“The only thing for us to do,” Honey said at once, “is to lie in wait. Conceal ourselves in the bushes and leap out on them.”
“That sounds easy,” Ralph said. “But has it occurred to you that these girls have the ears of wild animals? Has it occurred to you that they have all the instincts and cunning of the animal and all the intuition and prescience of the woman? Has it occurred to you that they always approach from above?”
“The only thing I can think of,” said Billy, “is to lasso them. Only we’ve got to get them to alight and walk round first. But either they can’t walk or they don’t like to walk. We must off offer them some bait. Now, what in thunder would tempt a creature that’s one-third woman, one-third bird, and one-third angel to come down to earth?”
For a moment they were all silent considering this question. “By Jove,” Ralph burst out finally, “what are we all sitting here like dopes for? Those trunks are full of women’s clothes. Did you ever see a woman yet who wouldn’t fall for ribbons and laces?”
“Good shot!” exclaimed Honey. “Let’s go through the women-truck to-morrow and pick out some things that would please a girl. We’ll put them on the beach a good distance off from us, so they’ll not think it’s a trap. If we do that every day for a week or two they’ll get accustomed to walking round while we’re working. It’s our play to take no notice of them whatever.”
“That’s the answer,” Ralph said in a tone of satisfaction.
Immediately after breakfast, the next morning, they made for the file of trunks so contemptuously rejected the first week of their stay. Honey, who was always head and shoulders in front of the others, broke open the first one.
“By jiminy, boys!” he shouted, seizing something that lay on top and waving it over his head, “we’ve got them on the go-off. By George,” he went on, lowering his voice, “I bet that belonged to some darned pretty woman.”
The men crowded about him; and, as they examined his find, their faces softened. Nothing could more subtly have emanated femininity. It was a hand-mirror of silver. Two carved Cupids held the glass between them. Their long wings made the handle.
“Put it down there on the hard sand,” Ralph said, “where they can’t fail to see it.”