any girl of sixteen fond of chemistry and cooking can have a first-rate time on the great south beach in summer. any girl of sixteen companioned by from one to three youths slightly older than herself, and of nicely differentiated ages and temperaments, can have a good time in summer anywhere. mermaid was as happy on the beach as if she had been born there as, indeed, for all practical purposes, she had. she was not “as happy as if she had lived there all her life,” because no one can be happy in a place that has not gained some charm by[151] contrast with other places. the girl collected shells and sea creatures, drifting from chemistry into biology and back again; she analyzed sea weed and admired it; she divided with keturah smiley the labour of cooking meals to which the salt air gave inimitable savour; she boated, she swam, waded, tramped the dunes, and sunned herself on the sands. she read everything from the habits of jellyfish to the loves of maurice hewlett’s heroes and heroines, moving against medi?val backgrounds as rich and varied as the scenes in old tapestries. she flirted; and once she found herself in a game of hearts.
twenty-two-year-old guy vanton, rather short, snub-nosed, with black hair and attractive eyes, had gone into the surf with her and, with the ignorance of those unacquainted with that shore, had ventured too far out. the huge curl of a breaker caught him, for a southeast wind was blowing and the ocean was beginning to show whitecaps. guy was struck on the shoulder by the full force of the falling wave, knocked down, buried, washed about, and dragged out as the tons of water flung upon the sloping sand shingle receded with a baffled roar. mermaid, higher up on the slope, saw him fall. she breasted the water and, as the bottom sank away from under her feet, struck out, swimming.
diving head first through the next huge sea she lifted her head and caught sight of guy struggling a few yards[152] away. she got up to him just as another breaker, a colossal wall of a dark glassiness, towered for a second above them and then toppled down with a noise like niagara. mermaid forced herself and guy beneath the water, which carried them some distance up the beach, and just then he began to clutch her with the grip of one drowning. she broke his hold and, half swimming, tugging with all her might, got him to a place where she could touch bottom. then she worked forward until she stood, partly supporting him, in a boiling sea waist high. she was nearly exhausted when she finally dragged him up on the beach beyond the wash of the sea. it happened that there was no one near by; evidently they had not been observed from higher up on the shore, so mermaid began the task of resuscitation. fortunately guy vanton opened his eyes almost immediately under her wearied ministrations.
he did not say anything as he gradually recovered himself. the two sat beside each other on the empty beach. mermaid, shivering, had thrown sweaters about herself and guy. at length young vanton turned and looked in her eyes with the curious, shy, wild-animal look that everyone noticed in his own. at the same time he seized her hand.
“mermaid, you saved my life—my life.”
he spoke in wonder, as if there were something inexplicable about it. mermaid smiled at him, white and tired and anxious.
[153]“you’re all right, guy?”
his fingers tightened on her hand. there was something steady in the fire of his look.
“i owe you so much,” he said, brokenly. “almost everything. you were my first friend. five years ago. i—i’ve never been able to make it up to you, and now i never shall. i’ve—i’ve loved you all this time. i—won’t you let me kiss you?”
the last words were perhaps laughable, but something that was not a drop of salt water from his black hair rolled down his cheek. mermaid’s own eyes glistened.
“of course—this once, guy,” she murmured. his lips brushed her wet cheek. she rose to her feet a little unsteadily and reaching down her arm half pulled him to his. “they’ll be frightened if we don’t get back soon,” she explained. “you—you mustn’t put your arm about me, guy. can you walk all right? see here, i’ll put my arm about you.” she was matter-of-fact. they went unhurriedly along the shore to where a boardwalk at the edge of the dunes led to the house captain vanton had rented for the summer. there they parted, with the appearance of unconcern. keturah hand met mermaid at the door of their cottage.
“child, is it necessary for you to hug that vanton boy publicly?” she inquired. mermaid explained.
“how did you bring him to?” asked her aunt.
[154]“i kissed him. now, aunt keturah, it’s all right. there was nobody around and he doesn’t know.”
