This information caused Mabel hastily to draw up her feet. Next moment she was standing erect beside Eleanor.
“Dad ought to be back before long.”
Patsy stood gazing up the beach in the direction Mr. Carroll had taken.
“Oh, look!”
The sudden ringing cry issued from Beatrice’s lips. Her back to the sea, she had been dreamily staring into the green depths of the jungle. Now she was pointing excitedly toward a tangled thicket of briar bushes and flowering vines.
“Where? I don’t see anything! What is it, Bee?” instantly went up from Mabel.
“She’s gone.” Bee’s arm dropped to her side. “We scared her away. She ducked and ran.”
“Who ducked and ran? What are you talking about, Bee?”
It was Patsy who now impatiently put these questions.
“A wood nymph,” smiled Beatrice. “I was looking at that thicket up there and all of a sudden I saw her. She stood between two bushes watching us. Such a pretty little thing, with big black eyes and long black hair hanging about her face. I had just caught a glimpse of her when I called out to you. The minute she knew I’d seen her she turned and ran off through the green. I saw her black head bobbing in and out among the bushes; then I lost sight of her.”