Ruth and Alice cried out in surprise.
"Those girls!" voiced Alice.
"The ones we met in the train," added Ruth. "It seems incredible!"
"Did you know them?" asked the clerk, for the remarks and demeanor of Ruth and Alice were too marked to pass over without comment.
"We did not exactly know them," replied Ruth, slowly. "We met them in the train when we were going to the New England backwoods to get moving pictures last winter. One of them had a headache—I think it was Helen."
"No, it was Mabel, dear," corrected Alice. "They seemed such nice girls."
"They were nice!" the clerk declared. "I did not know them very well, but I have often seen them about the hotel here. Some of their friends stopped here. Their folks live just outside the town."
"And you say they went out to get rare flowers?" asked Ruth, as she noted Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon coming into the hotel parlor.
"Yes. The girls are real outdoors girls," went on the clerk. "They can hunt and fish, and Miss Mabel, I believe it was, once shot a big alligator."
"Alligators! Oh, dear! Are any of the horrid things around here?" broke in Miss Dixon.