"I don't want any lace," he told her. "I come from your aunt, Mrs.
Ira Ball."
"My aunt? Fancy!"
"She has heard about you," went on Tunis. "I guess she thought a
heap of your mother. She--she'd like to see you, Mrs. Ball would."
The girl patted her hair into place with a languid hand. Her lips
parted in a teasing smile. This "hick" really amused her.
"Just to think! Would she?" she drawled. "Is she in town?"
"Who? Mrs. Ball? I should say not. She's down at Big Wreck Cove, I
tell you."
"Oh, really? I thought by the way you spoke she was outside--in her
car." She tossed her head with that same tantalizing smile, almost a
grimace. "What did you want to tell me?"
Tunis realized that he could not talk to her here, after all. The
idle girls at the end of the counter were already whispering, and
their smiles were poignant javelins of ridicule. The captain of the
_Seamew_ knew that he was far beyond his depth.
"Where can I talk to you?" he asked.
"I get away for my lunch hour in a few minutes. I could talk to you
then. But us girls ain't supposed to entertain our friends at the
counter." She flashed him another amused and quite comprehending
glance.
"I've a message for you from Aunt Prue and the captain.
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