TANIA'S NEMESIS
Captain Jules was gone a long time, but Madge did not mind waiting for
him. She loved the odd house with its roof shaped like three sails and
its restful name, "The Anchorage."
When Captain Jules came back with the great suit his face was pale,
almost haggard, but he was smiling good-humoredly. "Come, stand over here
by this window while I show you my old togs. I haven't looked at this
diving suit myself for several years."
Madge was too much interested in the diving dress to glance in at the
captain's window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the inside of the
snug little house that she had not yet been invited to enter.
The diving suit was much lighter than she had expected to find it. It
weighed only about twenty pounds. It was made of water-proof material and
had a large helmet of copper with great circular glasses in front that
looked like goggle eyes.
Captain Jules explained that there were two lines with which the diver
communicated with the outside world. The one was the air line, and it was
used to pump air down to the man below in the water. The life line was
usually hitched around the diver's waist. This line was let out to any
depth the diver required, and by pulling on it the diver could signal to
the men who followed his course: one jerk, pull up; two, more air; three,
lower the bag. Madge was utterly fascinated with the netted bag, made of
rope, that Captain Jules showed her. He told her that the pearl-diver
always carried a bag to hold the treasures that he finds at the bottom of
the sea. To her vivid imagination, the empty bag was even now filled with
shining pearls, the rarest treasures of the sea.
The young girl persuaded Captain Jules to let her dress up in his diver's
suit, when she stumbled about the veranda in it, her gay laughter
mingling with the captain's deep chuckles of delight.
"O Captain Jules!" she pleaded, "do take me down to the bottom of the sea
with you. I have always wanted to be a mermaid, and this may be the only
chance I shall ever have. 'Only divers know of things below, of water's
green and fishes' sheen,'" she chanted gayly.
The old sea captain gazed at Madge, breathing a deep sigh of
satisfaction. "I believe you have the courage to do it if I were to let
you try," he murmured. "It comes nearer to convincing me than anything
else."
"Captain Jules," continued the girl earnestly, "please, please let's go
down to the bottom of this bay. You could take me with you and then there
wouldn't be any danger. We have been down together without diving suits
and here we are safe and sound on land again! You said you thought there
might be pearls in the oyster beds of this bay. We could look, at any
rate. I saw the most wonderful things when I was searching for Tania. It
seemed as though her dress was caught on the broken spar of an old ship,
though, of course, I couldn't be sure. Have there been many wrecks in
this bay? Do you suppose it was a ship's spar?"
"There are always wrecks on the water, child. And you mustn't be talking
nonsense about diving down in this bay along with me," answered Captain
Jules severely. He kept his eyes fastened on his diving suit with an
affectionate gleam in them. "Maybe, though, I will make a diving party of
one and go down in the bay alone. I'd give you the pearls I found down
there."
Madge shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair," she said, setting her red
lips together obstinately. Captain Jules, she felt sure, would be easy to
manage. If he did any diving in the Delaware Bay within the next few
weeks, he must take her with him.
She wrote secretly to New York City to ask what a diver's suit would
cost. She was discouraged by the answer, but she did not give up hope.
She was also very careful not to let Miss Jenny Ann or Mrs. Curtis know
anything of the wild scheme that was evolving in her head.
Almost every day the girls saw Captain Jules. Either they went up the bay
to call on him, or he made a visit to the houseboat.
The old captain never invited the girls inside his house, but they had
great frolics in his tidy yard. The captain explained that his house was
not neat enough to be seen by young ladies, as it had only a man
housekeeper.
Even Mrs. Curtis became a little less prejudiced against Captain Jules.
She could not but confess that he was a fine old man, though she still
did not see why Madge was so much attracted by him. But the girl bided
her time. The four girls and their friends went off on long fishing trips
with Captain Jules. Sometimes Mrs. Curtis, Tom, and their guest, Philip
Holt, went with them. The enmity between Madge and Philip increased every
day, nor did Madge any longer make much effort to conceal her dislike for
him.
Philip Holt had a special reason for his dislike for Madge Morton. He had
come to Cape May with the idea of making Mrs. Curtis do an important
favor for him upon which his whole future depended. He feared that Madge,
who looked upon him as a hypocrite, would find out his true character,
tell her friend, and thus ruin his prospects.
A singular misfortune had befallen him. Who could have guessed that one
of the few people who knew his real history, Tania, the little street
child, would be picked up by the houseboat girls and brought to Cape May
for the summer? Tania must not be allowed to betray him. If she did, Mrs.
Curtis must not believe either Madge or Tania. The young man had to lay
his plans carefully, but he was a born hypocrite and he meant to
accomplish his end.
His first opportunity to further his cause came one morning when he and
Mrs. Curtis were sitting on the veranda of her summer cottage. Tom had
gone out sailing and was not expected back for several hours, so that
Philip believed that the coast was clear. He began by telling Mrs. Curtis
something of the charity work that he had recently done in New York City
and so brought the subject about to Tania.
"Dear Mrs. Curtis, you are so generous," the young man said admiringly.
"I have just learned that after the summer holiday is over you intend to
send Miss Morton's protege, Tania, to a boarding school. It is so kind in
you."
Mrs. Curtis shook her head. "Oh, no," she answered, "it is very little to
do. Really, I don't see what else could be done with the child. She is
very queer and not attractive to me, but Madge is fond of her and, as I
am very fond of Madge, I shall do what is best for the little girl."
"Ah," murmured Philip Holt vaguely, "but do you feel sure that a boarding
school is the best place for the girl? She is so unruly, so untruthful! I
fear that she would give you a great deal of trouble and responsibility
unless she were placed under greater restraint. I have wondered for some
time what should be done for the child. She has caused a lot of mischief
among the children on the street in her tenement section. It seems to me
that she ought to be sent to some kind of an institution where she would
be more closely watched--an asylum or home for incorrigible children."
Mrs. Curtis looked worried and bit her lips. "That is rather hard on the
child, isn't it? Still, I could not undertake to be responsible for
Tania's good behavior at school. She seems very hard to control. I will
watch her more closely, and, if she shows more signs of untruthfulness, I
shall have to consider your suggestion. However, I will talk the matter
over with Madge. I wish you would walk down to the houseboat for me and
invite the girls to come up to the hotel for luncheon. I hope they are
not off somewhere with Captain Jules. He seems to claim the greater share
of their attention lately."
Philip Holt walked off, very well pleased with his interview. He had
conveyed to Mrs. Curtis precisely the impression he had intended to
convey.
Ever since his arrival at Cape May Philip Holt had wished to see little
Tania alone. He had warned the child that she was not to behave as though
she had ever seen him before, yet he was still afraid that she might make
a confidante of Madge. He needed to make his threat to her more
terrifying. He decided to find her and intimidate her so thoroughly that
she would not dare betray her previous acquaintance with him.
There was but one person in the world of whom the queer, elf-like Tania
was afraid. That person was Philip Holt! She had feared him since the day
of her own mother's death, and the very thought of him was enough to fill
her childish soul with terror.
Tania was playing alone on the sands near that houseboat at the time Mrs.
Curtis and Philip Holt were discussing her future. Madge and Miss Jenny
Ann were inside the houseboat, within calling distance of Tania, but not
where they could see her. The little girl had just built a house of
shining pebbles and was gazing at it with a pleased smile when she heard
a step near her on the sand. Tania stared up at Philip's thin, blonde
face in terror-stricken silence.
"Tania," the young man asked harshly, "have you told any one down here
that you have ever seen or known me before?"
Tania shook her head mutely.
"Remember, if you do, I am going to have you shut up in a big house with
iron bars at the windows where you can never go out or see your friends
any more," Philip Holt went on, keeping his voice lowered to a whisper.
Slowly Tania's black eyes dropped. She tried to be brave and to pretend
that she did not care, but the loss of her freedom was the one thing that
Tania feared with all her soul. If she were shut up somewhere, how could
she ever talk to her fairies, or see the blue sky that she so loved? And
now, to be parted from the girls forever was too dreadful! Indeed, she
would not dare to tell what she knew. Philip Holt was sure of it.
It was at that moment that Madge slipped out on the houseboat deck to see
if Tania were all right. To her surprise she saw that Philip Holt was
talking to the little girl. She had not thought that Philip Holt cared
enough for children to waste a minute's time with them. She therefore
wondered at his sudden interest in Tania. Madge walked quietly off the
houseboat. She was wearing tennis shoes and her softly-shod feet made no
sound. She caught one glimpse of Tania's mute, white face and stopped
short in time to hear Philip say:
"Even if you do tell that old Sal is my mother, Tania, no one will
believe you. She herself will deny it and help me to have you shut up,"
declared Philip Holt menacingly.
Madge caught each word as though it had been addressed to her. For
Tania's sake, and because she knew that for many reasons it was wiser,
she held her peace for the time being.
"How do you do, Mr. Holt?" she asked innocently. "I just saw you from the
deck of the houseboat."
Philip Holt leaped to his feet. But Madge's eyes were so clear and
serene, her face so calm, that it was utterly impossible she could have
overheard him.
Philip delivered Mrs. Curtis's message and then left the two girls
together. Madge dropped down on the sands by Tania and put her arm about
her. "You need never tell me who Mr. Holt is, nor why you are afraid of
him, Tania," she whispered; "I overheard what he said, and you need not
be afraid. I will take care of you!"
"He is the Wicked Genii," faltered Tania, "who hated the Princess and
wanted to drive her away from her kingdom in Fairyland."
"But he can't harm you, Tania, dear," comforted Madge. "He dare not try
to take you away from us. I am going to tell Mrs. Curtis all about this
Wicked Genii and if I'm not mistaken it will be he, not you who is sent
away."