"Oh, no, not shiftless," put in Mr. Mason. "They are just care-free."

"Humph! All right, then. Care-free. Just too lazy to care for anything at all, if they can get enough to eat, and I suppose that is not hard down here."

"They are quite all right when you get used to them," put in Mrs. Mason.

It was nearing dusk when they at last turned back toward the city, and it was then that Walter reminded Nan of her promise to tell him all about the mysterious men who had startled her so.

Nan obeyed, but, strangely enough, felt none of the uneasiness that she had felt on board the boat and in the hotel. There was something about the luxurious comfort of the car and Walter's rea.s.suring presence that made her feel quite safe.

But Walter himself was anything but calm. He glowered fiercely at the road ahead of them and his hands clenched tightly on the wheel.

"It's a rotten shame!" he burst out, when Nan had finished her story.

"If I once get hold of those fellows there won't be enough left of them to identify."

"But you will help me find Mrs. Bragley's property for her, won't you?"

insisted Nan. "She said it was at a place called Sunny Slopes."

"Sunny Slopes, Sunny Slopes," Walter repeated thoughtfully. "The name sounds rather familiar to me. I tell you what I'll do," he said, turning to Nan with sudden decision. "Dad knows the names of nearly all the places through here. And if this Sunny Slopes is anywhere near Palm Beach we'll drive over in the car. How does that suit you?"

"Oh, fine," said Nan happily, adding as she gave him a demure glance: "Only we will drive over in the big car and take the girls along."

"What's the matter with this car?" asked Walter, turning to look at her.

"I thought you liked it."

"I love it!" said Nan fervently, adding with a funny little smile that Walter did not understand: "I think on that particular trip, I would like to go in the big car."

The morning after their delightful ride about Jacksonville, they took the train for Palm Beach. They found to their disgust that Linda and her party were also on board.

"Goodness! I think Linda must be following us, too," Bess grumbled to Nan, looking blackly after their schoolmate as she walked haughtily down the car aisle. "To look at her you would think she owned the world at least. Oh, if I could only prove that it was she who damaged the heating plant up at school, wouldn't it be a wonderful chance to get even with her?"

"I don't see why you should want to waste time getting even with her,"

Nan remarked calmly. "We have more interesting things to occupy our time."

"That's all very well for you," grumbled Bess, still feeling cross and injured by the unexpected appearance of Linda. "But _I_ haven't any Walter."

Nan was just about to say something unpleasant when Walter himself hailed them. Grace and Rhoda were with him and all wore smiles to match the morning.

"Come on back," the boy invited. "Dad's got chairs for the whole crowd where we can get the finest view. But he said we had better grab 'em quick, because there's no knowing how long they will last in this crowd."

So the girls followed him to the observation car and would very probably have forgotten all about Linda, had not the girl herself made that impossible.

It was hot, and there were few people in the car, but Linda and one of the ladies in her party walked up and down, looking occasionally out of the windows, as if their energy was inexhaustible.

That would not have been so bad, had not Linda chosen to ignore the girls so pointedly, brushing past with her head held in the air and a manner which said very plainly, "Who are those little specks of dust over there? Know them? Why, of course not!" Finally Bess felt as though she could not stand it a moment longer.

"She's doing it on purpose, the horrid thing," Bess fumed to Nan. "If she doesn't stop pretty soon, I'll give her a push and topple her over.

She'll not look so haughty then, I fancy."

Perhaps it was just as well for all concerned that Linda stopped her bad-mannered performance shortly after that, for Bess could not have been restrained much longer. With this annoyance removed, they had opportunity to enjoy the ride to the full.

Mr. Mason proved a very interesting companion, for he knew the names of the places they pa.s.sed and told the girls funny stories about things that had happened in each one of them until they were tired out from the laughter.

"I never knew there were so many resorts in the world," sighed Nan, leaning back lazily in her chair. "The only place I really ever connected with Florida was Palm Beach. But it seems that is only one of about a million."

"Hardly that," laughed Mr. Mason. "It is true there are a great many resorts in Florida, but the most beautiful and famous of them is Palm Beach."

"Mr. Mason," spoke up Bess, with a wicked little look at Nan, "is it true that most of the people who go to Palm Beach are either bald-headed millionaires or fussy women who just go there to show off their clothes?"

Mr. Mason laughed heartily at this, and the rest of his family joined in, while Nan shot a reproachful glance at her chum.

"No, my dear," said the gentleman finally, a humorous twist in the corners of his mouth. "I can't say that all the guests at Palm Beach are of the particular varieties you have mentioned. There are bald-headed millionaires, of course, and plenty of fussy, over-dressed women, but the people that I have mostly met in the hotels have struck me as being nice folks, very much like ourselves----"

"Stop handing yourself bouquets, Dad," Walter broke in, with a chuckle.

"I included the whole family," said Mr. Mason gravely. "The millionaires," he went on, "don't come to the hotels as a rule. They build themselves beautiful bungalows along the sh.o.r.e and take their recreation mostly in private clubs."

"Oh, dear! I think that's horrid," pouted Bess. "That's one of the things I came for especially. I wanted to see a dozen real live millionaires all in one spot."

"You shall see plenty of millionaires," promised Mr. Mason. "Although we won't guarantee to have them all in one spot."

A few hours later the tide of pa.s.sengers flowed from the train at Palm Beach and the girls, borne along with the crowd, looked about them eagerly.

They had heard a great deal about the beauty of this famous winter resort, but they realized in that one swift glance that nothing they had ever heard had half done it justice.

"Is that a hotel over there?" asked Nan of Grace, as they allowed themselves to be swept on by the merry crowd. Bess and Rhoda were coming slowly along behind them. "That immense yellow building with the green blinds?"

"Yes, that's the Royal Poinciana," answered Grace. "Where we are going to stay, you know."

"Oh, are we?" asked Nan faintly, as she gazed up at the Royal Poinciana Hotel, which was six stories in height and seemed to cover several acres of ground. "Goodness, it seems as if the whole world ought to be able to get in there. And what's that?" she went on, pointing to another yellow building with green blinds. "Its twin?"

"Yes. They call it The Breakers," returned Grace, rather enjoying her new role of guide. "It isn't quite as large as the Royal Poinciana, but dad says it is just as good."

Before long they reached the hotel and they waited while Walter, Bess, Rhoda and Mr. and Mrs. Mason came puffing up to them, warm from the heat of the afternoon sun.

"Come ahead, folks," said Mr. Mason, engineering his flock up the steps of the hotel to the porch. "Let's get cooled and brushed up a bit, and then we can come out and see the sights. This is the biggest crowd I have ever found here," he added, as they entered the darkened, cool lobby of the hotel with a conscious sigh of relief, "and that is saying a good deal."

CHAPTER XXIII

A TROPICAL PARADISE

The signing of the hotel register was not an easy task, for there were many other guests waiting to do the same thing. Mr. Mason finally managed it, however, and he and his rather large family were whirled up in a roomy elevator to the fifth floor and were shown to their rooms by a well-mannered and friendly bellboy.

Bess and Nan were to room together and Grace and Rhoda had a room right off theirs, connected by a door, so that it was really as if the girls were all in one room.