complete opposite. He was tall and thin, with a
severe, straight line for a mouth and long, nervous hands, and had a
habit of caressing his beardless chin as though a beard had once grown
there.

As the tall thin man, whom his companion called Jensen, overheard Nan's
startled reference to Mrs. Bragley's papers, he put a hand upon the fat
man's arm and nodded once with a sort of jerk of satisfaction.

"What did I say, Davis?" he asked, in a carefully guarded voice. "I tell
you, I am never wrong." And his eyes followed the girls as they started
down the deck in the direction of their cabin.

As they, in turn, stepped upon the deck, the short man looked up at his
tall companion and said rather enigmatically: "Sometimes I wonder,
Jensen, whether you are a great man, or a great fool. It's certainly
great to have them on this trip to Florida with us."

Although the girls knew nothing of this strange conversation, Nan was
extremely careful to stow her bag away in a corner of their stateroom
and piled several things on it and about it so that it could not be
easily seen by curious eyes.

"Nan, if you don't leave that old thing alone I'm going to throw it
overboard," Bess finally said complainingly. "You act as if it contained
diamonds and rubies instead of----"

"Oh, please hush," said Nan, rising quickly from her knees and coming
over to Bess. "I don't know what has gotten into me lately, Bess dear,"
she said, speaking so earnestly that her chum regarded her in surprise;
"but ever since I took charge of those papers I have had the strangest
impression that I am being watched."

"Nan!" cried Bess, looking uneasily over her shoulder, "what a terrible
thing. But, of course, it's only imagination," she added easily, for it
was instinct with Bess to cast aside anything that threatened to worry
her or interfere with her fun. "I told you the old papers were getting
on your nerves."

"You're right," said Nan, with a little sigh as she rose to take off her
coat and hat and straighten her hair before the tiny mirror. "They
certainly are getting on my nerves."

"Well, for goodness' sake get them off then," commanded Bess, bouncing
impatiently on a berth. "I never saw such a girl to take everybody
else's troubles on her own shoulders. I'll be glad when you turn the
papers over to Mr. Mason."

Nan smiled a resigned little smile at her reflection in the mirror. Then
she came over and put an arm about her pouting chum.

"All ri