But Star, whenever she appeared in company, laughed, chatted, and danced with all that was possible of her admirers, dispensing her smiles and favors with an impartiality that was exasperating not only to her victims—if such they could be called who were each anxious to win the prize—but also to the many forlorn damsels who were all sighing for the attentions she was receiving and the honors she was usurping. One day, about a week after the arrival of the Merediths, an excursion was arranged to visit a point on Narragansett Bay, and it was to be a picnic after the good old-fashioned style of carrying each his own basket and sharing with his neighbor. A boat had been chartered to take the party down the bay in the morning and return at night by moonlight. Ralph Meredith and two or three of his friends were the originators of the affair, and the invitations were very select, and limited to one hundred. As it happened, Mrs. Richards and Josephine, with quite a number of others from their hotel, were included in this party. The morning was delightful, and the spirits of the whole company at their highest point, while the jaunty, white-winged boat, with its inspiriting band of music and its gayly dressed picnickers, seemed like a little floating world devoted entirely to pleasure, as indeed it was. Josephine Richards had arrayed herself in a very elaborate costume for the occasion, determined that Star, who she knew was to be one of the company, should not outshine her. It fitted her like a glove, and was vastly becoming; she never had looked more brilliant in her life, but she was too fussy for a picnic, and looked as if she was decked out for a fashionable reception rather than for a day in the woods. In direct contrast to all this “fuss and feathers,” was Star, in a simple suit of white lawn, a belt of blue, of her eyes’ own hue, girdling her slender waist; a dainty, broad-brimmed hat, set in a jaunty way upon her golden head, and a little cluster of blue-fringed gentians nestling beneath her beautifully rounded chin. The very simplicity of her attire made her conspicuous, and fashionable maidens, who had groaned in spirit over what they should wear and how they should wear it, glared at her with envious eyes. Ralph Meredith had arranged a cozy little nook on the boat for Star and his sister, by taking some camp-chairs along and cushioning them with handsome rugs, with a couple of hassocks for their feet, while a sail had been adjusted as an awning to screen them from the hot sun. But when, after they were well on their way, he conducted them thither, he found to his chagrin that this snug corner, upon which he had spent so much care, had been appropriated by Mrs. Richards and her brilliant daughter, who were holding a little court by themselves. “Never mind,” Star whispered; “I do not care to sit just now, and I particularly wish not to disturb them.”