"Why of course I will, Tom," replied good-natured Mr. Stuart warmly, grasping Mr. Warren's hand. "I'll tell my sister, Sallie, too. She'll know just what to do with Maud."
"But you understand, Bob, we shall be obliged to go at this business tactfully," protested poor Mr. Warren. "I am afraid my daughter is a difficult proposition at times, poor child. But she'll come through all right. She is only nineteen. There's a lot of time yet."
"Oh, Sallie will manage. Trust Maud to her, my friend. And now, let's go in to luncheon," returned Mr. Stuart.
At luncheon, Mr. Stuart repeated his conversation with Mr. Warren to Miss Sallie and the "Automobile Girls."
"I am afraid Maud will be exceedingly difficult to manage," Miss Sallie demurred. "She is a law unto herself. As for those De Lancey Smythes, I shall endeavor to find out something about their social position." Miss Sallie looked about her with the air of a duchess. "But, since you have given your promise to your friend, we will do what we can for Maud."
The girls also promised their aid. And so, for the time being, the matter was settled.
By half past two that afternoon Mr. Warren's launch with its party of pleasure seekers was well under way.
The "Automobile Girls" had gathered in one end, and were enthusiastically commenting on the beauty of the scenery. Miss Sallie had been conscientiously trying to cultivate Maud Warren, and rather than antagonize her in the beginning had exerted herself to be agreeable to the De Lancey Smythes. Mrs. De Lancey Smythe, however, had other views afoot than the cultivation of Miss Sallie, and had immediately engaged in conversation with Mr. Stuart. Hardly had the launch put out from shore, before she beckoned him to one side of the little deck, and complacently kept him there until Ruth, far from pleased with this turn of affairs, called to her father to join them. But Mrs. De Lancey Smythe proved equal to the occasion, for rising gracefully, she calmly strolled by Mr. Stuart's side to the end of the launch where the four girls were seated. Here they were joined by Miss Sallie, who had been watching the manoeuvres of the other woman with well-veiled contempt, and the conversation became general.