tired of looking at nothing but water. Soon she began walking up and down
the deck, looking for something to entertain her. In one place some little
girls were busy with scissors and paint-boxes, making paper dolls. Farther
along two boys were playing checkers, and, under the stairs, a group of
children, gathered around their governess, were listening to a fairy tale.
Lloyd longed to join them, for she fairly ached for some amusement. She
paused an instant, with her hand on the rail, as she heard one sentence:
"And the white prince, clasping the crystal ball, waved his plumed cap to
the gnome, and vanished."

Wondering what the story was about, Lloyd walked around to the other side
of the deck, only to find another long uninteresting row of sleepy figures
stretched out in steamer-chairs, and half hidden in rugs and cloaks. She
turned to go back, but paused as she caught sight of a girl, about her own
age, standing against the deck railing, looking over into the sea. She was
not a pretty girl. Her face was too dark and thin, according to Lloyd's
standard of beauty, and her mouth looked as if it were used to saying
disagreeable things.

But Lloyd thought her interesting, and admired the scarlet jacket she
wore, with its gilt braid and buttons, and the scarlet cap that made her
long plaits of hair look black as a crow's wing by contrast. Her hair was
pretty, and hung far below her waist, tied at the end with two bows of
scarlet ribbon.

The girl glanced up as Lloyd passed, and although there was a cool stare
in her queer black eyes, Lloyd found herself greatly interested. She
wanted to make the stranger's acquaintance, and passed back and forth
several times, to steal another side glance at her. As she turned for the
third time to retrace her steps, she was nearly knocked off her feet by