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