She had no sooner gone than Lillian gathered me in her arms with a protecting, maternal gesture, as if I had been her own daughter restored to her.

“Quick,” she demanded fiercely, “tell me just what happened out there when you went under.  Did you get a cramp or what?”

I waited a moment before answering.  The suspicion that had come to my brain was so horrible that I did not wish to utter it even to Lillian.

“I think it must have been the undertow,” I said feebly.  “I felt something like a clutch at my feet dragging me down.”

Lillian’s face hardened.  Into her eyes came a revengeful gleam.

“Undertow!” she ejaculated, “you poor baby!  Your undertow was that Draper devil’s calculating hand!”

I stared at Lillian, horrified.

“But Lillian,” I protested, faintly, “how is it that they all say she saved my life?  If she really tried to drown me why didn’t she let me go?”

“Got cold feet,” returned Lillian, laconically.  “You see she isn’t naturally evil enough deliberately to plan to kill you.  I give her credit for that with all her devilishness, but something happened today between her and Dicky.  I don’t know what it was that drove her nearly frantic.  I saw her look at you two or three times in a way that chilled my blood.  I didn’t like the idea of your going out there with her, but I didn’t see any way of stopping you.

“Now, there’s one thing I want you to promise me,” she went on, hurriedly.  “Although I know you well enough to know it’s something you would do anyway without a promise.  I don’t want you to hint to anyone, even Dicky, what you know of the Draper’s attempt to put you out of commission.  It’s the chance I’ve been looking for, the winning card I needed so badly.  I won’t need to stay a week with you, my dear, as I thought when I first planned my little campaign to get Dicky out of the Draper’s clutches.  I can go home tonight if I wish to, with my mission accomplished.”

“Why, what do you mean?” I asked.

“Just this,” retorted Lillian, “that I’m going to spring the nicest little case of polite blackmail on Grace Draper before the day is over that you ever saw.

“I shall need you when I do it, so be prepared, although you won’t need to say anything.

“But here comes Mrs. Durkee with the coffee.  Do you think, after you drink it, you’ll feel strong enough to have me tackle Grace Draper?”

I shivered inwardly, but bent my head in assent.  Lillian had proved too good a friend of mine for me to go against her wishes in anything.

After I had drunk the steaming coffee, with Mrs. Durkee looking on in smiling approval, Lillian made another request of the cheery little woman.

“Would you mind asking Miss Draper to come here a moment?” she said quietly.  “Mrs. Graham wants to thank her, and then do hunt up that husband of mine and tell him to rig up some sort of couch for Mrs. Graham, so she can lie down while we have our dinner.  We can all take turns feeding her.”