"I'm afraid too!" gulped Tessie, and impulsively she told him about Frederic Pracht and his offer and his threat.
"There it is!" exclaimed Joe. "They've begun, you see, and nobody knows where they will stop. They won't come out in the open. They fight in the dark. Tessie, you're so little and helpless and sweet!" His hand shot out to close on her fingers. "You can't fight them!"
But the touch of his fingers gave Tessie courage to stop whimpering and sit up straight. "I can!" she insisted, her head high. "I'm Irish, you know, Irish enough not to give in until I know I'm beaten. And I trust Uncle Pete. He wouldn't have left me the islands if he hadn't thought I could manage them. And I'll have Granny and Johnny! And Bert Douglas is going with us! And so is Mr. Bill! We ought to be able to handle a lot of ignorant natives!"
"Bill Kingley! Bert Douglas! What do they know about the Sunshine Islands? I suppose I'll have to go, too, Tessie! I can't let you take your old Granny without me! She's been too good to me," he explained. "Are you going to take Norah Lee, too?" He seemed to want to know just who would compose the party. He looked at her eagerly when he spoke of Norah.
"Of course. I'll have to have some one to answer my letters. It will be splendid to have you, Joe! I shan't worry another minute. You are such a comfort! Before you came I was scared to death, but now—" She caught his hands and squeezed them. "It's such fun to be a queen, Joe," she whispered, all her fears forgotten as she thought of the pleasant party she was going to take to the Sunshine Islands.
"Is it, little girl?" tenderly.
"Is it! You know I never had anything in all my life until Uncle Pete died, and then in a flash I stopped being nobody and was somebody. I should say I was somebody! Old Mr. Kingley never knew I was on earth until I became a queen, and now he has given me a banquet and unlimited credit, and Mrs. Kingley invited me to dinner, and Ethel Kingley has asked me to join her bridge club, and Mr. Bill—Mr. Bill is here all the time!" She flushed as she spoke of Mr. Bill.
"You like Bill Kingley, don't you, Tessie?" he asked gently.
The color in Tessie's cheeks deepened. "Of course I like him," she said frankly. "I adored him before I ever knew him and now—" She raised her head and looked at Joe. "He's so kind and interested," she explained softly. "He thinks it's awfully jolly for me to be a queen."