PALM BEACH AT LAST
The tourists had a beautiful time, and everybody decided that if Palm
Beach went ahead of Jacksonville it would have to be very wonderful
indeed.
Jacksonville itself seemed to them very much like any busy, thriving
city--except that there were more hotels. But when they came to the
outskirts of the city they were charmed and wanted to go on forever.
Having lived all their lives in a temperate climate, the tropical beauty
of the Florida country entranced them and they exclaimed again and again
as beautiful new panoramas opened before them. The moss-hung live oaks
especially drew exclamations of wonder from Nan.
"What a perfect picture they form," she said. "Oh, how I wish I could
make sketches of them!"
"You'll see plenty to sketch when you get to Palm Beach," said Walter.
They visited the public parks and drove out to some of the suburbs.
Everything interested the girls very much and they frankly said so.
"Everything is just about perfect," declared Bess.
"All but the darkeys!" sighed Rhoda. "I think it is all perfectly lovely
but the negroes. There are so many of them, and they one and all look
thoroughly shiftless."
"Oh, no, not shiftless," put in Mr. Mason. "They are just care-free."
"Humph! All right, then. Care-free. Just too lazy to care for anything
at all, if they can get enough to eat, and I suppose that is not hard
down here."
"They are quite all right when you get used to them," put in Mrs. Mason.
It was nearing dusk when they at last turned back toward the city, and
it was then that Walter reminded Nan of her promise to tell him all
about the mysterious men who had startled her so.
Nan obeyed, but, strangely enough, felt none of the uneasiness that she
had felt on board the boat and in the hotel. There was something about
the luxurious comfort of the car and Walter's reassuring presence that
made her feel quite safe.
But Walter himself was anything but calm. He glowered fiercely at the
road ahead of them and his hands clenched tightly on the wheel.
"It's a rotten shame!" he burst out, when Nan had finished her story.
"If I once get hold of those fellows there won't be enough left of them
to identify."
"But you will help me find Mrs. Bragley's property for her, won't you?"
insisted Nan. "She said it was at a place called Sunny Slopes."
"Sunny Slopes, Sunny Slopes," Walter repeated thoughtfully. "The name
sounds rather familiar to me. I tell you what I'll do," he said, turning
to Nan with sudden decision. "Dad knows the names of nearly all the
places through here. And if this Sunny Slopes is anywhere near Palm
Beach we'll drive over in the car. How does that suit you?"
"Oh, fine," said Nan happily, adding as she gave him a demure glance:
"Only we will drive over in the big car and take the girls along."
"What's the matter with this car?" asked Walter, turning to look at her.
"I thought you liked it."
"I love it!" said Nan fervently, adding with a funny little smile that
Walter did not understand: "I think on that particular trip, I would
like to go in the big car."
The morning after their delightful ride about Jacksonville, they took
the train for Palm Beach. They found to their disgust that Linda and her
party were also on board.
"Goodness! I think Linda must be following us, too," Bess grumbled to
Nan, looking blackly after their schoolmate as she walked haughtily down
the car aisle. "To look at her you would think she owned the world at
least. Oh, if I could only prove that it was she who damaged the heating
plant up at school, wouldn't it be a wonderful chance to get even with
her?"
"I don't see why you should want to waste time getting even with her,"
Nan remarked calmly. "We have more interesting things to occupy our
time."
"That's all very well for you," grumbled Bess, still feeling cross and
injured by the unexpected appearance of Linda. "But _I_ haven't any
Walter."
Nan was just about to say something unpleasant when Walter himself
hailed them. Grace and Rhoda were with him and all wore smiles to match
the morning.
"Come on back," the boy invited. "Dad's got chairs for the whole crowd
where we can get the finest view. But he said we had better grab 'em
quick, because there's no knowing how long they will last in this
crowd."
So the girls followed him to the observation car and would very probably
have forgotten all about Linda, had not the girl herself made that
impossible.
It was hot, and there were few people in the car, but Linda and one of
the ladies in her party walked up and down, looking occasionally out of
the windows, as if their energy was inexhaustible.
That would not have been so bad, had not Linda chosen to ignore the
girls so pointedly, brushing past with her head held in the air and a
manner which said very plainly, "Who are those little specks of dust
over there? Know them? Why, of course not!" Finally Bess felt as though
she could not stand it a moment longer.
"She's doing it on purpose, the horrid thing," Bess fumed to Nan. "If
she doesn't stop pretty soon, I'll give her a push and topple her over.
She'll not look so haughty then, I fancy."
Perhaps it was just as well for all concerned that Linda stopped her
bad-mannered performance shortly after that, for Bess could not have
been restrained much longer. With this annoyance removed, they had
opportunity to enjoy the ride to the full.
Mr. Mason proved a very interesting companion, for he knew the names of
the places they passed and told the girls funny stories about things
that had happened in each one of them until they were tired out from the
laughter.
"I never knew there were so many resorts in the world," sighed Nan,
leaning back lazily in her chair. "The only place I really ever
connected with Florida was Palm Beach. But it seems that is only one of
about a million."
"Hardly that," laughed Mr. Mason. "It is true there are a great many
resorts in Florida, but the most beautiful and famous of them is Palm
Beach."
"Mr. Mason," spoke up Bess, with a wicked little look at Nan, "is it
true that most of the people who go to Palm Beach are either bald-headed
millionaires or fussy women who just go there to show off their
clothes?"
Mr. Mason laughed heartily at this, and the rest of his family joined
in, while Nan shot a reproachful glance at her chum.
"No, my dear," said the gentleman finally, a humorous twist in the
corners of his mouth. "I can't say that all the guests at Palm Beach are
of the particular varieties you have mentioned. There are bald-headed
millionaires, of course, and plenty of fussy, over-dressed women, but
the people that I have mostly met in the hotels have struck me as being
nice folks, very much like ourselves----"
"Stop handing yourself bouquets, Dad," Walter broke in, with a chuckle.
"I included the whole family," said Mr. Mason gravely. "The
millionaires," he went on, "don't come to the hotels as a rule. They
build themselves beautiful bungalows along the shore and take their
recreation mostly in private clubs."
"Oh, dear! I think that's horrid," pouted Bess. "That's one of the
things I came for especially. I wanted to see a dozen real live
millionaires all in one spot."
"You shall see plenty of millionaires," promised Mr. Mason. "Although we
won't guarantee to have them all in one spot."
A few hours later the tide of passengers flowed from the train at Palm
Beach and the girls, borne along with the crowd, looked about them
eagerly.
They had heard a great deal about the beauty of this famous winter
resort, but they realized in that one swift glance that nothing they had
ever heard had half done it justice.
"Is that a hotel over there?" asked Nan of Grace, as they allowed
themselves to be swept on by the merry crowd. Bess and Rhoda were coming
slowly along behind them. "That immense yellow building with the green
blinds?"
"Yes, that's the Royal Poinciana," answered Grace. "Where we are going
to stay, you know."
"Oh, are we?" asked Nan faintly, as she gazed up at the Royal Poinciana
Hotel, which was six stories in height and seemed to cover several acres
of ground. "Goodness, it seems as if the whole world ought to be able to
get in there. And what's that?" she went on, pointing to another yellow
building with green blinds. "Its twin?"
"Yes. They call it The Breakers," returned Grace, rather enjoying her
new role of guide. "It isn't quite as large as the Royal Poinciana, but
dad says it is just as good."
Before long they reached the hotel and they waited while Walter, Bess,
Rhoda and Mr. and Mrs. Mason came puffing up to them, warm from the heat
of the afternoon sun.
"Come ahead, folks," said Mr. Mason, engineering his flock up the steps
of the hotel to the porch. "Let's get cooled and brushed up a bit, and
then we can come out and see the sights. This is the biggest crowd I
have ever found here," he added, as they entered the darkened, cool
lobby of the hotel with a conscious sigh of relief, "and that is saying
a good deal."