea captain so strangely.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+TANIA'S NEMESIS
+
+
+Captain Jules was gone a long time, but Madge did not mind waiting for
+him. She loved the odd house with its roof shaped like three sails and
+its restful name, "The Anchorage."
+
+When Captain Jules came back with the great suit his face was pale,
+almost haggard, but he was smiling good-humoredly. "Come, stand over here
+by this window while I show you my old togs. I haven't looked at this
+diving suit myself for several years."
+
+Madge was too much interested in the diving dress to glance in at the
+captain's window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the inside of the
+snug little house that she had not yet been invited to enter.
+
+The diving suit was much lighter than she had expected to find it. It
+weighed only about twenty pounds. It was made of water-proof material and
+had a large helmet of copper with great circular glasses in front that
+looked like goggle eyes.
+
+Captain Jules explained that there were two lines with which the diver
+communicated with the outside world. The one was the air line, and it was
+used to pump air down to the man below in the water. The life line was
+usually hitched around the diver's waist. This line was let out to any
+depth the diver required, and by pulling on it the diver could signal to
+the men who followed his course: one jerk, pull up; two, more air; three,
+lower the bag. Madge was utterly fascinated with the netted bag, made of
+rope, that Captain Jules showed her. He told her that the pearl-diver
+always carried a bag to hold the treasures that he finds at the bottom of
+the sea. To her vivid imagination, the empty bag was even now filled with
+shining pearls, the rarest treasures of the sea.
+
+The young girl persuaded Captain Jules to let her dress up in his diver's
+suit, when she stumbled about the veranda in it, her gay laughter
+mingling with the captain's deep chuckles of delight.
+
+"O Captain Jules!" she pleaded, "do take me down to the bottom of the sea
+with you. I have always wanted to be a mermaid, and this may be the only
+chance I shall ever have. 'Only divers know of things below, of water's
+green and fishes' sheen,'" she chanted gayly.
+
+The old sea captain gazed at Madge, breathing a deep sigh of
+satisfaction. "I believe you have the courage to do it if I were to let
+you try," he murmured. "It comes nearer to convincing me than anything
+else."
+
+"Captain Jules," continued the girl earnestly, "please, please let's go
+down to the bottom of this bay. You could take me with you and then there
+wouldn't be any danger. We have been down together without diving suits
+and here we are safe and sound on land again! You said you thought there
+might be pearls in the oyster beds of this bay. We could look, at any
+rate. I saw the most wonderful things when I was searching for Tania. It
+seemed as though her dress was caught on the broken spar of an old ship,
+though, of course, I couldn't be sure. Have there been many wrecks in
+this bay? Do you suppose it was a ship's spar?"
+
+"There are always wrecks on the water, child. And you mustn't be talking
+nonsense about diving down in this bay along with me," answered Captain
+Jules severely. He kept his eyes fastened on his diving suit with an
+affectionate gleam in them. "Maybe, though, I will make a diving party of
+one and go down in the bay alone. I'd give you the pearls I found down
+there."
+
+Madge shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair," she said, setting her red
+lips together obstinately. Captain Jules, she felt sure, would be easy to
+manage. If he did any diving in the Delaware Bay within the next few
+weeks, he must take her with him.
+
+She wrote secretly to New York City to ask what a diver's suit would
+cost. She was discouraged by the answer, but she did not give up hope.
+She was also very careful not to let Miss Jenny Ann or Mrs. Curtis know
+anything of the wild scheme that was evolving in her head.
+
+Almost every day the girls saw Captain Jules. Either they went up the bay
+to call on him, or he made a visit to the houseboat.
+
+The old captain never invited the girls inside his house, but they had
+great frolics in his tidy yard. The captain explained that his house was
+not neat enough to be seen by young ladies, as it had only a man
+housekeeper.
+
+Even Mrs. Curtis became a little less prejudiced against Captain Jules.
+She could not but confess that he was a fine old man, though she still
+did not see why Madge was so much attracted by him. But the girl bided
+her time. The four girls and their friends went off on long fishing trips
+with Captain Jules. Sometimes Mrs. Curtis, Tom, and their guest, Philip
+Holt, went with them. The enmity between Madge and Philip increased every
+day, nor did Madge any longer make much effort to conceal her dislike for
+him.
+
+Philip Holt had a special reason for his dislike for Madge Morton. He had
+come to Cape May with the idea of making Mrs. Curtis do an important
+favor for him upon which his whole future depended. He feared that Madge,
+who looked upon him as a hypocrite, would find out his true character,
+tell her friend, and thus ruin his prospects.
+
+A singular misfortune had befallen him. Who could have guessed that one
+of the few people who knew his real history, Tania, the little street
+child, would be picked up by the houseboat girls and brought to Cape May
+for the summer? Tania must not be allowed to betray him. If she did, Mrs.
+Curtis must not believe either Madge or Tania. The young man had to lay
+his plans carefully, but he was a born hypocrite and he meant to
+accomplish his end.
+
+His first opportunity to further his cause came one morning when he and
+Mrs. Curtis were sitting on the veranda of her summer cottage. Tom had
+gone out sailing and was not expected back for several hours, so that
+Philip believed that the coast was clear. He began by telling Mrs. Curtis
+something of the charity work that he had recently done in New York City
+and so brought the subject about to Tania.
+
+"Dear Mrs. Curtis, you are so generous," the young man said admiringly.
+"I have just learned that after the summer holiday is over you intend to
+send Miss Morton's protege, Tania, to a boarding school. It is so kind in
+you."
+
+Mrs. Curtis shook her head. "Oh, no," she answered, "it is very little to
+do. Really, I don't see what else could be done with the child. She is
+very queer and not attractive to me, but Madge is fond of her and, as I
+am very fond of Madge, I shall do what is best for the little girl."
+
+"Ah," murmured Philip Holt vaguely, "but do you feel sure that a boarding
+school is the best place for the girl? She is so unruly, so untruthful! I
+fear that she would give you a great deal of trouble and responsibility
+unless she were placed under greater restraint. I have wondered for some
+time what should be done for the child. She has caused a lot of mischief
+among the children on the street in her tenement section. It seems to me
+that she ought to be sent to some kind of an institution where she would
+be more closely watched--an asylum or home for incorrigible children."
+
+Mrs. Curtis looked worried and bit her lips. "That is rather hard on the
+child, isn't it? Still, I could not undertake to be responsible for
+Tania's good behavior at school. She seems very hard to control. I will
+watch her more closely, and, if she shows more signs of untruthfulness, I
+shall have to consider your suggestion. However, I will talk the matter
+over with Madge. I wish you would walk down to the houseboat for me and
+invite the girls to come up to the hotel for luncheon. I hope they are
+not off somewhere with Captain Jules. He seems to claim the greater share
+of their attention lately."
+
+Philip Holt walked off, very well pleased with his interview. He had
+conveyed to Mrs. Curtis precisely the impression he had intended to
+convey.
+
+Ever since his arrival at Cape May Philip Holt had wished to see little
+Tania alone. He had warned the child that she was not to behave as though
+she had ever seen him before, yet he was still afraid that she might make
+a confidante of Madge. He needed to make his threat to her more
+terrifying. He decided to find her and intimidate her so thoroughly that
+she would not dare betray her previous acquaintance with him.
+
+There was but one person in the world of whom the queer, elf-like Tania
+was afraid. That person was Philip Holt! She had feared him since the day
+of her own mother's death, and the very thought of him was enough to fill
+her childish soul with terror.
+
+Tania was playing alone on the sands near that houseboat at the time Mrs.
+Curtis and Philip Holt were discussing her future. Madge and Miss Jenny
+Ann were inside the houseboat, within calling distance of Tania, but not
+where they could see her. The little girl had just built a house of
+shining pebbles and was gazing at it with a pleased smile when she heard
+a step near her on the sand. Tania stared up at Philip's thin, blonde
+face in terror-stricken silence.
+
+"Tania," the young man asked harshly, "have you told any one down here
+that you have ever seen or known me before?"
+
+Tania shook her head mutely.
+
+"Remember, if you do, I am going to have you shut up in a big house with
+iron bars at the windows where you can never go out or see your friends
+any more," Philip Holt went on, keeping his voice lowered to a whisper.
+
+Slowly Tania's black eyes dropped. She tried to be brave and to pretend
+that she did not care, but the loss of her freedom was the one thing that
+Tania feared with all her soul. If she were shut up somewhere, how could
+she ever talk to her fairies, or see the blue sky that she so loved? And
+now, to be parted from the girls forever was too dreadful! Indeed, she
+would not dare to tell what she knew. Philip Holt was sure of it.
+
+It was at that moment that Madge slipped out on the houseboat deck to see
+if Tania were all right. To her surprise she saw that Philip Holt was
+talking to the little girl. She had not thought that Philip Holt cared
+enough for children to waste a minute's time with them. She therefore
+wondered at his sudden interest in Tania. Madge walked quietly off the
+houseboat. She was wearing tennis shoes and her softly-shod feet made no
+sound. She caught one glimpse of Tania's mute, white face and stopped
+short in time to hear Philip say:
+
+"Even if you do tell that old Sal is my mother, Tania, no one will
+believe you. She herself will deny it and help me to have you shut up,"
+declared Philip Holt menacingly.
+
+Madge caught each word as though it had been addressed to her. For
+Tania's sake, and because she knew that for many reasons it was wiser,
+she held her peace for the time being.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Holt?" she asked innocently. "I just saw you from the
+deck of the houseboat."
+
+Philip Holt leaped to his feet. But Madge's eyes were so clear and
+serene, her face so calm, that it was utterly impossible she could have
+overheard him.
+
+Philip delivered Mrs. Curtis's message and then left the two girls
+together. Madge dropped down on the sands by Tania and put her arm about
+her. "You need never tell me who Mr. Holt is, nor why you are afraid of
+him, Tania," she whispered; "I overheard what he said, and you need not
+be afraid. I will take care of you!"
+
+"He is the Wicked Genii," faltered Tania, "who hated the Princess and
+wanted to drive her away from her kingdom in Fairyland."
+
+"But he can't harm you, Tania, dear," comforted Madge. "He dare not try
+to take you away from us. I am going to tell Mrs. Curtis all about this
+Wicked Genii and if I'm not mistaken it will be he, not you who is sent
+away."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CAPTAIN JULES MAKES A PROMISE
+
+
+Little by little Madge was able to put together the whole story of Philip
+Holt's life. He was old Sal's son, and "Holt" was not his own name, but
+he rarely came near his mother, never gave her any help, and denied his
+relationship with her whenever it was necessary. When Philip Murphy was a
+small boy, he had been taken into the home of a wealthy family named
+Holt, but he had never been legally adopted as their child. He was raised
+in luxury and had made a great many wealthy friends, and he had learned
+to love money more than anything else in the world. But his rich patrons
+would not allow him entirely to desert his own mother. Twice every month
+he was made to go to see old Sal Murphy in her tenement home on the East
+Side. Philip Holt, who now went by the name of his foster parents, fairly
+loathed these visits. It was because of his hatred of them that he began
+to take his spite out on Tania when he was a lad of about fifteen, and
+poor Tania a baby of only six years old.
+
+Tania's mother had died in the same tenement where old Sal lived. There
+had been no one who wanted the little girl, so old Sal had taken her,
+beaten and starved her, and made her useful in any way that she could.
+
+When Philip Holt had grown to manhood his foster parents lost most of
+their money. A little later they died, leaving their foster son nothing.
+The young man had been used to luxury and rich friends, and he could not
+give them up, therefore he told his wealthy friends that because he had
+once been a poor boy he meant to devote his life to charity. He proposed
+to work among the New York poor and asked their cooperation. Large sums
+of money were given him to be used for charity, but Philip Holt believed
+too strongly in the theory that charity begins at home. Whenever it was
+possible he used a part of this money for himself. To make more, he began
+speculating in Wall Street. He lost two thousand, then five thousand
+dollars of the money that had been entrusted to him. For almost a year he
+had been the treasurer of a New York charitable organization, and the
+time was near at hand when he must give a report of the money that he had
+misused. He knew that disgrace, imprisonment, stared him in the face
+unless he could persuade Mrs. Curtis to advance him five thousand dollars
+for some charitable purpose, or give it to him for himself. He,
+therefore, did not intend to be balked in his plan by either Madge or
+Tania, no matter what desperate measures he had to employ.
+
+So there were two persons at Cape May who came to believe that they stood
+in dire need of money. Yet they wished it for very different reasons:
+Philip Holt wanted money to save himself from disgrace; Madge desired it
+to help her uncle and aunt save their old home, "Forest House," to send
+Eleanor back to graduate at Miss Tolliver's in the fall, to start on her
+search for her father, and, last of all, to take care of Tania.
+
+For Madge had managed the little waif's affairs most undiplomatically.
+When she discovered the threat that Philip held over Tania if she told
+his secret, the little captain went to Mrs. Curtis with the story. She
+did not wish her friend to be deceived by the young man, so she confided
+to Mrs. Curtis that Philip Holt, who was supposedly the son of some old
+friends, was really the child of old Sal of the tenements. Mrs. Curtis
+thought that Madge must be mistaken. She wrote to old Sal to ask her if
+it were true. The Irish woman was devoted to her son. She would have done
+anything in the world not to disgrace him. She answered Mrs. Curtis's
+letter by declaring that Philip Holt was no relative of hers, but a young
+man whom she knew because of his kindness to the poor. Mrs. Curtis was
+indignant. She insisted that Tania had told Madge a falsehood, and that
+Philip Holt was right in his opinion of Tania. It would not be well to
+send the child to a school; she should be put in some kind of an
+institution. This, however, Madge was determined should never happen. She
+had no money of her own, nor did she know where she was to obtain the
+means, but she made up her mind to find some way to provide for her
+quaint little Fairy Godmother.
+
+The morning after Madge's disquieting talk with Mrs. Curtis the four
+girls and Tania wandered up the bay to spend the morning in the woods
+near the water. Phyllis carried a book that she meant to read aloud,
+Madge a box of luncheon, and Eleanor and Lillian their sewing. Tania
+skipped along with her hand in Madge's. John had promised to join them
+later in the day if he returned in time from his trip on the water.
+
+The girls settled themselves under some trees whence they could command a
+view of the land and the bay. Madge lay down in the soft grass and rested
+her head in her hands. She meant to listen to Phil's reading, not to
+puzzle over her own worries. Phil's book gave a thrilling account of the
+early days in the Delaware Bay, when it was the favorite cruising place
+for pirates. It was rather hard to believe, when the girls gazed out on
+the smooth, blue water, that it had once been the scene of so many fierce
+adventures with pirates. Once a crew of seventy men, belonging to the
+famous Captain Kidd, had actually sailed up the Delaware Bay and
+frightened the people of Philadelphia.
+
+Madge had forgotten to listen. She could hear Phil's voice, but not her
+words. The history of piracy, of course, was very thrilling, but Madge
+did not see how any long-ago dead and buried pirates or their hidden
+treasures could help her out of her present difficulties. She stood in
+need of real riches.
+
+A sailboat dipped across the horizon and headed for the landing not far
+from where the girls were sitting, but no one of them noticed it.
+
+"Look ahoy! look ahoy!" a friendly voice cried out from across the
+water.
+
+Phyllis closed her book with a snap, Lillian and Eleanor dropped their
+sewing, Tania ran to the water's edge, and Madge sat up.
+
+It was Captain Jules who had hailed them.
+
+"Well, my hearties, is this a summer camp?" demanded the old sailor as
+his boat came near the land. "I have been all the way to the houseboat to
+find you. I have something to show you." Captain Jules's broad face shone
+with good humor. He was clad in his weather-beaten tarpaulins, and on his
+shoulder perched the monkey.
+
+Madge covered the sides of her curly head with her hands. "Please don't
+let the monkey pull my hair this morning," she pleaded as the captain
+came up.
+
+He tossed the monkey over to Tania, who cuddled it affectionately in her
+arms, and began talking softly to it.
+
+Then Captain Jules seated himself on the grass and the houseboat girls
+gathered about him in a circle. He put one great hand in his pocket.
+"I've some presents for you," he announced, trying to look very serious,
+but smiling in spite of himself.
+
+"What are they?" asked Lillian eagerly.
+
+"That's telling," returned the captain. "You must guess."
+
+"Shells," said Tania quickly.
+
+Captain Jules shook his head. "You're warm, little girl," he replied,
+"but you haven't guessed right yet."
+
+Lillian sighed. "I never could guess anything," she remarked sadly.
+"Please do tell us what it is."
+
+The captain relented and drew out of his pocket a handful of what seemed
+to be either oyster or mussel shells.
+
+"You've brought some oysters for our luncheon, haven't you?" guessed
+Eleanor. "You must stay and eat them with us."
+
+Captain Jules chuckled. "Oysters are out of season, child, and these are
+never good to eat."
+
+But Madge had clapped her hands together suddenly, her eyes shining. "You
+have been down to the bottom of the bay, haven't you, Captain Jules? And
+you've found some pearls!"
+
+Captain Jules shook his head. "I wouldn't call them pearls, exactly.
+They're too little and too poor. But come, now; maybe they are seed
+pearls. I went down under the water with the men who were looking over
+the oyster beds yesterday. Pearl oysters are not found in beds, like the
+edible oysters, so I wandered around on the bottom of the bay a bit and
+picked up these." The captain extended his great hand. Five pairs of
+eager eyes peered into it. There lay four nearly round, thick shells,
+horny and rough with tiny little pearls embedded in them.
+
+"'Pearls are angel's tears'," quoted Phil softly.
+
+Captain Jules seemed worried. "I searched about everywhere in the bay,
+but I could only find these four tiny pearls, and pretty lucky I was to
+find them!" the sailor continued. "They aren't of much value, but I
+wanted to give them to five girls, and that's just the difficulty." The
+captain looked at the houseboat party, which now included Tania, as
+though he did not know just what he should make up his mind to do.
+
+"Let's draw straws for them," suggested Eleanor sensibly.
+
+Madge shook her head. "No; Captain Jules is to give them to you and to
+leave me out. Remember, some stranger gave me a handsome pearl when I
+graduated. I have never had it mounted." Madge slipped her arm
+confidingly through the old sea captain's and gazed into his face with
+her most earnest expression. "Captain Jules is going to do something else
+for me; he is going down to the bottom of the bay again in his diving
+suit, and he is going to take me with him."
+
+"What a ridiculous idea!" protested Eleanor. "Just as though Captain
+Jules would think of doing any such thing."
+
+Lillian laughed unbelievingly, but Phil's face was serious. "It would be
+awfully jolly, wouldn't it? There wouldn't be any danger if Captain Jules
+should take you. Do please take Madge down with you, and then take me,"
+she insisted coaxingly.
+
+Captain Jules shook his head, but the little captain observed that he did
+not look half so shocked at the idea as he had the first time she
+proposed it. This was encouraging.
+
+Phil took hold of one of the captain's hands, and Madge the other.
+
+"Please, please, _please_!" they pleaded in chorus.
+
+"Miss Jenny Ann wouldn't let you," objected Captain Jules faintly.
+
+"But if we were to get her permission," argued Madge triumphantly, "then
+you would take us down to the bottom of the bay. I just knew you would,
+you are so splendid! I shall send to New York to see if we can rent a
+diving suit."
+
+"Never mind about that, I'll see about the suit," promised Captain Jules.
+"But it's all nonsense, and I have never said that I would take you. I
+wish I weren't a sailor. There is an old saying that a sailor can never
+refuse anything to a woman."
+
+"Here comes Tom," announced Lillian hurriedly.
+
+"Then don't say anything to him about the diving," warned Madge. "He will
+think it is perfectly dreadful for girls to attempt it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE GREAT ADVENTURE
+
+
+The news that old Captain Jules Fontaine, the retired pearl diver, whose
+history was a mystery to most of the inhabitants at Cape May, was to take
+Madge Morton down to the bottom of Delaware Bay with him spread through
+the town and seaside resort like wildfire. It was in vain that the
+houseboat party and Captain Jules tried to keep the affair a secret.
+There were necessary arrangements to be made, men to be engaged to assist
+in the diving operations; it was impossible to deny everything.
+
+At first the plan seemed to outsiders like mere midsummer madness. Then
+the story began to grow. Cape May residents learned that Captain Jules
+had found pearls in the bottom of the bay. No one would believe the
+captain's statement that the pearls were of little value; gossip made the
+tiny pearls grow larger and larger, until they were fit for an empress.
+
+Captain Jules was besieged at his little house up the bay, although, as
+usual, he kept the door fastened against intruders. Half the fishermen
+and oystermen in the vicinity begged to be permitted to accompany the old
+sea diver in his descent into the water. Captain Jules politely explained
+that he needed no companions; he was merely going on a diving expedition
+to amuse two of his friends, Phyllis Alden and Madge Morton, who had a
+taste for watery adventure. He did not expect to find anything of value
+in the bottom of the bay. They were going down merely for sport.
+
+There was one person at Cape May who listened eagerly to any tale of the
+fabulous riches that the old pearl diver was evidently expecting to
+unearth. He was Philip Holt. The time of his visit at Cape May was
+rapidly passing. Mrs. Curtis was exceedingly kind and interested in her
+guest, but Philip did not feel that he dared approach her too abruptly
+with the request for so large a sum of money as five thousand dollars.
+Besides, Philip Holt knew that Tom Curtis disliked him heartily. Tom was
+not likely to approve a man whom Madge mistrusted; nor would Mrs. Curtis
+give away or lend five thousand dollars without first consulting her son.
+So the marvelous tale of the pearls to be found in the Delaware Bay
+rooted itself in Philip Holt's imagination. Here was another way to get
+out of his scrape. He was not fond of adventure, but he would do anything
+in the world for money. Perhaps he could find pearls enough not only to
+pay his debt, but to make him rich forever afterward.
+
+Quietly, and without a word to any one, Philip Holt made a secret visit
+to the house of the three sails. He implored Captain Jules to make him
+his diving companion. He attempted to bribe him with sums of money that
+he did not possess. He even threatened the old sailor that he would make
+investigations about his life and expose any secrets that the captain
+might wish to keep. Captain Jules only laughed at these threats. He was
+not going down in the bay for treasures, he declared. He expected to find
+absolutely nothing of any value. Positively he would not allow any one to
+accompany him but the two girls.
+
+Madge and Phyllis had a hard fight to persuade Miss Jenny Ann to give her
+consent to their plan for playing mermaid. But she was getting so
+accustomed to the exciting adventures of her girls that, when Captain
+Jules assured her there was really no special danger, so long as he kept
+a close watch on the diver with him, she finally agreed to the scheme.
+Captain Jules gave the two girls every kind of instruction in the art of
+diving that he thought necessary, and the day of the great watery
+adventure was set for the week ahead.
+
+On the morning of Tuesday, July 12th, Madge awoke at daybreak. She felt a
+delicious, shivery thrill pass over her that was one part fear and the
+other part rapture.
+
+"Phil," she whispered a few seconds later, when she heard her chum
+stirring in the berth above her, "can you feel fins growing where your
+feet are? Your flop in the bed sounded as though you were a real mermaid!
+Just think, at ten o'clock sharp we are going down to explore a new
+world! I wonder if there were ever any girl divers before? You are
+awfully good to let me go down first."
+
+"No, I am not," answered Phil soberly. "If there is any danger, I am
+letting you go down to it first. But I shall watch above the water, with
+all my eyes, to see that everything goes right. The captain has explained
+the whole business of diving to us so thoroughly that I believe I can
+tell if anything is wrong with you below the surface. You'll be careful,
+won't you, Madge? You know you are usually rather reckless. Don't stay
+down too long."
+
+"Oh, Captain Jules won't let me be reckless this time. We are not going
+down into very deep water, anyway, and a professional diver can stay
+under several hours when the water is only about five fathoms deep."
+
+Madge and Phyllis ate a very light breakfast. Captain Jules had told them
+that a diver must never go down into the water on a full stomach, as it
+would make him too short-winded. While the two prospective divers were
+eating poor Miss Jenny Ann was wondering what had ever induced her to
+give her consent to so mad an enterprise as this diving.
+
+Every effort had been made to keep a crowd away from the pier from which
+Captain Jules meant to send out the boats with the tenders, who were the
+men to look after the safety of Madge and himself.
+
+As the girls came up, with Miss Jenny Ann, to join Captain Jules they saw
+twenty or thirty people about. Mrs. Curtis and Tom, accompanied by Philip
+Holt, had come down to the pier. Mrs. Curtis would hardly speak to Madge,
+she was so angry at the risk she believed the little captain was running.
+She and Madge had not been very friendly since they had disagreed so
+utterly in Madge's report of the real character and name of Philip Holt.
+
+Madge and Phyllis each wore a close fitting, warm woolen dress. Madge had
+tucked up her red-brown curls into a tight knot. Her eyes were glowing,
+but her face was white and her lips a little less red when Captain Jules
+came forward to fasten her into her diving suit.
+
+"Don't attempt it, Madge, if you are frightened," urged Miss Jenny Ann,
+who was feeling dreadfully frightened herself. "I am sure Captain Jules
+will forgive you if you back out."
+
+Captain Jules looked at Madge searchingly. Her eyes smiled bravely into
+his, although her heart was going pit-a-pat.
+
+"Miss Madge is not afraid," answered Captain Jules curtly. "Robert
+Morton's daughter has no right to know fear."
+
+Madge first slipped her feet into a pair of heavy leather boots. She gave
+a gay laugh as she slipped into her rubber cloth suit, which was made in
+one piece. "I feel just like a walrus," she confided to Tom Curtis, who
+was watching her with set lips.
+
+Then Madge and Captain Jules, who was in exactly the same costume, got
+into their boats and moved out a little distance from the shore.
+
+Tom Curtis had asked Captain Jules's consent to sit in one of the boats
+with Phil. At the last moment Philip Holt stepped calmly into the other.
+No one stopped to argue with him, or to thrust him out; the whole party
+was too much excited.
+
+Not for all the pearls in all the seas would Captain Jules Fontaine have
+allowed one hair of Madge's head to be injured. But he really did not
+believe that she would be in any danger under the water with him. He had
+arranged every detail of the diving perfectly. He would watch her every
+movement at the bottom of the bay. To tell the truth, Captain Jules was
+immensely proud of Madge's and Phil's bravery in desiring to accompany
+him.
+
+The final moment for the dive arrived. Madge waved her hand to the crowd
+of her friends lining the shore. She flung back her head and looked
+gayly, triumphantly, up at the blue sky above her, with its sweep of
+white, sailing clouds. Below her the water looked even more deeply blue.
+
+"Remember, Madge," whispered Captain Jules calmly, "the one quality a
+diver needs more than anything else is presence of mind. Keep a clear
+head under the water and nothing shall harm you, I swear. But above all,
+don't forget your signals."
+
+With his own hands Captain Jules fastened the brass corselet about
+Madge's slender neck and set a big copper helmet which he screwed over
+her head to her corselet. Madge then surveyed the world only through the
+glass windows at each side of her head and in front. Her air-tube entered
+her helmet at the back. Two men in one of the boats were to keep the
+young girl diver supplied with oxygen by pumping fresh air down through
+this tube.
+
+A moment later Captain Jules stood rigged in the same costume as Madge.
+
+"Steady, my girl," Captain Jules warned her.
+
+"Aye, aye, Captain," returned Madge quietly, "I'm ready. Let us go down
+together to the bottom of the bay."
+
+"Pump away," ordered the captain.
+
+There was a splash on the surface of the clear water, a long-drawn gasp
+from Madge's friends; then a few bubbles rose. Rapidly, skillfully,
+Madge's tenders played out her life and pipe lines, and Madge Morton
+disappeared from the world of men. Captain Jules made his plunge a few
+seconds in advance of his companion.
+
+In the boat where Tom Curtis and Phyllis Alden sat there was a
+breathless, intense silence. The boy and girl happened to be in the boat
+with the men who were looking out for the welfare of Captain Jules.
+Philip Holt was with Madge's tenders.
+
+Phyllis knew that there was but one way in which she could follow her
+chum's course below the surface of the water. She could watch her life
+and air lines. Captain Jules had made it plain to Phyllis that all the
+time the diver is under water small ripples will appear near his air
+line. These bubbles are caused by the air that the diver breathes out
+from the valve in the side of his diving helmet.
+
+Phyllis watched the lines doggedly. Captain Jules was to keep Madge under
+water only about fifteen or twenty minutes, but at that a minute may
+appear longer than an hour.
+
+Suddenly Phyllis Alden discovered that the man who was tending Madge's
+air pump seemed to be working less vigorously. He pumped unevenly. Once
+he swayed, as though he were about to fall over in his seat.
+
+In a second it flashed over Phyllis that the man was ill. He was a
+strong, red-faced individual, but his face turned to a kind of ghastly
+pallor. It was all so quick that Phil had no time to speak from her boat.
+Philip Holt, who was in the same boat with the man, grasped the situation
+as quickly as Phyllis did. With a single motion he took the tender's
+place at the air-pump. Phil saw that he was pumping away with vigor.
+
+At this moment Phil turned to speak to Tom Curtis. "Tom, how long have
+they been under the water?" she whispered.
+
+"Ten minutes," returned Tom, glancing hastily at his watch.
+
+"It seems ten hours," murmured Phil, as though she dared not speak
+aloud.
+
+Tug, tug! Phil thought she saw Madge's air line give two desperate jerks.
+Two pulls at the line was the diver's signal for more air. Phil knew that
+without a doubt. Yet Philip Holt seemed to be pumping vigorously. At
+least, he had been only the second before when Phil last looked at him.
+
+Again Phil saw Madge's air line jerk twice.
+
+Tom Curtis and the two men in Captain Jules's boat were vainly trying to
+interpret some signals that Captain Jules was making to them. The two
+boats were at no great distance apart.
+
+"I am afraid something is the matter below, Phil," Tom Curtis turned to
+mutter hoarsely. But Phyllis Alden, who had been sitting near him a
+moment before, was no longer there.
+
+Phyllis believed she saw that Philip Holt was only pretending to pump
+sufficient air down to Madge. She may have been wrong. Who could ever
+tell? But Phil knew there was no time to discuss the matter. One minute,
+two minutes, five or ten--Phil did not know how long a diver at the
+bottom of the water can be shut off from his supply of fresh air and
+live. She did not mean to wait, to ask questions, or to lose time. Phil
+made a flying leap from the skiff that held her to the one in which
+Philip Holt sat by the air-pump. She landed in the water, just alongside
+the boat. Quietly, though more quickly than she had ever moved before in
+her life, Phil climbed into the boat and thrust Philip Holt away from the
+air pump. In the minute it had taken her to make her plunge she had seen
+Madge's signal again, but this time the line jerked more feebly than it
+had before.
+
+Phil set the pump to working again; the signal answered from below, "All
+is well!"
+
+The tender had recovered from his attack of faintness and resumed his
+work at Madge's airline.
+
+But Philip Holt sat crouched in the bottom of the boat, his face white
+with anger. What would Phyllis Alden's action suggest but that he was
+trying to suffocate Madge in the water below?
+
+Whether or not Philip Holt meant to stifle Madge Morton he himself never
+really knew. The impulse came to him as he placed his hands on her
+air-pump. It flashed across his mind that it was Madge who had tried to
+injure his prospects with Mrs. Curtis, and who had kept him from going
+down with Captain Jules to search for the pearls that he firmly believed
+would be found at the bottom of the bay. It was while these thoughts
+passed through Philip Holt's mind his pressure on Madge's air-pump had
+wavered. But Phyllis Alden had discovered it. She gave him no opportunity
+either for action or regret.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A STRANGE PEARL
+
+
+Madge felt herself in a great fairy world peopled with giants. Every
+thing below the water is magnified a thousandfold. Slowly she went down
+and down! The fishes splashed and tumbled about her, hurrying to get away
+from this strange, new sea-monster that had come into their midst.
+
+The little captain felt no mental sensation except one of wonder and of
+awe; no physical impression save a pressure as of a great weight on her
+head and a roaring of mighty waters in her ears. She no longer had any
+idea of being afraid.
+
+At the first plunge into the water she had shut her eyes, but now, as she
+approached the bottom of the bay, she kept them wide open.
+
+The water was clear as crystal, like the reflection in a mammoth mirror.
+She could see nearly fifty feet ahead of her. Captain Jules walked just
+in front of her, swinging his great body from side to side, peering down
+into the sandy bottom of the bay. Madge discovered that the only way in
+which she could get a view, except the one directly in front of her, was
+by turning her head inside her helmet, to look through her side window
+glasses. The goggles over her eyes gave her just the view that a horse
+has with blinkers.
+
+There were hundreds of things that Madge would have liked to confide to
+Captain Jules. However, for once in her life, she was compelled to hold
+her tongue. Her eyes, her hands, and her feet she could keep busy. Now
+and then she gave a little ejaculation of wonder inside her copper helmet
+at the marvels she saw. No one heard her cry out. Captain Jules wasted no
+time. He was exceedingly business-like. He motioned to Madge just where
+she should go and what she should do, and she obediently followed.
+
+There were long, level flats of sand in the bottom of Delaware Bay, like
+small prairies. Then there were exquisite oases of waving green seaweed,
+gardens of sea flowers and ferns, and hillocks of rocks, with all sorts
+of queer sea animals, crabs, jelly-fish, and devil-fish, scurrying about
+them.
+
+Caught in the moss, encrusted on the rocks, sunken in the yellow sands,
+were opalescent, shining shells and pebbles, each one more beautiful than
+the last. Madge did not realize that if she carried these shells and
+pebbles above the water they would look like ordinary stones. Every now
+and then the young diver would stoop and drop one of them in her netted
+bag with a thrill of excitement.
+
+Again and again Captain Jules had assured Madge that she must not expect
+to find any pearls of much value in Delaware Bay. There were few pearls
+in edible oysters. The beds about Cape May were meant to supply the
+family table, not the family jewels. Of course, it was true, the Captain
+admitted, that a pearl did appear now and then in an ordinary oyster. Yet
+this was an accident and most unlikely to occur.
+
+Madge had really tried not to believe that she was going to find any kind
+of prize in the new world under the water. In spite of all her efforts
+she had been thinking and planning and hoping. Perhaps--perhaps she would
+find a pearl of great price. Then her troubles would be at an end.
+
+All this time Madge had been breathing naturally and comfortably inside
+her helmet as she traveled along the bed of the bay. She was so
+unconscious of any difficulty that she was beginning to believe that she
+was, in truth, a mermaid, and that water, and not air, was her natural
+element. Suddenly she felt a little uneasy, as though the windows of her
+room had been closed for too long a time. It was nothing, she was sure.
+The stifling sensation would pass in another second.
+
+At this moment Captain Jules gazed hard at Madge. He had never forgotten
+his charge for a moment. But all seemed well with her, and the captain
+thought he saw ahead of him something that was well worth investigating.
+He dropped on his knees in the soft mud. With him he had a small hammer
+and a fork, not unlike a gardener's. Shining through some green sea moss
+so soft and fine that it might have been the hair of a water-baby,
+Captain Jules had espied some glittering shells. To his experienced eye
+the glow was that of mother-of-pearl. It is the mother-of-pearl shell
+that usually covers the precious pearl. The old sailor set to work. Madge
+was eagerly watching him, when once again the faint stifling sensation
+swept over her. Surely it was not possible to faint in a diving suit.
+Besides, Madge's heart was beating so furiously with excitement that it
+was small wonder she could not get her breath. She believed that Captain
+Jules was about to discover a wonderful pearl. He had wrenched the shells
+free and was trying to open them. Madge stood some feet away from him,
+quivering with excitement.
+
+"'And the sea shall give up its treasures'," she quoted softly to herself
+as she watched.
+
+The next moment her hands made an involuntary movement in the water. Had
+she been on land her gesture would have meant that she was fighting for
+breath. To her horror she realized that she was slowly suffocating.
+Something must have happened to her air-pump above the water. She was not
+faint from any other cause, but was getting an insufficient supply of
+fresh air.
+
+At this moment Madge proved her mettle. She remembered Captain Jules's
+injunction, "Keep a clear head under the water and there is nothing to
+fear." She knew the signal for more fresh air, and gave two hard, quick
+pulls on her life line. Then she waited. Relief would surely come in a
+moment.
+
+For the first and only time since their descent to the bottom of the bay
+Captain Jules had temporarily neglected Madge. He certainly had not
+expected to find any pearls in so unlikely a place as Delaware Bay; yet
+the shells he held in his hand were most unusual. The thrill of his old
+occupation seized hold of the pearl fisher. His big hands fairly trembled
+with emotion. He felt, rather than saw, Madge jerk her life line twice,
+but it never dawned on him that her signal for more air might fail to be
+answered.
+
+Madge signaled again. A loud buzzing seemed to sound in her ears. Her
+tongue felt thick and swollen. She could not see a foot ahead of her. All
+the dazzling, shimmering beauty of the world under the water had passed
+into blackness. The little captain's eyes were glazing behind the glass
+windows of her helmet. She felt that she must be dying. But she had
+strength to give one more signal. Air! air! How could she ever have
+believed that there was anything in the world so precious as fresh air?
+Madge had a vision of a field of new-mown hay in her old home at "Forest
+House." The wind was blowing through it with a delicious fragrance. Had
+she the strength to pull her life line once again? The water that she
+loved so dearly was to claim her at last. She made a motion to go toward
+Captain Jules, but she had no control of her limbs.
+
+Then Captain Jules became aroused to action. He realized that Madge had
+signaled for air, not once, but several times. This meant that her signal
+had not been answered. The captain had been for too many years a deep-sea
+diver not to guess instantly the girl's condition. The groan inside his
+helmet came from the bottom of his heart. Captain Jules's hands shook. He
+dropped the shells that he believed might contain priceless pearls down
+into the soft sand in the bed of the bay.
+
+It was at this moment that Tom Curtis and Phyllis Alden, as well as the
+captain's boat tenders, caught his confusing signals from below. More
+fresh air was pumped down the tube to Captain Jules, but not to Madge.
+
+Phil's leap and quick work at Madge's air-pump must have taken place not
+more than three minutes afterward, but they were horrible, agonizing
+moments. Madge hardly knew how they passed. Captain Jules suffered the
+regret of a lifetime. How could he have been so unwise as to entrust the
+safety of this girl, whose life was so dear to him, to the perils of a
+diver's experiences? In the few weeks of their acquaintance Madge Morton
+had become all in all to Captain Jules Fontaine.
+
+There was but one thing for Captain Jules to do for his companion. He
+must signal to have her drawn up to the surface of the water again,
+trusting that she would not suffocate for lack of air in her ascent.
+
+Madge was near enough to lay her hand on Captain Jules's arm. Phil's
+relief had come just in time. The life-giving fresh air from the world
+above pressed into her copper helmet. It filled her nose and mouth, it
+poured into her aching lungs. She received new life, new energy. Now she
+was no longer afraid. She did not wish to go above the surface of the
+water. Surely all above was now well. She yearned to continue her
+adventures on the under side of the world.
+
+She it was, not Captain Jules, who dropped down on her hands and knees to
+grope for the captain's lost pearl shells.
+
+But the sand had covered them up forever, or else the water had carried
+them away!
+
+Captain Jules wished to take Madge out of the water immediately, yet he
+yielded for a minute to her disappointment. What treasures had they lost
+when he threw the mother-of-pearl shells away? Neither of them would ever
+know. The old diver looked about in the soft mud, while Madge raked
+furiously near the spot where she thought the sailor had dropped the
+shells. Captain Jules walked on for a little distance. He had seen beyond
+them a tangled mass of other shells and seaweed and it occurred to him
+that the water might have carried his shells into some hidden crevice
+nearby.
+
+But Madge never left her chosen spot. Deeper and deeper she dug. What a
+swirl of mud arose and eddied about her, darkening the clear water in
+which she stood! The little captain's hammer struck against something
+hard. Was it a rock embedded in the sand? Yet a distinct sound rang out,
+as of one metal striking against another!
+
+Madge did not know how she summoned Captain Jules back to her side. She
+was wild with curiosity and excitement. Captain Jules was smiling behind
+his copper mask. The young girl diver had probably found a piece of old
+iron cast off from some ship. Still, she should unearth whatever she had
+discovered so near the dark kingdom of Pluto.
+
+The captain worked with her. Whatever her find might be, it was larger
+and heavier than Captain Jules had expected. They could afford to spend
+no more time with it. It was time for Madge to leave the water.
+
+It is difficult to make an imploring gesture in a diver's suit. Yet,
+somehow, Madge must have managed to do so. For one moment longer the old
+pearl diver relented. The hole that they were digging in the bottom of
+the bay was widening before them. A chunk of what looked like solid iron
+was visible. Then a triangular end came into view. It was rusted until it
+shone like beautiful green enamel. The top was absolutely flat and of
+some depth, as it was so hard to excavate.
+
+The time was growing short. Madge had been under the water as long as was
+safe for any amateur diver. The captain was a man to be obeyed, as she
+knew instinctively. She gave one more dig into the mud about her iron
+treasure. It now became plain, both to her and to Captain Jules, that she
+had found an old iron chest. The captain tugged at it with both his
+great, strong hands. It was strangely heavy. But he managed to lift it in
+his arms.
+
+Straightway he gave the signal to ascend; three sharp tugs at his life
+line. Madge followed suit. But she cast one long backward glance at the
+watery world into which she might never again descend, as slowly,
+steadily, the boat tenders pulled up her long life line. Her feet dangled
+above the sandy bottom of the bay. Now she could see even farther off.
+About forty feet from the rapidly filling hole from which she and the
+captain had extracted the iron chest was a spar of a ship jutting above
+the sand. The little captain may have been wrong, but it looked like the
+very spar on which Tania's dress had caught the day she was so nearly
+drowned. Madge could not tell how far she and Captain Jules had traveled
+on the bottom of the bay, but she knew they had made their descent at a
+place no very great distance from the spot where Roy Dennis's yacht had
+run down their skiff, and Captain Jules had rescued Tania and herself.
+
+Thought travels swifter than anything else in the created world. So
+Madge's thoughts had reached the upper world before she followed them.
+She wondered if the girls would be very sadly disappointed when she
+returned bearing, instead of a costly pearl, nothing but a rusted iron
+box!
+
+Would Phil have better luck when she descended to the depths of the bay?
+What had happened in the outside world since she had disappeared from it
+a long, long time ago?
+
+A flare of blinding sunlight smote across the glass goggles in Madge's
+copper helmet. She felt herself picked up and lifted bodily into a boat.
+Her helmet and corselet were unscrewed. She lay still, smiling faintly as
+the boat made for her friends who crowded, watching, on the pier. Captain
+Jules, bearing the small iron chest, landed a moment later. The little
+captain had been in a new world, into which few men and rarely any women
+have ever entered. She had been out of her human element, a creature of
+the water, not of the air, and it seemed to her that she must have lived
+a whole new lifetime as a deep-sea diver.
+
+Tom Curtis stared anxiously at his watch and smiled into her white face.
+He breathed a sigh of relief and of wonder. Captain Jules Fontaine and
+Madge Morton had been down at the bottom of Delaware Bay exactly thirty
+minutes!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE FAIRY GODMOTHER'S WISH COMES TRUE
+
+
+Captain Jules decided to wait until another day before taking Phyllis
+Alden on the journey from which he and Madge had just returned. The old
+sailor was too deeply thankful to see his first charge safe on land. Poor
+Miss Jenny Ann could do nothing but lean over Madge and cry; the nervous
+strain of waiting while the girl was under the water had been too great.
+Indeed, even the people who, Madge knew, were not in the least interested
+in her, appeared dreadfully upset. Philip Holt's face was very pale and
+his eyes shifted uneasily from Phyllis's to Madge's face.
+
+Phyllis was the most self-possessed of the four girls. She was greatly
+disappointed at the captain's determination to put off the time for her
+diving expedition until a later date. But Phyllis was always unselfish.
+She realized that her chaperon and her friends had had about as much
+anxiety as they could endure in one day. Madge had been under the water,
+and she could not dream of what the others had suffered above, while
+awaiting her return.
+
+Mrs. Curtis put her arms about the little captain and embraced her with
+an affection she had not shown her during the summer.
+
+"My dear," she murmured, "will you ever stop being the most reckless girl
+in the world? What possible good could that wretched diving feat of yours
+do anybody on earth? If my hair weren't already white I am sure it would
+have turned so in the last half-hour. Look at poor Philip Holt. He seems
+as nervous as though you were his own sister."
+
+Madge and Captain Jules had both taken off their heavy diving suits and
+were soon shaking hands with every one on the pier. Even Roy Dennis and
+Mabel Farrar, much as they disliked Madge, could not conceal the fact
+that they thought her extremely plucky.
+
+Captain Jules had laid the iron chest on the ground and for the moment
+they had forgotten it.
+
+It was little Tania who danced up to it and tried to lift it.
+
+"Show us the pearls you found, Madge," Eleanor begged her cousin at this
+instant, her brown eyes twinkling.
+
+The little captain looked crestfallen. "I am afraid we didn't find
+anything of value," she said, trying to pretend that she was not
+disappointed. "I have only some pretty shells and stones that I gathered
+on the bottom of the bay for Tania."
+
+She pulled her sea treasures out of her netted diving bag. Sure enough,
+the water had dried on them and the shells and stones appeared quite dull
+and ugly. There were almost as pretty shells and pebbles to be picked up
+at any place along the Cape May beach.
+
+"Why, Madge!" exclaimed Lillian, before she realized what she was saying,
+"surely, you didn't waste your time in bringing up such silly trifles as
+these?"
+
+Madge shook her head humbly. "We didn't find anything else but this old
+iron chest. Captain Jules, may I take it back to the houseboat with me as
+a souvenir, or do you wish it? Tania, child, you can't lift it, it is too
+heavy."
+
+Tom Curtis brought the chest to Captain Jules. Some of the crowd had
+moved away, now that the diving was over. But a dozen or more strangers
+pressed about the girls and their friends.
+
+"There is something in this little chest, Captain," declared Tom Curtis
+quietly, as he set it down before the captain and Madge. "I could feel
+something roll around in the box as I lifted it."
+
+Captain Jules shook the heavy safe. Something certainly rattled on the
+inside.
+
+There were bits of moss and tiny shells and stones encrusted on the upper
+lid of the box. Deliberately Captain Jules scraped them off with a stick.
+The houseboat party and Tom were beginning to grow impatient. What made
+Captain Jules so slow? Philip Holt, who was standing by Mrs. Curtis's
+side, gazed sneeringly at the operations. He was glad, indeed, that he
+had not risked his life in descending to the bottom of the bay in search
+for pearls, only to bring up a rusty chest.
+
+"The box is fastened tightly; it will have to be broken open," remarked
+Madge indifferently. She was feeling tired, now that the excitement of
+her diving trip was over. She wished to go home to the houseboat. She did
+not wish Captain Jules to guess for an instant how disappointed she was
+that they had found nothing of value on their diving adventure. If only
+the captain had not dropped the shells in which there might have been a
+chance of finding pearls!
+
+Captain Jules had hold of the iron hammer that he used when diving.
+Click! click! click! he struck three times on the lock of the iron safe.
+Like the magic tinder-box, the lid flew open. Tania's long-drawn
+childish, "Oh!" was the only sound that broke the tense and breathless
+stillness that pervaded the group.
+
+A single pearl! The scorned iron chest almost full of shining coins and
+precious stones! There were coins of gold and silver--strange coins that
+no one in the watching crowd had ever seen before. Some of them bore
+dates and inscriptions of English mintings of the early part of the
+eighteenth century.
+
+Of course, it was incredible! No one believed his eyes. A treasure-chest
+unearthed after more than two hundred years? It was impossible!
+
+Yet instantly each one of the girls remembered that the pirates had sunk
+many vessels in Delaware Bay in the latter part of the seventeenth and
+the beginning of the eighteenth century. In those days many wealthy
+English families came over with their servants and their treasure to
+settle in the new country of America.
+
+Phil's book on the history of piracy had recalled this information to the
+girls only ten days before. It was then, when Madge lay with her head
+resting in her hands, looking dreamily out over the waters, that she had
+wondered how anything so remote from her as the story of the early
+American battles with pirate ships could help her to solve her present
+troubles? Yet here, like a miracle before her eyes, lay the answer!
+
+The little captain was the last of the onlookers to know what had
+happened. She was too dazed, perhaps, from her stay under the water.
+
+It was only when Tania flung her eager, thin arms about her beloved Fairy
+Godmother's neck that Madge actually woke up.
+
+"The fairies who live under the water have given you these wonderful
+things," whispered Tania. "I prayed that they would come to see you,
+bringing you all the good gifts that they had."
+
+Captain Jules reached over and set the priceless box before Madge. She
+was encircled by Miss Jenny Ann and her beloved houseboat chums.
+
+"It is all yours, Madge," asserted Captain Jules solemnly. "You found it,
+child. I should never have discovered it but for you."
+
+Madge shook her red-brown head. "Captain Jules, that chest is far more
+yours than it is mine. I should never have gone down under the water but
+for you. If Phil had only dived first, instead of me, she would have
+found it, I won't have any of the money or the jewelry unless I can share
+it with the rest of you."
+
+Then, to Madge's own surprise, she began to cry.
+
+"There, there, little mate, it will be all right," Captain Jules assured
+her quietly. "You've had a bit too much for one day. We don't know the
+value of what we have found just yet, but the old jewelry will make
+pretty trinkets for you girls. We'll see about the rest later on."
+
+Miss Jenny Ann put her arm about Madge on one side. Phil was on the other
+side of her chum.
+
+"We will go home now, dear," said Miss Jenny Ann to Madge. "You are worn
+out from all this excitement."
+
+"I'll look after the girls, Captain," promised Tom Curtis quietly, "then
+I will come back to you." A flash of understanding passed between Captain
+Jules and Tom Curtis. They had both guessed that Madge's iron box of old
+jewelry and coins represented more money than the girls could comprehend,
+and that it was better for the news of the discovery to be kept as quiet
+as possible for the time being.
+
+"You will walk home with me, won't you, Philip?" Mrs. Curtis asked her
+guest. "I am rather tired from the excitement of this most unusual
+morning."
+
+But Philip Holt had forgotten that he wished to keep on the good side of
+his wealthy hostess. His eyes were staring eagerly and greedily at the
+closed iron box which old Captain Jules was guarding. He took a step
+forward, stopped and looked at the little crowd standing near.
+
+"No; I can't go back with you now, Mrs. Curtis," he answered abruptly, "I
+have some important business to transact."
+
+Mrs. Curtis walked away deeply offended. Philip Holt, however, was too
+fully occupied with his own disappointment to note this. A sudden daring
+idea had taken possession of him. Perhaps Madge Morton was not so lucky
+after all. Finding a treasure did not necessarily mean keeping it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+MISSING, A FAIRY GODMOTHER
+
+
+Several days after the finding of the treasure-chest experts came down
+from Philadelphia to appraise its value. It was not easy to decide,
+immediately, what market price the old jewels, set in quaintly chased
+gold, would bring. But the least that the coins and stones would be worth
+was ten thousand dollars! It might be more. An extra thousand dollars or
+so was hardly worth considering, when ten thousand would make things turn
+out so beautifully even.
+
+Madge and Captain Jules, Miss Jenny Ann and the other houseboat girls had
+many discussions about Madge's discovery of the iron safe.
+
+The little captain was entirely alone on one side of the argument. The
+others were all against her. Yet she won her point. She continued to
+insist that her wonderful find was purely an accident. How could she ever
+have unearthed a box, lost from a sunken ship, that had probably been
+buried for centuries, if Captain Jules Fontaine had not listened to her
+pleadings and taken her on the wonderful diving trip with him? Though she
+had actually struck the first blow on the piece of iron embedded in the
+bay, she could never have dragged the safe out of the mud, or been able
+to carry it up to the surface, without Captain Jules's assistance.
+
+Madge and the old sailor started their discussion alone. The captain had
+come over to the houseboat, bringing the iron safe with him so that the
+girls might have a better view of its wonders. He had firmly made up his
+mind that Madge must be made to understand that the money the treasure
+would bring was to be all hers. He would not accept one cent of it. Fate
+had been kinder to him than he had hoped in allowing him to guide Madge
+to the discovery of her fortune.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!" exclaimed Madge ecstatically, when the old sailor
+reported the news to her. "It's the most wonderful thing I ever heard of
+in my life. I didn't dream it was worth so much money. Will you please
+lend me a piece of paper and a pencil, Captain Jules. I never have been
+clever at arithmetic." Madge knitted her brows thoughtfully. "Ten
+thousand dollars divided by two means five thousand dollars for you and
+the same sum for us."
+
+The captain cleared his throat. "What's the rest of the arithmetic?" he
+demanded gruffly. "I don't think much of that first division."
+
+But Madge was hardly listening. She was biting the end of her pencil.
+"Six doesn't go into five thousand just evenly," she replied
+thoughtfully, "but with fractions I suppose we can manage. You see that
+will be eight hundred and thirty-three dollars and something over for
+Miss Jenny Ann to put in bank to take care of her if she ever gets sick,
+or has to stop teaching; and the same sum will pay for Phil's first year
+at college and for Eleanor's graduating at Miss Tolliver's, so uncle
+won't have to worry over that any more. Then my little Fairy Godmother
+can go to some beautiful school in the country, and not be shut up in a
+horrid home with a capital 'H,' which is what Philip Holt has persuaded
+Mrs. Curtis ought to be done with her. And Lillian can save her money to
+buy pretty clothes, because she is not as poor as the rest of us and
+dearly loves nice things, and----" Madge's speech ended from lack of
+breath.
+
+The captain rubbed his rough chin reflectively. "Oh! I see," he nodded,
+"I am to get half of the money and you are to get a sixth of a half. Is
+that it?"
+
+[Illustration: Madge and Captain Jules Started Their Discussion Alone.]
+
+Madge lowered her voice to a whisper. "Dear Captain Jules," she said in a
+wheedling tone, "you'll help me, won't you? The girls and Miss Jenny Ann
+declare positively that they won't accept a single dollar of the money. I
+shall be the most miserable girl in the world if they don't. Why, we four
+girls and Miss Jenny Ann have shared everything in common, our
+misfortunes and our good fortunes, since we started out together. If any
+one of the other girls had happened to discover the treasure instead of
+me, she would certainly have divided it with the others. Phil, Lillian,
+Eleanor and Miss Jenny Ann don't even dare to deny it. So they simply
+must give in to me about it."
+
+"Well," continued the captain, "I am yet to be told what Madge Morton
+means to do with the one-sixth of one-half of her wealth when it finally
+gets round to her."
+
+The little captain's eyes shone, though her face sobered. "I am not going
+to college with Phil, though I hate to be parted from her," she replied.
+"Somehow, I think I am not exactly meant for a college girl. I believe I
+will just advertise in all the papers in the world for my father. Then,
+if he is alive, I shall surely find him. With whatever money is left I
+shall go to him. If he is poor, I will manage to take care of him in some
+way," ended Madge confidently.
+
+"You will, eh?" returned Captain Jules gruffly. "It seems to me, my girl,
+that this is a pretty position you have mapped out for me. I am to take
+half of our find--nice, selfish old codger that I am--while you divide
+yours with your friends. I am not going to take a cent of that money, so
+you can just do your sums over again."
+
+It was at this point that Madge called Miss Jenny Ann and the other
+houseboat girls into the discussion. It ended with the captain's agreeing
+to take one-seventh of the money, if all the others would follow suit.
+
+"Because, if you don't," declared Madge in her usual impetuous fashion,
+"I shall just throw this chest of money and jewelry right overboard and
+it can go down to the bottom of the bay and stay there, for all I care."
+
+Captain Jules remained to dinner on the houseboat that evening. After
+dinner the girls proceeded to adorn themselves with the old sets of
+jewelry found in the safe. Madge wore the pearls because, she insisted,
+they were her special jewels, and she had gone down to the bottom of the
+bay to find them. Phil was more fascinated with some old-fashioned
+garnets, Lillian with a big, golden topaz pin, and Eleanor with some
+turquoises that had turned a curious greenish color from old age.
+
+It was well after ten o'clock when the captain announced that he must set
+out for home. Tom Curtis had been spending the evening on the houseboat
+with the girls, but he had gone home an hour before to join his mother
+and her guest, Philip Holt. Before going away the captain concluded that
+it would be best for him to leave the iron safe of coins and precious
+stones on the houseboat for the night. It was too late for him to carry
+it back to "The Anchorage" alone. As no one but Tom knew of its being on
+the houseboat, the valuables could be in no possible danger. The captain
+would call some time within the next day or so to take the iron box to a
+safety deposit vault in the town of Cape May.
+
+Together Miss Jenny Ann and the captain hid the precious chest in a small
+drawer in the sideboard built into the wall of the little dining room
+cabin of the houseboat. They locked this drawer carefully and Miss Jenny
+Ann hid the key under her pillow without speaking of it to any one.
+
+In spite of these precautions no one on the houseboat dreamed of any
+possible danger to the safety of their newly-found prize. Remember, no
+one knew of its being on the houseboat save Tom Curtis and Captain Jules.
+Up to to-night Captain Jules had been guarding the treasure at his house
+up the bay. No one had been allowed to see it since the famous day of its
+discovery, except the experts who had come down from Philadelphia to give
+some idea of the value of Madge's remarkable find.
+
+Little Tania was in the habit of sleeping in the dining room of the
+houseboat on a cot which Miss Jenny Ann prepared for her each night. She
+went to bed earlier than the other girls, so in order not to disturb her,
+she was stowed away in there instead of occupying one of the berths in
+the two staterooms. Soon after the captain's departure Miss Jenny Ann
+tucked Tania safely in bed. She closed the door of the dining room that
+led out on the cabin deck and also the door that connected with the
+stateroom occupied by Madge and Phil. The cabin of the "Merry Maid" was a
+square divided into four rooms, and Miss Jenny Ann's bedroom did not open
+directly into the dining room.
+
+It was a dark night and a strangely still one. The weather was unusually
+warm and close for Cape May. Over the flat marshes and islands the heat
+was oppressive. The residents of the summer cottages left their doors and
+windows open, hoping that a stray breeze might spring up during the night
+to refresh them. No one seemed to have any fear of burglars.
+
+On the "Merry Maid" the night was so still and cloudy that the girls sat
+up for an hour after Captain Jules left them, talking over their
+wonderful good fortune. They were almost asleep before they tumbled into
+their berths. Once there, they slept soundly all night long. Nothing
+apparently happened to disturb them, but Madge, who was the lightest
+sleeper in the party, did half-waken at one time during the night. She
+thought she heard Tania cry out. It was a peculiar cry and was not
+repeated. She knew that Tania was given to dreaming. Almost every night
+the child made some kind of sound in her sleep. Madge sat up in bed and
+listened, but hearing no further sound, she went fast asleep again
+without a thought of anxiety.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann was the first to open her eyes the next morning. It must
+have been as late as seven o'clock, for the sun was shining brilliantly.
+She slipped on her wrapper and went into the kitchen to start the fire. A
+few moments later she went into the dining room to call Tania and to help
+the child to dress. But the dining room door on to the cabin deck was
+open. Tania's bedclothes were in a heap on the floor. The child had
+disappeared.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann was not in the least uneasy or annoyed. She knew that
+Tania had a way of creeping in Madge's bed in the early mornings and of
+snuggling close to her. Miss Jenny Ann tip-toed softly into Madge's and
+Phil's stateroom. There was no dark head with its straight, short black
+hair and quaint, elfish face pressed close against Madge's lovely auburn
+one. Madge was slumbering peacefully. Miss Jenny Ann peered into the
+upper berth. Phil was alone and had not stirred.
+
+Tania was such a queer, wild little thing! Miss Jenny Ann felt annoyed.
+Perhaps Tania had awakened and slipped off the boat without telling any
+of them. She had solemnly promised never to run away again, but she might
+have broken her word. Miss Jenny Ann explored the houseboat decks. She
+called the child's name softly once or twice so as not to disturb the
+other girls. There was no answer. She went back into the cabin dining
+room. Neatly folded on the chair, where Miss Jenny Ann herself had placed
+them the night before, were Tania's clothes. The child could hardly have
+run away in her little white nightgown.
+
+When the girls finally wakened Madge was the only one of them who was
+alarmed at first. She recalled Tania's strange cry in the night. She
+wondered if it could have been possible that she had heard a sound before
+the little girl cried out. But she could not decide. She would not
+believe, however, that Tania had forgotten her promise and gone away
+again without permission.
+
+As soon as Eleanor and Lillian were dressed they went ashore and walked
+up and down near the houseboat, calling aloud for Tania. Phyllis was the
+most composed of the party. She had two small twin sisters of her own and
+knew that children were in the habit of creating just such unnecessary
+excitements. Still, it was better to look for a lost child before she had
+had time to wander too far away.
+
+"Madge," suggested Phil quietly, "don't be so frightened about Tania. I
+have an idea the child has walked off the houseboat in her sleep. She
+must have done so, for the dining room door is unlocked from the inside.
+Our door on to the deck was not locked, but Tania's was, because Miss
+Jenny Ann recalls having locked it herself. She came through our room
+when she joined us outdoors after putting Tania to bed. You and I had
+better go up at once to find Tom Curtis. Dear old Tom is such a comfort!
+He will help us search for Tania. Then, if it is necessary, he will ask
+the Cape May authorities to have the police on the lookout for her. If
+Tania has wandered off in her sleep, the poor little thing will be
+terrified when she wakes up and finds herself in a strange place. Surely,
+some one will take her in and care for her until we find her."
+
+Madge and Phil were wonderfully glad to find Tom Curtis up and alone on
+his front veranda. He had just come in from a swim. He seemed so strong,
+clean, and fine after his morning's dip in the ocean that his two girl
+friends were immediately reassured. Tom would tell them just what had
+better be done to find Tania.
+
+"Mrs. Curtis's and Philip Holt's window blinds are still down, thank
+goodness!" whispered Madge to Phil, "so I suppose they are both asleep.
+Let us not tell them anything about Tania's disappearance. They would
+just put it down to naughtiness in her, and that would make me awfully
+cross."
+
+Tom Curtis felt perfectly sure that he would soon run across the lost
+Tania. So he left word for his mother that he had gone to the houseboat
+and that she was not to expect him until she saw him again.
+
+For two hours Tom and the houseboat party continued the hunt for the lost
+child without calling in assistance. Then Madge and Tom went to the town
+authorities of Cape May. The police investigated the city and the houses
+in the nearby seaside resort without finding the least clue to Tania.
+Toward the close of the long day Tom Curtis began to fear that Tania had
+fallen into the water. Cape May is only a strip of land between the great
+ocean and the bay, and the land is broken into many small islands nearly
+surrounded by salt water and marshes.
+
+Tom managed to get the girls safely out of the way; then, with Miss Jenny
+Ann's permission, he had the water near the houseboat thoroughly dredged.
+But Tania's little body was not found for the second time down in the
+bottom of the bay. It was not possible to have all the water in the
+neighborhood dragged in a single day, so Tom said nothing of his fears to
+his anxious friends.
+
+It was late in the evening. Miss Jenny Ann had prepared dinner for the
+weary and disheartened girls. She had snowy biscuit, broiled ham, roasted
+potatoes, milk, and honey, the very things her charges usually loved. Tom
+Curtis felt impelled to go back home. All that day he had seen nothing of
+his mother or of their visitor, Philip Holt, and Tom was afraid they
+would begin to wonder what had become of him.
+
+Madge caught Tom by the sleeve and looked at him with beseeching eyes.
+"Please don't go, Tom," she begged, with a catch in her voice, "I am sure
+your mother won't mind. She has Mr. Holt with her, and I can't bear to
+see you go."
+
+Tom and Madge were near the gangplank of the houseboat and Tom was trying
+to make up his mind what he should do, when he and Madge caught sight of
+a gray-clad figure walking toward them through the twilight mists.
+
+"It's Mother," explained Tom in a relieved tone. "Now I can make it all
+right with her."
+
+"And that horrid Philip Holt isn't along," declared Madge delightedly,
+"so I can tell her about poor little Tania."
+
+Mrs. Curtis caught Madge, who had run out to meet her, by the hand. "My
+dear child, what is the matter with you?" the older woman asked
+immediately. "Even in this half-light I can see that your face is pale as
+death and you look utterly worn out. If one of you is ill, why have you
+not sent for me?"
+
+When Madge faltered out her story of the lost Tania Mrs. Curtis hugged
+her to her in the old sympathetic way that the little captain knew and
+loved.
+
+"I am so sorry, dear," soothed Mrs. Curtis, "but I am sure than Tom and
+Philip Holt will find her. I suppose that is why they have both been away
+all day."
+
+"Philip Holt!" exclaimed Tom in surprise. "He hasn't been with us. I
+thought he was at home with you."
+
+Mrs. Curtis shook her head indifferently. "No; he hasn't been at the
+cottage all day. Have any of you thought to send word to Captain Jules to
+ask him about Tania? It may be that the child is with him. In any event,
+I know Captain Jules would give us good advice."
+
+"Bully for you, Mother!" cried Tom, glad to catch a straw as he saw the
+shadow on Madge's face lighten. "As soon as I have had a bite of supper
+with the girls I'll get hold of a boat and go after the captain."
+
+Tom did not have to make his journey up the bay to "The Anchorage" that
+night. While he and his mother were at supper with the girls they heard
+the sound of Captain Jules's voice calling to them over the water. He had
+to come ashore lower down the bay, where the water was deeper than it was
+near the houseboat, but he always hallooed as he approached.
+
+"O Jenny Ann!" faltered Madge, trembling like a leaf, "it is our captain.
+Perhaps he has brought Tania back with him. I--I--hope nothing dreadful
+has happened to her."
+
+Without a word Tom fled off the houseboat. A moment later he espied
+Captain Jules coming toward him, alone!
+
+"Halloo, son!" called out Captain Jules cheerfully. "Glad to know that
+you are down here with the girls. Funny thing, but I've had these girls
+on my mind all day. It seemed to me that they needed me, and I couldn't
+go to bed without finding out that everything was well with them. What's
+wrong?" Captain Jules had caught a fleeting glimpse of Tom's harassed
+face. "Is it--is it Madge?" he asked anxiously. "Is anything the matter
+with my girl?"
+
+Tom shook his head reassuringly. It took very few words to make the
+captain understand that the trouble was over Tania and not Madge.
+
+When, a moment later, the captain went aboard the "Merry Maid" he was
+able to smile bravely at the discouraged women.
+
+"Here, here!" he cried gruffly, while Madge clung to one of his horny
+hands for support and Eleanor to the other, "what is all this nonsense I
+hear? Tania is not really lost, of course. I'll bet you we find the
+little witch in no time. She has just gone off somewhere in these New
+Jersey woods to join the fairies she talks so much about. They are sure
+to take good care of her. We can't do much more looking for her to-night,
+but I'll find her first thing in the morning."
+
+Both Captain Jules and Mrs. Curtis insisted that the girls and Miss Jenny
+Ann go early to bed. Just as Captain Jules was saying good night it
+occurred to Miss Jenny Ann that she would rather turn over to the old
+sailor the box of coins and jewelry. While Tania was lost there would be
+so many persons in and out of the houseboat that Miss Jenny Ann feared
+something might happen to the valuables.
+
+She went to the drawer in the sideboard in the saloon cabin without
+thinking of the key under her pillow, and took hold of the knob. To her
+surprise the drawer opened readily. There was no iron safe inside it.
+Miss Jenny Ann ran to her bed and felt under her pillow. The key was
+still there as though it had never been disturbed.
+
+Captain Jules and Tom decided that the simple lock to the houseboat
+sideboard had been easily broken open. When, or how, or by whom, nobody
+knew, but it was certain that the jewels and money were gone. Fortune,
+the fickle jade, who had brought the houseboat girls such good luck only
+a short time before, had now cruelly stolen it away from them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE WICKED GENII
+
+
+Tania had been aroused in the night by seeing a dark figure standing with
+his back to her only a few feet from her bed. Involuntarily the child
+stirred. In that instant a black-masked face turned toward her and Tania
+gave the single, terrified scream that Madge had heard. Before Tania
+could call out again, a handkerchief was tied so closely around her mouth
+that she could make no further sound.
+
+A moment later the mysterious, sinister visitor picked the child up in
+his arms and bore her swiftly and quietly away from the shelter of the
+houseboat and her beloved friends. The little girl was very slender, yet
+her abductor staggered as he walked. He had something besides Tania that
+he was carrying.
+
+About a quarter of a mile from the houseboat Tania was dumped into the
+rear end of an automobile and covered with a heavy steamer blanket. Then
+the automobile started off through the night, going faster and faster, it
+seemed to her, with each hour of darkness that remained.
+
+At times the little prisoner slept. When she awakened she cried softly to
+herself, wondering who had stolen away with her and what was now to
+become of her. But Tania was only a child of the streets and she had been
+reared in a harder school than other happier children, so she made no
+effort to cry out or escape. She knew there was no one near to hear her,
+and the motor car was moving so swiftly that she could not possibly
+escape from it.
+
+Tania and her unknown companion must have ridden all night. Evidently the
+driver of the car had not cared about the roads. He had pushed through
+heavy sand and ploughed over deep holes regardless of his machine. Speed
+was the only thing he thought of.
+
+By and by the automobile stopped, after a particularly bad piece of
+traveling. The driver got down, lifted Tania, still wrapped in her
+blanket, in his arms and carried her inside a house. The child first saw
+the light in an old room, up several flights of steps, which was drearier
+and more miserable than anything she had ever beheld in her life in the
+tenements. It was big and mouldy, and dark with cobwebs swinging like
+dusty curtains over the windows that had not been washed for years. The
+windows looked out over a swamp that was thick with old trees.
+
+But Tania saw none of these things when the blanket was first lifted from
+her head. She gave a gasp of fright and horror. For the first time she
+now realized that her captor was her childhood's enemy and evil genius,
+Philip Holt.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, with a long-drawn sigh that was almost a sob, "it is
+_you_! Why have you brought me here? What have I done?" Then a look of
+unearthly wisdom came into Tania's solemn, black eyes. She continued to
+stare at the young man so silently and gravely that Philip Holt's blonde
+face twitched with nervousness.
+
+"Didn't you recognize me before?" he asked fiercely. "You were quite
+likely to shriek out in the night and spoil everything, so I had to carry
+you off with me, little nuisance that you are! You can just make up your
+mind, young woman, that you will stay right here in this room until I can
+take you to that nice institution for bad children that I have been
+telling you about for such a long time. You'll never see your houseboat
+friends again."
+
+Tania made no answer, and Philip Holt left her sitting on the floor of
+the gloomy room wide-eyed and silent.
+
+For three days Tania stayed alone in that cheerless room. She saw no one
+but an old, half-foolish man who came to her three times a day to bring
+her food. He gave Tania a few rough garments to dress herself in and
+treated the little prisoner kindly, but Tania found it was quite useless
+to ask the old man questions. She was a wise, silent child, with
+considerable knowledge of life, and she understood that there was nothing
+to be gained by talking to her jailer, who would now and then grin
+foolishly and tell her that she was to be good and everything would soon
+be all right. Her nice, kind brother was going to take her away to school
+as soon as he could. The wicked people who had been trying to steal her
+away from her own brother should never find her if her brother could help
+it.
+
+So the long nights passed and the longer days, and little Tania would
+have been very miserable indeed except for her fairies and her dreams. It
+is never possible to be unhappy all the time, if you own a dream world of
+your own. Still, Tania found it much harder to pretend things, now that
+she had tasted real happiness with her houseboat girls, than she had when
+she lived with old Sal. It wasn't much fun to play at being an enchanted
+princess when you knew what it was to feel like a really happy little
+girl. And no one would care to be taken away to the most wonderful castle
+in fairyland if she had to leave the darling houseboat and Madge and Miss
+Jenny Ann and the other girls behind.
+
+So all through the daylight Tania sat with her small, pale face pressed
+against the dirty window pane, waiting for Madge to come and find her.
+She even hoped that a stranger might walk along close enough to the house
+for her to call for aid. But a dreary rain set in and all the countryside
+near Tania's prison house looked desolate. More than anything Tania
+feared the return of Philip Holt. Once he got hold of her again, she knew
+he would fulfill his threats.
+
+During this dreadful time Tania had no human companion, but she was not
+like other children. She was part little girl and the rest of her an elf
+or a fay. The trees, the birds, and flowers were almost as real to her as
+human beings. For, until Madge and Eleanor had found her dancing on the
+New York City street corner, she had never had anybody to be kind to her,
+or whom she could love.
+
+Just outside Tania's window there was a tall old cedar tree. Its long
+arms reached quite up to her window sill, and when the wind blew it used
+to wave her its greetings. Inside the comfortable branches of the tree
+there was a regular apartment house of birds, the nests rising one above
+the other to the topmost limbs.
+
+Tania held long conversations with these birds in the mornings and in the
+late afternoons. She told them all her troubles, and how very much she
+would like to get away from the place where she was now staying. However,
+the birds were great gad-abouts during the day, and Tania could hardly
+blame them.
+
+There was one fat, fatherly robin that became Tania's particular friend.
+He used to hop about near her window and nod and chirp to her as though
+to reassure her. "Your friends will come for you to-day, I am quite sure
+of it," he used to say, until one day Tania really spoke aloud to him and
+was startled at the sound of her own voice.
+
+"I don't believe you are a robin at all," she announced. "I just believe
+you are a nice, fat father of a whole lot of funny little boys and girls.
+I believe you are enchanted, like me. Oh, dear! I was just beginning to
+believe that I wasn't a fairy after all but a real little girl with
+pretty clothes and friends to kiss me good night." Tania sighed. "I
+suppose I must be a fairy princess after all, for if I was a real little
+girl no one would have cast another wicked spell over me and shut me up
+in this dungeon in the woods, which is a whole lot worse than living with
+old Sal."
+
+Yet playing and pretending, and, worse than anything, waiting, grew very
+tiresome to Tania. On the morning of the fourth day of her imprisonment
+Tania awoke with a start. Something had knocked on her window pane. It
+was only the old cedar tree, and Tania turned over in bed with a sob. But
+the tapping went on. She got up and went to her window. Quick as a flash
+Tania made up her mind to run away. Why had she never thought of it
+before? It was true, her bedroom door was always locked, but here were
+the branches of the cedar tree reaching close up to her window. Really,
+this morning they seemed to speak quite distinctly to Tania:
+
+"Why in the world don't you come to me? I shall hold you quite safe! You
+can climb down through all my arms to the warm earth and then run away to
+your friends."
+
+It was just after dawn. The pink sky was showing against the earlier
+grayness when Tania slipped into her coarse clothes and, like a small
+elf, crept out of her window into the friendly branches of the old tree.
+She was silent and swift as a squirrel as she clambered down. But she
+need not have feared. No one in the lonely country place was awake but
+the child.
+
+Once on the ground, Tania ran on and on, without thinking where she was
+going. She only wished to get far away from the dreary house where Philip
+Holt had hidden her. There was a thick woods about a mile or so from
+Tania's starting place. No one would find her there. Once she was through
+it Tania hoped to find a town, or at least a farm, where she could ask
+for help. In spite of her queer, unchildlike ways, Tania knew enough to
+understand that if she could only find some one to telegraph to her
+friends they would soon come to her.
+
+But the forest through which Tania hoped to pass was a dreadful cedar
+swamp, and in trying to cross it Tania wandered far into it and found
+herself hopelessly lost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A BOW OF SCARLET RIBBON
+
+
+In the three days that had passed since the disappearance of Tania from
+the houseboat everything that was possible had been done to discover her
+whereabouts.
+
+It never occurred to Tom or to Mrs. Curtis to connect Philip Holt's odd
+behavior with the lost Tania or the vanished treasure box. True, he had
+not been seen for the past three days, but Mrs. Curtis had received a
+note from him the day after his disappearance from her house, saying that
+he had been unexpectedly called away on very important business so early
+in the morning that he had not wished to awaken her, but he had left word
+with the servants and he hoped that they had explained matters to her.
+
+Mrs. Curtis's maids and butler insisted that Mr. Holt had given them no
+message. They had not seen or heard him go. So, as Mrs. Curtis did not
+regard Philip Holt's withdrawal as of any importance, she gave very
+little thought to it.
+
+Madge Morton, however, had a different idea. She laid Tania's
+disappearance at Philip Holt's door. She, therefore, determined to take
+Tom Curtis into her confidence, but to ask him not to betray their
+suspicions of Philip Holt to Mrs. Curtis until they had better proof of
+the young man's guilt. Madge had never told even Tom that she had once
+overheard Philip Holt reveal his real identity, nor how much she had
+guessed of the young man's true character from Tania's unconscious and
+frightened reports of him.
+
+Tom at first was indignant with Madge, not because she and the other
+girls believed that Philip Holt had stolen both their little friend and
+their new-found wealth, but because she had not sooner shared her
+suspicion of his mother's guest with him. Tom had never liked Philip, so
+it was easy for him to think the worst of the goody-goody young man.
+
+Without a word to Mrs. Curtis, Tom and the houseboat girls set to work to
+trace Philip Holt, believing that once he was overtaken Tania and the
+stolen treasure would be accounted for.
+
+It was not easy work. Philip Holt had not been a hypocrite all his life
+without knowing how to play the game of deception. A detective sent to
+New York City to talk to old Sal had nothing worth while to report. The
+woman declared positively that Philip was no connection of hers; that she
+had neither seen nor heard of the young man lately. As for Tania, Sal had
+truly not set eyes on her from the day that Madge had taken the little
+one under her protection.
+
+Philip Holt knew well enough that his mother would be questioned about
+his disappearance. He believed that Tania had told Madge his true
+history. So old Sal was prepared with her story when the detective
+interviewed her. Yet it was curious that the Cape May police were unable
+to find out in what manner the young man had left the town. Inquiries at
+the railroad stations, livery stables, and garages gave no clue to him.
+
+The houseboat girls were in despair. Madge neither ate nor slept. She
+felt particularly responsible for Tania, as the child had been her
+special charge and protege. Madge had been deeply grieved when her
+friend, David Brewster, had been falsely accused of a crime in their
+previous houseboat holiday, when they had spent a part of their time with
+Mr. and Mrs. Preston in Virginia; but that sorrow was as nothing to this,
+for David was almost a grown boy and able to look after himself, while
+Tania was little more than a baby. When no news came of either Philip
+Holt or Tania, Madge began to believe that Philip Holt had accomplished
+his design. He had managed to shut Tania up in some kind of dreadful
+institution. The little captain did not believe that they would ever find
+the child, and was so unhappy over the loss of her Fairy Godmother that
+she lost her usual power to act.
+
+Phyllis Alden, however, was wide awake and on the alert. She knew that it
+was not possible for Philip Holt to leave Cape May without some one's
+assistance. Some one must know how and when he had disappeared. The whole
+point was to find that person.
+
+Phil thought over the matter for some time. Then she quietly telephoned
+to Ethel Swann and asked her to arrange something for her. She made an
+appointment to call on Ethel the same afternoon, and she and Lillian
+walked over to the Swann cottage together. It seemed strange to Madge
+that her two friends could have the heart for making calls, but, as there
+was absolutely nothing for them to do save to wait for news of Tania that
+did not come, she said nothing save that she did not feel well enough to
+accompany them.
+
+As Lillian and Phyllis Alden approached the Swann summer cottage they saw
+that Ethel had with her on the veranda the two young people who had been
+most unfriendly to them during their stay at Cape May, Roy Dennis and
+Mabel Farrar.
+
+Roy Dennis got up hurriedly. His face flushed a dull red, and he began
+backing down the veranda steps, explaining to Ethel that he must be off
+at once.
+
+Phyllis Alden was always direct. Before Roy Dennis could get away from
+her she walked directly up to him, and looking him squarely in the eyes
+said quietly: "Mr. Dennis, please don't go away before I have a chance to
+speak to you. It seems absurd to me for us to be such enemies, simply
+because something happened between us in the beginning of the summer that
+wasn't very agreeable. I wished to ask you a question, so I asked Ethel
+to arrange this meeting between us this afternoon."
+
+"What do you wish to ask me?" he returned awkwardly.
+
+Phil plunged directly into her subject. "Weren't you and Philip Holt
+great friends while he was Mrs. Curtis's guest?" she asked.
+
+Roy Dennis looked uncomfortable. "We were fairly good friends, but not
+pals," he assured Phil.
+
+"But you, perhaps, know him well enough to have him tell you where he was
+going when he left Mrs. Curtis's," continued Phil in a calmly assured
+tone. "Mrs. Curtis has not received a letter from him since he left here,
+so she does not know just where he is. We girls on the houseboat would
+also like very much to know what has become of Mr. Holt."
+
+"Why?" demanded Roy Dennis sharply.
+
+Phyllis determined to be perfectly frank. "I will tell you my reason for
+asking you that question," she began. "You may not know it, but our
+little friend, Tania, disappeared from Cape May the very same day that
+Philip Holt left the Cape. We all knew that Mr. Holt had known Tania for
+a number of years before we met her. He thought that the child ought to
+be shut up in some kind of an institution, but Miss Morton wished to put
+the little girl in a school. So it may just be barely possible that Mr.
+Holt took Tania away without asking leave of any one." Phil made
+absolutely no reference to the stolen money and jewels in her talk with
+Roy Dennis. If they could run down Philip Holt and Tania the treasure-box
+would be disclosed as a matter of course.
+
+Roy Dennis hesitated for barely a second. Then he remarked to Phil,
+half-admiringly: "You have been frank with me, Miss Alden, and, to tell
+you the truth, I think it is about time that I be equally frank with you.
+I have no idea where Philip Holt now is, but I do know something about
+how he got away from Cape May, and I am beginning to have my suspicions
+that there might have been something 'shady' in his behavior that I did
+not think of at the time. Three nights ago, it must have been about
+eleven o'clock, I was just about ready for bed when Mr. Holt rang me up
+and asked to speak to me alone. He said that he had just had bad news and
+wished to get out of Cape May as soon as possible. He asked me if I would
+lend him my car so that he could drive to a nearby railroad station where
+he could get a train that would take him sooner to the place he wished to
+go. I thought it was rather a strange request and asked him why he didn't
+borrow Tom Curtis's car? He said that Mrs. Curtis had gone to bed and
+that he did not like to disturb her. He and Tom had never been friendly,
+so he did not wish to ask him a favor. Well, I can't say I felt very
+cheerful at letting Philip Holt have the use of my car, but he said that
+he would send it back in a few hours and it would be all right. I got it
+out for him myself and he drove away in it. It didn't come back until
+this morning, and you never saw such a sight in your life, covered with
+mud and the tires almost used up."
+
+Phil nodded sympathetically. "Who brought the car back to you?" she
+asked. "Was it Mr. Holt?"
+
+Roy Dennis shrugged his heavy shoulders. "No, indeed! He sent it back by
+a chap who wouldn't say a word about himself, Holt, or from which
+direction he had come."
+
+"Is the man still in town?" asked Phil, her voice trembling, "and would
+you mind Tom Curtis's asking him some questions? We are so awfully
+anxious."
+
+Roy Dennis rose quickly. "I believe the fellow is around yet, and I'll
+get hold of him and take him to Tom at once. I don't think that Philip
+Holt has had anything to do with the kidnapping of the little girl, but
+his whole behavior looks pretty funny. We will make the chauffeur chap
+tell us where Philip Holt was when he turned over my car to him." Roy was
+off like a flash.
+
+Phyllis and Lillian were making their apologies to Ethel for being
+obliged to hurry off at once to the houseboat when Mabel Farrar took hold
+of Phil's hand. Her usually haughty expression had changed to one of the
+deepest interest. "I am _so_ sorry about the little lost girl," she said.
+"I hope you will soon find her. She is a queer, fascinating little thing.
+I have watched her all summer, and she certainly can dance. I can't
+believe that Philip Holt has actually stolen her, yet I don't know. Roy
+Dennis just told Ethel Swann and me something awfully queer. He says he
+found a bright scarlet ribbon, like a bow that a child would wear in her
+hair, in the bottom of his motor car when the chauffeur brought it back
+to him to-day."
+
+Phil's black eyes flashed. "If I ever needed anything to convince me that
+Philip Holt stole Tania away from us that would do it," she returned
+indignantly. "Little Tania slept every night with her hair tied up with a
+scarlet ribbon so as to keep it out of her eyes. When we find where
+Philip Holt is we shall find Tania, and if I have any say in the matter
+he shall answer to the law for what he has done."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE RACE FOR LIFE
+
+
+It took the united efforts of the Cape May police, Tom Curtis, and Roy
+Dennis to make the chauffeur who had come back with Roy's car say where
+he had met Philip Holt, and when Philip had turned over the automobile to
+him to be brought back to Roy.
+
+The chauffeur was frightened; he finally broke down and told the whole
+story. Philip Holt had driven from the farmhouse where he left Tania to
+the nearest village. There he had hired the chauffeur and the man had
+taken Philip within a few miles of New York. In the course of the ride,
+Philip had told the automobile driver the same story about Tania that he
+had told the old man in the tumbled-down farmhouse:
+
+Tania was Philip's sister. He was hiding her from enemies, who wished to
+steal the child away from him. If anybody inquired about the child or
+about him the chauffeur was to say nothing. Philip would pay him
+handsomely for bringing the car back to Cape May.
+
+The reason that Philip Holt had sent back Roy Dennis's automobile was
+because he knew that Roy would put detectives on his track if he failed
+to return it. Besides, it would be far easier for Philip Holt to get away
+with his precious iron safe if he were free of all other entanglements.
+
+It was nearly midnight before the story that the chauffeur told was clear
+to Tom Curtis. The man believed that he knew the very house in which
+Tania was probably concealed. There was no other place like it near the
+town where the chauffeur lived.
+
+Tom got out his own automobile. The chauffeur would ride with him. They
+would go directly to the old farmhouse. Tania would be there and all
+would soon be well.
+
+It was about nine o'clock the next morning when Tom's thundering knock at
+the rickety farmhouse door brought the foolish old man to open it. As
+soon as Tom mentioned Tania, the old fellow was alarmed. He was stupid
+and poor, but Philip Holt's behavior had begun to look strange even to
+him.
+
+The old farmer was glad to tell Tom Curtis everything he knew. It was all
+right. Tania was safe upstairs. He would take Tom up at once to see her.
+He was just on his way up to take Tania her breakfast. Indeed, the old
+man explained with tears in his eyes, he had not meant to assist in the
+kidnapping of a child. He was only a poor, lonely old fellow and he
+hadn't meant any harm. He had never seen Philip until the moment that the
+young man appeared at his door in his automobile and asked him to look
+after his sister for a few days.
+
+The farmer's story was true. Philip Holt had no idea how he could safely
+dispose of Tania. Quite by accident, as he hurried through the country,
+he had espied the old house. If Tania could be kept hidden there for a
+few days he would then be able to decide what he could do with her.
+
+Tom would have liked to bound up the old stairs three steps at a time to
+Tania's bedroom door. Poor little girl, what she must have suffered in
+the last three days! But Tom's thought was always for Madge. Before he
+followed the farmer to Tania's chamber he wrote a telegram which he made
+the chauffeur take over to the village to send immediately. It read: "All
+is well with Tania. Come at once." And it was addressed to Madge Morton.
+
+Tom was trembling like a girl with sympathy and compassion when he
+finally reached little Tania's bedroom door. He wished Madge or his
+mother were with him. How could he comfort poor Tania for all she had
+suffered?
+
+Tania's jailer unlocked the door and knocked at it softly. The child did
+not answer. He knocked at it again and tried to make his voice friendly.
+"Come to the door, little one," he entreated. "I know you will be glad to
+see who it is that has come to take you back to your home."
+
+Still no answer. Tom could endure the waiting no longer, but flung the
+door wide open. No Tania was to be seen. There was no place to look for
+her in the empty room, which held only a bed and a single chair. But a
+window was open and the arm of the old cedar tree still pressed close
+against the sill. Tom could see that small twigs had been broken off of
+some of the branches. He guessed at once what had happened. Tania had
+climbed down this tree and run away. But Tom felt perfectly sure that he
+would be able to find her before the houseboat party and his mother could
+arrive.
+
+The houseboat girls and Miss Jenny Ann were overjoyed at Tom's telegram.
+Mrs. Curtis was with them when the message came. She was perhaps the
+happiest of them all, although she had never been an especial friend of
+little Tania's. In the last few days her conscience had pricked her a
+little and her warm heart had sorrowed over the missing child.
+
+Yet, up to this very moment, Mrs. Curtis did not know the truth about
+Philip Holt. Just before they started for the train that was to bear them
+to Tom and Tania Madge told Mrs. Curtis that Philip had stolen the child
+from them and that they also believed he had run off with their
+treasure-chest.
+
+Mrs. Curtis listened very quietly to Madge's story. When the little
+captain had finished she asked humbly, "Can you ever forgive me, dear? I
+am an obstinate and spoiled woman. If only I had listened to what you
+told me about Philip this sorrow would never have come to you. Tom also
+warned me that I was being deceived in Philip Holt. But I believed you
+were both prejudiced against him. When we recover Tania I shall try to
+make up to her the wrong I have done her, if it is ever possible."
+
+During the journey Madge and Mrs. Curtis sat hand in hand. Captain Jules
+looked after Miss Jenny Ann, Lillian, Phil and Eleanor, although he was
+almost as excited by Tom's news as they were.
+
+At the country station the chauffeur was waiting to drive Tania's friends
+to the lonely old farmhouse that the child had thought a dungeon.
+
+Tom and Tania would probably be standing in the front yard when the
+automobile arrived. They were not there. The old farmer explained that
+Tom and Tania had gone out together. They would be back in a few minutes.
+To tell the truth, the man did expect them to appear at any time. He
+could not believe that Tania was really lost, although Tom had been
+searching for her since early morning and it was now about four o'clock
+in the afternoon.
+
+For two hours the houseboat party waited. The girls walked up and down
+the rickety farmhouse porch, clinging to Captain Jules. Mrs. Curtis and
+Miss Jenny Ann remained indoors. At dusk Tom returned. He was alone and
+could hardly drag one foot after the other, he was so weary and
+heartsick. To think that after wiring her he had found Tania he must face
+Madge with the dreadful news that the child was lost again!
+
+Two long, weary days passed without news of the lost Tania. The houseboat
+party made the old farmhouse their headquarters while conducting the
+search. At first no one thought to penetrate the cedar swamp where Tania
+had hidden herself, but the idea finally occurred to Tom Curtis, and on
+the third morning he and Captain Jules started out.
+
+All that third anxious day the girls searched the immediate neighborhood
+for Tania. When evening came they gathered sadly in the wretched
+farmhouse, to await the return of Tom Curtis and the old sea captain.
+
+Madge was lying on a rickety lounge, with her face buried in her hands.
+Phyllis was sitting near the door. Mrs. Curtis stood at the window,
+watching for the return of her son. In a further corner of the room, Miss
+Jenny Ann, Lillian and Eleanor were talking softly together.
+
+Suddenly each one of the sad women became aware of the captain's presence
+as his big form darkened the doorway. A ray of light from their single
+oil lamp shone across his weather-beaten face. Phil saw him most
+distinctly and read disaster in his glance. With the unselfish thought of
+others that invariably marks a great nature, she went swiftly across the
+room and dropped on her knees beside Madge.
+
+Madge sprang from her lounge and stumbled across the room toward the old
+sailor. Phil kept close beside her.
+
+"Tania!" whispered Madge faintly, for she too had seen the captain's
+face. "Where is my little Fairy Godmother?"
+
+"We have found Tania, Madge," said Captain Jules gently, "but she is very
+ill. We found her lying under a tree in the swamp, delirious with fever.
+She is almost starved, and she is so frail--that----" The old man's voice
+broke.
+
+"Don't say she is going to die, Captain Jules," implored Mrs. Curtis. "If
+she does, I shall feel that I am responsible. Surely, something can be
+done for her." The proud woman buried her face in her hands.
+
+At that moment Tom entered, bearing in his arms a frail little figure,
+whose thin hands moved incessantly and whose black eyes were bright with
+fever.
+
+With a cry of "Tania, dear little Fairy Godmother, you mustn't, you
+shan't die!" Madge sprang to Tom's side and caught the little, restless
+hands in hers.
+
+For an instant the black eyes looked recognition. "Madge," Tania said
+clearly, "he took me away--the Wicked Genii." Her voice trailed off into
+indistinct muttering.
+
+"She must be rushed to a hospital at once." Captain Jules's calm voice
+roused the sorrowing friends of little Tania to action.
+
+"I'll have my car at the door in ten minutes," declared Tom huskily.
+"Make her as comfortable as you can for the journey."
+
+It was in Captain Jules's strong arms that little Tania made the journey
+to a private sanatorium at Cape May. Madge sat beside the captain, her
+eyes fixed upon the little, dark head that lay against the captain's
+broad shoulder. The strong, magnetic touch of the old sailor seemed to
+quiet the fever-stricken child, and, for the first time since they had
+found her, Tania lay absolutely still in his arms.
+
+Mrs. Curtis occupied the front seat with her son, who drove his car at a
+rate of speed that would have caused a traffic officer to hold up his
+hands in horror. It had been arranged that Tom should return to the
+farmhouse as soon as possible for the rest of the party.
+
+No one of the occupants of the car ever forgot that ride. Once at the
+hospital, no time was lost in caring for Tania. The physician in
+attendance, however, would give them no satisfaction as to Tania's
+condition beyond the admission that it was very serious. Mrs. Curtis
+engaged the most expensive room in the hospital for the child, as well as
+a day and night nurse, and, surrounded by every comfort and the prayers
+of anxious and loving friends, Tania began her fight for life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+CAPTAIN JULES LISTENS TO A STORY
+
+
+Tania did not die. After a few days the fever left her, but she was so
+weak and frail that the physician in charge of her case advised Mrs.
+Curtis to allow her to remain in the sanatorium for at least a month.
+When she should have sufficiently recovered Mrs. Curtis had decided to
+take upon herself the responsibility of the child's future. She had been
+a constant visitor in the sickroom and during the long hours she had
+spent with the imaginative little one had grown to love her, while Tania
+in turn adored the stately, white-haired woman and clung to her even as
+she did to Madge, a fact which pleased Mrs. Curtis more than she would
+admit.
+
+Philip Holt was discovered hiding in New York City. The treasure-box was
+in the keeping of old Sal, for Philip had not dared to dispose of the
+coins or the jewelry while the detectives were on the lookout for him.
+Tom Curtis saw that the case against Philip Holt was conducted very
+quietly. The houseboat girls had had enough trouble and excitement. Their
+treasure was restored to them and they had no desire ever to hear Philip
+Holt's name mentioned again.
+
+Tom Curtis was more curious. In questioning Philip, Tom learned that he
+himself was innocently to blame for Philip's crime. Holt recalled to Tom
+the fact that, on returning from the houseboat after spending the evening
+with Captain Jules and his friends, Tom had mentioned to his mother that
+the precious iron safe was on the houseboat, and that if she cared to
+look at the old jewelry again Miss Jenny Ann would unlock the sideboard
+drawer and show it to her the next day. In that moment Philip Holt
+decided on his theft, but he did not expect Tania to thwart him. He had
+slipped through one of the open staterooms into the dining room of the
+houseboat, broken the lock of the sideboard and opened the dining room
+door from the inside to make his escape. Philip Holt believed that in
+taking Tania with him he had accomplished his own downfall.
+
+If he had not stopped to leave the child at the deserted farmhouse, his
+movements would never have been traced.
+
+Madge Morton was a good deal changed by the events of the last few weeks.
+She was so unlike her usual happy, light-hearted and impetuous self that
+Miss Jenny Ann and the houseboat girls were worried about her. They
+ardently wished that Madge would fly into a temper again just to show she
+possessed her old spirit. But she was very gentle and quiet and liked to
+spend a good deal of the time alone.
+
+Miss Jenny Ann consulted with Lillian, Phil and Eleanor. They decided to
+write to David Brewster to ask him to come to spend a few days with them
+on the houseboat. Madge was fond of David and the young man had done such
+fine things for himself in the past year that her friends hoped a sight
+of him would stir her out of her depression.
+
+David was visiting Mrs. Randolph--"Miss Betsey"--in Hartford. He replied
+that he would try to come to Cape May in another week or ten days, but
+please not to mention the fact to Madge until he was more sure of
+coming.
+
+One bright summer afternoon Madge returned alone from a long motor ride
+with Mrs. Curtis and Tom. She found the houseboat entirely deserted and
+remembered that the girls and Miss Jenny Ann had had an engagement to go
+sailing. She curled up on the big steamer chair and gave herself over to
+dreams.
+
+A small boat, pulled by a pair of strong arms, came along close to the
+deck of the "Merry Maid." Madge looked up to see Captain Jules's faithful
+face beaming at her.
+
+"All alone?" he called out cheerfully. "Come for a row with me. I'll get
+you back before tea."
+
+Madge wanted to refuse, but she hardly knew how, so she slipped into the
+prow of the skiff and sat there idly facing him.
+
+Captain Jules frowned at the girl's pale face, which looked even paler
+under the loose twists of her soft auburn hair. Madge looked older and
+more womanly than she had the day the captain first saw her. There was a
+deeper meaning to the upper curves of her full, red lips and a gentler
+sweep to the downward droop of her heavy, black lashes. She was
+fulfilling the promise of the great beauty that was to be hers. It was
+easy to see that she had the charm that would make her life full of
+interest.
+
+Still Captain Jules frowned as though the picture of Madge and her future
+did not please him.
+
+"How much longer are you going to stay at Cape May, Miss Morton?" he
+inquired.
+
+Madge smiled at him. "I don't know anything about 'Miss Morton's' plans,
+but Madge expects to be here for about two weeks more."
+
+Recently the captain had been calling the houseboat girls by their first
+names, as he was with them so constantly in their trouble. But he had now
+decided that he must return to the formality of the beginning of their
+acquaintance. It was best to do so.
+
+"And afterward?" the old sailor questioned, pretending that he was really
+not greatly interested in Madge's reply.
+
+The girl's expression changed. "I don't know," she returned. "Of course,
+Eleanor and I will go back to 'Forest House' for a while. Aren't you glad
+that Uncle has been able to pay off the mortgage? When Nellie and Lillian
+go to Miss Tolliver's and Phil to college I don't know exactly what I
+shall do. Mrs. Curtis and Tom have asked me to make them a visit in New
+York next winter."
+
+The captain frowned again. It was well that Madge was looking over the
+water and not at him, for she never could have told why he looked so
+displeased.
+
+"You and Tom Curtis are very good friends, aren't you, Madge?" said
+Captain Jules abruptly.
+
+Madge smiled to herself. She felt as though she were in the witness box.
+Was her dear old captain trying to cross-examine her?
+
+"Of course, I like Tom better than almost any one else. He is awfully
+good to me. You know you like Tom yourself, so why shouldn't I?" she
+ended wickedly.
+
+"I like him. Certainly I do. He is a fine, upright fellow and his money
+hasn't hurt him a mite, which you can't say of the most of us. But it's a
+different matter with you, young lady, and I want you to go slowly."
+
+"But I am not going at all, Captain," laughed Madge. "It seems to me that
+I want only one thing in the world, and that's to find my father.
+Sometimes I am afraid that perhaps I shall never find my father after
+all!"
+
+Captain Jules coughed and his voice sounded rather husky. It had a
+different note in it from any that Madge had ever heard him use to her.
+
+"Don't play the coward, child," he said sternly; "just because you have
+had one defeat don't go about the world saying you must give up. It may
+be that your father did that once and is sorry for it now. Keep up the
+fight. No matter how many times we may be knocked down in this world, if
+we have the right sort of courage we'll always get up again."
+
+Madge sat up very straight. Her blue eyes flashed back at Captain Jules
+with an expression that he liked to see. "I am not going to give up my
+search," she answered defiantly. "One hears that it is Fate which
+separates two persons. If I find Father, I shall feel that I have won a
+victory over Fate. But I can't help longing to tell my father that I know
+that he is innocent of the fault for which he was disgraced and dismissed
+from the Navy, and that I have the proof in my possession that would make
+it clear to all the world as well as to me."
+
+The old captain gave vent to a sudden exclamation that sounded like a
+groan. His face looked strangely drawn under his coat of tan.
+
+"Are you sick, Captain Jules?" asked Madge hastily. "Do take my place and
+let me have the oars. I am sure I can row you."
+
+Captain Jules smiled back at her. "What made you think I was sick?" he
+asked. "What was that you were telling me? How do you know that your
+father was guiltless of his fault? Why, Captain Robert Morton was one of
+the kindest men that ever trod a deck, and yet he was convicted of
+cruelty to one of his own sailors."
+
+"Captain Jules," continued Madge earnestly, "I would like to tell you the
+whole story if you have time to listen to it. You know I promised long
+ago to tell you. Two years ago, when we were on the second of our
+houseboat excursions, we spent part of our holiday near Old Point
+Comfort. There I met the man who had been my father's superior officer.
+Some unpleasant things happened between his granddaughter and me, and she
+told my father's story at a dinner in order to humiliate me. Long
+afterward her grandfather heard of what his granddaughter had done and he
+made a statement before my friends which cleared my father's name. He
+confessed to having allowed my father to suffer for something he had
+commanded him to do. My father was too great a man to clear himself at
+the expense of his superior officer, so he left the Navy in disgrace and
+has never been heard of since that dreadful time.
+
+"There isn't much more to tell. Only the old admiral has died since I met
+him. However, he left a paper that was sent to me, in which he acquits my
+father of all blame and takes the whole responsibility for my father's
+act on himself. Must we go back home, Captain Jules?" for, at the end of
+her speech, Madge observed that the captain had turned his skiff and was
+rowing directly toward the houseboat. He handed Madge aboard a few
+moments later with the air of one whose mind is elsewhere.
+
+It was impossible for Miss Jenny Ann to persuade the old pearl diver to
+remain to supper. With very few words to any of the party he turned Madge
+over to her friends and rowed hurriedly away toward his home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE VICTORY OVER FATE
+
+
+Early the next morning word was brought by a small boy that Captain Jules
+Fontaine wished Miss Madge Morton to come out to "The Anchorage" alone,
+as he had some important business that he wished to talk over with her.
+
+It was a wonderful morning, all fresh sea breezes and sparkling sunshine.
+Madge had not felt so gay in a long time as when the other houseboat
+girls fell to guessing as to why Captain Jules desired her presence at
+his house.
+
+"He intends to make you his heiress, Madge," insisted Lillian. "Then,
+when you are an old lady, you can come down here to live in the house
+with the roof like three sails, and ride around in the captain's rowboat
+and sailboat and be as happy as a clam."
+
+Madge shook her head. "No such thing, Lillian. I don't believe the
+captain wants me for anything important. He may be going to lecture me,
+as he did yesterday afternoon. At any rate, I'll be back before long.
+Please save some luncheon for me."
+
+Madge was surprised when her boat landed near "The Anchorage" not to see
+Captain Jules in his front yard, with his funny pet monkey on his
+shoulder, waiting to receive her. She began to feel afraid that the
+captain was ill. She had never been inside his house in all their
+acquaintance. But Captain Jules had sent for her, so there was nothing
+for her to do but to march up boldly to his front door and knock.
+
+She lifted the heavy brass knocker, which looked like the head of a
+dolphin, and gave three brisk blows on the closed door.
+
+At first no one answered. The little captain was beginning to think that
+the boy who came to her had made some mistake in his message and that
+Captain Jules had gone out in his fishing boat for the day, when she
+heard some one coming down the passage to open the door for her.
+
+She gave a little start of surprise. A tall, middle-aged man, with a
+single streak of white hair through the brown, was gazing at her
+curiously.
+
+"I would like to see Captain Jules," murmured Madge stupidly, unable to
+at once recover from the surprise of finding that Captain Jules did not
+live alone.
+
+The strange man invited Madge into a tiny parlor which rather surprised
+her. The room was filled with bookshelves, reaching almost up to the top
+of the wall. The young girl had never dreamed that her captain was much
+of a student. The only things that reminded her of Captain Jules were the
+fishnets that were hung at the windows for curtains and the great sprays
+of coral and sponge which decorated the mantelpiece.
+
+The man sat down with his back to the light, so that he could look
+straight into Madge's face.
+
+"Captain Jules will be here after a little, Miss Morton," he said
+gravely, "but he wished me to have a talk with you first."
+
+Madge looked curiously at the unknown man. She could not obtain a very
+distinct view of his face, but she saw that he was very distinguished
+looking, that his eyes seemed quite dark, and that he wore a pointed
+beard. He did not look like an American. At least, there was something in
+his appearance that Madge did not quite understand. It struck her that
+perhaps the man was a lawyer. It could not be that Lillian was right in
+her guess. The treasure in the iron safe had not yet been sold, so it
+might be that this man wished to make some offer for it. Whoever he might
+be the silence was becoming uncomfortable. The little captain decided to
+break it.
+
+"I wonder if you wish to talk to me about the treasure that we found?"
+she inquired, smiling. "I would rather that Captain Jules should be in
+here when we speak of that."
+
+The stranger shook his head. He had a very beautiful voice that in some
+way fascinated the girl.
+
+"No, I don't wish to talk about your treasure, but I do wish to speak of
+something else that was lost and is found again. I don't know that you
+will value it, child, or that it is worth having, but Captain Jules
+thinks you might."
+
+Madge's heart began to beat faster. This strange man had something of
+great importance to tell her. She wondered if she had ever seen him
+anywhere before. There was something in his look that was oddly familiar.
+But why did he look at her so strangely and why did not her old friend
+come to her to end this foolish suspense?
+
+"I have been down here on a visit to Captain Jules a number of times this
+summer and he has always talked of you," went on the fascinating voice.
+"I have longed to see you, but----Miss Morton, Captain Jules Fontaine and
+I knew your father once, long years ago. The news that you had proof of
+his innocence made us very happy last night."
+
+Madge would have liked to bounce up and down in her chair, like an
+impatient child. Only her age restrained her. Why didn't this man tell
+her the thing he was trying to say? What made him hesitate so long?
+
+"Yes, yes," she returned impatiently, "but do you know whether my father
+is alive now? That is the only thing I care about."
+
+Madge gripped both arms of her chair to control herself. She was
+trembling so that she felt that she must be having a chill, though it was
+a warm summer day, for the stranger had risen and was coming toward her,
+his face white and haggard. Then, as he advanced into the brighter light
+of the room, Madge saw that his eyes were very blue.
+
+"Your father isn't dead," the man replied quietly. "He is here in this
+very house, and he cares for you more than all the world in spite of his
+long silence!"
+
+The little captain sprang to her feet, her face flaming. "Captain Jules!
+_He_ is my father? He seemed so old that I didn't realize it. Yet he has
+said so many things to me that might have made me guess he knew
+everything in the world about me. Oh, where is he? My own, own Captain
+Jules?"
+
+The stranger, whose arms had been outstretched toward Madge, let them
+fall at his sides, but Madge had no eyes for him. Captain Jules had
+entered the room and she had flung herself straight into his kindly
+arms.
+
+So, after all, it was Captain Jules Fontaine who had to make it clear to
+Madge that he was not her father, but her father's lifelong and devoted
+friend. The captain told Madge the story while he held both her cold
+hands in his big, rough ones, and the man who was her own father sat
+watching and waiting for her verdict.
+
+Jules Fontaine had never been captain of anything but a sailing schooner,
+but he had been a gunner's mate on Captain Robert Morton's ship. He alone
+knew that Captain Morton had been forced into the fault that he had
+committed by order of his admiral. When Captain Morton was dismissed from
+the United States Naval Service Jules Fontaine, gunner's mate, had
+procured his discharge and followed the fortunes of his captain. The two
+men drifted south to the tropics. Every American vessel is equipped with
+a diving outfit, and some of the men are taught to go down under the
+water to examine the bottoms of the boats. Jules Fontaine liked the
+business of diving. When the two men found themselves in a strange land,
+without any occupations, Captain Jules joined his fortunes with the pearl
+divers and for many years followed their perilous trade.
+
+Captain Morton had a harder time to get along, but after a while he
+studied foreign languages and began to translate books. Five years before
+the two men had come back to the United States. Since that time Captain
+Morton had tried to follow every movement of his daughter. Captain Jules
+wanted his friend to make himself known to his own people, but Robert
+Morton feared that they would never forgive his long silence or his early
+disgrace. He believed that Madge would be happier without knowledge of
+him. It was her own longing for her father, reported by Captain Jules,
+that had impelled Robert Morton at last to reveal himself to her.
+
+Madge could not comprehend all of this at once. She did not even try to
+do so. She realized only that, after being without any parents, she had
+suddenly come into two fathers at the same time, her own father and
+Captain Jules, who was her more than foster father.
+
+With a low, glad cry she went swiftly across the room. She did not try to
+think or to ask questions at that moment about the past, she only flung
+her young arms about her father's neck in a long embrace, feeling that at
+last she had some one in the world who was her very own.
+
+While Madge, her father, and Captain Jules were trying to see how they
+could bear the miracle and shock of their great happiness, a small, dark
+object darted into the room and planted its claws in Madge's hair. It
+pulled and chattered with all its might.
+
+[Illustration: "I am Going to Keep House for You at 'The Anchorage.'"]
+
+The little captain laughed with the tears in her eyes. "It's that
+good-for-nothing monkey!" she exclaimed as she disentangled the
+creature's tiny hands. Then she kissed her father and afterwards Captain
+Jules. "Now I know why this monkey is called Madge, and I am sorry to
+have such a jealous, bad-tempered namesake."
+
+The captain scolded the monkey gently. "Don't you fret about this
+particular namesake. If you only knew all the others you have had! Every
+single pet that two lonely old men could get to stay around the house
+with them we have named for you."
+
+Captain Morton did not go back to the houseboat with his daughter. Madge
+thought she would rather tell her friends of her great happiness alone.
+She wouldn't even let Captain Jules escort her. "You'll both have plenty
+of my society after a while," she argued, "for I am going to come to keep
+house for you at 'The Anchorage' some day."
+
+Madge rowed slowly back to the "Merry Maid." She was thinking over what
+she would say to Miss Jennie Ann and the girls. How should she announce
+to them that her quest was ended, her victory over Fate won?
+
+As she neared the houseboat she saw that her companions were gathered on
+deck, evidently watching for her. Madge rested on her oars and waved one
+hand to them. Four hands waved promptly back to her. A moment more and
+she had come alongside the "Merry Maid." As she clambered on deck she
+cast a swift upward glance at her friends, who, with one accord, were
+looking down on her, their faces full of loving concern.
+
+With a little cry of rapture Madge threw herself into Miss Jenny Ann's
+arms. "O, my dear!" she cried, "I've found him! I've found my father!"
+
+And it was with her faithful mates' arms around her that Madge told the
+strange story of how her quest had ended in the little sitting room of
+"The Anchorage."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE LITTLE CAPTAIN STARTS ON A JOURNEY
+
+
+Six weeks had passed since Madge Morton's discovery of her father, and
+many things had happened since then. It was now toward the latter part of
+September, and on a beautiful fall morning one of the busy steamship
+docks in the lower end of New York City was crowded with a gay company of
+people. There were four young girls and three young men, a beautiful
+older woman, with soft, white hair and a look of wonderful distinction; a
+woman of about twenty-six or seven, with a man by her side, who in some
+way suggested the calling of the artist; a white-haired old man and an
+elderly lady, who, in spite of the fact that she answered to the name of
+Mrs. John Randolph, would have been mistaken anywhere for a New England
+spinster. Two men were the only other important members of the group. One
+of them was a distinguished-looking man of about fifty-three with a
+rather sad expression, and the last a bluff old sea captain, whose laugh
+rang out clear and hearty above the sound of the many voices.
+
+In front of the wharf lay a beautiful steam yacht, painted pure white and
+flying a United States flag. The boat was of good size and capable of
+making many knots an hour, but she looked like a little toy ship
+alongside the immense ocean-going steamers that were entering and leaving
+the New York harbor, or waiting their sailing day at their docks.
+
+One of the girls, dressed in a white serge frock and wearing a white felt
+hat, was walking up and down at the back of the crowd, talking to a young
+man.
+
+"David, more than almost anything, I believe I appreciate your coming to
+New York to see me off. It would have been dreadful to go away for a
+whole year, or maybe longer, without having had a glimpse of you. Who
+knows what may happen before I am back again?" The girl's eyes looked
+wistfully about among her friends, although her lips smiled happily.
+
+For a few seconds the young man made no answer. He had never been able to
+talk very readily, now he seemed to wish to think before he spoke.
+
+"I shall be a man, Madge, before you are back again," he replied slowly.
+"I am twenty now, so I shall be ready to vote. But, best of all, I shall
+be through college and ready to go to work." The young man threw back his
+square shoulders. His black eyes looked serious and steadfast. "I am
+going to make you proud of me, Madge. You remember I told you so, that
+day in the Virginia field, when you helped me out of a scrape and started
+me on the right road."
+
+The little captain nodded emphatically. "I am proud of you already,
+David," she declared warmly. "I think it is perfectly wonderful that you
+have been able to take two years' work in college instead of one, beside
+helping Mr. Preston on the farm. You are going to make me dreadfully
+ashamed when I come back, by knowing so much more than I. Phil enters
+Vassar this fall and Tom will graduate at Columbia in another year. I am
+going to try to study on the yacht, but I shall be so busy seeing things
+that I know I won't accomplish very much. Just think, David, I am going
+around the world in our own boat with my father and Captain Jules! Isn't
+it wonderful how one's dreams come true and things turn out even better
+than you expect them to? I believe, if it weren't for leaving my beloved
+houseboat chums and Mrs. Curtis and Tom, and Miss Jenny Ann and you, I
+should be the happiest girl in the world."
+
+"I don't suppose I count for much, Madge," answered David honestly, "but
+I am more grateful to you than you can know for putting me on that list.
+Some day----" The young man hesitated, then his sober face relaxed and a
+brilliant smile lighted it. "It's pretty early for a fellow like me to be
+talking about some day, isn't it, Madge?"
+
+Madge laughed, though she blushed a little and answered nothing.
+
+Just then Phyllis Alden and a young man in a lieutenant's uniform joined
+Madge and David Brewster.
+
+"Lieutenant Jimmy is saying dreadful things, Madge," announced Phil
+mournfully. "He says he is sure you won't come back home in a year.
+You'll stay over in Europe until you are grown up or married, or
+something else, and you'll never be a houseboat girl again!" Phil's voice
+broke.
+
+Lieutenant Jimmy looked uncomfortable. "See here, Miss Alden," he
+protested, "I never said anything as bad as all that. I only said that
+perhaps Captain Morton and Captain Jules would stay longer than a year.
+Almost any one would, if they owned that jolly little yacht."
+
+"I'll wager you, Lieutenant Jimmy, a torpedo boat full of the same kind
+of candy that you sent us at the end of our second houseboat holiday,
+that if you come down to this dock one year from to-day you will see our
+yacht, which Captain Jules has named 'The Little Captain,' paying her
+respects to the Statue of Liberty. Come, let's go and make Father and
+Captain Jules convince him, Phil," proposed Madge, hugging Phyllis close
+to her, as if the thought of being parted from her for so long as one
+year was not to be borne.
+
+"I'll take that wager, Miss Morton," replied Lieutenant Jimmy jokingly,
+"because I would be so awfully glad to have to pay it."
+
+"Madge simply must come back on time, Lieutenant Jimmy," whispered Phil,
+nodding her head mysteriously toward a young woman and a man. "It's a
+state secret, and I ought not to tell you, but Miss Jenny Ann and Mr.
+Theodore Brown, the artist, are to be married a year from this fall. We
+must all be at the wedding. Miss Jenny Ann couldn't possibly be married
+unless every one of the 'Mates of the Merry Maid' were there. If we can
+arrange it, Miss Jenny Ann is going to be married on the houseboat. Won't
+it be the greatest fun?"
+
+For the moment Phil was so cheered at the thought of another houseboat
+reunion, though a whole twelve months off, that she forgot that her best
+beloved Madge was to leave in another half-hour for her trip around the
+world.
+
+Phyllis and Lieutenant Jimmy were standing a little behind Madge. David
+Brewster stopped to talk to Mrs. Curtis and Tom.
+
+At the far end of the dock Captain Jules Fontaine was giving some orders
+to four sailors who formed the entire crew of his new yacht, for the old
+pearl diver was to pilot his own boat, which was to sail under Captain
+Morton's orders. The beautiful little yacht was Captain Jules's own
+property. The old man had made a comfortable fortune in his life in the
+tropics, but he had little use for it, and no desire, except to make
+Madge and her father happy. The little captain's love for the water was
+what endeared her most to the old sailor. He could not be happy away from
+the sea and he couldn't be happy away from Madge and Captain Morton. The
+fortunate girl's two fathers had discussed very seriously Madge's own
+proposal to come to keep house for them at "The Anchorage." Both men knew
+that she could not settle down at their lonely little house far up the
+bay and several miles from the nearest town, which was Cape May.
+Wonderful as the fathers thought Madge, they realized that she was very
+young and must go on with her education. They could not bear to send her
+away to college after all the long years of separation. Captain Jules
+conceived the brilliant idea of educating her by taking her on a trip
+around the world. The old sailor couldn't have borne being cooped up in
+liners and on trains with other people to run them. So Madge's dream of a
+ship all her own, which was to sail "strange countries for to see," had
+come true with her other good fortune.
+
+Leaving her friends for a moment, Madge made her way toward the end of
+the dock to beg Captain Jules to reassure her friends of their return at
+the end of a year. The captain did not notice her approach. Apparently no
+one was looking at her.
+
+On the end of the wharf were gathered three or four small street arabs.
+They had no business on the wharf, which was precisely their reason for
+being there. They were playing behind a number of large boxes and some
+other luggage, and, until Madge approached, no one had observed them.
+They were having a tug-of-war and it was hardly a fair battle. Two
+good-sized urchins were pulling against one other strong fellow and
+another small boy, so thin and pale, with such dark hair and big, black
+eyes that, for the moment, he made Madge think of Tania, who was almost
+well enough to leave the sanatorium and had sent her Fairy Godmother many
+loving messages by Mrs. Curtis. Madge stopped for half a minute to watch
+the boys. In her stateroom were so many boxes of candy she would never be
+able to eat it all in her trip around the world. If she only had some of
+them to give this lively little group of youngsters!
+
+Captain Jules was at one side of the wide wharf with his back toward her
+and the group of boys. His yacht was occupying his entire attention. The
+street urchins did not realize how near they were to the edge of the dock
+because of the pile of luggage that surrounded them.
+
+The tug-of-war grew exciting. Madge clapped her hands softly. She had not
+believed the smallest rascal had so much strength. Suddenly the older
+lad's grip broke. The boys fell back against a pile of trunks that were
+set uneasily one above the other. One of the trunks slid into the water
+and the smallest lad slipped backward after it with an almost noiseless
+splash. His boy companions stared helplessly after him, too frightened to
+make a sound.
+
+Of course, Madge might soon have summoned help. She did think of it for a
+brief instant, for she realized perfectly that her white serge suit would
+look anything but smart if she plunged into the river in it. Then, too,
+her friends, Captain Jules, and her father might be displeased with her.
+But the little lad had given her such an agonized, helpless look of
+appeal as he struck the water! And his eyes were so like Tania's!
+
+Captain Jules turned around at the sound of feet running down the dock.
+David Brewster and Tom Curtis were side by side. But they both looked
+more surprised than frightened. In the water, a few feet from the dock,
+Captain Jules espied Madge Morton, her white hat floating off the back of
+her head, her face and hair dripping with water. She was smiling in a
+half-apologetic and half-nervous way. In one hand she held a small boy
+firmly by the collar. "Fish us out, somebody?" she begged. "I am
+dreadfully sorry to spoil my clothes, but this little wretch would go and
+fall into the water at the very last moment."
+
+Captain Jules and one of his sailors pulled Madge and the small boy
+safely onto the wharf again. The captain frowned at her solemnly, while
+David and Tom laughed.
+
+"How am I ever going to keep her out of the bottom of the sea?" the
+captain inquired sternly. "I don't know that I care for the role of
+playing guardian to a mermaid."
+
+Madge could see Mrs. Curtis, Miss Jenny Ann, her chums and her father, as
+well as their other friends, hurrying down toward the end of the dock.
+She gave one swift glance at them, then she looked ruefully at her own
+dripping garments. Tom and David long remembered her as they saw her at
+that moment. Her white dress clung to her slender form; the water was
+dripping from her clothing, her cheeks were a brilliant crimson from
+embarrassment at her plight; her red-brown hair glinted in the bright
+sunlight, and her blue eyes sparkled with mischief and dismay. Before any
+one had a chance to scold or to reproach her, she had dashed across the
+wharf, run aboard the yacht and had shut herself up in her stateroom.
+
+A few minutes later, dressed in a fresh white serge frock, she emerged to
+say good-bye. The houseboat girls had made up their minds that not one
+tear would any one of them shed when the moment of parting came. Lillian
+and Phil stood on either side of Eleanor, for neither of them had much
+faith that Nellie could keep her word when it came to the test.
+
+Madge went first to Mr. and Mrs. John Randolph. "Miss Betsey" took both
+her hands and held them gravely. "Madge, dear, remember I have always
+told you that wherever you were exciting things were sure to happen. You
+have convinced me of it again to-day. Now, you are going around the world
+and I hope you will see and know only the best there is in it. Good-bye."
+Miss Betsey leaned on her distinguished old husband's arm for support and
+surreptitiously wiped her eyes.
+
+"Jenny Ann Jones, you promised I wouldn't have to say good-bye to you,"
+protested Madge chokingly. Miss Jenny Ann nodded, while Mr. Theodore
+Brown gazed at her comfortingly. Madge rallied her courage and smiled at
+both of them. "Do you remember, Jenny Ann," she questioned, "how on the
+very first of our houseboat trips you said that you would marry some day,
+just to be able to get rid of the name of 'Jones'? I am sure you will
+like 'Brown' a whole lot better." Madge turned saucily away to hide the
+trembling of her lips.
+
+Mrs. Curtis said nothing. She just kissed Madge's forehead, both rosy
+cheeks and once on her red lips. But when the little captain left her,
+and Mrs. Curtis turned to find her son standing near her, his face white
+and his lips set, his mother faltered brokenly: "I am trying hard not to
+be selfish, Tom, and I am glad, with all my heart, that Madge found her
+father, but no one will ever know how sorry I am not to have her for my
+daughter."
+
+"Maybe you will some day, after all, Mother," returned Tom steadily. "We
+are young, I know, and neither of us has seen much of the world. Still, I
+am fairly sure I know my own mind. Perhaps Madge will care as much as I
+do now when the right time comes."
+
+At the last, Madge could not say farewell to her three chums. Her eyes
+were so full of tears that Captain Jules had to lead her aboard the
+yacht. She stood on the deck, kissing both hands to them as long as she
+could see them, until their little boat had been towed far out into the
+great New York harbor.
+
+Madge's father stood by her, watching the sunlight dance upon the water.
+
+"My little girl," Captain Morton began, with a view of distracting her
+attention from the sorrow of parting, "I have always forgotten to tell
+you that I saw you graduate at Miss Tolliver's. Jules was not with me
+that day. He knew of you but never saw you until you went to Cape May. I
+wonder I didn't betray myself to you then, dear. It was I who first
+called out to you when I saw that arch tottering over your head."
+
+Madge nodded. "I know it now," she replied. "I must have caught a brief
+glimpse of your face. You and Captain Jules sent me the wonderful pearl.
+We never could guess from whom it had come."
+
+"Yes," answered Captain Morton, "Jules and I had kept it for you for many
+years. We determined that sooner or later you should have it. I shall
+never forget the day when Jules came hurrying into 'The Anchorage' with
+the news that he had seen you and talked with you about me. He was sure
+that you were our Madge even before he knew your name to be Morton. It
+was wonderful to hear that your dearest wish was to find me."
+
+Madge slipped her arm into that of her father and laid her curly head
+against his shoulder. "If it was Fate that separated us, then I shall
+never be dismayed by it again, for love and determination are far greater
+and through them I found you," she declared softly.
+
+"I am afraid I am very selfish to take you away for a whole year from
+Mrs. Curtis and Tom and the houseboat girls," said her father, almost
+wistfully. "You are not sorry you are going to spend the next few months
+with no one but two old men for company?"
+
+"But I spent eighteen years without you," reminded Madge. "Don't you
+believe I ought to begin to make up for lost time? Just think,"--her eyes
+grew tender with the pride of possession--"I have what I've longed for
+more than anything else in the world, my father's love. Perhaps when we
+come back next year we can anchor the 'Little Captain' in Pleasure Bay
+and invite the 'Merry Maid' and her crew to visit us. Then Miss Jenny Ann
+could be married on the houseboat. We must be very sure to come home on
+time if we carry out that plan."
+
+"Aye, aye, Captain Madge," smiled her father, "unless our good ship fails
+us we'll anchor next September in Pleasure Bay and send a special
+invitation to the crew of the 'Merry Maid' to meet us there."
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Madge Morton's Victory, by Amy D.V. Chalmers
+
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