re workin' on."

"Yes. I've just finished a set of doilies you'd pay twenty-five dollars
for anywhere."

Miss Sternberger rose languidly to her feet. "Well," she said, "I guess
I'll take a stroll and go up to bed."

"Don't be so fidgety, Miss Sternberger; sit down by me and talk."

Miss Sternberger smiled. "I'll see you later, Mrs. Blondheim; and don't
forget that preparation I was tellin' you about--Sloand's Mosquito Skit.
Just rub the bottle stopper over your pillow and see if it don't work."

She moved away with the dignity of an emperor moth, slim and
supple-hipped in a tight-wrapped gown.

The Seaside Hotel lobby leaned forward in its chairs; young men moved
their feet from the veranda rail and gazed after her; pleasantries fell
in her pathway as roses before a queen.

A splay-mouthed youth, his face and neck sunburnt to a beefy red, tugged
at her gold-colored scarf as she passed.

"Oh, you Myra!" he sang.

"Quit your kiddin', Izzy!" she parried back. "Who was that blonde I seen
you with down at the beach this mornin'?"

A voluptuous brunette in a rose-pink dress and diamonds dragged her down
to the arm of her rocker.

"I got a trade-last for you, Myra."

"For me?"

"Yes."

"Give it to me, Clara."

"No, I said a trade--and a dandy, too!"

"Who from--man?"

"Yes."

"Well, I got one for you, too--Leon Eckstein says he thinks you're an
awfully sweet girl and will make some man a grand wife."

Clara giggled and fingered the gold-fringe edging of Miss Sternberger's
sleeve. She spoke slowly and stressed each word alike.

"Well, there's a fellow just got here from Paris yesterday--says you
sure know how to dress and that you got a swell figure."

"Who said it?"

"Guess."

"I should know!"

"That fellow over there with Bella Blondheim--the one with the smooth
face and grayish hair. I hear he's a swell New York fellow in the
importin' business."

"How'd Bella grab him?"

"She's been holdin' on to him like a crawfish all day. She won't let
anybody get near him--neither will her mother."

"Here comes Izzy over here after me! If there's one fellow I can't stand
it's him."

Miss Sternberger moved away with her chin tilted at a sharp angle. At a
turn in the veranda she came suddenly upon Miss Bella Blondheim and a
sleek, well-dressed young man with grayish hair. Miss Blondheim's hand
was hooked with a deadlock clutch to the arm of her companion.

Miss Sternberger threw herself before them