Away they went to have a fine time; for the little bay was free from other bathers, and the babies greatly admired their aquatic gymnastics, both being expert swimmers.
As they sat dripping on the big rock Josie suddenly gave a clutch that nearly sent Bess overboard, as she cried excitedly:
“There she is! Look! coming to bathe. How splendid! Oh, if she only would drown a little and let me save her! or even get her toe nipped by a crab; anything so I could go and speak!”
“Don’t seem to look; she comes to be quiet and enjoy herself. Pretend we don’t see her, that’s only civil,” answered Bess, affecting to be absorbed in a white-winged yacht going by.
“Let’s carelessly float that way as if going for seaweed on the rocks. She can’t mind if we are flat on our backs, with only our noses out. Then when we can’t help seeing her, we’ll swim back as if anxious to retire. That will impress her, and she may call to thank the very polite young ladies who respect her wishes,” proposed Josie, whose lively fancy was always planning dramatic situations.
Just as they were going to slip from their rock, as if Fate relented at last, Miss Cameron was seen to beckon wildly as she stood waist-deep in the water, looking down. She called to her maid, who seemed searching along the beach for something, and not finding what she sought, waved a towel towards the girls as if summoning them to help her.
“Run, fly! she wants us, she wants us!” cried Josie, tumbling into the water like a very energetic turtle, and swimming away in her best style towards this long-desired haven of joy. Bess followed more slowly, and both came panting and smiling up to Miss Cameron, who never lifted her eyes, but said in that wonderful voice of hers:
“I’ve dropped a bracelet. I see it, but can’t get it. Will the little boy find me a long stick? I’ll keep my eye on it, so the water shall not wash it away.”
“I’ll dive for it with pleasure; but I’m not a boy,” answered Josie, laughing as she shook the curly head which at a distance had deceived the lady.
“I beg your pardon. Dive away, child; the sand is covering it fast. I value it very much. Never forgot to take it off before.”
“I’ll get it!” and down went Josie, to come up with a handful of pebbles, but no bracelet.
“It’s gone; never mind—my fault,” said Miss Cameron, disappointed, but amused at the girl’s dismay as she shook the water out of her eyes and gasped bravely:
“No, it isn’t. I’ll have it, if I stay down all night!” and with one long breath Josie dived again, leaving nothing but a pair of agitated feet to be seen.
“I’m afraid she will hurt herself,” said Miss Cameron, looking at Bess, whom she recognized by her likeness to her mother.
“Oh, no; Josie is a little fish. She likes it” and Bess smiled happily at this wonderful granting of her cousin’s desire.
“You are Mr Laurence’s daughter, I think? How d’ye do, dear? Tell papa I’m coming to see him soon. Too tired before. Quite savage. Better now. Ah! here’s our pearl of divers. What luck?” she asked, as the heels went down and a dripping head came up.
Josie could only choke and splutter at first, being half strangled; but though her hands had failed again, her courage had not; and with a resolute shake of her wet hair, a bright look at the tall lady, and a series of puffs to fill her lungs, she said calmly:
“‘Never give up’ is my motto. I’m going to get it, if I go to Liverpool for it! Now, then!” and down went the mermaid quite out of sight this time, groping like a real lobster at the bottom of the sea.
“Plucky little girl! I like that. Who is she?” asked the lady, sitting down on a half-covered stone to watch her diver, since the bracelet was lost sight of.
Bess told her, adding, with the persuasive smile of her father: “Josie longs to be an actress, and has waited for a month to see you. This is a great happiness for her.”
“Bless the child! why didn’t she come and call? I’d have let her in; though usually I avoid stage-struck girls as I do reporters,” laughed Miss Cameron.
There was no time for more; a brown hand, grasping the bracelet, rose out of the sea, followed by a purple face as Josie came up so blind and dizzy she could only cling to Bess, half drowned but triumphant.
Miss Cameron drew her to the rock where she sat, and pushing the hair out of her eyes, revived her with a hearty “Bravo! bravo!” which assured the girl that her first act was a hit. Josie had often imagined her meeting with the great actress—the dignity and grace with which she would enter and tell her ambitious hopes, the effective dress she would wear, the witty things she would say, the deep impression her budding genius would make. But never in her wildest moments had she imagined an interview like this; scarlet, sandy, streaming, and speechless she leaned against the illustrious shoulder, looking like a beautiful seal as she blinked and wheezed till she could smile joyfully and exclaim proudly:
“I did get it! I’m so glad!”
“Now get your breath, my dear; then I shall be glad also. It was very nice of you to take all that trouble for me. How shall I thank you?” asked the lady, looking at her with the beautiful eyes that could say so many things without words.
Josie clasped her hands with a wet spat which rather destroyed the effect of the gesture, and answered in a beseeching tone that would have softened a far harder heart than Miss Cameron’s:
“Let me come and see you once—only once! I want you to tell me if I can act; you will know. I’ll abide by what you say; and if you think I can—by and by, when I’ve studied very hard—I shall be the happiest girl in the world. May I?”
“Yes; come tomorrow at eleven. We’ll have a good talk; you shall show me what you can do, and I’ll give you my opinion. But you won’t like it.”
“I will, no matter if you tell me I’m a fool. I want it settled; so does mamma. I’ll take it bravely if you say no; and if you say yes, I’ll never give up till I’ve done my best—as you did.”
“Ah, my child, it’s a weary road, and there are plenty of thorns among the roses when you’ve won them. I think you have the courage, and this proves that you have perseverance. Perhaps you’ll do. Come, and we’ll see.”
Miss Cameron touched the bracelet as she spoke, and smiled so kindly that impetuous Josie wanted to kiss her; but wisely refrained, though her eyes were wet with softer water than any in the sea as she thanked her.
“We are keeping Miss Cameron from her bathe, and the tide is going out. Come, Josie,” said thoughtful Bess, fearing to outstay their welcome.
“Run over the beach and get warm. Thank you very much, little mermaid. Tell papa to bring his daughter to see me any time. Good-bye” and with a wave of her hand the tragedy queen dismissed her court, but remained on her weedy throne watching the two lithe figures race over the sand with twinkling feet till they were out of sight. Then, as she calmly bobbed up and down in the water, she said to herself: “The child has a good stage face, vivid, mobile; fine eyes, abandon, pluck, will. Perhaps she’ll do. Good stock—talent in the family. We shall see.”
Of course Josie never slept a wink, and was in a fever of joyful excitement next day. Uncle Laurie enjoyed the episode very much, and Aunt Amy took out her most becoming white dress for the grand occasion; Bess lent her most artistic hat, and Josie ranged the wood and marsh for a bouquet of wild roses, sweet white azalea, ferns, and graceful grasses, as the offering of a very grateful heart.
At ten she solemnly arrayed herself, and then sat looking at her neat gloves and buckled shoes till it was time to go, growing pale and sober with the thought that her fate was soon to be decided; for, like all young people she was sure that her whole life could be settled by one human creature, quite forgetting how wonderfully Providence trains us by disappointment, surprises us with unexpected success, and turns our seeming trials into blessings.
“I will go alone: we shall be freer so. Oh, Bess, pray that she may tell me rightly! So much depends on that! Don’t laugh, uncle! It is a very serious moment for me. Miss Cam