"She is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen," said Barbara. "What a wonderful 'Carmen' she will make."
"Yes; won't she, though," responded Ruth eagerly, "and that is the part that she particularly looks forward to singing."
The subject of Ruth's and Barbara's conversation was a beautiful gypsy girl that they had met during their trip along the Hudson. She had become a protegé of Ruth, who had cherished high hopes of sending Zerlina to a conservatory, but had been forestalled by the appearance on the scene of Zerlina's handsome half-brother, José Martinez. On account of family differences, José and Zerlina had been separated for many years, but in the end Zerlina was persuaded by him to place herself under his protection. All of this has been fully narrated in "The Automobile Girls Along the Hudson."
"What do you think of it, Molliekins?" whispered Ruth over Mollie's shoulder.
"Think of it?" breathed the golden-haired Mollie. "I'm so happy that I could scream right out so everybody in the theatre would hear me," answered Mollie. "I don't know what I shall do when the music begins."
A wave of laughter rippled over the box at Mollie's quaint way of expressing her delight.