Jewel stamped her little foot furiously upon the sand.
"Only friends! Why, he saved my life—and afterward he fell in love with me! But you have tried to win him from me! Ah, I have watched you, you artful girl, and I hate you—hate you for what you have done!"
Flower stood still, her fair face paling in the afternoon sunshine, her sweet, red lips beginning to quiver.
"Sister, dear, you wrong me bitterly. Not for worlds would I have tried to take him from you. But he told me there was nothing between you, that he was free to love me—"
"A lie! a lie!" Jewel cried out, furiously. "He won my heart by his tender looks and words; he let me believe him all my own, and—oh!" she cried, choking with rage and grief, and clapping her hands to her convulsed throat.
Flower sprung forward to throw caressing arms about her, but was so rudely repulsed that she staggered, and would have fallen upon the sands had not Laurie Meredith suddenly appeared upon the scene and caught her in his arms, clung to him convulsively a moment, then drew back and stood apart from him with a look of proud pain on her beautiful face.
"Ladies, I think I heard my name mentioned? May I ask—" he began, courteously; but Jewel, who was gazing at him with burning eyes, sprung between him and her sister, and cried out, in passionate, defiant tones:
"Yes, we were speaking of you, Laurie Meredith! We were saying that you had tried to trifle with both our hearts. Call me unwomanly if you will, but I must speak out now. This cruel farce can go on no longer. You have made love to my sister and you have made love to me. You have in this cruel fashion won both our hearts. Now choose between us—between Jewel and Flower!"
If she had cherished one lingering hope that he would turn to her, she was cruelly disappointed. He went over to Flower and silently took her hand. Jewel gave them one furious look, then walked silently from the scene.