Eliza G. Harral

Miss Marbury comes on deck and looks haughtily at Mrs. Cray, an attractive young widow, half suspecting that she has her steamer chair. When she finds that she is mistaken, she ties a large red ribbon upon her own chair, which is situated between Mrs. Gray on her left and Mr. Martin, on her right. Miss Marbury is quite annoyed when little Dolores and Helen, Mrs. Gray's two playful children, come to settle a dispute over the ownership of a tennis ball. Tom Blake stops to greet Mrs. Gray and plays with the children, making them forget their animosity.

Housemaid Belinda finds a pin on the doorstep, taking it as a sign of good luck, just before a young man arrives looking for a room. The landlady, Ophelia, falls for the boarder at first sight. A policeman finds a fortune-teller's card, which Belinda takes to Ophelia. The two women visit Madam Miriam, who tells Ophelia a young blond man will fall in love with her. Both Ophelia and Belinda assume this refers to their new boarder, Sidney. Sidney, short on cash, tries to stay in Ophelia's good graces by taking her out for ice cream. While they are out, Belinda searches his room and finds a photograph of Sidney's wife, who is none other than the fortune-teller, Madam Miriam. Belinda is shocked by the discovery, revealing that the "omens and oracles" that fueled Ophelia's romantic hopes were part of a deception orchestrated by the boarder and his wife.