Amy D. V. Chalmers

“ 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. ”

“ 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’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.” ”

“ 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 252 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. ”

“ 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. 229 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. ”

“ 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 230 the proof in my possession that would make it clear to all the world as well as to me.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 110 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 68 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”