“Gladys,” said Ruth that night, when the young people were having an informal dance at the Casino, “I shall never forgive you for accusing Barbara of cheating, as you did today. Barbara is perfectly incapable of cheating. I can’t understand why you don’t like her.”
Ruth’s frank face clouded. She was incapable of understanding the petty meannesses in Gladys’s nature.
“Mr. Townsend and I thought differently concerning Miss Thurston,” Gladys replied, “but I have made no accusations, and will make none. You will find things out for yourself, though, when it is too late!”
Mollie was very sympathetic with Barbara that night. Things had not been going well with Bab for several days; she had an unfortunate habit of speaking her mind without thinking, and this trait had gotten her into trouble with Miss Sallie several times. That lady had a profound respect for the rich, while Barbara had been heard to say that some of the most fashionable ideas of Newport were “just nonsense.”
“Bab,” comforted Mollie, “Mrs. Cartwright told me to say she was sorry she had been cross to you. She wants you to be the gypsy fortune-teller at her bazaar. She says you are very clever, and would do it better than anyone else; besides, she thinks no one would know you. She has lots of gypsy things to dress up in.”
“I would much rather be a waitress, like you girls,” Bab declared.
“But you will do what Mrs. Cartwright wants you to, won’t you?” urged Mollie.
“I’ll see,” said Bab.
The automobile girls were seeing Newport indeed! Mrs. Erwin and Mrs. Cartwright were both leaders in society. The girls had not only been invited to Mrs. Erwin’s ball, but to the big dance which took place after the tennis tournament, and Mrs. Cartwright was arranging for a Charity Fair, which was to be the most original entertainment of the Newport season.