the car again.
For all save the girls, that is.

For the elderly woman--who most certainly _was_ an old maid--had been
terribly embarrassed over the bird's outbreak and began explaining to the
girls how she happened to have it in her possession, what troubles she
had already had with it, how glad she would be when she delivered the
bird to her brother, who was its rightful owner, and so on until the
girls became desperate enough to throw things at her.

"Isn't there some way we can stop her!" whispered Vi in Connie's ear,
while Billie and Laura were listening to the woman's chatter with forced
smiles and polite "yeses and nos." "If I have to listen to that voice
another minute I'll scream--I know I shall."

"The only way to stop her that I can think of," Connie whispered back,
"would be to take the cover off the parrot's cage. He would drown out
most anybody."

This kept up practically all morning with the owner of the parrot talking
on tirelessly and the girls trying to listen politely until lunch time
came.

Thankfully they made their way through the swaying train to the dining
car and sat themselves gratefully down at a little table set for four.

"Thank goodness we've escaped," sighed Billie, as her eyes wandered
eagerly down the bill of fare, for Billie was very hungry. "What will you
have, girls? I could eat everything on the card without stopping to
breathe."

When they returned to their car after lunch they found to their relief
that the talkative old woman was gathering up her things as if about to
change cars at the junction--which was the next stop.

She did get out at the junction, parrot and all, and the girls fairly
hugged each other in their delight.

"Poor old thing," said Billie as the train swung out from the station and
the parrot cage disappeared. "I wonder," she added after a moment, "if
I'll ever get like that."

"You!" scoffed Vi, with a fond glance at Billie's lovely face. "Yes, you
look a lot like an old maid."

"And didn't Teddy give her candy this morning?" added Laura, with a
wicked glance at Billie, who said not a word, but stared steadily out of
the window.

They bought magazines and tried to read them, but finally gave up the
attempt. What was the use of reading about other people's adventures when
a far more thrilling one was in store for them at Lighthouse Island?

Billie said something like this, but Connie shook her head doubtfully.

"I don't know how we're going to