:

"She thinks it means ruin. If she hoped to break off with Caspian in
spite of everything, and marry Peter, she feels that hope is over."

There was no chance of a private word with Pat then or afterward. The
news ran like wildfire. All the men came and crowded round us, consoling
or giving advice. Jack was the most sensible.

"Let's see when the next train starts," he said. "You and I, Molly, will
go with Moore and Pat; and they must stop with us at Awepesha. The
others, of course, can do as they like."

It ended in the whole party taking the train, for every one was anxious
for one reason or other. The bride and bridegroom and the Goodriches had
left things they valued at Kidd's Pines. Caspian and Mrs. Shuster felt
that where the Moores went, there they ought to go also. As for the
Boys, they would have followed Pat to the death.

[Illustration: map]*

Well, we got off, at the cost of dinner. But most of us had forgotten
that we were hungry. The cars were simply abandoned for the time being,
in garage. They were to be "sent for," like boys and girls at a
children's dance.

You can imagine that, by the time we had got to New York, and from New
York to Long Island, it was a witching hour of the night! Nobody cared,
however. All our thoughts were centred at Kidd's Pines. I kept Pat close
to me in the train, and once in a while Peter hovered near, as if he
longed for a chance to say something. But Pat could not or would not
talk, either to him or me. She had a headache, and sat with her eyes
shut, looking pitifully pale. Larry, on the contrary, was all
excitement, and never stopped jabbering with one person or another till
the end of the journey. I could have boxed his ears.

Well, when at last we arrived, the damage wasn't as bad as we expected,
for the fire had started by day. Wasn't it sickening, a woman (one of
Kidd's Pines' "paying guests") had upset a lot of alcohol from a spirit
lamp. That was the way it began. And she didn't give the alarm at first:
she was afraid of the consequences to herself, and she and her maid
tried to put the fire out. Of course the room got thoroughly alight
before anything was properly done. One wing of the house is half in
ruins. Nothing else is hurt much, except by water. But, as the telegram
said, every one cleared out, as rats leaving a sinking ship. And would
you believe it, there is _no_ insurance! How _like_ Larry!

I've been trying to forget my worries for a while, wri