“Plenty,” Tillie shrilled back.
The boat swung in. Tillie, with a bucket in each hand, waded out to it. The precious cargo was stowed safely aboard; then seizing the oars, with a good-bye and thank you, Tillie rowed rapidly away.
“She’s a dear!” exclaimed Florence. “We’re going to like her a lot.
“Think of living in a bathing suit, not as a pose, but as a mere matter of business!” she said to herself some time later. “What a life that must be!
“Jeanne won’t know about that bear,” she resolved a moment later. “She must not know about those gypsies. It would disturb her. And she must rest; must not be disturbed in any way. Believe me, this being a ‘mother’ to a budding actress is no snap. But it’s lots of fun, all the same!”
CHAPTER X
A GASP IN THE DARK
That evening Florence, reposing on an affair of white birch and pillows that was half chair and half couch, lived for a time in both the past and the future.
Once more beneath the moon she battled her way toward the mystery cabin on the island. Again she stood looking at its strange interior and its puzzling tenant.
With a vividness that was all but real, she saw the gleam of black waters as they neared Gamblers’ Island.
“Gamblers’ Island,” she mused. “A lady cop. What is one to make of all that?