` Plucky little girl ! I like that . Who is she ? ' asked the lady , sitting down on a half-covered stone to watch her diver , since the bracelet was lost sight of . Bess told her , adding , with the persuasive smile of her father : ` Josie longs to be an actress , and has waited for a month to see you . This is a great happiness for her . ' ` Bless the child ! why did n't she come and call ? I 'd have let her in ; though usually I avoid stage-struck girls as I do reporters , ' laughed Miss Cameron . There was no time for more ; a brown hand , grasping the bracelet , rose out of the sea , followed by a purple face as Josie came up so blind and dizzy she could only cling to Bess , half drowned but triumphant . Miss Cameron drew her to the rock where she sat , and pushing the hair out of her eyes , revived her with a hearty ` Bravo ! bravo ! ' which assured the girl that her first act was a hit . Josie had often imagined her meeting with the great actress -- the dignity and grace with which she would enter and tell her ambitious hopes , the effective dress she would wear , the witty things she would say , the deep impression her budding genius would make . But never in her wildest moments had she imagined an interview like this ; scarlet , sandy , streaming , and speechless she leaned against the illustrious shoulder , looking like a beautiful seal as she blinked and wheezed till she could smile joyfully and exclaim proudly : ' I did get it ! I 'm so glad ! ' ` Now get your breath , my dear ; then I shall be glad also . It was very nice of you to take all that trouble for me . How shall I thank you ? ' asked the lady , looking at her with the beautiful eyes that could say so many things without words .
XXXXX clasped her hands with a wet spat which rather destroyed the effect of the gesture , and answered in a beseeching tone that would have softened a far harder heart than Miss Cameron 's : ` Let me come and see you once -- only once !
Bess Cameron Josie actress drowned first hair month reporters streaming