"Cousin," says she; "as I said before, you know too much for common ideas to make an impression. Now do try to understand. There is one ship in the harbor that has yellow-fever on board--that is all. It will not be allowed to spread from that one ship." "Oh," says I, drawing a deep breath, "then it has not poisoned the water." "Not at all." "But the yellow flag?" "That means good bathing, and plenty of it. Come along. Don't you see people crowding down to the shore?" CHAPTER XCI. THE MAN THAT SAVED ME. I ran into my room, and came out with a bundle in one hand and a coarse straw hat in the other. That group of gentlemen was just dropping down the bank out of sight, and after them went a crowd of girls, with their parasols flaming in the sun like a bed of poppies. "Come," says I, all joyful animation, "I am dying to begin." E. E. spread her parasol, and off we marched. We came to the steep bank, and went down a flight of wooden stairs to the sandy shore. Right under the bank was a long row of cubby-houses, made of boards. "This is ours," says E. E., "come in." I went in. Sisters, what happened in the privacy of that board sanctuary, is not for the public--let this satisfy the curious. Two ladies went into that little retreat, with bunched-up skirts, beehive bonnets, and a general assortment of dry-goods, such as weighs down the ladies of the present generation to an extent that approaches martyrdom. Two persons came out skimped down into nothingness. They had grown tall and slim, not to say spooky. There was a deficiency of glossy ringlets under the two hats that squared off in front and behind, and were flapped down over each ear. E. E.'s plumptitudinous figure was mostly lost and gone, and I--well, I felt like a church steeple on a very high hill. I say nothing, the subject being one of great delicacy; but from my experience in those Turkish--well, pantalettes--the female that begrudges her husband that class of garments, must hanker after change more than I do. When I came out of the little house, Dempster stood on the sand with a pair--well, of garments like mine, only more so, on, and a flaming red upper garment, bright enough to set the waves on fire, covering his broad bosom. Another gentleman stood near him--blue and brown in his sea-outfit, youngish, and with eyes that made me wilt like a poppy the moment they fell upon me. My goodness, how I did feel in that dress! It was all I could do to keep from kind of scrouching down to hide my bare feet; but it was of no use, so I dug them deep into the sand, and felt myself blushing all over, while that gentleman in blue fixed his eyes upon them. Anyway, there was nothing to be so mightily timorous about, for, according to my calculation, two smaller or whiter feet didn't leave their prints in the sand that day, though I do make that assertion with my own lips, that ought to be mute.