when harry trewman reached his room he dropped into a chair and a very dismal frame of mind, which his face reflected, for when his sister looked in upon him a few minutes later she said:
"why, brother! what is the matter with you? from your melancholy appearance one would suppose you hadn't just reached old point and its chief attraction."
"attraction, indeed," moaned harry. "i suspect i am a fool, for it never before occurred to me that a young woman whom i think the sum total of everything good and charming, might appear equally attractive to other men. did you see the crowd about her?—the uniforms and buttons?—and how she seemed to be enjoying herself? still, she has the right to do entirely as she likes; i've no claim upon her."
"my dear harry," said kate tenderly, as she seated herself on the arm of harry's easy chair, "don't be foolish. do you suppose that a girl is going to lose interest in everything and everybody in the world because she likes a certain young man, or because a certain young man likes her?"
"no. but she seemed to be enjoying herself so hugely. i never saw her so radiant."
"but why shouldn't she have enjoyed herself? i'm sure that i'd have done the same had i been in her place. i envy her the chance of talking with a lot of clever men. do you think i would refuse it even if i were deeply in love with some one?"
"no, i suppose not; but that would be different."
"how?"
"oh, you're a very decided young woman, with opinions of your own, while——"
"every woman should be as you say i am if she would have men respect her. but, harry, what fine fellows those soldiers are! they look as if they had minds of their own, and if there's anything that a woman specially likes in a man, it is that."
"umph! i suppose you mean that young men who aren't soldiers haven't minds of their own—eh?"
"harry, i think your own mind needs additional strength at once, which it may get from sleep. go to bed. good night. sleep well."
kate herself remained awake a long time, thinking about her brother's prospects, for she had been half in love several times, and been rescued by the discovery that some other man who seemed to admire her was more interesting than the man she thought herself specially fond of. she loved her brother dearly, but harry was still young and boyish—none too much so, to be sure, for fenie wardlow, but how much more interesting those officers were! her knowledge of them had been obtained during the several minutes in which she had sat at one end of the great parlor while harry had been registering their names at the office and arranging for rooms, but she was a young woman who reached conclusions rapidly.
like most other people who lie awake late to think, kate awoke early. she peeped through the window blinds, inhaled the fresh air, and wished herself out of doors. dressing quickly she went upon the verandah. the sky was clear, the air balmy, and the surf rippling brilliantly and murmurously on the beach. kate noted all this and keenly enjoyed it. then she chanced to see, on the higher and drier sands, almost at her feet, a large straw hat under which was a small frock, two little hands and a shovel. the little figure's back was toward her, but the figure's voice was high in air, and it was singing:
half a dozen dolls;
half a dozen dolls;
half a dozen,
half a dozen,
half a dozen dolls.
"'tis trixy highwood!" exclaimed kate to herself, and she hastily descended to the beach and trixy.
"oh, miss trewman," shouted trixy when she saw kate, "don't you like to dig wells? it's awful fun. i've got this one nearly deep enough for the water to come in; as soon as it's done i'll lend you my shovel and you can dig one. [pg 61]whoever digs the best one any day gets a five-cent piece from the admiral—he comes around and looks at 'em ev'ry day. i won't mind if yours is better than mine and gets the prize."
kate had no intention to take part in competitive well-digging, but she was glad to do anything that would give her sufficient excuse to be with trixy a little while; so as there was not another person in sight except one of the hotel watchmen, she stretched herself upon the warm, dry sand, took trixy's shovel, and began to dig.
"i'm so glad you came down," said trixy. "ev'rybody here sleeps so late, that it's lonesome on the beach in the mornin'. the sunrise gun always wakes me, and when i dress, mamma lets me out of the room if i promise to go back and wake her at 8 o'clock. it's fun to run up and down on the beach, and dig wells, and find pretty stones."
"is it always so quiet as this in the morning?" kate asked.
"yes, indeed; there's scarcely anybody here, even as late as mamma comes down. lots of folks don't eat breakfast until noon-time; how do you s'pose they manage to wait? say; why didn't you make your brother come down and dig a well? mamma says he looks as if he needed exercise."
"h'm! really i hadn't thought of it."
"he does need exercise, though, don't he? but of course he does, if mamma says so. besides, he looks real white. all the men here look kinder red and brown, 'specially the officers."
"you seem very observant of men, little girl—and of officers."
"of course i am, 'cause i like 'em. mamma likes 'em, too, and so does aunt fee, i guess, 'cause they're all the time talkin' to her, and walkin' on the piazza and the beach with her."
"they? then there are more than one?"
"gracious, yes! there's about forty here, lieutenant jermyn says."
"lieutenant jermyn? who is he?"
"he's the first one i met, and he used to know mamma very well, and he's ever so nice to me, and he don't seem to know how to keep away from aunt fee—so i heard a lady say."
"indeed." kate continued digging a moment or two longer, for she wanted to think. besides, the warm sea air was working its witchery with her, and disinclining her to effort. the sand was clean, she and trixy were still the only occupants of the beach, so kate soon sank entirely upon the warm white couch which old ocean had provided for those who chose to recline upon it.
the sun was bright and she was without veil or parasol, but she could trust her complexion to itself for a few moments. there were so few times and places for a young woman out of doors! how delightful it would be, she thought, if somewhere near new york there was a great, clean, safe beach to lounge upon! the mere act of breathing seemed a positive pleasure. the sunlight, through her closed eyelids, became a delightful immensity of rosy pink, the ripple of the wavelets upon the beach was ideal music, the——
"hello!"
it was trixy who spoke, from not three feet away, but kate pretended not to hear; she preferred the companionship of her own thoughts, although everything definite had escaped from them. the next sound she heard caused her to rise hastily on one elbow, for it seemed that there was a noise in the sand unlike that made by trixy's shovel.
"hello, mr. jermyn. don't you know miss trewman? she's one of mamma's and aunt fee's friends."
"don't arise, please," said jermyn with a bow while kate looked uncomfortable. "i'm glad to see that trixy isn't the only visitor who has learned which is the most delightful hour of the day down here."
kate persisted in arising, and jermyn made haste to bring her a chair; then he talked well-digging in a matter-of-fact way with trixy, and smiled, with kate, at some of the child's replies, and so succeeded quickly in dispelling kate's sense of embarrassment. still more, wasn't he the very officer kate had most noticed during her several minutes' survey the night before?
"you ought to like him lots, miss trewman," said trixy suddenly, with the air of having recalled something from the limbo of forgetfulness, "'cause he likes aunt fee lots."
"and aunt fee's sister, too," added jermyn, without change of countenance. "i had the pleasure of meeting mrs. highwood frequently, some years ago, when my battery was stationed at new york."
"how pleasant," said kate, although she did not mean it. again she wondered whether there might not have been deep purpose in that florida trip which seemed to have ended at fort monroe. something ought to be done, and at once, if it were not already too late. what should it be? thinking was not easy, under the circumstances, for jermyn was talking to her—not persistently, or as a man who was trying to flirt; and she liked his looks so much that she did not want to appear inattentive, although, really, didn't it seem utterly dreadful to be chatting before seven in the morning with a man who had been introduced only by a little girl?
as they talked, kate resolved upon a plan of action. fenie should become her sister-in-law if she, kate, could manage it. dear harry should not be disappointed; fenie was too young to marry a man like lieutenant jermyn. if jermyn's attention could by any possibility be diverted from fenie, she, kate, would divert it; the result might be a heartache for herself, for she did most heartily admire such men. still, she would endure such a pain, for her dear brother's sake, and if, after all, the affair didn't end in a heartache, why——
just here she blushed, although jermyn couldn't imagine why, for at that very instant he was explaining, at kate's request, why the fort on the rip-raps, a couple of miles away, had not been completed, and he could not imagine what there was in the subject, or in his description, to bring a blush to any cheek, [pg 65]yet he said to himself that the blush was very becoming, and that miss trewman was quite an interesting young woman.
the chat continued until trixy, who had once in ten minutes asked jermyn the time, announced that she must go to wake her mother for breakfast. this reminded kate that she had a brother to rouse, so she and the child went into the house.
half an hour later, while trif and fenie and trixy with jermyn, whom they had invited to breakfast with them, were chatting over their morning meal the head waiter brought harry and kate to the same table. there was no help for it, although harry looked as if he wished there were; a head waiter is autocrat of his domain. as to the others, trif exclaimed:
"how delightful!" fenie smiled pleasantly, although with some embarrassment, while trixy shouted:
"hooray!"
kate bravely began operations at once. fortune, in the guise of the waiter, had placed her beside jermyn and harry beside fenie, so, kate argued, if she were to monopolize the officer, harry and fenie would be obliged to talk to each other, and she was old enough to know that compulsory conversation has frequently broken the thickest of social ice.
the plan worked finely. harry and fenie were obliged to talk to each other, for no one else spoke to either, and as each was determined that the other shouldn't think anything unusual the matter, each quickly became voluble and merry. [pg 66]bless the transparency of youthful hypocrisy. neither of those two young people imagined that any one was noticing them, yet kate's heart was dancing with joy as she saw them frankly exchange tender looks, and trif's mind lost a great weight so rapidly that she felt several years younger within half an hour, and she was made still happier when, as the entire party strolled toward the fort to see "guard mount," jermyn had occasion to whisper to her:
"mr. trewman is a remarkably fortunate young man—bless him."
guard mounting in the army is quite as ceremonious a matter as parade, and jermyn had to answer many questions which kate put in rapid succession, while fenie, who had seen guard mount several times, explained everything to harry. trixy seemed interested only in the movements of a dog, which persisted in following every movement of the post band. her mother gazed at her in adoration. how entirely the dear child seemed absorbed in whatever interested her—how oblivious to everything else!
when the ceremony ended, and the little crowd under the live-oak trees broke up, fenie and harry, kate and jermyn, began to move slowly toward the hotel, while trif and trixy walked behind them. suddenly, while no one else was talking, trixy remarked:
"mamma, dear; wouldn't it be nice if they all got married, and——"
"sh—h—!"
kate suddenly asked jermyn why it was that so large a fort had only a single flag-staff, and [pg 67]harry hastened to give fenie the details of a lumber contract concerning which he had come south, and fenie listened as intently as if she knew lumber from timber, or any other commodity.
