"It was good of you to come to us like this," she said pleasantly as she gave him her hand. "Your father has spoken of you so often that we feel quite as though we had always known you."
"You are awfully good, I am sure," replied Dick. "I know that father would never forgive me if he heard that I had been at the same hotel with you, without making myself known."
"Sit down, my boy, and tell us all about yourself." Mr. Bradley seated himself and pointed to a chair. "How long are you going to stay, and who is that stunning girl I saw you with this afternoon?"
"Miss Barnhelm," replied Dick, a little embarrassed at the question. "She is travelling with an old friend of mine, Mrs. Harlan. I happened to meet them at Bar Harbor last week, and as it was dead as a doornail down there, I begged them to allow me to come on here with them."
"She is very pretty and very reckless," said Alice. "I thought for a moment this afternoon that she would be drowned. Has she quite recovered from her experience?"
"I think so," answered Dick. "Naturally she's a little nervous, or was when I saw her last. She is upstairs now with Mrs. Harlan, but they sent down word that they would go for a walk before dinner, so I guess she's all right."
"A girl that looks like that ought to know enough to take care of herself," remarked Mr. Bradley. "Did she think she could swim across the sound?"
"It was her heart," replied Dick. "She can swim like a fish, but she's had one or two little heart attacks lately, and she ought to keep quiet. The life-guard that brought her in said she was all right as soon as he got her in his boat, but it was a close call, and the worst of it is that she is very likely to do the same thing to-morrow."
"She is coming down the veranda now," said Alice, "and she looks quite as though being half drowned was an every-day experience."
The two men looked up as Lola came toward them, and both rose as she stopped by Dick's side.
"Are you ready for that walk, Mr. Fenway?"
"Quite. May I introduce Miss Barnhelm, Miss Bradley, Mr. Bradley."
Lola greeted them pleasantly, and after a moment's coldness Alice found herself quite won by her sweetness. She spoke of her adventure of a few hours before in a tone of regret for what she called "making a show of herself," and her manner was so gentle and so modest that Alice decided that she must be a girl of good family and, in spite of the looks of the woman with whom she was travelling, a very pleasant and desirable acquaintance. "Surely," she thought, "Mr. Fenway would not introduce her unless she was all right in every way."