Lillian Elizabeth Roy

“ As she sat in the bow of one of the punts Polly called the attention of Eleanor to a great bulky tortoise. “Isn’t he ugly? Would you believe that such beautiful things as our tortoise-shell toilet articles could ever come from that filthy back?”
“It looks like a scum-covered bit of wreckage from the sea!” declared Eleanor.
“There goes one,—swimming down the stream!” called Nancy.
The girls looked and sure enough! A mud-covered projection floated past while the weeds which grow from the crevices in the back of the shell, trailed behind him like dank strips of string. ”

“ The only reason I feel inclined to vote for the Orient in Dalken’s yacht, is a selfish one: I would like immensely to be one of the party on this merry voyage, but I would not dare go on board a yacht that is destined for the South Seas. I would have no jumping-off place, in order to get me back to New York for the busy season. Now, should you all choose Dalky’s plan to go to Japan, I can remain with you until we reach Hawaii, there I can catch a fast steamship back to San Francisco, thence speed home to New York. ”

“ Look out for Elizabeth Dalken, if you think Nolla and you can pull little Cupid’s bow and arrows to suit yourselves. You’ve got the third angle of the proposition when you have Elizabeth with whom to reckon. She is worldly wise and she won’t hesitate to use every bit of knowledge she possesses to thwart such a scheme for her father.”
Polly looked serious. “Did you really guess that much? How did you do it, when Nolla and I have been models of discretion? Not even Dalky or Mrs. Courtney, or the Fabians dream of the match.” ”

“ Don’t we all want to visit the city so famous for its age and antiquities? Remember, Jack, you are a mere outsider on this trip, and not one of the seekers after wisdom and adventure. Your day for dancing and playing the gallant to the young ladies ended when we bade goodbye to Palm Beach. Down in the towns of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, it will be my turn to lead in the Grand March,” declared Mr. Dalken.
“Don’t pay any attention to him, Dalky,” advised Polly, sending Jack a contemptuous glance for his interruption. ”

“ If some one caught you in the right mood and told you that your fortune was to be had in digging a Canal through South America, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, you’d agree with them and start in to dig. But you’d get tired of it in a week and shirk the work.”
“Why, Dalky, you slander my ideals!” declared Jack.
“Do I? What about Grizzly Slide and your determination to take up mining out on the peaks of the Rockies? Then in New York you went so far as to furnish an apartment for the sake of studying interior decorating,” said Mr. Dalken.
“Oh, no, Dalky!” laughed Eleanor, quickly. ”

“ There were six locks in all, with the canal between looking like an ordinary stream to the girls in the aeroplane. And the negroes, with their mules working at the locks, appeared like busy, black ants on the earth far below.
The crew on the White Crest caught sight of the aeroplane before Polly and Eleanor saw the yacht; the captain saluted the fliers with a shrill blast of the siren and attracted Bill’s attention. After that the ’plane hovered near the vessel as it made its way through the locks and finally came out into the Bay of Panama. ”

“ Aren’t we all going on board? Why not visit with John and Anne, and all the rest of you, while on the yacht?” asked Polly.
Tom always became humble when in Polly’s presence, and this occasion was no exception to the rule. He meekly followed at Polly’s heels as she led the way up the steps of the wharf to the gangplank. In another moment Polly was surrounded by her young friends and dragged to the luxurious lounging room on the deck, where wicker chairs and tables and divans invited one to sit and enjoy life. ”

“ But we are in South America and every one here wagers money on horses, lotteries, and on every possible excuse to gamble; therefore, I would like to wager that Dalky fails to follow more than a third of that itinerary of his.”
“No one would take you up on that bet, Fabian, because it is a sure thing!” exclaimed Mr. Ashby.
Mr. Dalken got up from his chair and stood gazing at his two old friends as he said: “I never dreamed that you both would take sides against me! But of such ungrateful stuff is the human heart!” ”

“ However, the friends gathered with him that evening, understood perfectly why Elizabeth rendered such poor judgment, and they quickly consoled their host for the humiliation he had endured.
“Dalky, it is your privilege to decide as you please for this cruise. As invited guests we accept, without a word of condemnation or dissatisfaction, whatever you do. We firmly believe that your society and the wonderful offer of taking us with you on the cruise, no matter where it be, will reward us for any personal or selfish desire to sail elsewhere.” ”

“ Fabian. “Thus far I have only a faint idea of the outline of the first leg of the voyage.”
“Are there two legs?” exclaimed Jack, instantly. “Oh! where are they? I have never seen such a leg, and it will add to my fund of education.”
Polly and Eleanor laughed at the play of words, but Nancy felt too mature to laugh at such a childish joke. She said rather jeeringly: “Poor Jack! ‘A fool always laughs at his own wit.’ Are you not aware that ‘leg’ is a nautical term?” ”

“ After seeing the frantic grief and mother-love in that awful thing’s eyes I could not aim at another creature in this swamp. You go on with the guide, Ray, but I’m through!” declared Jack.
“I say the same, Jack. When you remember the old reptile’s snout as she lovingly went over the carcass of her young, it makes us seem like brutes, even less soulful than the poor alligator. Come on.” ”

“ Late in the afternoon, just before tea was served on deck, Elizabeth came from her room, looking very pathetic in spite of the touch of rouge on her cheeks, and color on her lips. Mr. Dalken sprang up to assist her to a chair, but she refused his support with an impatient toss of her head. Consequently, the vessel giving a sudden graceful curve, Elizabeth was thrown head first into Mr. Ashby’s arms.
“My! It’s not often that an old man has such an armful of loveliness tossed him by the generous sea,” laughed Mr. Ashby, as he assisted Elizabeth to her feet. ”

“ Dalken’s words were cutting and Elizabeth resented them.
“Well, I am sorry to remind you, sir, that men who can shamelessly turn their backs upon the obligations of a wife and daughter and go after such women as you prefer to call your friends, are the very ones who smirch society’s fair standard and then stand up and denounce it as having fallen.” ”

“ Dalken’s stern reply.
“I suppose you would invite me to model my behavior after such country clods as Miss Brewster, or take for my example such flippant nobodies as Eleanor Maynard from Chicago?” scorned Elizabeth, tossing her head. “Why, I knew them both at school in New York, and I must say that not a girl in society would deign to cast a glance at either of them now. They are absolutely too impossible to stand on any rung of the social ladder, and not even the commonest plane of society in New York would consider them.” ”

“ But the sudden shrill blast overhead summarily disposed of such trifles as a lover’s scene. “There!” declared Mr. Dalken. “That’s the last call he’ll give us, he said. If we don’t obey his orders he’ll leave at once.”
This rude manner of sending his guests away seemed to hurt Mr. Dalken’s gentle heart, but his friends laughed at his concern.
Midst shouts of goodbys and many advices to the would-be mariners, the visiting party hurried from the yacht, leaving Tom and John and Anne on deck with those remaining for the cruise. ”

“ Are we going to stop at Palm Beach?” exclaimed Polly.
“Why, yes! Didn’t you know? It was Elizabeth’s coaxing that caused Dalky to agree to stop over there to have dinner at the Ponce de Leon. Perhaps we shall spend the evening there and return to the ship to sleep.”
“That’s great! If Elizabeth should meet any of her New York friends at the hotel she may prefer to remain,” ventured Polly.
“I’m hoping the same thing. If only we could hypnotize people we might bring some one she likes right into her pathway,” laughed Eleanor as she jumped into bed. ”

“ I am surprised, Polly, that you can entertain the least desire to see what every one knows to be a deplorable condition of affairs.” Tom spoke in a fatherly way that caused Polly to smile, but he did not see her face. Perhaps he would not have continued in the same strain had he thought she was amused instead of being advised.
“Yes, Hayti is an unsafe place for civilized women to go to; not only do the authorities ignore the rights of a people under their government, but they seem to have no regard for human lives. ”

“ He had found a better hiding place than his seester’s dress in which he had travelled back to his home in Belgium that day.
“Well, let’s finish our dinner, children, and then we will take up the hunt for Jo. It will be better fun than hunting the slipper,” remarked Mr. Dalken.
The dinner continued merrily, every one pleased at the discovery of a real hero on the crew of the yacht, and Mr. Dalken pleased to hear of Jo’s courage and simple childlike bravery without thought of recompense. ”

“ Remember this when you go shopping, ladies,” said Mr. Dalken.
“But what will you do about Polly and Nolla—and the two lost boys?” asked Ruth, anxiously.
“We will go over on the verandah and order long cool drinks of orangeade and wait for them. They will come, all right, when the driver hears that they wish to stop at this hotel,” said Mr. Dalken.
“Aren’t you a little worried?” asked Mrs. Courtney.
“No, not in Kingston. It would have been different in Havana or Hayti. Here, every one is as honest as the drinks—and they are temperance and pure. No synthetic orangeade for your money.” ”

“ Dalken preferred, and the hour he left the ball-room with his friends, and anything else he might care to tell them for publication.
He shook his head. “Nothing happens when one sails on a friendly little voyage with choice companions—that is, anything of interest to society; because no one in my party belongs to society and we never bother about its concerns. But, my dear young men, I am now deeply concerned in getting off on our cruise, and you must really excuse me from continued conversation, unless you care to be carried to Havana with us.” ”

“ Those two men have money and the most charming personalities. That is why their wives can’t live with them—they are generally so shabby looking and are fiercely jealous of the attentions paid their husbands by appreciative women. Naturally, men like Henri or James are too popular for their fogy wives, hence the divorces, you know!”
“Why, Elizabeth, you are positively shocking! I cannot believe you are not yet twenty and my own child! Where have you acquired all this nightmare of experience in such things?” Mr. Dalken’s voice trembled with emotion over the girl’s short-comings. ”

“ Exercise was intolerable in this climate, and the guests on board the White Crest found the only agreeable pastime to be a comfortable chair on deck where one could watch the flying fish, the pretty little nautilus gliding past, and the dolphin play and jump in the transparent depths of the sea. At times a hungry shark would follow the boat, looking for the garbage thrown out by the cook. ”