zed with a sudden inspiration, "go home to lunch with me,
it's most lunch time now! Please, please, Mrs. Cherry!"

Mrs. Cherry demurred. But Peter pulled at a fold of her skirt, the
word "lunch" had aroused in him a strong, if sudden, sense of lack.

"Ma, I'm hungry!" he said.

"Well, that's nothing very new, you're always that," replied his
parent.

Helen Louise had been focused in round-eyed admiration on the Beautiful
Lady before her, without uttering a word; now she murmured something
indistinguishable above the roar about her. Her mother stopped to catch
it.

"Well, I reckon there ain't no harm in it, if you're right sure it
won't be no trouble to anybody. Helen Louise ain't never been in a auto
before and she says she's tired and wants to ride.... I reckon she
might be.... I'm most wore out myself. We've done a sight of walking
this morning. I've been aiming to bring these children down here ever'
day for a week, and never got clear 'round to it, tel to-day. It was
something sorter like Providence done kept me busy, I reckon, Miss
Worth'ton, I wouldn't have seen you no other day, p'raps. Law, but your
Pa must be a rich man, Miss Worth'ton, to be owning a thing like this
here!"

For under cover of Mrs. Cherry's volubility, Arethusa had piloted the
whole family safely to the automobile.

Mrs. Cherry leaned back on the cushions as one to the manner born.
Helen Louise was frankly overawed by the unaccustomed magnificence of
the limousine, and seemed to shrink before it with visibility. Peter's
eyes grew rounder and rounder with each passing moment. All of
Arethusa's efforts to draw Helen Louise into the conversation failed;
she seemed stricken absolutely tongue-tied. Even a reference to her
father failed to arouse to animation. Peter sat stiffly erect, also
silent, one grubby hand tightly clutching his mother's sleeve as if he
feared the catastrophe of losing her through the swiftness of his
riding.

But Mrs. Cherry well supplied any lack of words from her children.

"I've wondered and wondered myself, about you, Miss Worth'ton, ever so
many times sence that trip we rode on the cars together. Whether you
found your Pa and everything like you was thinking you would and if you
been having a good time like you said you knew you was going to."

"Oh, I've had a Heavenly Time!" Arethusa cried, "Just a Perfectly
Heavenly Time, Mrs. Cherry! And everyone is so Perfectly Lovely to me!"

"That's 'cause you're what