.. That is her way of
talking to them! That is the sort of creature that she is!"
"Shocking!" says the visitor, rising and looking for his hat "You say
hers is the third large house from here?"
"Yes. Remember, she's as mercenary as can be!"
"Thanks. I can take care of myself. If she's amusing that suits me.
Good-by."
In the vestibule he pauses to count his money.
"Jacksonville seems to be a nice girl," he says to himself as he hastens
down the block. "I imagine she might make a good wife and mother, and
that she'd help her husband on in business. However, I'm not thinking of
getting married and settling down in Florida. I'm out for some fun. I
think I'll run in and call upon Mrs. Palm-Beach."
CHAPTER LIII
PASSIONATE PALM BEACH
A very merry, dancing, drinking,
Laughing, quaffing and unthinking time.
--DRYDEN.
Like all places in which idlers try to avoid finding out that they are
idle, Palm Beach has very definite customs as to where to go, and at
what time to go there. Excepting in its hours for going to bed and
getting up, it runs on schedule. The official day begins with the
bathing hour--half past eleven to half past twelve--when the two or
three thousand people from the pair of vast hotels assemble before the
casino on the beach.
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