e stepped out from the vociferating, jostling crowd and followed
the new face as simply as though she had been waiting for just that
summons. The awful moment was when, with a shout, the tail of rowdies
followed after. Miss Levering had not bargained for that. Her agitated
glance left the unsavoury horde at her heels and went nervously up and
down the street. It was plainly not only, nor even chiefly, the
hooligans she feared, but the amazed eye of some acquaintance. Bad
enough to meet Henderson's!

'Jump in!' she said hastily to the girl, and then, 'Go on!' she called
out desperately, flying in after Ernestine and slamming the door. 'Drive
_fast_!' She thrust her head through the window to add, '_Anywhere!_'
And she sank back. 'How dreadful that was!'

'What was?' said the rescued one, glancing out of the carriage with an
air of suddenly renewed interest.

'Why, the attack of those hooligans on a handful of defenceless women.'

'Oh, they weren't attacking us.'

'What were they doing?'

'Oh, just running after us and screaming a little.'

'But I _saw_ them--pushing and jostling and----'

'Oh, it was all quite good-natured.'

'You mean you weren't frightened?'

'There's nothing to be frightened at.' She was actually saying it in a
soothing, 'motherly' sort of way, calculated to steady the lady's
nerves--reassuring the rescuer.

Vida's eye fell on the festoon of braid falling from the dark cloth
skirt.

'Well, the polite attentions of your friends seem to have rather damaged
your gown.'

Over a big leather portfolio that she held clasped in her arms,
Ernestine, too, looked down at the torn frock.

'That foolish trimming--it's always getting stepped on.'

Miss Levering's search had produced a pin.

'No; I'll just pull it off.'

Ernestine did so, and proceeded to drop a yard of it out of the window.
Miss Levering began to laugh.

'Which way are we going?' says Miss Blunt, looking out. 'I have to be at
Battersea at----'

'What were you doing at Pimlico Pier?'

'Holding a meeting for the Government employees--the people who work for
the Army and Navy Clothing Department.'

'Oh. And you live at Battersea?'

'No; but I have a meeting there to-night. We had a very good one at the
Docks, too.' Her eyes sparkled.

'A Suffrage meeting?'

'Yes; one of the best we've had----'

'When was that?'

'During the dinner hour. The men stood with their pails and ate while
they listened. They were quite nice