at town it was and the name of the island. He told them, growing
wonderment in his gaze. How could they be here and not know that; where
had they come from? To him they were as mysterious as two visitants
from Mars. Regardless of the effect they produced on the dusky toiler
they walked on. The island proved to be larger than they had thought and
commercially important. They had, the day before, but crossed a neck of
it.

Soon now they reached the verge of the town and stood on its main artery
of traffic; the cobblestone pavement resounded with the rattling of
carts and rough native vehicles. At a curb stood a dilapidated public
conveyance to which was attached a horse of harmoniously antique aspect.
Miss Dalrymple got in and Mr. Heatherbloom took his place at her side.

"The cable office," said the girl briefly, whereupon a lad of mixed
ancestry began to whack energetically the protuberant ribs of the drowsy
steed. It woke him and they clattered down the narrow way. Mr.
Heatherbloom leaned back, his gaze straight ahead, but Betty Dalrymple
looked around with interest at the people of divers shades and hues,
and, for the most part, in costumes of varying degrees of picturesque
originality. After having narrowly escaped running over a small
proportion of the juvenile colored population overflowing from odd
little shops and houses, they reached the transportable zinc shed that
served as a cable office. Here Miss Dalrymple indited rapidly a most
voluminous message, paid the clerk in a businesslike manner, and,
unmindful of his amazed expression as he read what she had written,
tranquilly re-entered the carriage.

"Miss Van Rolsen will be relieved when she gets that," observed Mr.
Heatherbloom mechanically. "It'll be a happy moment for her,"
meditatively.

"And won't she be gladder still when she sees us?" answered the girl
gaily.

The use of the plural slightly disconcerted Mr. Heatherbloom for the
moment, but he dismissed it as an inadvertence. "Where now?" he asked.

"Where do you think?" with dancing eyes. "Shopping, of course.
Fortunately I drew plenty of money before starting for California."

An hour or so later Mr. Heatherbloom sat with parcels in his arms and
bundles galore around him. He accepted the situation gracefully; indeed,
displayed an almost tender solicitude for those especial packages she
herself handed him.

"What next?" She had at length exhausted the somewhat limited resources
of the thorough