“Do you mean to warn me, Marian?” she asked her new friend. “Do you mean that something is going to happen that may concern us?”
“No; not exactly,” Marian answered. Then she made an impetuous movement. “Please don’t question me,” she begged. “There is a reason why I dare not answer your questions. Forget what I have said, if you can. But for goodness’ sake, don’t mention to Mama that I have talked with you. I sometimes wonder what will become of us. Things can’t go on much longer. There is sure to be a grand crash. But please go, now, Barbara, Mama might come in and she would be very angry to find you here. I will see you to-night.”
Barbara did not meet Mrs. De Lancey Smythe as she left Marian’s room, but she did run across her in the evening. The widow was hurrying through a side corridor in the hotel. She was wrapped in a long dark cloak, and appeared to be trying to leave the hotel by stealth. Bab drew back into one end of the corridor until the widow had disappeared, then she walked slowly out on the piazza. Marian’s warning was ringing in her ears. What was it that Marian had feared might happen, and why did her mother leave the hotel in that stealthy mysterious manner?
On the piazza Bab found her own friends enjoying the beauty of the night. Maud and the Count de Sonde were talking just outside the group.
“Do you know what I heard to-day?” remarked Mr. Stuart. “I understand that there is a swindler abroad at Palm Beach. A woman at that.”
“You don’t mean it,” exclaimed Miss Sallie. “How dreadful!”
“It seems,” continued Mr. Stuart, “that the detectives have been on the watch for her for some time, but so far she has been too clever for them. However, they have traced her to the Beach, but among the hundreds of tourists they have lost their clue. They do not despair of finding her yet, and a strict watch is being kept. She may be apprehended at any moment.”
“Well, let’s hope she doesn’t attempt to swindle us,” commented Ruth. “By the way where is Monsieur Duval? He disappeared mysteriously the moment dinner was over.”
“He had an engagement, and begged to be excused,” replied Mr. Stuart. “He said he would return in a little while.”
“Speaking of angels,” remarked Mollie, “here he comes now.”