Winnie Childs, the Shop Girl

								

not so elaborately refined, not so abnormally tall, not so startlingly
picturesque. "One always thinks of the ark animals in a procession,
poor dears--showing off their fur or their stripes or their spots or
something--just like us."
"Speak for yourself, if you talk about spots, please," said Miss
Devereux, who never addressed Miss Child as "dear," nor did the
others.
"I was thinking of leopards," explained the fifth dryad. "They're
among the few things you can think of without being sick."
"I can't," said Miss Devereux, and was. They all were, and somehow
Miss Child seemed to be the one to blame.
"We were just getting better!" wailed Miss Vedrine.
"It was only a momentary excitement that cheered us," suggested
Winifred Child.
"What excitement?" they all wanted indignantly to know.
"That man looking in."
"Do you call that an excitement? Where have you lived?"
"Well, a surprise, then. But would we have been better if it had
been madame who looked in?"
The picture called up by this question was so appalling that they
shuddered and forgot their little grudge against Miss Child, who was
not so bad when you were feeling well, except that she had odd ways of
looking at things, and laughed when nobody else could see anything to
laugh at.
"Thank heaven, she's a bad sailor!" Miss Devereux cried.
"Thank heaven, all the other women on board are bad sailors," added
Win.
"If madame was well she'd think we ought to be," said Miss Carroll.
"She'd dock our pay every time we--- Oh, this is bad enough, but if
she was well it would be a million times worse!"
"Could anything be worse?" Miss Tyndale pitifully questioned, for just
then the ship was sliding down the side of a wave as big as a
millionaire's house.
"Yes, it would be worse if we were wearing our waists slender this
year," said Win.
"Down, down, wallow, wallow, jump!" was the program the Monarchic
carried out for the twentieth time in half as many minutes. Slender
waists! Oh, horrible to think of, unless you broke in two and death
ended your troubles!
"Let's try breathing in as she goes up and out as she goes down.
I've heard that works wonderfully," said Win.
They tried, but it worked disappointingly that time. Perhaps it was
the ship's fault. It was impossible to time her antics with the most
careful breathing.
"Oh, why did we leave our peaceful homes?" moaned Miss Vedrine.
"I didn't," whispered Win.
"Didn't what?"
"Leave my peaceful home. If I'd had one I shouldn't be here."
This was the first time she had volunteered or had had dragged out of
her a word concerning her past. But at the moment no one could be
keyed to interest in anything except preparation for the next wave.
In the veranda cafe Peter Rolls was asking his sister Ena if she knew
anything about five incredibly beautiful girls in evening dress shut
up together in a room with walls made of mirrors.