“I’m telling Polly of a very urgent duty, Jack, and you know, as well as I, that you must not monopolize all her time this evening,” retorted Anne.
“Well, seeing that I am going to be one of the passengers on Dalky’s yacht for a long time, I believe I will release Polly to Tom for a short time,” remarked Jack in a casual tone.
“Oh! You are not really going on the yacht, are you?” exclaimed Polly.
“Why? Do you object to my company?” demanded Jack.
“Oh, no! It will be lots livelier with Ray and you on board. But no one has mentioned it before, so I naturally thought you and Ray were here for a short visit at the Beach, then planned to go back to New York to continue your studies,” explained Polly.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” said Jack in a thoughtful manner, “I’ve convinced Dalky that the great mining interests of the Argentine need my personal investigation. You must not forget that a great deal of my fortune is invested in mining shares in South America; and these mining companies have their central offices at Buenos Aires. Dalky can tell you that a visit to these brokers, now and then, makes them sit up and take notice of you. Otherwise they might ignore your dividends, you see.”
Anne jeered at such an explanation for Jack’s hurried decision to visit South America. “I can safely vouch for your remaining in the United States, were it not for the fact that you find a bevy of pretty girls on your guardian’s yacht too alluring for you to renounce. You plan to get the most fun out of this cruise and then go your way, leaving a string of broken hearts behind you. That is the reputation you have, I find.” Anne laughed as she shook a finger at Jack.
“My reputation for drawing and then breaking hearts can never reach the championship winner and breaker that Polly is. Who can ever ignore that European tour when the subject of hearts is being discussed?” Jack shook his head in pretended sorrow for those rejected suitors on the “Other Side.”
Polly made an impatient sound with the tip of her tongue against her white little teeth, and Jack laughed.
“Just for that I am going without a single word of regret for the dances I promised you and now withhold,” said Polly, turning and running away to join the group sitting under a great palm on the balcony.