"You"ll have to catch me first," I said, daringly, and turning, ran swiftly out toward the open sea. I am only a fair swimmer, but the sea was unusually calm, so that I went much farther than I otherwise would have dared.
When I found the water getting too deep for walking I started swimming. As I swam I looked over my shoulder. The two men were following me, both swimming easily. Dr. Pett.i.t was in the lead, but Harry Underwood, with powerful strokes, was not far behind him. I concluded that Dr. Pett.i.t had been the swifter runner, but that the other man was the better swimmer.
As I saw them coming toward me, I realized that I had given them a challenge which each in his own way would probably take up. I was dismayed. I felt that I could not bear the touch of either man"s hand.
In another moment my punishment had come.
Dr. Pett.i.t overtook me, stretched out his hand, just touched me with a caressing, protecting little gesture, and said in a low tone, "Don"t be afraid, little girl: If you will accord me the privilege, I will see that your friend does not get a chance of fulfilling his threat."
I knew that he intended his words for my ear alone, but he had not counted on Harry Underwood"s quick ear. That gentleman swam lazily toward us, saying as he pa.s.sed us, with a malicious little grin:
"Better go slow upon that protecting-heroine-from-villain stunt. I see Friend Husband is getting a bit restless."
He forged on into the surf, with long, powerful strokes that yet had the curious appearance of indolence which invests every action of his.
Startled at his words, I looked toward the place where I had last seen d.i.c.ky romping in the waves with Grace Draper.
The girl was swimming by herself. d.i.c.ky, with rapid strokes, was coming toward us.
"For the love of heaven, Madge!" he said, angrily, as he came up to us. "Haven"t you any more sense than to come away out here? This sea is calm, but it is treacherous, and you are farther out than you have ever gone before. Come back with me this minute."
The sight of Grace Draper swimming by herself gave me an inspiration.
The game which Lillian had advised me to play was certainly succeeding. I would keep it up.
"Have you taken leave of your senses?" I demanded, a.s.suming an indignation I did not feel. "Dr. Pett.i.t was saying nothing to me that could possibly interest you." I felt a little twinge of conscience at the fib, but I had too much at stake to hesitate over a quibble. "As for casting sheep"s eyes, as you so elegantly express it, you"ve been doing so much of it yourself that I suppose it is natural for you to accuse other people of it."
"Now what do you mean by that?" d.i.c.ky demanded, staring at me with such an innocent air that I could have laughed if I had not been thoroughly angry at his silly attempt to misunderstand me.
"Don"t be silly, d.i.c.ky," I said, pettishly; "I can swim perfectly well out here and even if anything should happen, Dr. Pett.i.t and Mr.
Underwood are surely good swimmers enough to take care of me." I could not resist putting that last little barbed arrow into my quiver, for d.i.c.ky, while a good swimmer, even I could see, was not as skillful as either Mr. Underwood or Dr. Pett.i.t.
d.i.c.ky waited a long moment before answering, then he spoke tensely, sternly:
"Madge, answer me, are you coming back with me now, or are you not?"
The tone in which he put the question was one which I could not brook, even at the risk of seriously offending d.i.c.ky. An angry refusal was upon my lips when Harry Underwood"s voice saved me the necessity of a reply.
"There, there, d.i.c.ky-bird, keep your bathing suit on," he admonished, roughly; "of course, she"ll go back, we"ll all go back, a regular triumphal procession with beautiful heroine escorted by watchful husband, treacherous villain and faithful friend." He grinned at Dr.
Pett.i.t, and we all swam back to shallower water, Dr. Pett.i.t and Mr.
Underwood gradually edging off some distance away from d.i.c.ky and me.
I could not help smiling at the ludicrous aspect we must have presented. d.i.c.ky must have been watching me narrowly, for he suddenly growled:
"To the devil with Grace Draper!" d.i.c.ky cried, and his voice was louder, carried farther than he realized. "I"m not bothering about her. She"s getting on my nerves anyway; but you happen to be my wife, and what you do is my concern, don"t you forget that, my lady."
XXVII
"HOW NEARLY I LOST YOU!"
d.i.c.ky and I had been so engrossed in our quarrel that we had not noticed our proximity to Grace Draper. Whether she had purposely approached us or not, I could not tell. At any rate, when, after d.i.c.ky"s outburst of jealous anger against Dr. Pett.i.t and my retort concerning his model, he had cried out loudly, "To the devil with Grace Draper! I"m not bothering about her. She"s getting on my nerves anyway," I heard a choking little gasp from behind me, and, turning swiftly, saw the girl standing quite near to us.
Except when excited, Grace Draper never has any color, but the usual clear pallor of her face had changed to a grayish whiteness. I had reason enough to hate the girl, I had schemed with Lillian to save d.i.c.ky from her influence, but in that moment, as I gazed at her, I felt nothing but deep pity for her.
For all the poise and pretence of the girl was stripped from her. She was a ghastly, pitiable sight, as she stood there, her big eyes fixed on d.i.c.ky, her breath coming unevenly in shuddering gasps.
Then she glanced at me and her eyes held mine for a moment, fascinated; then, with a little shrug of her shoulders, she turned away, and I knew that the danger of d.i.c.ky"s realizing her agitation was pa.s.sed.
"What are you looking at so earnestly?" d.i.c.ky demanded.
Without waiting for an answer, he turned swiftly, following my gaze, and catching sight of the retreating back of Grace Draper.
"Good Lord!" he gasped in consternation. "Do you suppose she heard what I said?"
"Oh, I"m sure she didn"t," I replied mendaciously.
d.i.c.ky looked at me curiously. Whether he believed me or not I do not know. At any rate, he did not press the question.
Neither did he again refer to Dr. Pett.i.t, to my sincere relief.
We made a merry picnic of our impromptu luncheon, and after it, when we were dried by the sun, we spent a comfortable lazy two hours lounging on the beach.
If I had not seen Grace Draper"s blanched face and the terrible look in her eyes when she had heard d.i.c.ky"s exclamation of indifference toward her, I would not have dreamed that her heart held any other emotion except that of happy enjoyment of the day. She laughed and chatted as if she had not a care in the world, directing much of her conversation to me. It crossed my mind that for some reason of her own she was trying to make it appear to every one that we were on especially friendly terms.
It was after one of d.i.c.ky"s periodical trips to Jim"s fire, which Harry Underwood did not allow him to forget, and his report that the dinner would be shortly forthcoming, that Grace Draper rose and said carelessly: "Suppose we all have another dip before dinner; there won"t be time before we leave for a swim afterward, and the water is too fine to miss going in once more. What do you say, Mrs. Graham?
Will you race me?"
I saw Lillian"s quick little gesture of dissuasion, and through me there crept an indefinable shrinking from going with the girl, but the men were already chasing each other through the shallow water, and I did not wish to humiliate my guest by refusing to go with her.
"It can hardly be called a race," I answered quietly, "for you swim so much better than I, but I will do my best."
I followed her into the water with every appearance of enjoyment, and exerted every ounce of my strength to try to keep up with her rush through the waves.
I knew she was not exerting her full strength, for she is a magnificent swimmer, but I found that I had all I could do to keep pace with her. She seemed to be bent on showing off her skill to me, or else she was, trying to test my nerves by teasing me.
I knew that she was able to swim under the water when she chose, but that did not accustom me to the frequent sudden disappearances which she made, or to her equally sudden reappearances above the surface of the water.
She would dash on ahead of me a few yards, then her head would disappear beneath the waves. The next thing I knew she would bob up almost at my side. There was a fascination about this skill of hers which gripped me. I was so engrossed in watching her that I did not realize how far out we had gone until at one of her quick turns, I, following her, caught a glimpse of the beach.
To my overwrought imagination it seemed miles away. I suddenly felt an overwhelming terror of the cloudless sky, the rolling waves, even of the girl who had brought me out so far.
I looked wildly around for her, but could not see her anywhere.
Evidently she was indulging in one of her underwater tricks. I turned blindly toward the sh.o.r.e. As I did so I felt a sudden jerk, a quick clutch at my foot, a clutch that dragged me down relentlessly.
I remembered gasping, struggling, fighting for life, with an awful sensation of being sunk in a gulf of blackness. I fancied I heard Lillian Underwood"s voice in a piercing scream. Then I knew nothing more.