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.”