“You won’t like it long,” muttered Andria to herself. “You won’t have a chance,” for her adventures were heavy on her mind, and it took all her will not to pour them out to this careless listener. “I like it out, I mean! I didn’t like it indoors much.” Beryl went on, blessedly ignorant of the thoughts in her companion’s mind. “That’s rather funny about the books, but I don’t care. I wouldn’t do any more lessons if we’d a library. All I want to do is to lie under the trees and be lazy.” “You need it, you poor baby,” said Andria pitifully. For tall and strong as the girl was, she was too thin, and the lovely outline of her pale, warm cheeks too hollow. But in Andria’s mind was that there would be few days to be out of doors in sun or shade; if things went on as now this house would not be their prison alone--their only safety would be inside its stout stone walls. “Hurrah, here comes tea!” cried Beryl gaily. “Salome, I haven’t anything to do, and it’s raining. Couldn’t Amelia Jane go out and look for my cat?” The tray clattered on the table. Salome had all but dropped it. “Cat?” she said. “Cat! Dey ain’t no cats here. For the land’s sake, Miss Ber’l, what you mean?” “Just what I said,” answered Beryl provokingly. “Why? Don’t you like cats, Salome?” Salome opened her eyes till they looked all whites. “Dey ain’t none on de island,” she persisted obstinately. “What you mean? You didn’t bring no cat. I didn’t see none.” “I did, then, and I didn’t bring it either,” said Beryl, with a cheerful laugh. “The dearest little cat, Salome! I found it on the path on the shore this morning--all yellow with black spots.” “My gracious sakes, little miss!” said the woman slowly, and Andria saw she was holding herself hard. “Don’t you come and tell ole Salome dem tales.” “She did find a cat, Salome!” Andria interrupted. “I saw it, too. But it wasn’t like a common cat. I think it was a wild one. Why didn’t you tell me there were wildcats?” The woman drew her breath so sharply that it was all but a sob. “Dey ain’t--no wildcats!” she returned faintly. “I told you so, Andria,” Beryl stuck in gaily, helping herself to tea. “I knew it was tame! It was so soft, and had such sweet fur.” “You didn’t go for to touch it?” and almost fiercely Salome turned to the girl. “Why not, if it was only a dream-cat, like you say?” said Beryl, with that goblin look in her queer face. “Salome, you silly woman, of course I did! I played with it for ages.” “An’ you never seen nothin’ else? Nothin’ ’tall?” she insisted, her big chest heaving. “No, of course not. Andria said its mother might come and eat us, but she didn’t.”