Warren's launch with its party of

er views afoot than the cultivation of Miss Sallie, and had immediately engaged in conversation with Mr. Stuart. Hardly had the launch put out from shore, before she beckoned him to one side of the little deck, and complacently kept him there until Ruth, far from pleased with this turn of affairs, called to her father to join them.

Mrs. Smythe?" asked Miss Sall

been abroad all winter. Many of my dearest friends are among the peerage. Two people I kn

f Ruth, who had spoken French fluently since she was a child and had had a French nursery govern

xclaimed Mollie.

interposed. "There were two countesses and a

ts and titles. She was keenly alive to the beauty of the scenery about

hey have piled up over there? Do you suppose, by any chance, that we shall hav

of cocoanut palms and oleander trees. Following the boat's path of rippling waves came another launch much smaller than

his friend!" exclaimed her mother. "How fortun

She had taken very little interest in anyth

haired one," returned Mrs. Sm

le Girls." No fascinating widow should swerve him from his original plans. Like most hard-working succ

d time?" he queried, smili

exclaimed four

the Hudson river, Mr. Stuart. But this is the most beautiful

k here?" inquired Grace. "It is like f

turned Mr. Stuart. "The only people who work are the e

ecause it was by accident that it came to be here at all.

ch an accident?"

ere, on the other side of the peninsula," she pointed toward the ocean. "A ship was loaded with cocoanuts, which were washed ashore. By and by th

ve been stealing a march on us, Mistress Ruth,

rilliant sunshine. The engineer

s going to rain, do y

ng if it did, sir," replied the

of lily beds and orange groves. Barbara closed her eyes as she breathed in the warm, scented air. "How easy

e unpleasantly into Bab's reflections. "It's getting a little chilly

d her father, turning to giv

sly on the water. One of the men in it was leaning over examining the machinery of the

th flecks of white, only a few minutes before, had now put in to shore. A black cloud

lives on pleasure waters-a strict etiquette prevails among t

did not wait for orders. He turned

en?" he asked, as th

relieved at the appearance of the rescuers. He removed his Panama hat wit

ated, shrugging his shoulders and raising his eyeb

rom the engine. He was examining the bo

are you, Monsieur Duval?" c

oatman made a line fast from the small craft to the lar

Mr. Warren and his friends must meet

were shaken by a terr

ned during a storm," she averred. "Mr. Stuart, would i

her fright were real. Mr. Stuart rose and courteously assisted Mrs. De Lancey

in the centre of the boat. Maud

r. Warren to his engineer. "We can't get b

rs were churned into foam. The wind whistled and roared.

hed the boathouse. "In another five minutes I believe we should h

rs. Smythe. "Marian, my da

e four "Automobile Girls" that Marian did not entirely approve of her mother'

ith them. In one of the men, Bab recognized the stranger she had noticed that mor

b noticed that he spoke very good English, with only a slight foreign accen

irls and Miss Sallie would have bad colds from their wetting. Th

s of a real count so quickly! Mr. Warren saw his daughter's delight and frowned slightly. Maud must not get any foolish ideas about foreigners in her head. He would put an end to that nonsense. He was about to stride over and take charge of affairs when a man servant in plain livery appea

k shelter from the storm in her house,"

he foreign coats and capes kept everyone dry. Now that they were on land Mr

room at one end of which a fire of pine knots was burning brightly. The room

The room had an indescribable look of elegance. Was it the bare highly polished floor, with only the Persian rug to break its shining surface? Or was it the enormous bunch of daffodils in a cut glass bowl on the tab

d on the inner side a large crest picked out in dull gold. The fir

k over to this table. He examined the cres

he one, who was quite old, supported herself with a gold-h

had a hooked nose and her bright, beady little eyes

ightest embarrassment or affectation. The "Automobile Girls" held their