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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12559-0.txt b/12559-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2dc1ccb --- /dev/null +++ b/12559-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5880 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12559 *** + +THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON + +or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies + +By + +LAURA DENT CRANE + +Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls in the +Berkshires, The Automobile Girls Along the Hudson, The Automobile Girls +at Chicago, The Automobile Girls at Palm Beach, etc. + +1913 + + + + + + +[Illustration: A Fat Chinese Gentleman Stood Regarding Her. +(Frontispiece)] + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + + I. A Chance Meeting + II. Cabinet Day in Washington + III. Mr. Tu Fang Wu + IV. At the Chinese Embassy + V. Sub Rosa + VI. The Arrest + VII. Mollie's Temptation + VIII. At the White House + IX. Bab's Discovery + X. The Confession + XI. In Mr. Hamlin's Study + XII. Barbara's Secret Errand + XIII. A Foolish Girl + XIV. "Grant No Favors!" + XV. Bab Refuses to Grant a Favor + XVI. Barbara's Unexpected Good Luck + XVII. The White Veil + XVIII. A Tangled Web or Circumstance + XIX. Harriet in Danger + XX. Foiled! + XXI. The Discovery + XXII. Oil on the Troubled Waters + XXIII. Suspense and the Reward + XXIV. Home at Laurel Cottage + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CHANCE MEETING + + +Barbara Thurston stood at the window of a large old-fashioned house, +looking out into Connecticut Avenue. It was almost dark. An occasional +light twinkled outside in the street, but the room in which Barbara was +stationed was still shrouded in twilight. + +Suddenly she heard a curtain at the farther end of the drawing-room +rustle faintly. + +Bab turned and saw a young man standing between the curtains, peering +into the shadows with a pair of near-sighted eyes. + +Barbara started. The stranger had entered the room through a small study +that adjoined it. He seemed totally unaware of any other presence, for he +was whistling softly: "Kathleen Mavourneen." + +"I beg your pardon," Bab began impulsively, "but are you looking for +some one?" + +The newcomer flashed a charming smile at Barbara. He did not seem in the +least surprised at her appearance. + +"No," he declared cheerfully, "I was not looking for any one or anything. +The butler told me Mr. Hamlin and Harriet were both out. But, I say, +don't you think I am fortunate to have found you quite by accident! I +came in here to loaf a few minutes." + +Barbara frowned slightly. The young man's manner was surprisingly +familiar, and she had never seen him before in her life. + +"I hope I am not disturbing you," he went on gayly. "I am an attaché of +the Russian legation, and a friend of Miss Hamlin's. I came with a +message for Mr. Hamlin. I was wondering if it were worth while to wait +for him. But I can go away if I am troublesome." + +"Oh, no, you are not disturbing me in the least," Barbara returned. "I +expect Miss Hamlin and my friends soon. We arrived in Washington last +night, and the other girls have gone out to a reception. I had a headache +and stayed at home. Won't you be seated while I ring for the butler to +turn on the lights?" + +The newcomer sat down, gravely watching Barbara. + +"Would you like me to guess who you are?" he asked, after half a +minute's silence. + +Bab laughed. "I am sure you will give me the first chance to tell you +your name. I did not recognize you at first. But I believe Harriet told +us about you last night. She described several of her Washington friends +to us. You are Peter Dillon, aren't you?" + +"At your service," declared the young attaché, who looked almost boyish. +"But now give me my opportunity. I do not know your name, but I have +guessed this much. You are an 'Automobile Girl!' Permit me to bid you +welcome to Washington." + +Barbara nodded her head decidedly. "Yes, I am Barbara Thurston, one of +the 'Automobile Girls.' There are four of us. Harriet has probably +explained to you. My sister, Mollie Thurston, Grace Carter, Ruth Stuart +and I form the quartet. Mr. William Hamlin is Ruth's uncle. So we are +going to spend a few weeks here with Harriet and see the Capital. I have +never been in Washington before." + +"Then you have a new world before you, Miss Thurston," said the young +man, his manner changing. "Washington is like no other city in the world, +I think. I have been here for four years. Before that time I had lived in +Dublin, in Paris, in St. Petersburg." + +"Then you are not an American!" exclaimed Bab, regarding the young man +with interest. + +"I am a man without a country, Miss Thurston." Bab's visitor laughed +carelessly. "Or, perhaps, I had better say I am a man of several +countries. My father was an Irishman and a soldier of fortune. My mother +was a Russian. Therefore, I am a member of the Russian legation in +Washington in spite of my half-Irish name. Have you ever been abroad?" + +"Oh, no," Bab returned, shaking her head. "For the past two years, since +I have known Ruth Stuart, the 'Automobile Girls' have traveled about in +this country a good deal. But we are only school girls still. We have +never really made our début in society, although we mean to forget this +while we are in Washington, and to see as much of the world as we can. I +do wish I knew something about politics. It would make our visit in +Washington so much more interesting." + +"It is the most interesting game in the world," declared Barbara's +companion, dropping for an instant his expression of indifference. His +blue eyes flashed. Then he said quickly: "Perhaps you will let me teach +you something of the political game at Washington. I am sure you will be +quick to learn and to enjoy it." + +"Thank you," Bab answered shyly. "But I am much too stupid ever to +understand." + +"I don't quite believe that. You know, you will, of course, hear a +great deal about politics while you are the guests of the Assistant +Secretary of State. Mr. Hamlin is one of the cleverest men in +Washington. I am sure you will be instructing me in diplomacy by the end +of a week. But good-bye; I must not keep you any longer. Will you tell +Mr. Hamlin that I left the bundle of papers he desired on his study +table? And please tell Harriet that I shall hope to be invited very +often to see the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +The young man looked intently at Barbara, as though trying to read her +very thoughts while she returned his scrutiny with steady eyes. Then with +a courteous bow, he left the room. + +When Barbara found herself alone she returned to the window. + +"I do wish the girls would come," she murmured to herself. "I am just +dying to know what Mollie and Grace think of their first reception in +Washington. Of course, Ruth has visited Harriet before, so the experience +is not new to her. I am sorry I did not go with the girls, in spite of my +headache. I wonder if some one is coming in here again! I seem to be +giving a reception here myself." + +By this time the room was lighted, and Barbara saw a young woman of about +twenty-five years of age walk into the drawing-room and drop into a big +arm chair with a little tired sigh. + +"You are Miss Thurston, aren't you?" she asked briskly as Bab came +forward to speak to her, wondering how on earth this newcomer knew her +name and what could be the reason for this unexpected call. + +"Yes," Barbara returned in a puzzled tone, "I am Miss Thurston." + +"Oh, don't be surprised at my knowing your name," Bab's latest caller +went on. "It is my business to know everybody. I met Mr. Dillon on the +corner. He told me Harriet Hamlin was not at home and that I had better +not come here this afternoon. I did not believe him; still I am not sorry +Miss Hamlin is out, I would ever so much rather see you. Harriet Hamlin +is dreadfully proud, and she is not a bit sympathetic. Do you think so?" + +Bab was lost in wonder. What on earth could this talkative young woman +wish of her? Did her visitor believe Bab would confide her opinion of +Harriet to a complete stranger? But the young woman did not wait for +an answer. + +"I want to see you about something awfully important," she went on. +"Please promise me you will do what I ask you before I tell you +what it is." + +Bab laughed. "Don't ask me that. Why you may be an anarchist, for +all I know." + +The new girl shook her head, smiling. She looked less tired now. She was +pretty and fragile, with fair hair and blue eyes. She was very pale and +was rather shabbily and carelessly dressed. + +"No; I am not an anarchist," she said slowly. "I am a newspaper woman, +which is almost as bad in some people's eyes, I suppose, considering the +way society people fight against giving me news of themselves and their +doings. I came to ask you if you would give me the pictures of the +'Automobile Girls' for my paper? Oh, you need not look so surprised. We +have all heard of the 'Automobile Girls.' Everybody in Washington of +importance has heard of you. Couldn't you let me write a sketch about you +and your adventures, and put your photographs on the society page of our +Sunday edition? It would be such a favor to me." + +Barbara looked distressed. She was beginning to like her visitor. +Though Barbara had been associated mainly with wealthy people in the +last two years of the "Automobile Girls'" adventures, she could not +help feeling interested in a girl who was evidently trying to make her +own way in the world. + +"I am awfully sorry," Bab declared almost regretfully, but before she +finished speaking the drawing-room door opened and Ruth Stuart and +Harriet Hamlin entered the room together. + +"How is your head, Bab, dear?" Ruth cried, before she espied their +caller. + +Harriet Hamlin bowed coldly to the newspaper woman in the big arm chair. +The young woman had flushed, looked uncomfortable at sight of Harriet and +said almost humbly: + +"I am sorry to interrupt you, Miss Hamlin, but my paper sent me to ask +you for the pictures of your guests. May I have them?" + +"Most certainly not, Miss Moore," Harriet answered scornfully. "My +friends would not dream of allowing you to publish their pictures. And my +father would not consent to it either. Just because he is Assistant +Secretary of State I do not see why my visitors should be annoyed in this +way. I hope you don't mind, Ruth and Barbara." Harriet's voice changed +when she turned to address her cousin and friend. "Forgive my refusing +Miss Moore for you. But it is out of the question." + +Ruth and Bab both silently agreed with Harriet. But Barbara could not +help feeling sorry for the other girl, who flushed painfully at Harriet's +tone and turned to go without another word. + +Bab followed the girl out into the hall. + +"I am so sorry not to give you our photographs," Barbara declared. "But, +of course, we cannot let you have them if Mr. Hamlin would object. And, +to tell you the honest truth, the 'Automobile Girls' would not like it +either." Barbara smiled in such a frank friendly way that no one could +have been vexed with her. + +The older girl's eyes were full of tears, which she bravely winked +out of sight. + +"Everyone has his picture published in the papers nowadays," she replied. +"I am sure I intended no discourtesy to you or to Miss Hamlin." + +Then the girl's self-control gave way. She was very tired, and Bab's +sympathy unnerved her. "I hate Harriet Hamlin," she whispered, +passionately. "I am as well bred as she is. Because I am poor, and have +to support my mother, is no reason why she should treat me as though I +were dust under her feet. I shall have a chance to get even with her, +some day, just as certainly as I live. Then, won't I take my revenge!" + +Barbara did not know what to reply, so she went on talking quietly. "I am +sure your asking us for our pictures was a very great compliment to us. +Only important people and beauties and belles have their pictures in the +society papers. It is just because the 'Automobile Girls' are too +insignificant to be shown such an honor that we can't consent. But please +don't be angry with us. I am sure Harriet did not intend to wound your +feelings, and I hope I shall see you soon again." + +Marjorie Moore shook Barbara's hand impulsively before she went out into +the gathering darkness. "I like you," she said warmly. "I wish we might +be friends. Good-night." + +"Where are Mollie and Grace?" was Bab's first question when she rejoined +Ruth and Harriet. + +"They would not come away from the reception," Harriet returned, smiling. +She was quite unconscious of having treated Marjorie Moore unkindly. +"Ruth and I were worried about your headache, so we did not wish to leave +you alone any longer. Strange to relate, Father offered to stay until +Mollie and Grace were ready to come home. That is a great concession on +his part, as he usually runs away from a reception at the first +opportunity that offers itself. Mrs. Wilson, a friend of Father's is +helping him to look after Mollie and Grace this afternoon. Bab, did some +boxes come for me this afternoon? I left orders at the shop to send them +when Father would surely be out. Come on upstairs, children, and see my +new finery." + +"Why, Harriet, are you getting more clothes?" Ruth exclaimed. "You are +like 'Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square, who never had anything +good enough to wear.'" + +"I am no such thing, Ruth Stuart," returned her cousin, a little +peevishly. "You don't understand. Does she, Barbara? Ruth has so much +money she simply cannot realize what it means to try to make a good +appearance on a small allowance, especially here in Washington where one +goes out so much." + +"I was only joking, Harriet," Ruth apologized as she and Barbara +obediently followed their hostess upstairs. Bab, however, secretly +wondered how she and Mollie were to manage in Washington, with their +simple wardrobes, if their young hostess thought that clothes were the +all-important thing in Washington society. + +Harriet Hamlin was twenty years of age, but she seemed much older to Bab +and Ruth. In the first place, Harriet was an entirely different type of +girl. She had been mistress of her father's house in Washington since she +was sixteen. She had received her father's guests and entertained his +friends; and at eighteen she had made her début into Washington society, +and had taken her position as one of the women of the Cabinet. Harriet's +mother, Ruth's aunt, had died a few months before Mr. Hamlin had received +his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State. Since that time Harriet +had borne the responsibilities of a grown woman, and being an only child +she had to a certain extent done as she pleased, although she was +secretly afraid of her cold, dignified father. + +Mr. William Hamlin was one of the ablest men in Washington. He was a +quiet, stern, reserved man, and although he was proud of his daughter, of +her beauty and accomplishments, he was also very strict with her. He was +a poor man, and it was hard work for Harriet to keep up the appearance +necessary to her father's position on his salary as Assistant Secretary +of State. Harriet, however, never dared tell her father of this, and Mr. +Hamlin never offered Harriet either sympathy or advice. + +Barbara and Ruth could only watch with admiring eyes and little +exclamations of delight the exquisite garments that Harriet now lifted +out of three big, pasteboard boxes; a beautiful yellow crêpe frock, a +pale green satin evening gown and a gray broadcloth tailor-made suit. +Harriet was tall and dark, with very black hair and large dark eyes. She +was considered one of the beauties of the "younger set" in Washington +society. Ruth had not seen her cousin for several years, until she +received the invitation to bring the "Automobile Girls" to Washington. + +Ruth Stuart and Barbara Thurston had changed very little since their +last outing together at Palm Beach. Barbara was now nearly eighteen. At +the close of the school year she was to be graduated from the Kingsbridge +High School. And she hoped to be able to enter Vassar College the +following fall. Yet the fact that she was in Washington early in December +requires an explanation. + +Two weeks before Bab had walked slowly home to Laurel Cottage at +about three o'clock one November afternoon with a great pile of books +under her arm. + +On the front porch of their little cottage she found her mother and +Mollie, greatly excited. A telegram had just come from Ruth Stuart. The +"Automobile Girls" were invited to visit Ruth's cousin in Washington, +D.C. Ruth wished them to start at the end of the week. + +Bab's face flushed with pleasure at the news. She had not been with her +beloved Ruth since the Easter before. Then the color died out of her face +and her cheeks showed an unaccustomed pallor. + +"I am so sorry, Mother," Bab responded. "I would give anything in the +world to see Ruth. But I simply can't stop school just now, or I shall +lose the scholarship. Mollie, you can accept Ruth's invitation. You and +Grace Carter can go to Washington together. You won't mind going +without me." + +"I shall not stir a single step without you," blue-eyed Mollie returned +firmly. "And Mother thinks you can go!" + +Mollie and Mrs. Thurston, aided by Bab's teachers, at last persuaded +Barbara to take a few weeks' holiday. Bab could study to make up for lost +time during the Christmas holidays. For no one, except the young woman +herself, doubted Barbara's ability to win the desired Vassar scholarship. + +And so it was arranged that Bab and Mollie should go with Ruth to +Washington. Bab had grown taller and more slender in the past few months. +Her brown braids are now always coiled about her graceful head. Her hair +was parted in the middle, although a few little curls still escaped in +the old, careless fashion. + +Ruth Stuart, too, was looking sweeter and fresher than ever, and was the +same ingenuous, unspoiled girl, whose sunny disposition no amount of +wealth and fashion could change. + +Readers of the first volume in the "Automobile Girls Series," entitled +"The Automobile Girls At Newport," will recall how, nearly two years ago, +Ruth Stuart, with her father and her aunt, Miss Sallie Stuart, came from +their home in far away Chicago to spend the summer in Kingsbridge, New +Jersey. The day that Barbara Thurston stopped a pair of runaway horses +and saved Ruth Stuart from death she did not dream that she had turned +the first page in the history of the "Automobile Girls." A warm +friendship sprang up between Ruth and Bab, and a little later Ruth Stuart +invited Barbara, her younger sister, Mollie Thurston, and their friend, +Grace Carter, to take a trip to Newport in her own, red automobile with +Ruth herself as chauffeur and her aunt, Miss Sallie Stuart, as chaperon. + +Exciting days at Newport followed, and the four girls brought to bay the +"Boy Raffles," the cracksman, who had puzzled the fashionable world! +There were many thrilling adventures connected with the discovery of this +"society thief," and the "Automobile Girls" proved themselves capable of +meeting whatever emergencies sprang up in their path. + +In "The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires," the second volume of the +"Automobile Girls Series," the scene is laid in a little log cabin on +top of one of the highest peaks in the Berkshire hills, where the four +girls and Miss Sallie spent a happy period of time "roughing it." There +it was that they discovered an Indian Princess and laid the "Ghost of +Lost Man's Trail." + +In the third volume of the series, "The Automobile Girls Along the +Hudson," the quartet of youthful travelers, accompanied by Miss Sallie +Stuart, motored through the beautiful Sleepy Hollow country, spending +several weeks at the home of Major Ted Eyck, an old friend of the +Stuarts. There many diverting experiences fell to their lot, and before +leaving the hospitable major's home they were instrumental in saving it +from destruction by forest fires. + +The fourth volume of the series, "The Automobile Girls at Chicago," +relates the adventures of the four friends during the Christmas holidays, +which Mollie, Grace and Bab spent with Ruth at Chicago and at +"Treasureholme," the country estate of the Presbys, who were cousins of +the Stuart family. While there, principally through the cleverness of +Barbara Thurston, the hiding place of a rich treasure buried by one of +The ancestors of the Presbys was discovered in time to prevent the +financial ruin of both Richard Presby and Robert Stuart, who had become +deeply involved through speculation in wheat. + +Before Mollie, Grace and Barbara returned to Kingsbridge, Mr. Stuart had +promised that they should see Ruth again in March at Palm Beach, where he +had planned a happy reunion for the "Automobile Girls." There it was +that they had, through a series of happenings, formed the acquaintance of +a mysterious countess and become involved in the net of circumstances +that was woven about her. How they continued to be her friend in spite of +dark rumors afloat to the effect that she was an impostor and how she +afterwards turned out to be a princess, is fully set forth in "The +Automobile Girls at Palm Beach." + +"Really, Bab," said Ruth, as the two girls went upstairs to their rooms +to dress for dinner, "I have not had a chance to talk to you, alone, +since we arrived in Washington. How is your mother?" + +"As well as can be," Bab answered. "How is darling Aunt Sallie? I am so +sorry she did not come to Washington with you to chaperon us. There is no +telling what mischief we may get into without her." + +Ruth laughed. "I have special instructions for the 'Automobile Girls' +from Aunt Sallie. We are to be particularly careful to mind our 'P's' and +'Q's' on this visit, for Aunt Sallie wishes us to make a good impression +in Washington." + +Barbara sighed. "I'll try, Ruth," she declared, "but you know what +remarkable talent I have for getting into mischief." + +"Then you are to be specially par-tic-u-lar, Mistress Bab!" Ruth said +teasingly. "For Aunt Sallie's last words to me were: 'Tell Barbara she is +to look before she leaps.'" + +Barbara shook her brown head vigorously. "I am not the impetuous Bab of +other automobile days. But, just the same, I wish Aunt Sallie had come +along with you." + +"Oh, she may join us later," Ruth returned. "To tell you the truth, Bab, +Aunt Sallie is not fond of Harriet. She thinks Harriet is clever and +pretty, but vain and spoiled. Here come Mollie and Grace. Home from that +reception at last!" + +The other two girls burst into Ruth's room at this moment. + +"Whom do you think we have seen?" called out Miss Mollie rapturously. +"Oh, Washington is the greatest fun! I feel just like a girl in a book, +we have been presented to so many noted people. I tell you, Barbara +Thurston, we are country girls no longer! Now we have been traveling +about the country so much with Ruth and Mr. Stuart, that we know people +everywhere. Just guess whom we know in Washington?" + +"I can guess," Ruth rejoined, clapping her hands. "You have seen Mrs. +Post and Hugh. Surely, you had not forgotten that they live in +Washington. Hugh has finished college and has a position in the Forestry +Department. I had a note from him this morning." + +"And didn't tell! Oh, Ruth!" teased Grace Carter. "But, Bab, what about +our Lenox friends, who spend their winters in Washington?" + +"You mean Dorothy and Gwendolin Morton, the British Ambassador's +daughters, and funny little Franz Haller, the German secretary, I hope we +shall see them. But do hurry, children. Please don't keep the Assistant +Secretary of State waiting for his dinner. That would surely be a bad +beginning for our Washington visit. No, Mollie Thurston; don't you put on +your very best dress for dinner to-night. I have just gotten out your +white muslin." + +"But Harriet wears such lovely clothes all the time, Bab," Mollie +pleaded, when she and Barbara were alone. + +"Never mind, child. Harriet Hamlin is not Mollie Thurston," Barbara +concluded wisely. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CABINET DAY IN WASHINGTON + + +It was Harriet Hamlin's reception day. There are certain times appointed +in Washington when the members of the President's Cabinet hold +receptions. + +The "Automobile Girls" had come to Washington in time for one of these +special entertainments. For, as Harriet explained, they could see +everyone worth seeing at once. Not only would the diplomats, the senators +and congressmen call with their wives, but the Army and Navy officers, +all official Washington would appear to pay their respects to Mr. William +Hamlin and his lovely daughter. + +"Then there will be a crowd of unimportant people besides," Harriet had +continued. "People who are never asked to any small parties come to this +reception just because they can get in. So you girls will have to +entertain yourselves this morning. I have a thousand things to do. Why +not take the girls to look at the White House, Ruth? That is the first +thing to do in Washington. I am sorry I can't go with you. But you just +walk straight down Connecticut Avenue and you can't miss it." + +It was a perfect day. Although it was early in December, the atmosphere +was like Indian summer. Washington shone sparkling white through a dim +veil of haze. The "Automobile Girls" walked briskly along toward the +White House, chatting every step of the way. + +"Where are the poplar trees planted along this avenue by Thomas +Jefferson, Ruth?" Grace Carter demanded. "I read somewhere that Jefferson +meant to make this avenue look like the famous street called '_Unter den +Linden_' in Berlin." + +"He did, child, but most of the poplar trees died," Ruth rejoined, "and +some one else planted these oaks and elms. Why are you so silent, +Barbara? Are you tired?" + +"I think Washington is the most beautiful city in the whole world," Bab +answered with sudden enthusiasm. + +"Wait until you have seen it," Ruth teased. "Uncle William wants to take +us through the Capitol. But I suppose there is no harm in our looking at +the outside of the White House. Later on, when we go to one of the +President's receptions, we can see the inside of it." + +"Shall we ever see the President?" Mollie asked breathlessly. "Won't it +be wonderful? I never dreamed that even Mr. Hamlin could take us to the +President's home." + +"Here we are at the White House," said Ruth. + +The "Automobile Girls" stood silent for a moment, looking in through the +autumn foliage at the simple colonial mansion, which is the historic +"White House." + +"I am glad our White House looks like that," Bab said, after half a +moment's pause. "I was so afraid it would be pretentious. But it is just +big and simple and dignified as our President's home ought to be. It +makes me feel so glad to be an American," Barbara ended with a flush. She +was afraid the other girls were laughing at her. + +"I think so too, Bab," Ruth agreed. "I don't see why girls cannot be as +patriotic as boys. We may be able to serve our country in some way, some +day. I hope we shall have the chance." + +The "Automobile Girls" had entered the White House grounds and were +strolling along through the park. + +Bab and Ruth were talking of the beauties of Washington. But no such +thoughts were engrossing pretty Mollie's attention. Mollie's mind was +dwelling on the society pleasures the "Automobile Girls" expected to +enjoy at the Capital City. Grace Carter was listening to Barbara's and +Ruth's animated conversation. + +From the very first days at Newport, Mollie Thurston had cared more for +society than had her sister and two friends. Her dainty beauty and pretty +manners made her a favorite wherever she went. Mollie's friends had +spoiled her, and since her arrival in Washington the old story had +repeated itself. Harriet Hamlin had already taken Mollie under her +special protection. And Mollie was wildly excited with the thought of the +social experiences ahead of her. + +The four girls spent some time strolling about the White House +grounds. Then Ruth proposed that they take a car and visit the +Congressional Library. + +"I think it is the most beautiful building in Washington, and, in fact, +one of the finest in the world," she said enthusiastically, and later +when the "Automobile Girls" were fairly inside the famous library, they +fully agreed with her. It was particularly hard to tear Barbara away from +what seemed to her the most fascinating place she was ever in, and she +announced her intention of visiting it again at the first opportunity. + +The sightseers arrived home in time for luncheon and at four o'clock that +afternoon they stood in a row, beside Harriet Hamlin and her father, +helping to receive the guests who crowded in to the reception. Some of +the women wore beautiful gowns, others looked as though they had come +from small towns where the residents knew nothing of fashionable society. + +Mollie and Bab wore the white chiffon frocks Mr. Prescott had presented +them with in Chicago. But Grace and Ruth wore gowns that had been ordered +for this particular occasion. Bab thought their white frocks, which +looked as though they were new, as pretty as any of the gowns worn there. +But little Mollie was not satisfied. She hated old clothes, no matter how +well they looked. And Harriet Hamlin was rarely beautiful in an imported +gown of pale, yellow crêpe. + +After receiving for an hour, Bab slipped quietly into a chair near a +window. She wished to examine the guests at her leisure. Mollie and Ruth +were deep in conversation with Mrs. Post and Hugh. Grace was talking to +Dorothy and Gwendolin Morton. + +Barbara's eyes wandered eagerly over the throng of people. Suddenly some +one touched her on the shoulder. + +"You do not remember me, do you?" + +Bab turned and saw a young woman. + +"I am Marjorie Moore," said the newcomer. "I am the girl who came to ask +you for your pictures. Perhaps you think it is strange for me to come to +Harriet Hamlin's reception when she was so rude to me last night. But I +am not a guest. Besides, newspaper people are not expected to have any +feelings. My newspaper sent me to find out what people were here this +afternoon. So here I am! I know everybody in Washington. Would you like +me to point out some of the celebrities to you? See that stunning woman +just coming in at the door? She has the reputation of being the most +popular woman in Washington. But nobody knows just where she comes from, +or who she is, or how she gets her money. But I must not talk Washington +gossip. You'll meet her soon yourself." + +"How do you do, Miss Moore?" broke in a charming contralto voice. +"You are the very person I wish to see. I can give you some news for +your paper. It is not very important, but I thought you might like +to have it." + +"You are awfully good, Mrs. Wilson," Marjorie Moore replied gratefully. +"I have just been talking to Miss Thurston about you. May I introduce +her? She has just arrived in Washington, and I told her, only half a +second ago, that you were the nicest woman in this town." + +Mrs. Wilson laughed quietly. "I know Miss Thurston's sister and her +friend, Miss Carter. Mr. Hamlin let me help chaperon them at a reception +yesterday afternoon. But Miss Moore has been flattering me dreadfully. I +am a very unimportant person, though I happen to have the good fortune to +be a friend of Mr. Hamlin's and Harriet's. I am keeping house in +Washington at present. Some day you must come to see me." + +Bab thanked her new acquaintance. She thought she had never seen a more +unusual looking woman. It was impossible to guess her age. Mrs. Wilson's +hair was snow-white, but her face was as young as a girl's and her eyes +were fascinatingly dark under her narrow penciled brows. She was gowned +in a pale blue broadcloth dress, and wore on her head a large black hat +trimmed with a magnificent black plume. + +"The top of the afternoon to you!" declared a new arrival in Bab's +sheltered corner. "How is a man to find you if you will hide behind +curtains?" This time Bab recognized Peter Dillon, her acquaintance of the +afternoon before. + +Mrs. Wilson, whose manner suggested a charming frankness and innocence, +took Peter by the arm. "Which of the three Graces do you mean to devote +yourself to this afternoon, Peter? You shall not flatter us all at once." + +"I flatter?" protested Peter, in aggrieved tones. "Why truthfulness is my +strong point." + +Marjorie Moore gave a jarring laugh. "Is it, Mr. Dillon?" she returned, +not too politely. "Please count me out of Mr. Dillon's flatteries. He +does not include a woman who works in them." Marjorie Moore hurried away. + +"Whew-w!" ejaculated Peter. "Miss Moore does not love me, does she? I +came up only to say a few words. Miss Hamlin is keeping me busy this +afternoon. Come and have some coffee, Miss Thurston. I am sure you +look tired." + +"I would rather not," Barbara protested. "I am going to run away upstairs +for a minute, if you will excuse me." + +Before Barbara could make her escape from the drawing-room she saw that +Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson had both lost their frivolous manner and +were deep in earnest conversation. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MR. TU FANG WU + + +Bab knew that at the rear of this floor of Mr. Hamlin's house there was a +small room that was seldom used. She hoped to find refuge in it for a few +minutes, and then to return to her friends. + +The room was empty. Bab sank down into a great arm chair and +closed her eyes. + +A few moments later she opened them though she heard no sound. A fat +little Chinese gentleman stood regarding her with an expression of +amusement on his face. + +Barbara jumped hastily to her feet. Where was she? She felt frightened. +Although the man before her was yellow and foreign, and wore strange +Chinese clothes, he was evidently a person of importance. Had Barbara +awakened at the Court of Pekin? Her companion wore a loose, black satin +coat, heavily embroidered in flowers and dragons and a round, close +fitting silk cap with a button on top of it. + +"I beg your pardon," Bab exclaimed in confusion. "Whom did you wish to +see? There is no one in here." + +The Chinese gentleman made Bab a stately bow. "No one," he protested. +"This is the first time, since my residence in America, that I have heard +an American girl speak of herself as no one. Miss United States is always +some one in her own country. But may I therefore present myself to little +'Miss No One'? I am Dr. Tu Fang Wu, His Imperial Chinese Majesty's Envoy +Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States." + +"I am very proud to meet you, Mr. Minister," Barbara returned, wondering +if "Mr. Minister" was the proper way to address a foreign ambassador. +She thought Mr. Hamlin had told her so, only the night before. + +Bab did not know in the least what she should do or say to such a +distinguished Oriental. She might make a mistake at any minute. For Bab +had been learning, every hour since her arrival in Washington, that in no +place is social etiquette more important than in the Capital City. + +"May I find Mr. Hamlin for you?" Bab suggested, hoping to make her +escape. + +The Chinese Minister shook his head slowly. "Mr. Hamlin is engaged with +his other guests." + +"Then won't you be seated?" Bab asked in desperation. Really she and this +strange yellow gentleman could not stand staring at each other the whole +afternoon. It made Bab feel creepy to have a Chinaman regard her so +steadfastly and without the slightest change of expression, even if he +were a foreign minister. + +Bab felt this meeting to be one of the strangest experiences of her whole +life. She had never seen a Chinaman before, except on the street carrying +a basket of laundry. But here she was forced into a tête-à -tête with one +in the highest social position. + +"Have you any daughters?" Barbara asked in her effort to break the +awful silence. + +Mr. Tu Fang Wu again bowed gravely. "I have one daughter and one small +son. My daughter is not here with me this afternoon. Chinese girls do +not go to entertainments where there are young men. My daughter has been +brought up according to the customs of our country. But she has been in +Washington for several years. I fear she, too, would like to be +emancipated, like the American girl. It is not possible, although she +enjoys many privileges she will not have when she returns to China. My +daughter is betrothed to a nobleman in her own country. Perhaps you would +like to meet my daughter, Wee Tu? She is fifteen years old. I shall ask +Miss Hamlin to bring you to luncheon at the Embassy." + +To Barbara's relief Mr. William Hamlin now appeared at the door. + +The Chinese minister again bowed profoundly to Barbara. "I was +looking for your smoking-room," he laughed, "but I found this young +woman instead." + +As the two men went out of the room, Bab had difficulty in making sure +that she had not been dreaming of this fat, yellow gentleman. + +"Barbara Thurston, what do you mean by running away by yourself?" +exclaimed Grace Carter, a moment later. "We have been looking for you for +ten minutes." + +Hugh Post, Mollie and a strange young man were close behind Grace. + +"I want to present my friend, Lieutenant Elmer Wilson," Hugh announced. +"He is a very important person in Washington." + +"Not a bit of it," laughed the young man. "I am one of the President's +aides. I try to make myself generally useful." + +"Your work must be very interesting," Barbara said quickly. "Do you--" + +Just then a soft contralto voice interrupted her. "Are you ready to go +with me, Elmer?" it said. + +Barbara recognized the voice as belonging to the Mrs. Wilson whom she had +met in the drawing room not an hour before. Could it be that this young +and lovely looking woman was the mother of Elmer Wilson? Surely the young +man was at least twenty-two years old. + +"Coming in a moment, Mother," Elmer replied. "Have you said good-bye +to Harriet?" + +"Harriet is not in the reception room now. Nearly all her guests have +gone," Mrs. Wilson murmured softly. "Mr. Hamlin is angry. But poor +Harriet ought to have a chance to talk for a few minutes to the richest +young man in Washington. I will leave you, Elmer. If you see Harriet, you +may tell her I did not think it fair to disturb her." + +Barbara went back to the drawing-room to search for Ruth. She found Ruth +standing next her uncle, Mr. Hamlin, saying the adieux in Harriet's +place. A few moments later the last visitor had withdrawn and Mr. Hamlin +quickly left Ruth and Bab alone. + +Mr. Hamlin was a small man, with iron gray hair, a square jaw and thin, +tightly closed lips. He seldom talked, and the "Automobile Girls" felt +secretly afraid of him. + +"Uncle is dreadfully angry with Harriet," Ruth explained to Bab, after +Mr. Hamlin was out of hearing. "But he is awfully strict and I do not +think he is exactly fair. He does not give Harriet credit for what she +does, but he gets awfully cross if she makes any mistakes. Harriet is +upstairs, in her own sitting-room, talking to a great friend of hers. He +is a man Uncle hates, although he has known Charlie Meyers since +childhood. He is immensely rich, but he is very ill-bred, and that is why +Uncle dislikes him. I don't think Harriet cares a bit more for this young +man than she does for half a dozen others. But if Uncle doesn't look out +Harriet will marry him for spite. Harriet hates being poor. She is not +poor, really. But I am afraid she is terribly extravagant. Promise not to +laugh when you see Charlie Meyers. He looks a little like a pig, he is so +pink and fat." + +"Girls!" called Harriet's voice. "Are you still in here? Mr. Meyers has +just gone, and I wanted you to meet him. He is going to have a motor +party and take you to see Mount Vernon. We can drive along the Potomac +and have our supper somewhere in the country." + +"I'm going to drive Mr. A. Bubble, Harriet," Ruth replied. "As long as I +brought my car to Washington I must use it. But I suppose we can get up +guests enough to fill two automobiles, can't we?" + +"Where's Father?" Harriet inquired, trying to conceal a tremor in her +voice. "Did he know I was upstairs?" + +"I am afraid he did, Harriet," Ruth replied. + +"Well, I don't care," declared Harriet defiantly. "I will select my own +friends. Charlie Meyers is stupid and ill-bred, but he is good natured, +and I am tired of position and poverty." + +"You are no such thing, Harriet," protested Ruth, taking her cousin by +the hand and leading her to a long mirror. "There, look at yourself in +your yellow gown. You look like a queen. Please don't be silly." + +"It's clothes that make the woman, Ruth," Harriet replied, kissing Ruth +unexpectedly. "And this yellow gown is just one of the things that +troubles me. Dear me, I am glad the reception is over!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AT THE CHINESE EMBASSY + + +"Shall we eat our luncheon with chopsticks to-day?" Mollie Thurston asked +Harriet Hamlin an hour before the "Automobile Girls" and their hostess +were to start for the Chinese Embassy. + +Harriet laughed good-humoredly at Mollie's question. "You absurd child, +don't you know the Chinese minister is one of the most cultivated men in +Washington! When he is in America he does what the Americans do. But his +wife, Lady Tu, is delightfully Chinese. She paints her face in the +Chinese fashion and wears beautiful Chinese clothes in her own home. And +the little Chinese daughter is a darling. Really, Mollie, you will feel +as though you had been on a trip to the Orient when you meet dainty +little Wee Tu." + +"Oh, I don't believe a Chinese girl can be attractive," Mollie argued, +her eyes fixed on the pile of pretty gowns which Harriet was laying out +on her bed. + +"Do wear the rose-colored gown to-day, Harriet!" Mollie pleaded. "It is +such a love of a frock and so becoming to you with your white skin and +dark hair. Dear me, it must be nice to have such lovely clothes!" Mollie +paused for a minute. + +Harriet turned around to find her little friend blushing. + +"I do hope," Mollie went on, "that you are not going to feel ashamed of +Bab and me while we are your guests in Washington. You can see for +yourself that we are poor, and have only a few gowns. Of course it is +different with Grace and Ruth. But our father is dead, and--" Mollie +stopped. She did not know how to go on with her explanation. Somehow she +did not feel that Barbara or her mother would approve of her apologizing +to Harriet for their simple wardrobes. + +"Mollie!" Harriet exclaimed reproachfully. "You know I think you and +Barbara are so pretty and clever that it does not matter what your +clothes are like. Besides, if you should ever want anything special to +wear while you are here, why, I have a host of gowns." + +Mollie shook her head. Of course she could not borrow Harriet's gowns. +And, though Harriet was trying to comfort her, her tone showed very +plainly that she had noticed the slimness of the Thurston girls' +preparations in the matter of wardrobe for several weeks of gayety in +Washington. + +At a little before one o'clock the "Automobile Girls" and Harriet were +ushered into the reception room of the Chinese Embassy by a grave Chinese +servant clad in immaculate white and wearing his long pig-tail curled on +top of his head. + +The minister and his wife came forward. Lady Tu wore a dress of heavy +Chinese embroidery with a long skirt and a short full coat. Her hair was +inky black and built out on each side of her head. She had a band of gold +across it and golden flowers set with jewels hung above each ear. Her +face was enameled in white and a small patch of crimson was painted just +under her lip. + +Bab could hardly restrain an exclamation of delight at the beauty of the +reception room. The walls were covered with Chinese silk and heavy panels +of embroidery. A Chinese banner, with a great dragon on it, hung over the +mantel-piece. The furniture was elaborately carved teakwood. + +The girls at once glanced around for the Chinese minister's daughter. But +she was no where to be seen. Instead, Peter Dillon, Bab's first chance +acquaintance in Washington, was smiling a welcome. Mrs. Wilson and her +son were also present. The two or three other visitors were unknown to +the "Automobile Girls." Even when luncheon was served the little Chinese +girl did not make her appearance. The four girls were beginning to feel +rather disappointed. They had come to the Embassy chiefly to see Wee Tu, +and they were evidently not going to be granted that pleasure. + +Just as they were about to go back to the reception room, Mr. Tu Fang Wu +suggested courteously to his girl guests: "If it pleases you, will you +now go up to my daughter's apartments? She does not eat her meals with us +when we entertain young men guests. It is not the custom of our country." +The Chinese minister touched a bell and another Chinese servant appeared, +his slippered feet making no noise. At the top of the stairs a Chinese +woman met the "Automobile Girls" and conducted them to the apartment of +Wee Tu, the minister's daughter. + +Wee Tu bowed her head to the floor when the "Automobile Girls" entered. +But when she raised her face her little black eyes were glowing, and a +faint pink showed under her smooth, yellow skin. Think what it meant to +this little Chinese maid, with her shut-in life, to meet four American +girls like Barbara, Ruth, Grace and Mollie! Harriet had lingered behind +for a few moments. + +"Your most honorable presence does my miserable self much honor," stated +Wee Tu automatically. + +Bab laughed. She simply could not help it. Wee Tu's greeting seemed so +absurd to her ears, though she knew it was the Chinese manner of +speaking. But Bab's merry laugh saved the situation, as it often had done +before, for the little Chinese maid laughed in return, and the five girls +sat giggling in the most intimate fashion. + +The servant passed around preserved Chinese fruits, nuts and dried +melon seed. + +"Is Miss Hamlin not with you?" the Chinese minister's daughter asked +finally, in broken English. + +At this moment Harriet's voice was heard in the corridor. She was talking +gayly to Peter Dillon. The Chinese girl caught the sound of the young +man's charming laugh. Bab was gazing straight at Wee Tu. Wee Tu looked +like a beautiful Chinese doll, not a bit like a human being. + +At the entrance to Wee Tu's apartment Peter bowed gracefully. He waited +until Harriet entered. + +"Your most honorable ladyship," he inquired. "Have I your permission to +enter your divine apartment? Your most noble father has waived ceremony +in my favor and says I may be allowed to see you in company with your +other guests. You are to pretend you are an American girl to-day." + +Wee Tu again made a low bow, almost touching the soft Chinese rug with +her crown of black hair. Her mantle was of blue silk crepe embroidered in +lotus flowers, and she wore artificial lotus blossoms drooping on either +side of her head. + +After Peter's entrance, Wee Tu did not speak nor smile. She sat with her +slender yellow hands clasped together, her nails so long they were tipped +with gold to prevent their breaking. Her tiny feet in their embroidered +slippers looked much too small for walking. + +Peter made himself agreeable to all the girls. He chatted with Harriet, +joked with Bab and Ruth. Now and then he spoke to the Chinese girl in +some simple gentle fashion that she could understand. + +"Peter Dillon is awfully attractive," Bab thought. "I wonder why I +was prejudiced against him at first because of what that newspaper +girl said." + +Peter walked with Barbara back to Mr. Hamlin's house. + +"Would you mind my asking you a question?" Bab demanded when they were +fairly on the way. + +Peter laughed. "It's a woman's privilege, isn't it?" + +"Well, how do you happen to be so intimate at the Chinese minister's?" +was Barbara's direct question. "They seemed so formal and then all of a +sudden Mr. Tu Fang Wu let you come up to see his daughter." + +"I know them very well," Peter returned simply. "I often dine at the +Chinese minister's with his family. So I have met his daughter several +times before. I have made myself useful to Mr. Tu Fang Wu once or twice, +and my legation likes me to keep in touch with the people in authority." + +"Oh," exclaimed Barbara. She remembered that Peter was equally intimate +at Mr. Hamlin's, and she wondered how he managed to keep up such a +variety of acquaintances. + +"I wonder if you would do a fellow a favor some day?" Peter asked. "I'll +bet you have lots of nerve. Harriet is apt to get frightened at the +critical minute." + +"It would all depend on what you asked me to do," Bab returned puzzled by +Peter's remark. + +"Oh, I won't ask you until I have managed to do something for you first. +It is only that I think you can see a joke and I have a good one that I +mean to try some day," Peter replied. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SUB ROSA + + +The next morning, Peter Dillon was lounging in Mrs. Wilson's library, +chatting with her on apparently easy terms. + +"I think it is a special dispensation of Providence that sent the +'Automobile Girls' to Washington to visit Harriet Hamlin just at this +particular time, Mrs. Wilson," declared Peter Dillon. + +Mrs. Wilson walked back and forth across her drawing room floor several +times before she answered. She looked older in the early morning light. +But her restlessness did not disturb Peter, who was reclining gracefully +in a chair, smoking a cigarette. + +"I am not sure you have reason to bless Providence, Peter Dillon," Mrs. +Wilson protested. "What a man you are! You simply cannot judge all girls +by the same standard. Some day you are going to meet a girl who is +cleverer than you are. And then, where will you be?" + +"Oh, I'll go slowly," Peter argued. "I know I am taking chances in making +friends with the clever one. But she has more nerve and courage than the +others. I am sure it will be much better to leave Harriet out of the +whole business, if possible." + +"All right, Peter," Mrs. Wilson agreed. "Manage your own affairs, since +this happens to be your own special joke. But you had much better have +left the whole matter to me." + +"And spoil my good time with five charming girls?" Peter protested, +smiling. "No, Mrs. Wilson; that is too much to ask of me. If I can't +carry the thing off successfully, you will come to the rescue and help +me. You've promised that. We have had our little jokes together before. +But this strikes me as being about the best of the whole lot. We will +have everybody in Washington laughing up his sleeve pretty soon. There +will be a few people who won't laugh, but so long as we keep quiet we +need not worry about them. Has Elmer gone to work? I know I have made +you a dreadfully early visit. It is very charming of you to be up in +time to see me." + +"Don't flatter me, Peter; it is not worth while," Mrs. Wilson said +angrily. Then she smiled. "Never mind, Peter; you can no more help +flattering than you can help breathing, whether your reason is a good or +a bad one. I suppose it is because you are an Irishman. By the way, Elmer +admires one of these charming 'Automobile Girls.' He has talked of no +one else except Mollie Thurston since Harriet's tea. Be careful what you +say or do before him." + +"I shall be careful," Peter returned easily. "My attentions are directed +toward the other sister. How have you managed to keep that big boy of +yours so much in the dark about--oh, a number of things?" finished Peter. + +"It is because Elmer has perfect faith in me, Peter," Mrs. Wilson +answered, passing her hand over her eyes to hide their expression. + +"As all other men have had before him, my lady," Peter avowed. "Is it +true that Mr. William Hamlin is now a worshiper at your shrine?" + +"Absurd!" protested Mrs. Wilson. "Here comes Elmer." + +"Why, Peter Dillon, this is a surprise!" exclaimed the young lieutenant, +walking into the room in search of his mother. "I never knew Mother to +get up so early before. I have just been inquiring of your maid, Mother, +to know what had become of you. Harriet Hamlin wants you to chaperon us +on an automobile ride out to Mt. Vernon and along the Potomac River. +Charlie Meyers is giving the party, and Harriet thinks her father won't +object if you will go along to look after us. That Charlie Meyers is an +awful bounder! But Harriet wants to show her little Yankee visitors the +sights. Do come along with us, Mother. For I have a fancy I should like +to stroll through the old Washington garden with 'sweet sixteen.'" + +"I will chaperon you with pleasure, Elmer," Mrs. Wilson agreed. "But what +about you, Peter? Are you not invited?" + +Peter looked chagrined. + +"No; I am not invited, and I call it unkind of Harriet. She knows I am +dreadfully impressed with the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +Mrs. Wilson and Elmer both laughed provokingly. "That is just what's the +trouble with you, Peter. Harriet is accustomed to your devotion to her. +Now that you have turned your thoughts in another direction, she may look +upon you as a faithless swain," Mrs. Wilson teased. + +"Don't undertake more than you can manage, Peter," teased Elmer Wilson. + +"That is good advice for Peter. Remember, Peter, I have warned you. Some +day you will run across a girl who is cleverer than you are. Then look +out, young man," Mrs. Wilson repeated. + +But Peter only laughed cheerfully. "What girl isn't cleverer than a man?" +he protested. "_Au revoir_. I shall do my best to persuade Harriet to +let me go along with her party this afternoon. I suppose we shall be +starting soon after luncheon, as it is Saturday." + +"Mother, can you let me have some money?" Elmer asked, as soon as Peter +was out of hearing. "I am ashamed to ask you for it. But going out in +society does cost a fellow an awful lot." + +Mrs. Wilson shook her head. "I am sorry, Boy; I can't let you have +anything just now. I am short of money myself at present. But I expect to +have some money coming in, say in about two weeks, or even ten days. Then +I can let you have what you like." + + * * * * * + +"How shall we divide our party for the motor ride, Ruth?" asked Harriet +Hamlin about two o'clock on the afternoon of the same day. + +Ruth's red car was standing in front of Mr. Hamlin's door with another +larger one belonging to Harriet's friend, Charlie Meyers, waiting +behind it. + +The automobile party stood out on the side walk and Peter Dillon had +somehow managed to be one of them. + +"Suppose, Barbara, Grace and Hugh Post go along with me, Harriet?" Ruth +proposed. "Mr. Meyers' car is larger than mine. He can take the rest of +the party." + +"What a division!" protested Peter Dillon, as he climbed into Ruth's +automobile and took his seat next Bab. "Do you suppose, for one instant, +that we are going to see Hugh Post drive off, the only man among three +girls? Not if I can help it!" + +The two automobiles traveled swiftly through Washington allowing the four +"Automobile Girls" only tantalizing glimpses of the executive buildings +which they passed on the way. + +In about an hour the cars covered the sixteen miles that lay between the +Capital City and the home of its first President. + +Such a deep and abiding tranquillity pervaded the atmosphere of Mt. +Vernon that the noisy chatter of the young people was, for an instant, +hushed into silence, as they drove through the great iron gates at the +entrance to Mt. Vernon, and on up the elm-shaded lawn to the house. + +Although it was December, the fall had been unusually warm and the trees +were not yet bare of their autumn foliage; the grass still looked smooth +and green under foot. + +The "Automobile Girls" held their breath as their eyes rested on the most +famous historic home in America. + +"Oh, Ruth!" exclaimed Bab. But when she saw Peter's eyes smiling at her +enthusiasm she stopped and would not say another word. + +Of course, Mt. Vernon was an old story to Mrs. Wilson, to Harriet, and +indeed to the entire party, except the four girls. But they wished to see +every detail of the Washington house. They went into the wide hall and +there beheld the key to the Bastile presented by Lafayette to General +Washington. They examined the music room, with its queer, old-fashioned +musical instruments; went up to Martha Washington's bedroom and even +looked upon the white-canopied bed where George Washington died. Indeed, +they wandered from garret to cellar in the old house. But it was a +beautiful afternoon and the outdoors called them at last. + +And, after all, it is the outdoors at Mt. Vernon that is most beautiful. +The house is a simple country home with a wide, old-fashioned portico and +gallery built of frame and painted to look like stone. + +But there is no palace on the Rhine, no castle in Spain, that has a more +beautiful natural situation than Mt. Vernon. It stands on a piece of +gently swelling land that slopes gradually down to the Potomac, and +commands a view of many miles of the broad and noble river. + +Bab and Ruth managed to get away from the rest of their party and to slip +out on the wide colonnaded veranda. + +"How peaceful and beautiful it is out here," Ruth exclaimed, with her +arm around her friend's waist. "It seems to me that, if I lived in +Washington, I would just run out here whenever anything uncomfortable +happened to me. I am sure, if I spent the day at Mt. Vernon, I should not +feel trouble any more." + +Barbara stood silent. A vague premonition of some possible trouble +overtook her. + +"Ruth," Bab asked suddenly, "do you like Harriet's friend, Peter Dillon? +Every now and then he talks to me in the most mysterious fashion. I don't +understand what he means." + +Ruth looked unusually grave. Then she answered Bab in a very curious +tone. "I know you have lots of common sense, Bab, dear," Ruth began. "But +promise me you won't put any special faith in Peter Dillon. He is not one +bit like Hugh, or Ralph Ewing, or the boys we met at the Major's house +party. When I meet any one who is such a favorite with everyone I always +wonder whether he has any real feelings or whether he is trying to +accomplish some end. I suppose Peter Dillon can't help striving to be +agreeable to everyone." + +Bab laughed a little. "Why, Ruth," she protested, "that idea does not +sound a bit like you. You are sweet to everyone yourself, dear, and +everyone loves you. But I do know what you mean about Peter Dillon. I--" + +"Hello," cried Mollie's sweet voice. She waved a long blue scarf +toward Ruth and Bab. Mollie and Elmer Wilson were standing on the +lawn, examining the motto on the sun dial. It read, "I record none but +sunny hours." + +"Let me write down that motto for you, Miss Thurston," Elmer Wilson +suggested. "I hope you may follow the old sun dial's example and record +none but sunny hours yourself." + +"Ruth!" called Hugh, coming around from the other side of the porch with +Peter Dillon. "Well, here you are, at last! It is not fair for you two +girls to run off together like this. Harriet has disappeared, and Mrs. +Wilson is hiding somewhere. Do you remember, Ruth, you promised to go +with me to see the old Washington deer park. It has just been restocked +with deer. Won't you come, too, Bab?" + +Barbara shook her head as Hugh and Ruth walked off together. Bab felt +sure that Hugh would like to have a chance to talk with Ruth alone, +for they had never ceased to be intimate friends since the early days +at Newport. + +Peter Dillon stood looking out at the river, whistling softly, "Kathleen +Mavourneen." It was the song Barbara had first heard him whistle in the +drawing-room of Mr. Hamlin's house. The young man said nothing, for a few +moments, even when he and Bab were alone. But when Bab came over toward +him, Peter smiled. He had his hat off and he had run his hands through +his dark auburn hair. + +"I say, Miss Thurston, why can't you make up your mind to like me?" he +questioned. "Surely you don't suspect me of dark designs, do you? You +American people are so strange. Just because I am half a Russian you +think I have some sinister purpose in my mind. I am not an anarchist, +and I don't want to go about trampling on the poor. I wish you could +meet the Russian ambassador. He is about the most splendid-looking man +you ever saw. I know him, well, you see, because my mother was a distant +cousin of his." + +Barbara laughed good-humoredly. "You seem to be a kind of connecting link +between three or four nations--Russia, America, China. What are your real +duties at your legation?" + +Barbara looked at her companion with a real question in her brown eyes--a +question she truly desired to have answered. She was interested to know +what duties an attaché performed for his embassy. Peter, in spite of his +frivolities, claimed to be a hard worker. + +"You have not seen the loveliest part of Mt. Vernon yet, Miss Thurston," +Peter Dillon interposed just at this instant. "I want to show you the old +garden, and we must hurry before the gates are closed. Yes; I know I did +not answer your question. An attaché just makes himself generally useful +to his chief. But if you really want to know what my ambition is, and how +I work to achieve it, why some day I will tell you." Peter looked at Bab +so seriously that she answered quickly: + +"Yes, I should dearly love to see the garden." + +Bab and Peter Dillon wandered together through the paths formed by the +box hedges planted in Martha Washington's garden more than a century ago. + +Neither seemed to feel like talking. The young man had seen the gardener +as they entered the enclosure, and had persuaded him to allow them to go +through the lovely spot alone. + +Bab's vivid imagination brought to life the old colonial ladies who had +once wandered in this famous garden. She saw their white wigs, their +powder and patches and full skirts. So Bab forgot all about her +companion. + +Suddenly she heard Peter give a slight exclamation. They had both come to +the end of the garden walk. There before them stood a great rose tree. +Blooming in the unusually warm sunshine were two rose-buds, gently tipped +with frost. + +"Ah, Miss Thurston, how glad I am we found the garden first!" Peter +cried. "This is the famous Mary Washington rose, which Washington +planted here in his garden, and named in honor of his mother. Wait here +until I find the gardener. I am going to make him let us have these two +tiny rose-buds." + +"How nice Peter Dillon really is," Bab thought. "Ruth was mistaken in +warning me against him. Of course, he does not show on the surface what +he actually feels. But perhaps I shall find out he is a finer fellow than +we think he is. Mr. Hamlin says Harriet is wrong in believing Peter is +never in earnest about anything." + +"It's all right, Miss Thurston," called Peter, returning in a few minutes +with his eyes shining. "The gardener says we may have the roses." The +young fellow dropped down on his knees before the rose bush without a bit +of affectation or self-consciousness. He skilfully cut the two half faded +rose-buds from the stalk and handed one to Barbara. + +"Keep this, Miss Thurston," he said earnestly. "And if ever you should +wish me to do you a favor, just send the flower to me and I shall perform +whatever task you set me to do to the best of my skill." Peter looked at +his own rose. "May I keep my rose-bud for the same purpose?" he begged +quietly. "Perhaps I shall send my flower to you some day and ask you to +do me a service. Will you do it for me?" + +"Yes, Mr. Dillon, I will do you any favor that I can," Bab returned +steadily. "But I don't make rash promises in the dark. And I have very +little opportunity to do people favors. You make me think of the +newspaper girl, Marjorie Moore. She tried to force me into a promise +without letting me know what she wanted, the first day I saw her. Does +everyone try to get some one to do something for him in Washington?" + +At the mention of Marjorie Moore's name the change in Peter Dillon's face +was so startling that Barbara was startled. Just now he did not look in +the least like an Irishman. His lips tightened into a fine, cruel line, +his eyes grew almost black and had a queer, Chinese slant to them. It +suddenly dawned on Barbara, that Russians have Asiatic blood in their +veins and are often more like Oriental people than they are like those of +the western world. + +But Peter only said carelessly, after he had regained control of his +face: "Miss Moore doesn't like me; and frankly, I don't like her. She +told you she did society work for her newspaper. She does a great deal +more. She is constantly watching at the legations to see if she can spy +on any of their secret information. It is not good form to warn one girl +against another. But if I were you, Miss Thurston, I would take with a +grain of salt any information that Miss Moore might give you." + +Barbara answered quietly: "Oh, I don't suppose Miss Moore will tell me +any of her secrets. She does not come to Mr. Hamlin's except on business. +Harriet does not like her." + +"Good for Harriet!" Peter muttered to himself. "It may be Harriet, +after all!" + +"Barbara Thurston, you and Peter come along this minute," Harriet ordered +unexpectedly. "Don't you know we shall be locked up in Mt. Vernon if we +stay here much longer. Ruth's automobile is already filled and she is +waiting to start. You and Peter are to get into Mr. Meyers' car with me. +We have another hour before sunset. We are going to motor along the river +and have our supper at an inn a few miles from here." + +As Peter Dillon ran ahead to join Harriet Hamlin, a small piece of paper +fell out of his pocket. Barbara picked it up and slipped it inside her +coat, intending to hand it back to Mr. Dillon as soon as she had an +opportunity. But there were other things that seemed of more importance +to absorb her attention for the rest of the evening. And Barbara was not +to remember the paper until some time later. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ARREST + + +After eating supper, and spending the evening at an old-fashioned +Southern Inn on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, the two +automobile parties started back to Washington. + +Barbara and Peter Dillon occupied seats in the car with Harriet and Mr. +Meyers, Mrs. Wilson, and two Washington girls who had been members of +their party. + +As Ruth did not know the roads it was decided that she keep to the rear +and follow the car in front of her. + +It was a clear moonlight night, and, though the roads were not good, no +member of the party dreamed of trouble. + +Bab sat next to Charlie Meyers, and her host was in a decidedly sulky +temper. For Harriet had grown tired of his devotion, after several hours +of it during the afternoon, and was amusing herself with Peter. + +No sooner had the two cars sped away from the peaceful shadows of Mt. +Vernon, than Peter began to play Prince Charming to Harriet. + +Charlie Meyers did not know what to do. He was a stupid fellow, who +expected his money to carry him through everything. He would hardly +listen to Barbara's conversation or take the slightest interest in +anything she tried to say. + +Every time Harriet's gay laugh rang out from the next seat Charlie Meyers +would drive his car faster than ever, until it fairly bounded over the +rough places in the road. + +Several times Mrs. Wilson remonstrated with him. "You are going too fast, +Mr. Meyers. It is dark, and I am afraid we shall have an accident if you +are not more careful. Please go slower." + +For an instant, Mr. Meyers would obey Mrs. Wilson's request to lessen the +speed of his car. Then he would dash ahead as though the very furies were +after him. + +As for Ruth, she had to follow the automobile in front in order to find +her way, so it was necessary for her to run her car at the same high +speed. Neither Ruth nor her companions knew the pitfalls along the road. +Hugh did not keep his automobile in Washington, and, though he had a +general idea of the direction they should take, he had never driven along +the particular course selected by Mr. Meyers for their return trip. + +Ruth felt her face flush with temper as her car shook and plunged along +the road. In order to keep within a reasonable distance of the heavier +car, she had to put on full power and forge blindly ahead. + +Once or twice Ruth called out: "Won't you go a little slower in front, +please? I can't find my way along this road at such a swift pace." + +But Ruth's voice floated back on the winds and the leading car paid no +heed to her. + +Then Elmer and Hugh took up the refrain, shouting with all their lung +power. They merely wasted their breath. Charlie Meyers either did not +hear them or pretended not to do so. He never once turned his head, or +asked if those back of him were making a safe journey. + +Barbara was furious. She fully realized Ruth's predicament, although she +was not in her chum's car. "Please don't get out of sight of Ruth's car, +Mr. Meyers," Bab urged her companion. But he paid not the slightest +attention to her request. + +Bab looked anxiously back over the road. Now and then she could see Mr. +A. Bubble's lamps; more often Ruth's car was out of sight. Patience was +not Barbara's strong point. + +"Harriet," she protested, "Won't you ask Mr. Meyers to slow down so that +Ruth can follow him. He will not pay the least attention to me." + +"What is your hurry, Charlie!" asked Harriet, in a most provoking tone. +She knew the young fellow was not a gentleman, and that he was showing +his anger against her by making them all uncomfortable. But Harriet was +in a wicked humor herself, and she would not try to appease their cross +host. She was having an extremely pleasant time with Peter Dillon, and +really did not realize Ruth's difficulties. + +The front car slowed imperceptibly, then hurried on again. + +At about half past ten o'clock, Mr. Meyers turned into one of the narrow +old-fashioned streets of the town of Alexandria, which is just south-west +of Washington. The town was only dimly lighted and the roads made winding +turns, so that it was impossible to see any great distance ahead. + +Ruth had managed to keep her car going, though she had long since lost +her sweet temper, and the others of her party were very angry. + +"It serves us right," Hugh Post declared to Ruth. "We ought never to have +accepted this fellow's invitation. I knew he wasn't a gentleman, and I +know Mr. Hamlin does not wish Harriet to have anything to do with him. +Yet, just because the fellow is enormously rich and gives automobile +parties, here we have been spending the evening as his guests. Look here, +Ruth, do you think I can forget I have enjoyed his hospitality, and +punch his head for him when we get back to Washington, for leading you on +a chase like this?" + +Ruth smiled and shook her head. She was seldom nervous about her +automobile after all her experiences as chauffeur. Yet this wild ride at +night through towns of which she knew little or nothing, was not exactly +her idea of sport. + +Mr. Bubble was again outdistanced. As the streets were deserted, Ruth +decided to make one more violent spurt in an effort to catch up with the +front car. Poor Mr. A. Bubble who had traveled so far with his carload of +happy girls was shaking from side to side. But Ruth did not think of +danger. Alexandria is a sleepy old Southern town and nearly all its +inhabitants were in bed. + +"Aren't there any speed regulations in this part of the world, Hugh?" +Ruth suddenly inquired. + +But she was too late. At this instant everyone in her car heard a +loud shout. + +"Hold up there! Stop!" A figure on a bicycle darted out of a dark alley +in hot pursuit of them. + +"Go it, Ruth!" Hugh whispered. But Ruth shook her head. + +"No," she answered. "We must face the music." Ruth put on her stop brake +and her car slowed down. + +"What do you mean," cried a wrathful voice, "tearing through a peaceful +town like this, lickitty-split, as though there were no folks on earth +but you. You just come along to the station with me! You'll find out, +pretty quick, what twenty-five miles an hour means in this here town." + +"Let me explain matters to you," Hugh protested. "It is all a mistake." + +"I ain't never arrested anybody for speeding yet that they ain't told me +it was just a mistake," fumed the policeman. "But you will git a chance +to tell your story to the chief of police. You're just wasting good time +talkin' to me. I ain't got a mite of patience with crazy automobilists." + +"Don't take us all to the station house, officer!" Hugh pleaded. "Just +take me along, and let the rest of the party go on back to Washington. +It's awfully late. You surely wouldn't keep these young ladies." + +"It's the lady that's a-runnin' the car, ain't it? She's the one that is +under arrest," said the policeman obstinately. + +Ruth had not spoken since her automobile was stopped. + +She had a lump in her throat, caused partly by anger and partly by +embarrassment and fright. Then, too, Ruth was wondering what her father +would say. In the years she had been running her automobile, over all the +thousands of miles she had traveled, Ruth had never before been stopped +for breaking the speed laws. She had always promised Mr. Stuart to be +careful. And one cannot have followed the fortunes of Ruth Stuart and her +friends in their adventures without realizing Ruth's high and fine regard +for her word. Yet here were Ruth and her friends about to be taken to +jail for breaking the laws of the little Virginia city. + +It was small wonder that Ruth found it difficult to speak. + +"I will go with the policeman," she assented. "Perhaps he will let you +take Mollie and Grace on home." + +Of course no one paid the slightest attention to Ruth's ridiculous +suggestion. Her friends were not very likely to leave her alone to argue +her case before the justice of the peace. + +"I say, man, do be reasonable," Hugh urged. He would not give up. "You +can hold me in jail all night if you will just let the others go." + +"Please don't argue with the policeman, Hugh," Ruth begged. "He is only +doing his duty. I am so sorry, Mollie darling, for you and Grace. But I +know you won't leave me." + +"Oh, we don't mind," the two girls protested. "I suppose we can pay the +fine and they will let us go at once." + +Hugh said nothing, for he knew that he had only a few dollars in +his pocket. + +When Ruth's car finally reached the station house it was almost +eleven o'clock. + +The policeman took the automobile party inside the station. It was bitter +cold in the room, for the winter chill had fallen with the close of the +December day. The fire had died out in the air-tight iron stove in the +room, and Mollie, Ruth and Grace could hardly keep from shivering. + +"Well, where is the justice of the peace or whatever man we ought to see +about this wretched business?" Hugh demanded. + +At last the policeman looked a little apologetic. "I'll get some one to +make up a fire for you," he answered. "I have got to go out and wake up +the justice to look after your case. It's bed-time and he's home asleep." + +"Do you expect us to sit here in this freezing dirty old room half the +night while you go around looking up a magistrate?" Hugh demanded, +wrathfully. + +"I told you I would have the fire built up," the policeman answered +sullenly. "But it ain't my fault you got into this trouble. You ought +not to have broken the law. We have had about as much trouble with +automobilists in this here town as we are willing to stand for. And I +might as well tell you, right now, the court will make it pretty hot for +you. It may be I can't get the justice to hear your case until to-morrow, +and you'll have to stay here all night." + +"Stay here all night!" cried the five young people, as they sank down +into five hard wooden chairs in utter despair. + +"Harriet, have you seen Ruth's automobile?" Bab asked, as Charlie Meyers' +car got safely out of Alexandria and started on the road toward +Washington. + +Harriet and Peter both looked around and strained their eyes in the +darkness. But there was no sign of Ruth or her party. + +"Don't you think we had better go back a little, Charlie?" Harriet now +suggested. "I am afraid you have gotten too far ahead of Ruth for her to +follow you." + +"What has Miss Stuart got Hugh Post and Elmer Wilson with her for, if +they can't show her the way to town?" argued the impolite host of the +automobile parties. + +"I think Charlie is right, Harriet. I would not worry," interposed Mrs. +Wilson, in her soft tones. "Elmer may not have known the road during the +early part of our trip, but neither one of the boys is very apt to lose +his way between Alexandria and Washington." Mrs. Wilson laughed at the +very absurdity of the idea. + +Harriet said nothing more, and, although Bab was by no means satisfied, +she felt compelled to hold her peace. + +"Will you leave me at my house, Charlie?" Mrs. Wilson demanded, as soon +as their automobile reached Washington. "I know Harriet expects to make a +Welsh rarebit for you at her home, but I am going to ask you to excuse +me. I am a good deal older than you children, and I am tired." + +When Barbara reached the Hamlin house she hoped ardently to see the +familiar lights of her old friend, A. Bubble waiting outside the door. +But the street was bare of automobiles. + +There was nothing to do but to follow the other young people into the +house and take off her hat and coat. But Bab had not the heart to join +Harriet in the dining-room where the preparations for making the rarebit +were now going on. She lingered forlornly in the hall. Every now and then +she would peer anxiously out into the darkness. Still there was no sign +of Ruth or any member of her party! Barbara was wretched. She was now +convinced that some accident had befallen them. + +"Come in, Barbara," called Harriet cheerfully. "The Welsh rarebit is +done and it has to be eaten on the instant. I will make another for +Ruth's crowd when they get in. They are certainly awfully slow in +arriving." + +"Harriet!" Barbara's white face appeared at the dining-room door. "I +hate to be a nuisance, but I am dreadfully worried about the other +girls. I know they would have gotten home by this time if nothing had +happened to them." + +Poor Barbara had to make a dreadful effort to swallow her pride, for +Charlie Meyers had been dreadfully rude to her all afternoon. "Mr. +Meyers," she pleaded, "won't you take me back in your car to look for my +friends? I simply can't bear the suspense any longer." Barbara's eyes +were full of tears. + +"Oh, Bab, you are foolish to worry," Harriet protested. "It would not be +worth while for you and Mr. Meyers to go back now. You would only pass +Ruth on the road. It is nearly midnight." + +"I know it is," Bab agreed. "And that is why I am so frightened. Don't +you think you could take me to look for them? Please do, Mr. Meyers." + +The ill-bred fellow shrugged his shoulders. "What do you take me for, +Miss Thurston? I am not going to let my rarebit get cold. There is +nothing the matter with your friends. They are likely to be along at +any minute." + +Barbara did not know what to do. Mr. Hamlin had not yet come in. Yet she +must find out what had happened to Ruth, Mollie and Grace. Bab once +thought of starting out alone and on foot, back up the long country road, +but she gave up the idea as sheer foolishness. + +At that moment the grandfather's clock in the hall chimed midnight. +Almost two hours had passed since the two automobiles had entered +Alexandria, and the little town was only eight miles from Washington. + +Bab felt she was going to cry before Harriet's guests. She slipped her +hand in her pocket to find her handkerchief. As she silently pressed her +handkerchief against her trembling lips she smelt a delicate perfume. +Something fresh and cool and aromatic touched her face. It was the tiny +rose-bud Peter Dillon had presented to her in the garden! + +Now Bab had determined never to ask Peter to do her a favor. She felt +that, once she returned his pledge to him, he had the same right to ask +a favor of her. But what could Barbara do? Her beloved sister and +friends had certainly come to grief somewhere. And Bab was helpless to +find them alone. + +"Mr. Dillon," Bab spoke under her breath, just showing her handkerchief +to him with the rose-bud crushed between its damp folds, "won't you help +me to find Ruth?" Bab only glanced at the flower with a shy smile. But +Peter saw it. + +He jumped to his feet, his face flushing. + +"Put the flower back, Miss Thurston," he said quietly to Barbara. "You do +not need to ask me to help you look for your friends as a favor to you. I +am ashamed of myself to have waited until you asked me. Harriet, I am +going back to look for your guests." + +Harriet, who was also feeling uneasy without being willing to confess it, +cheerfully agreed. + +"I am going to take your car, Meyers," declared Peter Dillon without +saying so much as by your leave. + +Bab and Peter Dillon hurried out to the waiting automobile. Both stopped +only to take coats and caps from the rack in the hall. + +If Peter Dillon wished to make a friend of Barbara Thurston, his prompt +response to her plea for help came nearer accomplishing it than anything +else in the world. When Peter refused Bab's proffered rose-bud she then +determined to do him any favor that she could whenever he might desire to +ask it of her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MOLLIE'S TEMPTATION + + +The next morning the "Automobile Girls" were sitting in the library of +Mr. Hamlin's home. Ruth, Mollie and Grace were there, for Peter and Bab +had secured their release from the Alexandria jail. + +"But how do you think he ever accomplished it?" Mollie inquired. + +Harriet laughed and flushed. "Oh, Peter accomplished it in the same way +he does everything else--by making friends with people," she declared. +"Girls, I hope you realize how ashamed I am of last night's proceedings. +I never dreamed that anything had happened to you, or I should have +certainly forced Charlie Meyers to turn back. But I think I have learned +a lesson. Charlie Meyers was horribly rude to you, Bab, and I told him +what we thought of him after you left. I don't want to see him again. So +Father, at least, will be glad. Though how I am to get on in this world +without a husband with money, I don't know." And Harriet sighed. + +"Still I would like to have my questions answered," Mollie repeated. "How +did Peter Dillon get us away from that wretched jail in such a short +time when we thought we might have to stay there all night?" + +"Why, he just found the justice of the peace, arranged about Ruth's fine, +mentioned Mr. Hamlin's name and did a few more things," Bab laughed. "So, +at last, you were permitted to come home." + +"Poor Hugh and Elmer were so mortified at not having enough money with +them to pay the fine. It was just an accident. Yet it was truly my +fault," Ruth argued. "Father has always insisted that I take my +pocket-book whenever I go out of the house. But, of course, I forgot it +yesterday." + +"Will Uncle Robert be very angry with you, Ruth, for being arrested?" +Harriet asked. "He need never find out anything about it. Your fine +wasn't so very large, and you always have money enough to pay for +anything." + +Ruth laughed. "Oh, I always tell Father every thing! I don't think +he will be very angry with me, when he hears how we happened to get +into trouble." + +"Do you really tell your father everything?" Harriet asked, in a +surprised tone. + +"Why, yes; why not?" Ruth questioned. + +Harriet shook her head. "Well, I do not tell my father all my affairs. +Oh, dear me, no!" + +"I suppose I shall have to go back to Alexandria to-day, and appear at +court," Ruth lamented. "I just dread it." + +"Oh, no you won't," Bab explained. "Mr. Dillon said he would talk matters +over with Mr. Hamlin, and that he had some influential friends over +there. You will have to pay your fine, Ruth, but you probably will not +have to appear at the trial. They will settle it privately." + +"Girls," exclaimed Harriet, "I forgot to tell you something. There is a +big reception at the White House to-morrow evening, and Father says he +wishes to take the 'Automobile Girls' to present them to the President." + +"How exciting!" exclaimed Grace Carter. "To think that the 'Automobile +Girls' are going to meet the President, and yet you speak of it as +calmly, Harriet Hamlin, as though it were an everyday affair." + +"Oh, nonsense, Grace," Harriet begged. "It will be fun to go to the +White House with you. You girls are so interested in everything. But a +White House reception is an old story to me, and I am afraid there will +be a frightful crowd. But which one of you will go shopping with me +this morning?" + +"I will," cried Mollie. "I'd dearly love to see the shops. We don't have +any big stores in Kingsbridge." + +"Is there anything I can get for you, girls?" Harriet asked. + +Ruth called her cousin over in the corner. "Will you please order flowers +for us to-morrow night!" Ruth requested. "Father told me to be sure to +get flowers whenever we wanted them." + +"Lucky Ruth!" sighed Harriet. "I wish I had such a rich and generous +father as you have!" + +"What can we wear to the President's reception to-morrow, Bab?" Mollie +whispered in her sister's ear, while Harriet and Ruth were having their +conference. + +Bab thought for a moment. "You can wear the corn-colored frock you wore +to dinner with the Princess Sophia at Palm Beach. It is awfully pretty, +and you have never worn it since." + +"That old thing!" cried Mollie, pouting. + +"Suppose you get some pale yellow ribbons, Mollie, and I will make you a +new sash and a bow for your hair," Bab suggested. + +Pretty Mollie frowned. "All right," she agreed. + +Harriet and Mollie did not go at once to the shops. They drove first to +Harriet's dressmaker, the most fashionable in Washington. + +"I must try on a little frock," Harriet explained. "We can do our +shopping afterwards. I want you to see a beautiful coat I am having made, +from a Chinese crepe shawl the Chinese Minister's wife gave me." + +Madame Louise, the head of the dressmaking establishment, came in to +attend to Harriet. The new coat was in a wonderful shade of apricot, +lined with satin and embroidered in nearly every color of silk. + +"Oh, Harriet, how lovely!" Mollie exclaimed. + +"Yes, isn't it?" Harriet agreed. "But I really ought not to have had this +coat made up. It has cost almost as much as though I had bought it +outright. And I don't need it. I hope you have not made my dress very +expensive, Madame. I told you to get me up a simple frock." + +"Ah, but Miss Hamlin, the simple frocks cost as much as the fancy ones," +argued the dressmaker. "This little gown is made of the best satin and +lace. But how charming is the effect." + +Mollie echoed the dressmaker's verdict as she gazed at Harriet with +admiring eyes. Harriet's gown was white satin. Her black hair and great +dusky eyes looked darker from the contrast and her skin even more +startlingly fair. + +Harriet could not help a little smile of vanity as she saw herself in the +long mirror in the fitting room. + +"Be sure to send these things home by to-morrow, Madame Louise," she +demanded. "Father and I are going to take our guests to one of the +President's receptions and I want to wear this gown." + +Mollie gave a little impatient sigh. + +"What is the matter, Mollie?" inquired Harriet, seeing that her little +friend looked tired and unhappy. "I am awfully sorry to have kept you +waiting like this. It is a bore to watch other people try on their +clothes. I will come with you directly." + +"Oh, I am not tired watching you, Harriet," pretty Mollie answered +truthfully. "I was only wishing I had such a beautiful frock to wear to +the reception to-morrow." + +Madame Louise clapped her hands. "Wait a minute, young ladies. I have +something to show you. You must wait, for it is most beautiful." The +dressmaker turned and whispered to one of her girl assistants. The girl +went out and came back in a few minutes with another frock over her arm. + +Mollie gave a deep sigh of admiration. + +"How exquisite!" Harriet exclaimed. "Whose dress is that, Madame? It +looks like clouds or sea foam, or anything else that is delicately +beautiful." + +Madame shook out a delicate pale blue silk, covered with an even lighter +tint of blue chiffon, which shaded gently into white. + +"This dress was an order, Miss Hamlin," Madame Louise explained. "I sent +to Paris for it. Of course it was some time before it arrived in +Washington. In the meanwhile a death occurred in the family of the young +woman who had ordered the dress. She is now in mourning, and she left the +dress with me to sell for her. She is willing to let it go at a great +bargain. The little frock would just about fit your young friend. Would +she not be beautiful in it, with her pale yellow hair and her blue eyes? +Ah, the frock looks as though it had been created for her! Do you think +she would allow me to try it on her?" + +"Do slip the frock on, Mollie," Harriet urged. "It will not take much +time. And I would dearly love to see you in such a gown. It is the +sweetest thing I ever saw." + +Mollie shook her head. "It is not worth while for me to put it on, +Harriet. Madame must understand that I cannot possibly buy it." + +"But the frock is such a bargain, Mademoiselle," the dressmaker +continued. "I will sell it to you for a mere song." + +"But I haven't the song to pay for it, Madame," Mollie laughed. "Come on, +Harriet. We must be going." + +"Of course you can't buy the dress, Mollie," Harriet interposed. "But +Madame will not mind your just slipping into it. Try it on, just for my +sake. I know you will look like a perfect dream." + +Mollie could not refuse Harriet's request. + +"Shut your eyes, Mollie, while Madame dresses you up," Harriet proposed. + +Mollie shut her eyes tightly. + +Madame Louise slipped on the gown. "It fits to perfection," she whispered +to Harriet. Then the dressmaker, who was really an artist in her line, +picked up Mollie's bunch of soft yellow curls and knotted them carelessly +on top of Mollie's dainty head. She twisted a piece of the pale blue +shaded chiffon into a bandeau around her gold hair. + +"Now, look at yourself, Mademoiselle," she cried in triumph. + +"Mollie, Mollie, you are the prettiest thing in the world!" Harriet +exclaimed. + +Mollie gave a little gasp of astonishment when she beheld herself in the +mirror. Certainly she looked like Cinderella after the latter had been +touched with the fairy wand. She stood regarding herself with wide open +eyes of astonishment, and cheeks in which the rose flush deepened. + +"The dress must belong to Mademoiselle! I could not have made such a fit +if I had tried," repeated the dressmaker. + +"How much is the dress worth, Madame?" Harriet queried. + +"Worth? It is worth one hundred and fifty dollars! But I will give the +little frock away for fifty," the dressmaker answered. + +"Can't you possibly buy it, child?" Harriet pleaded with Mollie. "It is a +perfectly wonderful bargain, and you are too lovely in it. I just can't +bear to have you refuse it." + +"I am sorry, Harriet," Mollie returned firmly. "But I have not the money. +Won't you please take the gown off me, Madame!" + +"Your friend can take the frock from me now and pay me later. It does not +matter," said the dressmaker. "She can write home for the money." + +For one foolish moment Mollie did dream that she might write to her +mother for the price of this darling blue frock. Mollie was sure she had +never desired anything so keenly in her life. But in a moment Mollie came +to her senses. Where would her mother get such a large sum of money to +send her? It had been hard work for Mrs. Thurston to allow Barbara and +Mollie the slight expenses of their trip to Washington. No; the pretty +gown was impossible! + +"Do unbutton the gown for me, please, Harriet," Mollie entreated. "I +really can't buy it." Mollie felt deeply embarrassed, and was sorry she +had allowed herself to be persuaded into trying on the gown. + +"Mollie!" exclaimed Harriet suddenly. "Don't you have a monthly +allowance?" + +Mollie nodded her head. Silly Mollie hoped Harriet would not ask her just +what her allowance was. For Mrs. Thurston could give her daughters only +five dollars a month apiece for their pin money. + +"Then I know just what to do," Harriet declared. "You must just buy this +frock, Mollie dear. I expect to have a dividend from some stock I own, +and when it comes in, I shall pay Madame for the dress, and you can pay +me back as it suits you. Do please consent, Mollie. Just look at yourself +in the glass once more and I know you can't resist my plan." + +Mollie did take one more peep at herself in the mirror. But if she had +only had more time to think, and Harriet and the dressmaker had not +argued the point with her, she would never have fallen before her +temptation. + +"You are sure you won't mind how long I take to pay you back, Harriet?" +Mollie inquired weakly. + +"Sure!" Harriet answered. + +"All right then; I will take it," Mollie agreed in a sudden rush of +recklessness, feeling dreadfully excited. For little Mollie Thurston had +never owned a gown in her life that had cost more than fifteen dollars, +except the two or three frocks which had been given to her on different +occasions. + +"Madame, you will send Miss Thurston's gown with mine, so she can wear it +to the White House reception," Harriet insisted. + +"Certainly; I shall send the frocks this evening," the dressmaker agreed, +suavely. "But are you sure you will be in? I want you to be at home when +the frocks arrive." + +Several other customers had entered Madame Louise's establishment. + +Harriet Hamlin flushed at the dressmaker's question. But she replied +carelessly: "Oh, yes; I shall be in all the afternoon. You can send them +at any time you like." + +Before Mollie and Harriet had gotten out into the street, Mollie clutched +Harriet's arm in swift remorse. "Oh, Harriet, dear, I have done a +perfectly awful thing! I must go back and tell Madame that I cannot take +that gown. I don't see how I could have said I would take it. Why, it +will take me ages to pay you so much money!" Mollie's eyes were big and +frightened. Her lips were trembling. + +"Sh-sh! You silly child!" Harriet protested. "Here comes Mrs. Wilson. You +can't go to tell Madame Louise you have changed your mind before so many +people. And what is the use of worrying over such a small debt? The dress +was a wonderful bargain. You would be a goose not to buy it." + +Now, because Harriet was older than Mollie, and Mollie thought her very +beautiful and well trained in all the graces of society, foolish little +Mollie allowed herself to be silenced, and so made endless trouble for +herself and for the people who loved her. + +"Don't tell Barbara about my buying the frock, Harriet," Mollie +pleaded, as the two girls went up the steps of the Hamlin home, a short +time before luncheon. "I would rather tell Bab about it myself, when I +get a chance." + +"Oh, I won't tell. You may count on me," promised Harriet, in sympathetic +tones. "Will Bab be very cross!" + +"Oh, not exactly that," Mollie hesitated. "But I am afraid she will be +worried. I am glad we are at home. I want to lie down, I feel so tired." + +Not long after Harriet and Mollie had started off on their shopping +expedition, Bab came across from her room into Ruth's. + +"Ruth, do you think I could telephone Mr. Dillon?" she asked. "I picked +up a piece of paper that he dropped in the garden yesterday, and I +forgot to return it to him." + +"Give it to me, child. I told you yesterday that I did not wish you to +grow to be an intimate friend of that man. But I am writing him a note to +thank him for his kindness to us last night. I can just put your paper in +my letter and explain matters to him." + +Bab carelessly tossed the sheet of paper on Ruth's desk. It opened, and +Ruth cried out in astonishment. "Oh, Bab, how queer! This note is written +in Chinese characters. What do you suppose Peter Dillon is doing with a +letter written in Chinese?" + +"I don't know I am sure, Ruth," Bab demurred. "It is none of our +business." + +"Did you get the yellow ribbon, Mollie?" Barbara asked her sister, two +hours later, when Mollie and Harriet came in from their shopping. "I have +been fixing up your dress all morning. It is awfully pretty. Now I want +to make the sash." + +"I did not get any ribbons, Bab." Mollie answered peevishly. "I told you +I would not wear that old yellow dress." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AT THE WHITE HOUSE + + +Mollie Thurston was not well the next day. She stayed in bed and +explained that her head ached. And Harriet Hamlin behaved very strangely. +She was shut up in the room with Mollie for a long time; when she came +out Mollie's eyes were red, and Harriet looked white as a sheet. But +neither of the girls would say what was the matter. + +Just before the hour for starting to the White House reception, Mollie +got out of bed and insisted on dressing. + +"I am afraid you are not well enough to go out to-night, Mollie," Bab +protested. "I hope you won't be too disappointed. Shall I stay at home +with you?" + +Mollie shook her head obstinately. "I am quite well now," she insisted. +"Bab, would you mind leaving me alone while I dress? I do feel nervous, +and I know Ruth and Grace won't care if you go into their room." + +"All right, Mollie," Barbara agreed cheerfully, wondering what had +come over her little sister. "Call me when you wish me to button your +gown. I have put the yellow one out on the lounge, if you should +decide to wear it." + +When Mollie was left alone two large tears rolled down her cheeks. Once +she started to crawl back into bed and to give up the reception +altogether. But, after a while, she walked over to her closet and drew +out a great box. With trembling fingers Mollie opened it and gazed in +upon the exquisite blue frock that had already caused her so much +embarrassment and regret. + +Should she wear the frock that night? Mollie Thurston asked herself. And +what would Bab say when she saw it? For Mollie had not yet mustered up +the courage to make her confession. Well, come what might, Mollie decided +to wear her new frock this one time. She had risked everything to own it, +so she might as well have this poor pleasure. + +When Mollie joined Mr. Hamlin and the other girls downstairs a long party +cape completely concealed her gown. + +Mr. Hamlin did not keep a private carriage; so, as long as Ruth's +automobile was in Washington, he decided to take his party to the White +House in Ruth's car. + +The girls were ready early, for Mr. Hamlin explained to them that they +would have to take their position in the line of carriages that slowly +approached the White House door, and that sometimes this procession was +nearly a mile in length. + +"I suppose you girls won't mind the waiting as much as we older people +do, because you always have so much to say to each other. And perhaps +this is my best chance to learn to know you better. I have been so busy +that I have seen little of you during your visit to Harriet." + +But Mollie and Harriet were strangely silent, and Bab felt absolutely +tongue-tied before Mr. Hamlin. Fortunately, Grace and Ruth sat on each +side of him. + +"Mr. Hamlin," Grace asked timidly, "would you mind telling me what are +the duties of the Secretary of State? Washington is like a new, strange +world to us. I have learned the titles of the different members of the +President's Cabinet, but I have not the faintest idea what they do. +Mollie and I looked over the cards of the guests who came to your +reception. Some of the cards just read: 'The Speaker,' 'The Chief of +Staff,' 'L'Ambassadeur de France,' without any personal names at all." + +Mr. Hamlin seemed pleased. The stern, half-embarrassed expression, that +he usually wore before the girls relaxed a little at Grace's eager +questioning. + +"I am glad, Miss Carter, to find you take an interest in Washington +affairs," he answered. "It is most unusual in a young girl. I wish +Harriet cared more about them, but she seems devoted only to society." +Mr. Hamlin sighed under his breath. "Yes; it is the custom for the +officials in Washington to put only the titles of their office on their +visiting cards. You are sure you wish to know the duties of the Secretary +of State? I don't want to bore you, my child." + +Grace nodded her head eagerly. + +"Well, let me see if I can make it plain to you. The Secretary of State +has charge of all the correspondence between the foreign countries and +their representatives in the United States," Mr. Hamlin continued. "Do +you understand?" + +"I think I do," Grace answered hesitatingly, while Bab leaned over from +the next seat to see if she could understand what Mr. Hamlin was +explaining. + +"The Secretary of State also receives all kinds of information from the +consuls and diplomatic officers, who represent the United States abroad," +Mr. Hamlin went on. "Sometimes this information is very important and +very secret. It might bring on serious trouble, perhaps start a war with +another country, if some of these secrets were discovered. The Secretary +of State has other duties; he keeps the Great Seal of the United States. +But my chief business as Assistant Secretary is just to look after the +important private correspondence with all the other countries." + +"Father," exclaimed Harriet, "why are you boring the girls to death +with so much information? They don't understand what you mean. I have +been living in Washington for four years, and I have not half an idea +of what your duties are. But thank goodness, we have arrived at the +White House at last!" + +Their motor car had finally drawn up before the entrance to the Executive +Mansion at the extremity of the eastern wing. The house was a blaze of +lights; the Marine Band was playing a national air. + +Harriet, who was familiar with all the rules that govern the President's +receptions, quickly marshaled her guests into the lobby, where they had +to take off their coats and hats. + +Bab was so overcome at the enormous number of people about her, that she +did not see Mollie remove her cape. + +Mollie slipped quietly into a corner, and was waiting by Harriet's side, +when Harriet called the other girls to hurry up the broad stairs to the +vestibule above, where the guests were forming in line to enter the +reception room. + +Barbara, Ruth and Grace gave little gasps of astonishment when they +first beheld Mollie. If little Mollie Thurston's heart was heavy within +her on this brilliant occasion, she held her pretty head very high. The +worry and excitement had given her a slight fever; her cheeks were a deep +carmine and her eyes glittered brightly. + +"Why, Mollie! What a vision you are!" exclaimed Ruth and Grace together. +"Where did you get that wonderful gown? You have been saving it to +surprise us to-night, haven't you?" + +But Bab did not say a single word. She only looked at Mollie, her face +paling a little with surprise and curiosity. How had Mollie come by a +gown that was more beautiful than anything Bab had ever seen her sister +wear? Barbara knew Mollie had not had the gown when they left home +together, for she had packed her sister's trunk for her. But this was not +the time to ask questions. Bab's mind was divided between the wonder and +delight she felt at the scene before her, and amazement at Mollie's +secret. "I do hope," she thought, as she followed Mr. Hamlin up the +steps, "that Mollie has not borrowed that gown of Harriet. But no; it +fits her much too well. Some one must have given it to her as a present +and she has kept the secret until to-night to surprise me." + +The "Automobile Girls" stood behind Mr. Hamlin and Harriet in the great +vestibule just outside the famous Blue Room of the White House, where +the President and his wife were waiting to receive their guests. The +line was moving forward so slowly that the girls had a chance to look +about them. Never had any one of them beheld such a beautiful spectacle. +Of course the "Automobile Girls" had been present at a number of +receptions during their brief social careers, but for the first time +to-night they saw men in other than ordinary evening dress. The +diplomats from other countries wore their superb court costumes with the +insignia of their rank. The American Army and Navy officers had on their +bright full dress uniforms. + +Bab thought the Russian Ambassador the most superb looking man she had +ever seen, and Mollie blushed when Lieutenant Elmer Wilson bowed +gallantly to her across the length of the hall. + +When the girls first took up their positions in the line, they believed +they would never grow weary of looking about them. But by and by, as they +waited and the number of people ahead of them only slowly decreased, they +grew tired. + +A girl passed by Barbara and smiled. It was Marjorie Moore. She was +not going to try to shake hands with the President. She had a note +book and a pencil in her hand and was evidently bent on business. +Barbara also caught a glimpse of Peter Dillon, but he did not come up +to speak to them. + +Mr. Hamlin's charges at last entered the Blue Room. The President and his +receiving party stood by a pair of great windows hung with heavy silk +portieres. + +It was now almost time for the "Automobile Girls" to shake hands with the +President. They were overcome with nervousness. + +Harriet was next to her father; Bab stood just behind Harriet, followed +by Ruth, Grace and Mollie. + +"You are just supposed to shake hands with the President, not to talk to +him," Harriet whispered. "Then the President's wife is next and you may +greet the other women in the receiving line as you pass along. The +Vice-President's wife stands next to the President's wife and the ladies +of the Cabinet just after her." + +Bab watched Harriet very carefully. She was determined to make no +false moves. + +Finally, Barbara heard her name announced by the Master of Ceremonies. +She felt her heart stop beating for a moment, and the color mount to her +cheeks. The next moment her hand was clasped in that of the President of +the United States. + +Barbara said a little prayer of thankfulness when she had finished +speaking to all the receiving ladies. She felt glad, indeed, when Mr. +Hamlin drew her behind a thick blue silk cord, where the President's +special guests were talking in groups together. Bab then watched Ruth, +Grace and Mollie go through the same formality. + +Now nobody had ever warned Mollie that it was not good form to speak to +the President before he spoke to her. She thought it was polite to make +some kind of a remark when she was introduced to him. So all the way up +the line she had been wondering what she ought to say. + +As the President took Mollie's little hand he bent over slightly. For a +very small voice said, "I like Washington very much, Mr. President." + +The President smiled. "I am glad you do," he answered. + +A little later, Mr. Hamlin took the girls through all the state +apartments of the White House. One of these rooms was less crowded than +the others. Groups of Mr. Hamlin's friends were standing about laughing +and talking together. Barbara was next Mr. Hamlin when she happened to +glance toward a far corner of the room. There she saw her newspaper +friend. The girl made a mysterious sign to Barbara to come over to her +and to come alone. But Bab shook her head. + +Still she felt the girl's eyes on her. Each time she turned, Marjorie +Moore again made her strange signal. Once she pointed significantly +toward a group of people. But Bab only saw the broad back of the little +Chinese Minister and the stately form of the Russian Ambassador. The +two men were talking to a number of Washington officials whose names +Barbara did not even know. Of course, Marjorie Moore's peculiar actions +could not refer to them. But to save her life Bab could not find any +one else nearby. + +Womanlike, Barbara's curiosity was aroused. What could the girl want with +her? Evidently, her news was a secret, for Miss Moore did not come near +Mr. Hamlin's party and Bab simply could not get away without offering +some explanation to them. + +Barbara was growing tired of the reception. She had been introduced to so +many people that her brain was fairly spinning in an effort to remember +their names. Again Bab looked across at Miss Moore. This time the +newspaper girl pointed with her pencil through a small open door, near +which she was standing. Her actions said as plainly as any words could +speak: "Follow me when you have a chance. There is something I must tell +you!" The next instant Marjorie Moore vanished through this door and was +lost to sight. + +A few minutes later Bab managed to slip over to that side of the room. +She intended merely to peep out the open door to see whether Miss Moore +were waiting for her in the hall. Bab carefully watched her opportunity. +Mr. Hamlin and the girls were not looking. Now was her chance. She was +just at the door, when some one intercepted her. + +"Ah! Good evening, Miss Thurston," said a suave voice. + +Barbara turned, blushing again to confront the Chinese Minister looking +more magnificent than ever in his Imperial robes of state. + +The young girl paused and greeted the official. Still the Chinese +Minister regarded her gravely with his inscrutable Oriental eyes that +seemed to look her through and through. He seemed always about to ask her +some question. + +Of course, Barbara was obliged to give up her effort to follow Marjorie +Moore, though she was still devoured with curiosity to know what the girl +had wished to say to her. The next ten minutes, wherever Bab went, she +felt the Chinese Minister's gaze follow her. + +It was not until Barbara Thurston discovered that the Oriental gentleman +had himself withdrawn from the reception room that she mustered up a +sufficient courage to try her venture the second time. + +"Miss Moore, of course, is not expecting me now," Barbara thought. "But +as I have a chance, I will see what has become of her." + +Bab peeped cautiously out through the still open door. She saw only an +empty corridor with a servant standing idly in the hall. Should she go +forward? No; Barbara did not, of course, dare to wander through the White +House halls alone. She was too likely to find herself in some place to +which visitors were not admitted. + +The servant who waited in the hall saw Barbara hesitate, then turn back. +He leaned over and whispered mysteriously: "You are to come to the door +at the west side, which opens on the lawn. The young woman left a message +that she would wait for you there." + +"But I don't know the west side," Bab faltered hesitatingly, feeling that +she ought to turn back, yet anxious to go on. + +"The young woman said it was most important for her to see you; I can +show you the way to the west door," the man went on. + +Barbara now quickly made up her mind. Marjorie Moore was only a girl like +herself. If she needed her or if she wanted to confide in her, Bab meant +to answer the summons. + +Bab found the portico deserted. There was no one in sight. + +Down on the lawn, some distance ahead, she thought she saw a figure +moving. Barbara drew her chiffon scarf more closely over her shoulders +and ran quickly out into the garden without thinking. It was, of course, +Marjorie Moore ahead of her. But Bab had not gone far, when the figure +disappeared, and she realized her own foolishness. She must get back into +the White House in a hurry before any one found out what she had done. + +It was exceedingly dark out on the lawn in contrast with the brilliant +illumination of the house, and Barbara was running swiftly. She had begun +to wonder what explanation she could make if Harriet or Mr. Hamlin asked +where she had been. As usual, Barbara was repenting a rash impulse too +late. She ran obliquely across the yard in order to return in a greater +hurry. Between a clump of bushes set at some distance apart her feet +struck against something soft and heavy and Bab pitched forward across +the object. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BAB'S DISCOVERY + + +Then Barbara Thurston's heart turned sick with horror. She recognized, in +the same instant, that she had fallen over a human body. In getting back +on her own feet, Bab was obliged to touch the figure over which she had +fallen. She shuddered with fright. It could not be possible that any one +had been murdered in the grounds of the White House, while a great ball +was being given on the inside. Had Marjorie Moore expected foul play and +called on Bab to help her guard some one from harm? + +Barbara did not know what to do--to go on with her search for the +newspaper girl, or go back to the White House and raise an alarm. + +Bab was standing up, but she dared not look at the figure at her feet. +She was now more accustomed to the darkness and she did not know what one +glance might reveal. + +"What a coward I am!" Bab thought. Trembling, she put out her hand and +touched the body. It was warm, but the figure had fallen forward on its +face. As Bab's hand slipped along over the object that lay so still on +the hard ground, an even greater horror seized her. Her hand had come in +contact with a skirt. The figure was that of a woman! + +Barbara dropped on her knees beside the figure. She gently turned +the body over until it was face upward. One long stare at the face +was enough. The woman who lay there was the young newspaper girl who +had summoned Bab to follow her but a short time before. She still +had on her shabby evening dress. The pad and pencil with which she +took down her society items lay at her side. But Marjorie Moore's +face was pale as death. + +Bab's tears dropped down on the girl's face. "My dear Miss Moore, what +has happened? Can't you hear me?" Bab faltered. "It is Barbara Thurston! +I tried to come to help you, but I could not get here until now." + +The figure lay apparently lifeless, but Bab knew now that the girl was +still alive. Bab did not like to leave her, for what dreadful person +might not stumble over the poor, unconscious girl? Yet how else could +Bab get help? + +At this moment Bab looked up and saw a number of lighted cigars in the +garden near the White House. Evidently a group of men had come out on the +lawn to smoke. As Bab ran forward she saw one of the men move away from +the others. He was whistling softly, "Kathleen Mavourneen, the bright +stars are shining." + +"Oh, Mr. Dillon!" cried Bab. "Poor Miss Moore has been dreadfully hurt +and is lying unconscious out here on the grass. Won't you please find Mr. +Hamlin, or some one, to come to her aid?" + +"Miss Moore!" exclaimed Peter Dillon in a shocked tone. "I wonder whom +the girl could have been spying upon to have gotten herself into such +trouble? But, Miss Thurston, you ought not to be out here. Come back with +me to the reception rooms. I will get some one to look after Miss Moore +at once. It is best to keep this affair as quiet as possible." + +"I can't leave the poor girl alone," Bab demurred. "So please find Mr. +Hamlin as soon as you can. I will ask two of these other men to take Miss +Moore up on a side porch, out of the way of the guests." + +The rest of the group of men now came forward; their uniforms showed +they were young Army and Navy officers. One of them was Lieutenant +Elmer Wilson. + +"What a dreadful thing!" he exclaimed, as he and another officer, under +Bab's directions, picked up Marjorie Moore's limp form and carried it +into the light. "Some one has struck Miss Moore over the temple with a +stick. She has a nasty bruise just there. But she is only stunned. She +will come to herself presently." + +Mr. Hamlin now hurried out with Peter Dillon, followed by Ruth and +Harriet. + +"Find our automobile; have it brought as near as possible. We must put +the poor girl into it," Mr. Hamlin declared authoritatively. "Mr. Dillon +is right. This affair must be kept an entire secret. It is incredible! +Above all things, the newspapers must not get hold of it. It would be a +nine days' wonder! Mr. Dillon, will you go to Miss Moore's paper? Say you +feel sure the President himself would not wish this story to be +published. Then you can find out where Miss Moore's mother lives, and see +that she is told. The girl is not seriously injured, but she must be seen +by a physician." + +"But you are not going to take Marjorie Moore to our house, Father," +Harriet protested. "She is so--" Harriet checked herself just in time. +She realized it would not be well to express her feeling toward the +injured girl before so large a group of listeners. + +"I most certainly do intend to take Miss Moore to our house," interrupted +Mr. Hamlin sternly. "Her father was an old friend of mine whom changes in +politics made poor just before his death. His daughter is a brave girl. I +have a great respect for her." + +In the excitement of helping their wounded visitor to bed, Barbara +forgot all about Mollie's wonderful gown, and the questions she intended +asking her. Bab and Ruth undressed Marjorie Moore, and stayed with her +until the doctor and a nurse arrived. Then Bab went quickly to her own +room and undressed by a dim light, so as not to disturb her sister. +Mollie's face was turned toward the wall and she seemed to be fast +asleep. There was no sign of the blue gown about to reawaken Bab's +curiosity. Barbara was too weary from the many impressions of the evening +and the fright that succeeded them, and hurriedly undressing she crept +quietly to bed and was soon fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CONFESSION + + +It was almost dawn when Barbara began to dream that she heard low, +suppressed sobs. No; she must be wrong, she was not dreaming. The sounds +were too real. The sobs were close beside her, and Bab felt Mollie's +shoulders heaving in an effort to hold them back. + +"Why, little sister," cried Bab in a frightened tone, putting out +her hand and taking hold of Mollie, "what is the matter with you! +Are you ill?" + +"No," sobbed Mollie. "There is nothing the matter. Please go to sleep +again, Bab, dear. I did not mean to wake you up." + +"You would not cry, Mollie, if there was nothing the matter. Tell me at +once what troubles you," pleaded Barbara, who was now wide awake. "If you +are not ill, then something pretty serious is worrying you and you must +tell me what it is." + +Mollie only buried her head in her pillow and sobbed harder than ever. + +"Tell me," Bab commanded. + +"It's the blue gown!" whispered Mollie under her breath. + +"The gown?" queried Barbara, suddenly recalling Mollie's wonderful +costume at the President's reception. "Oh, yes. I have not had an +opportunity to ask you where you got such a beautiful frock and how you +happened not to tell me about it." + +"I was ashamed," Mollie sobbed. + +Barbara did not understand what Mollie meant, but she knew her sister +would tell her everything now. + +"I bought the frock," Mollie confessed after a moment's hesitation. +"That is I did not exactly buy it, for I did not have the money to pay +for it. But Harriet was to pay for it and I was to give her back the +money when I could." + +"How much did the gown cost, Mollie?" Bab inquired quietly, although her +heart felt as heavy as lead. + +"It cost fifty dollars!" Mollie returned in a tired, frightened voice. + +"Oh, Mollie!" Bab exclaimed just at first. Then she repented. "Never +mind, Molliekins; it can't be helped now. The dress is a beauty, and I +suppose Harriet won't mind how long we take to pay her back. We must just +save up and do some kind of work when we go home. I can coach some of the +girls at school. So please don't cry your pretty eyes out. There is an +old story about not crying over spilt milk, kitten. Go to sleep. Perhaps +some one will have left us a fortune by morning." + +Barbara felt more wretched about her sister's confession than she was +willing to let Mollie know. She thought if Mollie could once get to +sleep, she could then puzzle out some method by which they could meet +this debt. For fifty dollars did look like an immense sum to the two poor +Thurston girls. + +"But, Bab dear, I have not told you the worst," Mollie added in tones +of despair. + +"Mollie, what do you mean?" poor Bab asked, really frightened this time. + +"Harriet can't let me owe the money to her. Something perfectly awful +has happened to Harriet, too. Promise me you will never tell, not even +Ruth! Well, Harriet thought she could lend me the money. But, the day +after we got home from the dressmaker's, that deceitful Madame Louise +wrote poor Harriet the most awful note. She said that Harriet owed her +such a dreadfully big bill, that she simply would not wait for her money +any longer. She declared if Harriet did not pay her at once she would +take her bill straight to Mr. Hamlin and demand the money. Now Harriet is +almost frightened to death. She says her father will never forgive her, +if he finds out how deeply in debt she is, and that he would not let her +go out into society again this winter. Of course, Harriet went to see +Madame Louise. She begged her for a little more time, and the dressmaker +consented to let us have a week. But she says that at the end of that +time she must have the money from me and from Harriet. Harriet is +dreadfully distressed. She simply can't advance the money to me for, even +if the dividend she expects comes in time, she will have to pay the money +on her own account. Oh, Bab, what can we do? I just can't have Mr. Hamlin +find out what I have done! He is so stern; he would just send me home in +disgrace, and then what would Mother and Aunt Sallie and Mr. Stuart say? +I shall just die of shame!" + +"Mr. Hamlin must not know," Barbara answered, when she could find her +breath. Somehow her own voice sounded unfamiliar, it was so hoarse and +strained. Yet Bab knew she must save Mollie. How was she to do it? + +"Do you think, Bab," Mollie asked, "that we could ask Ruth to lend us the +money? I should be horribly ashamed to tell her what I have done. But +Ruth is so sweet, and she could lend us the money without any trouble." + +"I have thought of that, Mollie," Barbara answered. "But, oh, we could +not ask Ruth for the money! It is because she has been so awfully good to +us, that I can't ask her. She has already done so much for us and she +would be so pleased to help us now that somehow I would rather do most +anything than ask her. Don't you feel the same way, Mollie?" + +"Yes, I do," Mollie agreed. "Only I just can't think what else we can do, +Bab. I have worried and worried until I am nearly desperate. We have only +one week in which to get hold of the money, Bab." + +"Yes, I know. But go to sleep now, Mollie. You are too tired to try to +think any more. I will find some way out of the difficulty. Don't worry +any more about it now." Bab kissed her sister's burning cheeks, whereat +Mollie could only throw her arms about Barbara and cry: "Oh, Bab, I am so +sorry and so ashamed! I shall never forget this as long as I live." + +Bab never closed her eyes again that night. A little while later she saw +the gray dawn change into rose color, and the rose to the blue of the +day-time sky. She heard several families of sparrows discussing their +affairs while they made their morning toilets on the bare branches of +the trees. + +At last an idea came to Barbara. She could pawn her jewelry and so raise +the money they needed. She had the old-fashioned corals her mother had +given to her on her first trip to Newport. There was also the beautiful +ruby, which had been Mr. Presby's gift to her from the rich stores of his +buried treasure. And the Princess Sophia had made Bab a present of a +beautiful gold star when they were at Palm Beach. Barbara's other jewelry +was marked with her initials. + +Now Bab had very little knowledge of the real value of her jewelry, and +she had an equally dim notion of what a pawn shop was. But she did know +that at pawn shops people were able to borrow money at a high rate of +interest on their valuable possessions, and this seemed to be the only +way out of their embarrassment. + +But how was Barbara to locate a pawn shop in Washington? And how was she +to find her way there, without being found out either by Mr. Hamlin or +any one of the girls? + +Bab was still puzzling over these difficulties when she went down to +breakfast. + +"Miss Moore says she would like to see you, Barbara," Harriet Hamlin +explained, when Bab had forced down a cup of coffee and eaten a small +piece of toast. "Miss Moore is much better this morning, and a carriage +is to take her home in a few hours. I have just been up to inquire about +her. Father," continued Harriet, turning to Mr. Hamlin, "Miss Moore wants +me to thank you for your kindness in bringing her here, and to say she +hopes to be able to repay you some day. Marjorie Moore seems to think you +discovered her out on the White House lawn, Barbara. However did you do +it? I suppose you were out there walking with Peter Dillon. But it is +against the rules." + +"Does Miss Moore happen to know how she was hurt, Daughter?" Mr. Hamlin +queried. "Lieutenant Wilson declares the girl was struck a glancing blow +on the head with the end of a loaded cane. And the doctor seemed to have +the same idea last night." + +"Miss Moore does not understand just what did happen to her," Harriet +replied. "Or at least she won't tell me. She declares she was out in the +grounds looking for some one, when she was knocked down from behind. She +never saw who struck her. How perfectly ridiculous for her to be running +about the White House park alone at night! I wonder the guards permitted +it. What do you suppose she was doing?" + +"Attending to her business, perhaps, Daughter," Mr. Hamlin returned +dryly. "Miss Moore works exceedingly hard. It cannot always be pleasant +for a refined young woman to do the work she is sometimes required to do. +I hope you will be kind to her, Harriet, and help her when it is within +your power." + +But Harriet only shrugged her shoulders and looked obstinate. "I should +think Miss Moore would find the society news for her paper inside the +reception rooms, rather than outside in the dark. It looks to me as +though she went out into the grounds either to meet some one, or to find +out what some one else was doing." + +None of the "Automobile Girls" or Mr. Hamlin made response to Harriet's +unkind remark and they were all glad when breakfast was over and the +discussion ended. + +Barbara at once went upstairs to the room that had been allotted to their +wounded guest the night before. She found Marjorie Moore dressed in a +shabby serge suit, lying on the bed looking pale and weak. A refined, +middle-aged woman, with a sad face, sat by her daughter holding her hand. +She was Marjorie's mother. The two women were waiting for the carriage to +take them home. + +"I want to thank you, Miss Thurston," Marjorie Moore spoke weakly. "I +believe it was you who found me. I ought not to have asked you to come +out into the yard, but I did not dream there would be any danger to +either one of us. I want you to believe that I did have a real reason for +persuading you to join me, a reason that I thought important to your +happiness, not to mine. But I cannot tell you what it was, now; perhaps +because I may have made a mistake. I must have been struck by a tramp, +who had managed to hide in the White House grounds. I have no other +explanation of what happened to me. But--" Miss Moore stopped and +hesitated. "I have an explanation of the reason I wanted to talk to you +alone. Yet I cannot tell you what I mean to-day. I want to ask you to +trust me if ever you need a friend in Washington." + +Bab thought the only friend she was likely to need was some one who could +lend her fifty dollars. And Marjorie Moore was too poor to do that. She +would have liked to ask the newspaper girl where she could find a pawn +shop, but was ashamed to make her strange request before that gentle, +sad-eyed woman, Marjorie Moore's mother. + +So Barbara only pressed the other girl's hand affectionately, and said +she was glad to know she was better, and that she appreciated her +friendship. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN MR. HAMLIN'S STUDY + + +All morning Barbara pondered on how she could find a pawn shop in +Washington, without asking questions and without being discovered. Her +cheeks burned with humiliation and disgust at the very name pawn shop! +Still Mollie must never know how much she dreaded her errand, and her +mother must be spared the knowledge of their debt at any cost. + +About noon the Hamlin house was perfectly quiet. Grace and Ruth had gone +out sight-seeing and Harriet and Mollie were both in their rooms. Mr. +Hamlin was over at his office in the State Department. + +Bab had taken a book and gone downstairs to the library, pretending she +meant to read, but really only desiring to think. She was feeling almost +desperate. A week seemed such a little time in which to raise fifty +dollars. Bab wished to try the pawn shop venture at once, so that in case +it failed her, she would have time to turn somewhere else to secure the +sum of money she needed. + +Barbara was idly turning over the pages of her book, staring straight +ahead of her at nothing in particular, when she unexpectedly leaped to +her feet. Her face flushed, but her lips took on a more determined curve. + +When Barbara Thurston undertook to accomplish a thing she usually found a +way. Only weak people are deterred by obstacles. + +Bab had remembered that she had heard Mr. Hamlin say that he kept a +Washington directory in his private study. She knew that by searching +diligently through this book she could find the address of a pawn shop. + +Now was the time, of all others, to accomplish her purpose. With Bab, to +think, was to do. + +Barbara knew that no one was expected to enter Mr. Hamlin's study. She +did not dream, however, that she would be doing any harm just to slip +quietly into it, find the directory and slip quickly out again, without +touching a single other thing in the room. + +As has already been explained, Mr. Hamlin's study was a small room +adjoining the drawing-room, and separated from it by a pair of heavy +curtains and folding doors, which were occasionally left open, when Mr. +Hamlin was not in the house, so that the room could be aired and at the +same time shut it off from public view. + +Bab went straight through the hall and entered Mr. Hamlin's study through +a small back door. + +The room was dark, and Bab thought empty when she entered it. The inside +blinds were closed, but there was sufficient light through the openings +for Barbara to see her way about perfectly. She was bent upon business +and went straight to her task without pausing to open the window, for she +wished to take no liberties with Mr. Hamlin's apartment. + +The four walls of the study were lined with books, reports from Congress; +everything pertaining to the business of the government at Washington. +Certainly finding that old-time needle in a haystack was an easy duty +compared with locating the city directory in such a wilderness of books. + +First on her hands and knees, then on tip-toe, Bab thoroughly searched +through every shelf. No directory could be found. + +"I can hardly see," Bab decided at last. "It will not do any harm for me +to turn on an electric light." + +Bab was so intent on her occupation that, even after she had turned on +the light, which hung immediately over Mr. Hamlin's private desk, she +still thought she was alone in the room. + +Lying under a heap of magazines and pages of manuscript on Mr. Hamlin's +desk, was a large book, which looked very much as though it might be the +desired directory. + +Still Bab wavered. She knew no one was ever allowed to lay a hand on Mr. +Hamlin's desk. Even Harriet herself never dared to touch it. But what +harm could it do Mr. Hamlin for Barbara to pick up the book she desired? +She would not disarrange a single paper. + +Bab reached out, intending to secure what she wished. But immediately she +felt her arm seized and held in a tight grip. + +A low contralto voice said distinctly: "What do you mean by stealing in +here to search among Mr. Hamlin's papers?" The vise-like hold on Bab's +arm continued. The fingers were slender, but strong as steel, and the +grip hurt Barbara so, she wanted to cry out from the pain. + +"Answer me," the soft voice repeated. "What are you doing, prying among +Mr. Hamlin's papers, when he is out of the house? You know he never +allows any one to touch them." + +[Illustration: Bab Felt Her Arm Seized In a Tight Grip.] + +"I am not prying," cried Bab indignantly. "I only came in here to look +for the city directory. I thought it might be on Mr. Hamlin's desk." + +"A likely story," interrupted Bab's accuser scornfully. "If you wished +the directory, why did you not ask Mr. Hamlin to lend it to you? You +wanted something else! What was it? Tell me?" The hold on Barbara's arm +tightened. + +"Let go my arm, Mrs. Wilson," returned Barbara firmly. "I am telling you +the truth. How absurd for you to think anything else! What could I wish +in here? But I needed to look into the directory at once--for a--for a +special purpose," Barbara finished lamely. + +Then her eyes flashed indignantly. "I am a guest in Mr. Hamlin's house," +she said, coldly. "How do you know, Mrs. Wilson, that I have not received +his permission to enter this room? But you! Will you be good enough to +explain to me why you were hiding behind the curtains in Mr. Hamlin's +study when I came in? You, too, knew Mr. Hamlin was not at home. Besides, +Harriet receives her guests in the drawing-room, not in here." + +"I came to see Mr. Hamlin on private business," Mrs. Wilson replied +haughtily. "He is an old and intimate friend of mine, so I took the +liberty of coming in here to wait for his return. But seeing you enter, +and suspecting you of mischief, I did conceal myself behind the +curtains. I shall be very glad, however, to remain here with you until +Mr. Hamlin returns from his office. I can readily explain my intrusion +and you will have an equal opportunity to tell Mr. Hamlin what you were +doing in here." + +Now Barbara, who had slept very little the night before, and had worried +dreadfully all morning, did a very foolish thing. She blushed crimson at +Mrs. Wilson's request. She might very readily have agreed to stay, and +could simply have explained later to Mr. Hamlin that she had come into +his private room because she needed to see the directory. But would Mr. +Hamlin have inquired of Barbara her reason for desiring the directory? +This is, of course, what Barbara feared, and it caused her to behave most +unwisely. She trembled and fixed on Mrs. Wilson two pleading brown eyes. + +"Please do not ask me to wait here until Mr. Hamlin returns," she +entreated. "And, if you don't mind, you will not mention to Mr. Hamlin +that I came into his study without asking his permission. Truly I only +wanted to look at the directory, and I will tell Harriet that I have +been in here." + +Mrs. Wilson eyed Bab, with evident suspicion. "Why are you so anxious to +see the directory?" she inquired. "If you wish to know a particular +address why do you not ask your friends, the Hamlins, about it?" + +"That is something that I cannot explain to you, Mrs. Wilson," said +Barbara, a look of fear leaping into her eyes that was not lost on her +companion. + +"Very well, if you cannot explain yourself, I shall lay the whole matter +before Mr. Hamlin the instant he comes home," returned Mrs. Wilson +cruelly. "It looks very suspicious, to say the least, when a guest takes +advantage of his absence to prowl among his private papers." + +Tears of humiliation sprang to Barbara's eyes. It was bad enough to have +Mrs. Wilson doubt her integrity, but it would be infinitely worse if +stern Mr. Hamlin were told of her visit to his study. Bab felt that he +would be sure to believe that she was deliberately meddling with matters +that did not concern her. She looked at Mrs. Wilson. The forbidding +expression on her face left no doubt in Bab's mind that the older woman +would carry out her threat. Suddenly it flashed across the young girl +that perhaps if Mrs. Wilson really knew the truth she would agree to drop +the affair without saying anything to Mr. Hamlin. + +"Perhaps it will be better after all for me to tell you my reason +for being here," Bab said with a gentle dignity that caused Mrs. +Wilson's stern expression to soften. "What I am about to say, +however, is in strictest confidence, as it involves another person +besides myself. I shall expect you to respect my confidence, Mrs. +Wilson," she added firmly. + +Mrs. Wilson made a jesture of acquiescence. Then Barbara poured forth the +story of Mollie's extravagance and her subsequent remorse over the +difficulties into which her love of dress had plunged both of the +Thurston girls. "It is just this way, Mrs. Wilson," Bab concluded. "We +have very little money of our own and we simply can't ask Mother to pay +this debt. I won't ask Ruth to lend it to us because we are too deeply +indebted to her already. I have some jewelry that is valuable; a ring, a +pin and several trinkets, and I intend to take them to a pawn shop and +borrow enough money on them to free Mollie of this debt. Then we will +save our allowance money and redeem the things. I have never been in a +pawn shop and don't know anything about them, so I thought I would find +the address of a pawn broker in the directory and go there this +afternoon. That is why I wanted the directory and why I came into Mr. +Hamlin's study. Now that I have told you, perhaps you will feel +differently about saying anything to Mr. Hamlin. He is so stern and cold +that he would never forgive me if he knew of all this, although I am +doing nothing wrong. It is very humiliating to be placed in this +position, but now that the mischief has been done we shall have to pay +for the gown and set it all down under the head of bitter experience." + +Mrs. Wilson regarded Barbara steadily while she was speaking. There was a +look of admiration in the older woman's eyes when Barbara had finished. +"You are a very brave girl, Miss Thurston, to take your sister's trouble +on your own shoulders. I am very glad that you saw fit to tell me what +you have. I hope you will forgive me for my seeming cruelty, but I simply +cannot endure anything dishonorable or underhanded. To show you that I +believe what you have told me, and to prove to you that your confidence +in me is well founded, I propose to help you out of your difficulty." + +"You?" queried Bab in surprise. "I--I don't understand." + +"I will lend you the money to pay the modiste," exclaimed Mrs. Wilson. +"Then you shall pay it back whenever it is convenient for you to do so, +and no one will ever be the wiser. We need tell no one that we met here +in the study this afternoon." + +"But--I--can't," protested Barbara rather weakly. "It wouldn't be right. +It would be asking entirely too much of you and--" + +Mrs. Wilson held up her hand authoritatively. "My dear little girl," she +said quickly. "I insist on lending you this money. I am a mother, and if +my son were in any little difficulty and needed help, I should like to +feel that perhaps some one would be ready to do for him the little I am +going to do for you. Come to my house this afternoon and I will have the +money ready for you. Will you do this, Barbara?" she asked extending her +hand to the young girl. + +Barbara hesitated for a second, then she placed her hand in that of Mrs. +Wilson's. "I will take the money," she said slowly, "and I thank you for +your kindness. I hope I shall be able to do something for you in return +to show my appreciation." + +"Perhaps you may have the opportunity," replied Mrs. Wilson meaningly. +"Who knows. I think I won't wait any longer for Mr. Hamlin. Come to my +house at half past four o'clock this afternoon. I shall expect you. +Good-bye, my dear." + +"Good-bye," replied Bab mechanically, as she accompanied Mrs. Wilson to +the vestibule door. "I'll be there at half past four." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BARBARA'S SECRET ERRAND + + +After the older woman had departed, Bab remained in a brown study. Had +she been wise in accepting Mrs. Wilson's offer? Would it have been better +after all to ask Ruth for the loan of the money? Bab sighed heavily. She +had been so happy and so interested in Washington, and now Mollie's +ill-advised purchase had changed everything. For a moment Barbara felt a +little resentment toward Mollie, then she shook off the feeling as +unworthy. Mollie had experienced bitter remorse for her folly, and Bab +knew that her little sister had learned a lesson she would never forget. +As for the money, it should be paid back at the earliest opportunity. + +Barbara turned and went slowly upstairs to prepare for luncheon. She +found Mollie sitting by the window in their room. Her pretty mouth +drooped at the corners and her eyes were red with weeping. + +"Cheer up, Molliekins!" exclaimed Bab. "I've found a way out of the +difficulty." + +"Oh, Bab," said Mollie in a shamed voice. "Did you have to tell Ruth?" + +"No, dear," responded Bab. "Ruth knows nothing about it. Bathe your face +at once. It is almost time to go down to luncheon, and your eyes are +awfully red. While you are fixing up I'll tell you about it." + +"Oh, Bab!" Mollie said contritely when her sister had finished her +account of what had happened in the study. "You're the best sister a girl +ever had. I don't believe I'll ever be so silly about my clothes again. +This has cured me. I'm so sorry." + +"Of course you are, little Sister," soothed Bab. "Don't say another word. +Here comes Ruth and Grace." + +The two girls entered the room at that moment and a little later the four +descended to luncheon. + +"I am going to do some shopping this afternoon," announced Ruth. "Would +you girls like to do the stores with me?" + +"I'll go," replied Grace. "I want to buy a pair of white gloves and I +need a number of small things." + +"I have an engagement this afternoon," said Harriet enigmatically. "I +must ask you to excuse me, Ruth." + +"Certainly, Harriet," returned Ruth. "How about you and Mollie, Bab?" + +"Mollie can go with you," answered Bab, coloring slightly. "But would +you be disappointed if I do not go? I have something else that I am +obliged to see to this afternoon." + +"Of course, I'd love to have you with me, Bab, but you know your own +business best." + +Suspecting that Bab wished to spend the afternoon in going over her own +and Mollie's rather limited wardrobe, Ruth made no attempt to persuade +Bab to make one of the shopping party, and when a little later A. Bubble +carried the three girls away, she went directly upstairs to prepare for +her call on Mrs. Wilson. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Bab decided +that she would walk to her destination. As she swung along through the +crisp December air the feeling of depression that had clung to her ever +since Mollie had made her tearful confession vanished, and Bab became +almost cheerful. She would save every penny, she reflected hopefully, and +when she and Mollie received their next month's pocket money, she would +send that to Mrs. Wilson. It would take some time to pay back the fifty +dollars, but Mrs. Wilson had assured her that she could return it at her +own convenience. Bab felt that her vague distrust of this whole-souled, +generous woman had been groundless, and in her impulsive, girlish fashion +she was ready to do everything in her power to make amends for even +doubting this fascinating stranger who had so nobly come to her rescue. + +By following carefully the directions given her by Mrs. Wilson for +finding her house, Bab arrived at her destination with very little +confusion. She looked at her watch as she ascended the steps and saw that +it was just half past four o'clock. "I'm on time at any rate," she +murmured as she rang the bell. + +"Is Mrs. Wilson here?" she inquired of the maid who answered the bell. + +"Come this way, please," said the maid, and Bab followed her across the +square hall and through a door hung with heavy portieres. She found +herself in what appeared to be half library, half living room, and seemed +especially designed for comfort. A bright fire burned in the open fire +place at one side of the room, and before the fire stood a young man, who +turned abruptly as Bab entered. + +"How do you do, Miss Thurston," said Peter Dillon, coming forward and +taking her hand. + +"Why--I thought--" stammered Barbara, a look of keen disappointment +leaping into her brown eyes, "that Mrs. Wilson--was--" + +"To be here," finished Peter Dillon, smiling almost tantalizingly at her +evident embarrassment. "So she was, but she received a telephone message +half an hour ago and was obliged to go out for a little while. I +happened to be here when the message came and she told me that she +expected you to call at half past four o'clock and asked me if I would +wait and receive you. She left a note for you in my care. Here it is." + +Peter Dillon handed Bab an envelope addressed to "Miss Barbara Thurston," +looking at her searchingly as he did so. Bab colored hotly under his +almost impertinent scrutiny as she reached out her hand for the envelope. +She had an uncomfortable feeling at that moment that perhaps Peter Dillon +knew as much about the contents of the envelope as she did. + +"Thank you, Mr. Dillon," she said in a low voice. "I think I won't wait +for Mrs. Wilson. Please tell her that I thank her and that I'll write." + +"Very well," replied the young man. "I will deliver your message." He +held the heavy portieres back for Bab as she stepped into the hall and +accompanied her to the vestibule door. "Good-bye, Miss Thurston," he said +with a peculiar, meaning flash of his blue eyes that completed Bab's +discomfiture. "I shall hope to see you in a day or two." + +Bab hurried down the steps and into the street. The shadows were +beginning to fall and in another hour it would be dark. When she reached +the corner she looked about her in bewilderment, then with a little +impatient exclamation she wheeled and retraced her steps. She had been +going in the wrong direction. She had passed Mrs. Wilson's house, when a +murmur of familiar voices caused her to start and look back at it in +amazement. Stepping off the walk and behind the trunk of a great tree, +Barbara stared from her place of concealment, hardly able to believe the +evidence of her own eyes. Peter Dillon was standing just outside the +vestibule door, his hat in his hand and just inside stood Mrs. Wilson. +The two were deep in conversation and Bab heard the young man's musical +laugh ring out as though something had greatly amused him. Filled with a +sickening apprehension that she was the cause of his laughter, Bab +stepped from behind the tree unobserved by the two on the step above and +walked on down the street assailed by the disquieting suspicion that Mrs. +Wilson had had a motive far from disinterested in lending her the fifty +dollars. She glanced down at the envelope in her hand. She felt positive +that it contained the money, and her woman's intuition told her that +Peter Dillon's presence in the house had not been a matter of chance. She +experienced a strong desire to run back to the house and return the +envelope unopened, and at the same time ask Mrs. Wilson why Peter had +untruthfully declared that she was not at home. Bab paused irresolutely. +Then a vision of Mollie's tearful face rose before her, and squaring her +shoulders, she marched along through the gathering twilight, determined +to use the borrowed money to pay Mollie's debt and face the consequences +whatever they might be. + +When Bab reached home she found that Harriet had come in and gone to her +room, while the other girls had not yet returned. Barbara was glad that +no one had discovered her absence, and divesting herself of her hat and +coat she hurried up to her room. Closing and locking the door, she sat +down and tore open the envelope and with hands that trembled, drew out a +folded paper. Inside the folded paper was a crisp fifty dollar bill. Mrs. +Wilson had kept her word. + +While she sat fingering the bill, she heard voices downstairs and a +moment later Mollie tried the door, then knocked. Bab rose and unlocked +the door for her sister. + +"Did you get it, Bab?" asked Mollie eagerly, a deep flush rising +to her face. + +"Yes, Molliekins, here it is," answered Barbara quietly, holding up the +money. "To-morrow you and I will go to Madame Louise and pay the bill." + +"Oh, Bab," said Mollie, her lips quivering. "I'm so sorry. I've been so +much trouble, but I'll save every cent of my pocket money and pay Mrs. +Wilson as soon as I can. It was so good of her to lend us the money +wasn't it?" + +Barbara merely nodded. Her early gratitude toward Mrs. Wilson had +vanished, in spite of her efforts to believe in Mrs. Wilson, her first +feeling of distrust had returned. She thought gloomily, as she listened +to Mollie's praise of Mrs. Wilson's generosity, that perhaps after all it +would have been better to pay a visit to the pawn broker. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FOOLISH GIRL + + +In the meantime Harriet Hamlin was equally as unhappy as Bab and Mollie. +For, instead of owing Madame Louise a mere fifty dollars, she owed her +almost five hundred and she dared not ask her father for the money to pay +the bill. The dividend, with which she had tempted Mollie to make her +ill-advised purchase, amounted to only twenty-five dollars. It had seemed +a sufficient sum to Harriet to pay down on her friend's investment, but +she knew the amount was not large enough to stay the wrath of her +dressmaker, as far as her own account was concerned. + +Now, Harriet had never intended to let her bill mount up to such a +dreadful sum. She was horrified when she found out how large it really +was. Yet month by month Harriet had been tempted to add to her stock of +pretty clothes, without inquiring about prices, and she now found herself +in this painful predicament. + +Harriet, also, thought of every possible scheme by which she might raise +the money she needed. On one thing she was determined. Her father should +never learn of her indebtedness. She would take any desperate measure +before this should happen; for Harriet stood very much in awe of her +father, and knew that he had a special horror of debt. + +Since Charlie Meyers had behaved so rudely to Barbara, on the night of +their automobile ride to Mt. Vernon, Harriet had had nothing to do with +him. But now, in her anxiety, she decided to appeal to him. She could +think of no other plan. Charlie Meyers was immensely rich and a very old +friend. Five hundred dollars could mean very little to him, and Harriet +could, of course, pay him back later on. She fully intended to live +within her allowance in the future and save her money until she had paid +every dollar that she owed. + +But how was Harriet to see Charlie Meyers? After all she had said about +him to the "Automobile Girls," she was really ashamed to invite him to +her house. So Harriet dispatched a note to the young man, making an +appointment with him to meet her on a corner some distance from the +house on the same afternoon that Bab made her uncomfortable visit to +Mrs. Wilson. + +Charlie Meyers was highly elated when he read Harriet Hamlin's note. He +had known her since she was a little girl in short frocks and was very +fond of her. He had been deeply hurt by her coldness to him since their +automobile party, but he was such an ill-bred fellow that he simply had +not understood how badly he had behaved. He did know that Mr. Hamlin +disliked him and did not enjoy his attentions to his daughter; so he +hated Mr. Hamlin in consequence. + +When Harriet's note arrived, he interpreted it to mean that she was sorry +she had treated him unkindly, and that she did care for him in spite of +her father's opposition. So he drove down to the designated corner in his +car, feeling very well pleased with himself. + +Harriet, however, started out to meet the young man feeling ashamed of +herself. She knew that she was behaving very indiscreetly, but she +believed that Charlie Meyers would be ready to help her and that she +could make him do anything she wished. She accepted his invitation to +take a ride, but she put off the evil moment of voicing her request as +long as possible, and as they glided along in Meyers' car, she made +herself as agreeable to her escort as she knew how to be. + +After they had driven some distance out from Washington in the direction +of Arlington, the old home of General Robert E. Lee, Charlie Meyers said +bluntly to Harriet: + +"Now, Harriet, what's the matter? You said in your note that you wanted +to see me about something important. What is it?" + +Harriet stopped abruptly and looked rather timidly at Meyers. She had +been trying in vain to lead up to the point of asking her favor, and here +her companion had given her the very opportunity she required. + +Yet Harriet hesitated, and the laughter died away on her lips. She knew +she was doing a very wrong thing in asking this young man to lend her +money. But Harriet had been spoiled by too much admiration and she had +had no mother's influence in the four years of her life when she most +needed it. She was determined not to ask her father's help, and she knew +of no one else to whom she could appeal. + +"I am not feeling very well, Charlie," Harriet answered queerly, turning +a little pale and trying to summon her courage. + +"You've been entertaining too much company!" Charlie Meyers exclaimed. "I +don't think much of that set of 'Automobile Girls' you have staying with +you. They are good-looking enough, but they are kind of standoffish and +superior." + +"No, indeed; I am not having too much company," Harriet returned +indignantly, forgetting she must not let herself grow angry with her +ill-bred friend. "I am perfectly devoted to every one of the 'Automobile +Girls,' and Ruth Stuart is my first cousin." + +Harriet and Charlie were both silent for a little while after this +unfortunate beginning to their conversation, for Harriet did not know +exactly how to go on. + +"I am worried," she began again, after a slight pause in which she +counted the trees along the road to see how fast their car was running. +"I am worried because I am in a great deal of trouble." + +"You haven't been getting engaged, have you, Harriet?" asked the young +man anxiously. "If you want to break it off, just leave matters to me." + +Harriet laughed in spite of herself. It seemed so perfectly absurd to +her to be expected to leave a matter as important to her happiness as her +engagement to a person like Charlie Meyers to settle. + +Charlie Meyers was twenty-two years of age. He had refused to go to +college and had never even finished high school. His father had died when +he was a child, leaving him to the care of a stepmother who had little +affection for him. At the age of twenty-one the boy came into control of +his immense fortune. So it was not remarkable that Charlie Meyers, who +had almost no education, no home influence and a vast sum of money at his +disposal, thought himself of tremendous importance without making any +effort to prove himself so. + +"No, I am not engaged, Charlie," Harriet answered frankly. "But I do want +you to do me a favor, and I wonder if you will do it?" + +The young man flushed. His red face grew redder still. What was Harriet +going to ask him? He began to feel suspicious. + +Now this rich young man had a peculiarity of which Harriet had not +dreamed, or she would never have dared to ask him for a loan. He was very +stingy, and he had an abnormal fear that people were going to try to make +use of him. + +Harriet had started with her request, so she went bravely on: + +"I'll just tell you the whole story, Charlie," she declared, "so you +will see what an awful predicament I am in. I know you won't tell Father, +and you may be able to help me out. I owe Madame Louise, my dressmaker, +five hundred dollars! She has threatened to bring suit against me at the +end of a week unless I pay her what I owe before that time. Would you +lend me the money, Charlie? I am awfully ashamed to ask you. But I could +pay you back in a little while." + +Harriet's voice dropped almost to a whisper, she was so embarrassed. Her +companion must have heard her, for he was sitting beside her in the +automobile, but he made no answer. + +Poor Harriet sat very still for a moment overcome with humiliation. She +had trampled upon her pride and self-respect in making her request, and +she had begun to realize more fully how very unwise she had been in +asking such a favor of this young man. Yet it had really never dawned on +the girl that Charlie Meyers could refuse her request. When he did not +answer, she began to feel afraid. Harriet could not have spoken again for +the world. Her usually haughty head was bent low, and her lids dropped +over her eyes in which the tears of humiliation were beginning to gather. + +"Look here, Harriet," protested the young man at last. "Five hundred +dollars is a good deal of money even for me to lend. What arrangements do +you want to make about paying it back?" + +"Why, Charlie!" Harriet exclaimed. "You can have the interest on the +money, if you like. I never thought of that." + +"You can pay me back the interest if you wish," Charlie replied sullenly. +"But you know, Harriet, that I like you an awful lot, and for a long time +I've been wanting you to marry me. But you've always refused me. Now if +you'll promise to marry me, I'll let you have the money. But if you +won't, why you can't have it--that's all! I am not going to lend my good +money to you, and then have you go your way and perhaps not have anything +more to do with me for weeks. I tell you, Harriet, I like you an awful +lot and you know it; but I am not going to be made a fool of, and you +might as well find it out right now." + +Harriet was so angry she simply could not speak for a few minutes. The +enormity of her mistake swept over her. But silence was her best weapon, +for Charlie Meyers began to feel ashamed. He was dimly aware that he had +insulted Harriet, and he really did care for her as much as he was +capable of caring for any one. + +"I didn't mean to make you angry, Harriet," he apologized in a half +frightened voice. "I don't see why you can't care for me anyhow. I've +asked you to marry me over and over again. And I can just tell you, you +won't have to worry over debts to dressmakers ever again, if you marry +me. I've got an awful lot of money." + +"I am very glad you have, Mr. Meyers," Harriet answered coldly, with a +slight catch in her voice. "But I am certainly sorry I asked you to lend +any of it to me. Will you never refer to this conversation again, and +take me home as soon as you can? I don't think it is worth while for me +even to refuse your offer. But please remember that my affection is +something that mere money cannot buy." Harriet's tone was so scornful +that the young man winced. He could think of nothing to reply, and turned +his car around in shame-faced silence. + +Harriet too was very quiet. She would have liked to tell her companion +what she truly thought of him, how coarse and ill-bred he was, but she +set her lips and remained silent. She did not wish to make an enemy of +Charlie Meyers. After that day's experience, she would simply drop him +from her list of acquaintances and have nothing more to do with him. + +Stupid though he was, the discomfited young man felt Harriet's silent +contempt. He wanted to apologize to her, to explain, to say a thousand +things. But he was too dense to know just what he should say. It was +better for him that he did wait to make his apology until a later day, +when Harriet's anger had in a measure cooled and she was even more +miserable and confused than she was at that time. + +"I am awfully sorry, Harriet," Charlie Meyers stumbled over his words as +he helped her out of his machine. "You know I didn't exactly mean to +refuse your request. I'll be awfully glad to--" + +But Harriet's curt good-bye checked his apologetic speech, and he turned +and drove swiftly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"GRANT NO FAVORS!" + + +"Mrs. Wilson's tea is at four o'clock, girls, remember," Harriet +announced a day or so later, looking up from the note she was writing. +"Are you actually going sight-seeing again to-day before the reception? +Truly, I never imagined such energy!" + +"Oh, come, Harriet Hamlin, don't be sarcastic," Ruth rejoined. "If you +had not lived so long in Washington you would be just as much interested +in everything as the 'Automobile Girls' are. But Bab and I are the only +ones to go sight-seeing to-day. Mollie isn't feeling well, and Grace is +staying to console her. We shall be back in plenty of time. Why don't you +lie down for a while! You look so tired." + +"Oh, I am all right," Harriet answered gently. "Good-bye, children. Be +good and remember you have promised not to be late." + +Ruth and Bab were highly anxious for a walk and talk together, and they +had a special enterprise on hand for this afternoon. Bab had received a +mysterious summons from her newspaper friend, Marjorie Moore. The note +had asked Bab to bring Ruth, and to come to the Visitors' Gallery in the +Senate Chamber at an appointed time. Marjorie Moore chose this strange +meeting place because she had a "special story" of the Senate to write +for her paper and was obliged to be in the gallery. + +Barbara was not particularly surprised at the request. She knew that +Marjorie Moore had been wishing to make her a confidant ever since the +reception at the White House. And she knew that the girl could not come +to Mr. Hamlin's house because of Harriet's hostile attitude toward her. + +So Bab confided the whole story to Ruth, and feeling much mystified and +excited, the two girls set out for the Capitol. + +During the long walk Barbara thought of her own secret, which she longed +to confide to Ruth, but she dared not tell Ruth of the borrowed money for +fear Ruth would at once insist on paying her debt. The money had to be +paid, of course, and Bab hoped to pay it back at an early date, but she +had not yet come to the point where she could bear to ask Ruth for it. + +When Ruth and Bab finally reached the Capitol building, and made their +way to the Visitors' Gallery in the Senate Chamber, Marjorie Moore was +not there. She had failed to keep her appointment. + +"I am not so very sorry Miss Moore has not come," Barbara remarked to +Ruth. "She seems to be such a mysterious kind of person, always +suggesting something and never really telling you what it is." + +Ruth laughed. "The 'Automobile Girls' hate mysteries, don't they, Bab? +But goodness knows, we are always being involved in them!" + +The two visitors sat down to listen to the speeches of United States +Senators. There was some excitement in the Chamber, Bab decided, but +neither she nor Ruth could exactly understand what was going on. +Both girls listened and watched the proceedings below them with +such intensity that they forgot all about Marjorie Moore and her +strange request. + +A few moments later she dropped down into the vacant seat next to +Barbara. She looked more hurried and agitated than ever. Her hat was on +one side, and her coat collar was half doubled under. She was a little +paler from her trying experience of a few nights before, and an ugly +bruise showed over her temple. But she made no reference to her accident. + +"I am sorry I am late," she whispered. "But come back here in the far +corner of the gallery with me. I want to talk with you just half a +minute. I am so busy I can't stay with you any longer. I just felt I must +see you, Miss Thurston, before you go to tea with Mrs. Wilson this +afternoon." + +"Tea with Mrs. Wilson!" Bab ejaculated. "How did you know we were going +to Mrs. Wilson's tea? And has that anything to do with your message to +me?" Barbara did not speak in her usual friendly tones. She was getting +decidedly cross. It seemed to her that she had been under some one's +supervision ever since her arrival in Washington. + +"Yes, it has, Miss Thurston," the newspaper girl replied quickly. "I want +to ask you something. Promise me you will grant no one a favor, no matter +who asks it of you to-day?" + +Barbara flushed. "Why how absurd, Miss Moore. I really cannot make you +any such promise. It is too foolish." + +"Foolish or not, you must promise me," Marjorie Moore insisted. Then she +turned earnestly to Ruth. "I know you have a great deal of influence with +your friend. If she will not agree to what I ask her, won't you make her +promise you this: She is not to consent to do a favor for any one this +afternoon, no matter how simple the favor seems to be. Do you +understand?" + +Ruth looked at Marjorie Moore blankly, but something in the newspaper +girl's earnest expression arrested her attention. + +"I don't see why you won't make Miss Moore the promise she begs of you, +Bab," Ruth argued. "It seems a simple thing she has asked you. And I +don't think it is very nice of you, dear, to refuse her, even though her +request does seem a little absurd to you." + +"But won't you tell me why you ask me to be so exceedingly +unaccommodating, Miss Moore?" Bab retorted. + +Marjorie Moore shook her head. "That's just the trouble. Again I can't +tell you why I ask this of you. But I want to assure you of one thing. It +would mean a great deal more to me, personally, to have you agree to do +the favor that may or may not be asked of you this afternoon. I am the +only outside person in Washington who knows of a certain game that is to +be played. It would mean a big scoop for my paper and a lot of money for +me if I would just let things drift. But I like you too well to hold my +tongue, though I am not going to tell you anything more. And I certainly +won't beg you to do what I ask of you. Of course you may do just as you +please. Good-bye; I am too busy to talk any more to-day." Before Barbara +could make up her mind what to answer, the newspaper woman hurried away. + +Ruth looked decidedly worried after Marjorie Moore's departure. But +Barbara was still incredulous and a little bored at being kept so +completely in the dark. + +"Look here, Bab," Ruth advised, as the two girls walked slowly home +together, "you did not promise Miss Moore to do what she asked of you. +But you must promise me. Oh, I know it seems absurd! And I am not exactly +blaming you for refusing to make that promise to Miss Moore. But, Bab, we +cannot always judge the importance of little things. So I, at least, +shall be much happier at this particular tea if you will promise me not +to do a single thing that any one asks you to do." + +Both girls laughed gayly at Ruth's request. + +"Won't I be an agreeable guest, Ruth?" Bab mimicked. "If any one asks +me to sit down, I must say, 'No; I insist on standing up. Because I +have promised my friend Miss Stuart not to do a single thing I am +requested to do all afternoon.' I wish I did not have to go to Mrs. +Wilson's tea to-day." + +"You need not joke, Bab," Ruth persisted. "And you need not pretend you +would have to behave so foolishly. I only ask you to promise me what you +would not agree to, when Marjorie Moore asked it of you: 'Don't do any +favor for any one, no matter who asks it of you this afternoon!'" + +Bab gave up. "All right, Ruth, dear; I promise," she conceded. "You know +very well that I can't refuse you anything, though I do think you and +Miss Moore are asking me to be ridiculous. I do hereby solemnly swear to +be, for the rest of this day, the most unaccommodating young person in +the whole world. But beware, Ruth Stuart! The boomerang may return and +strike you. Don't dare request me to do you a favor until after the bells +chime midnight, when I shall be released from my present idiotic vow." + +Mrs. Wilson's afternoon teas were not like any others in Washington. They +were not crowded affairs, where no one had a chance to talk, but small +companies of guests especially selected by Mrs. Wilson for their +congeniality. So Mrs. Wilson was regarded as one of the most popular +hostesses at the Capital and distinguished people came to her +entertainments who could not be persuaded to go anywhere else. + +Harriet and the four "Automobile Girls" were delighted to see a number of +service uniforms when they entered the charming French drawing-room of +their hostess, which was decorated in old rose draperies against ivory +tinted walls. + +Lieutenant Elmer Wilson's friends, young Army and Navy officers, were out +in full force. They were among the most agreeable young men in Washington +society. Lieutenant Elmer at once attached himself to Mollie; and his +attentions might have turned the head of that young woman if she had not +been feeling unusually sobered by her recent experience with debt. + +Barbara soon recognized the two young men who had helped her carry +Marjorie Moore from the lawn to the White House veranda. But neither one +of them referred to the incident while there were other people +surrounding them. Finally an opportunity came to one of the two men to +speak to Barbara. He leaned over and whispered softly: "How is the young +woman we rescued the other night? I almost thought she had been killed. +We have been sworn to secrecy. But one of my friends has an idea that he +saw the man who may have attacked Miss Moore. He was out on a porch +before the rest of us joined him, and he swears he saw two figures at +some distance across the lawn." + +Bab shuddered. "I was on the lawn. Perhaps he saw me." + +"No," her companion argued, unconvinced. "My friend is sure he saw two +men; one of them was rather heavily built--" + +Peter Dillon's approach cut short the conversation and the young Army +officer turned away, as Peter joined Bab. + +Barbara hardly turned around to greet the newcomer. She did not like +Peter Dillon and she was very anxious to hear what her previous companion +had to say. So Bab only gave Mr. Dillon her haughtiest bow. Peter did not +appear discouraged; he stood for a moment smiling at Bab good humoredly, +the boyish look shining in his near-sighted dark blue eyes. + +Barbara was forced to speak to him. "How do you do, Mr. Dillon?" she +asked at last. + +"Very well indeed," replied the young man cheerfully. "Did you arrive +home safely the other day?" + +Barbara colored hotly. She felt certain now that despite her promise of +secrecy Mrs. Wilson had betrayed her confidence and told Peter Dillon +about the borrowed money. Why she had done so was a mystery and why he +had lied to Bab in saying Mrs. Wilson was out was also a problem Bab +could not solve. + +While all this was passing through her mind Peter stood regarding her +with a quizzical smile. Then he said smoothly: "Miss Thurston, will you +do me a favor?" + +Bab flashed a peculiar glance at him. "No," she replied abruptly. + +The young man looked surprised. "I am sorry," he declared. "I was only +going to ask you to go in the other room to look at a picture with me." + +A little later in the afternoon, Harriet managed to get the four +"Automobile Girls" together. "Mrs. Wilson wishes us to stay to dinner +with her," Harriet explained. "She has asked eight or ten other +people and Father has telephoned that he will come in after dinner to +take us home." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BAB REFUSES TO GRANT A FAVOR + + +The dinner party was delightful. The "Automobile Girls" had not had such +a good time since their arrival in Washington. Mrs. Wilson was a charming +hostess. She was particularly gracious to Bab, and the young girl decided +to forget the disquieting suspicions she had harbored against this +fascinating woman and enjoy herself. + +It was almost ten o'clock. Mr. Hamlin had not yet arrived at Mrs. +Wilson's. Bab was sitting in one corner of the drawing-room talking gayly +with a young Annapolis graduate, who was telling her all about his first +cruise, when Elmer Wilson interrupted them. + +"I am terribly sorry to break into your conversation like this, Miss +Thurston," he apologized. "But Mother wishes to have a little talk with +you in the library before you leave here. I am sure I don't know what she +wishes to see you about; she told me to give you her message and ask no +questions. May I show you the way to her!" + +Bab's gay laughter died on her lips. She rose at once and signified her +willingness to accompany Elmer to the library, but both young men +noticed that her face had grown grave and she seemed almost embarrassed. + +Elmer Wilson wondered why Miss Thurston had taken his mother's simple +message so seriously. He was almost as embarrassed as Bab appeared to be. + +When Barbara entered the room where she had received the envelope +from Peter Dillon the room was but dimly lighted. Two rose-colored +shades covered the low lamps, and great bunches of pink roses +ornamented the mantel. + +Mrs. Wilson wore a black and white chiffon gown over white silk and had a +little band of black velvet about her throat from which hung a small +diamond star. Her beautiful white hair looked like a silver crown on her +head. She was leaning back in her chair with closed eyes when Bab entered +the room, and she did not open them at once. She let the young girl stand +and look at her, expecting her unusual beauty to influence Bab, as it had +many other older people. Mrs. Wilson looked tired and in a softened mood. +Her head rested against a pile of dark silken cushions. Her hands were +folded, in her lap. + +She opened her dark eyes finally and smiled at Barbara. "Come here, +Barbara," she commanded, pointing to a chair opposite her. + +Bab looked at her beautiful hostess timidly, but her brown eyes were +honest and clear. "You sent for me?" Bab queried, sitting down very stiff +and straight among the soft cushions. + +"Of course I did," Mrs. Wilson smiled. "And I should have done so +before, only you and I have both been too busy. I am so glad you came to +my tea to-day." Mrs. Wilson reached out her slender white hand and took +hold of Barbara's firm brown one. "I want to make you a very humble +apology," she continued. "I am very sorry that I was obliged to be away +the other day when you called. I left the envelope with Mr. Dillon. I +received your note yesterday, so I know that it was delivered into your +hands. I did not return until after seven o'clock the other night, so it +was just as well you didn't wait for me. I knew I could trust Mr. Dillon +to give it to you." + +The girl made no reply. She did not dare raise her eyes to the other +woman's face for fear Mrs. Wilson would divine from their expression that +Bab knew she had lied. At the same time a thrill of consternation swept +over her. What had been Mrs. Wilson's object in lending her the money? +Bab was now sure that the loan had not been made disinterestedly. But +what had Peter Dillon to do with it? It looked very much as though Mrs. +Wilson and the attaché were playing a game, and were seeking to draw her +into it. She resolved at that moment that she would write to her mother +for the money, or ask Ruth for it. She would do anything rather than +remain in Mrs. Wilson's debt. There was something about the intent way in +which her hostess looked at her that aroused fresh suspicion in her mind. +Bab braced herself to hear what she knew instinctively was to follow. + +"I am so glad I was able to help you," Mrs. Wilson purred, continuing to +watch the young girl intently. "I know that you meant what you said when +you declared that you hoped to some day be able to do some favor for me. +I did not think then that I should ever wish to take you at your word, +but strange as it may seem, you are the very person I have been looking +for to help me with a joke that I wish to play upon Mr. Hamlin. You know, +Mr. Hamlin is a very methodical man. Well, I wagered him a dozen pairs of +gloves, the other day, that he would misplace one of his beloved papers. +And I hope to win the wager. What I wish you to do is to secure a certain +paper from his desk and give it to me. He will never know how I obtained +it. Of course I shall return it to him in a day or so, after he +acknowledges his defeat and pays his wager." + +Barbara shook her head. "I don't think I can take any part in any such +joke, Mrs. Wilson," she said, looking appealingly at her hostess. "You +don't really mean that you wish me to take one of Mr. Hamlin's papers +without his knowledge, and then give the paper to you?" + +"Certainly, child, I do mean just that thing," Mrs. Wilson said, laughing +lightly. "You need not take my request so seriously. Mr. Hamlin will +appreciate the joke more than any one else when I have explained it to +him. Won't you keep your word and grant me this favor?" + +"I can't do what you ask, Mrs. Wilson," Bab said slowly. "I'm awfully +sorry, but it wouldn't be honorable." + +Mrs. Wilson turned away her head, so that Barbara could not see the +expression of her face. "Very well, Miss Thurston," she said sharply. +"Don't trouble about it, if you think you will be committing one of the +cardinal sins in doing me this favor. But don't you think you are rather +ungrateful? You were perfectly willing to accept my offer the other day +when you were in need of money to pay your sister's debt, but now you are +in no hurry to cancel your obligation. I consider you an extremely +disobliging young woman." + +Barbara sat silent and ashamed. Yet she made no effort to propitiate her +angry hostess. + +The butler came to the library door to announce the arrival of +Mr. Hamlin. + +Barbara rose quickly. "I am so sorry not to be able to do you the favor +you asked of me, Mrs. Wilson," she said in a low tone. + +Mrs. Wilson did not reply. Then in a flash Barbara Thurston remembered +something! It was the promise Marjorie Moore had asked of her, and which +Ruth Stuart had insisted upon her making. Without recalling that promise +at the time, Bab had still kept her word. She had been asked to do some +one a favor--and she had refused. But of course Marjorie Moore must have +had some other thing in mind when she made her curious demand. Now that +Barbara thought again of her vow, she determined to be wary for the rest +of the evening and to keep as far away from Peter Dillon as possible. + +"I am going to play chaperon at your house in the near future, Harriet," +Mrs. Wilson announced, as her guests were saying good night. "Your father +says he is to be out of town on business and that I may look after you." + +"We shall be delighted to have you, Mrs. Wilson," Harriet returned +politely, though she wondered why her father had suddenly requested Mrs. +Wilson to act as chaperon. Harriet had often stayed at home alone with +only their faithful old servants to look after her, when her father went +away for a short time. And now that she had the four "Automobile Girls" +as her guests, she did not feel in need of a chaperon. + +Peter Dillon had not spoken to Bab again during the evening, but had +studiously avoided her, and Bab was exceedingly glad that he had kept his +distance. But as she put on her coat to go home, she heard the rustle of +a small piece of paper. + +Barbara glanced down at it, of course, and found that some one had pinned +a folded square of paper to the inner lining of her coat. + +She blushed furiously, for fear one of the other guests would discover +what had happened. Bab hated sentimentality and secrecy more than +anything in the world. Inside the folded square of paper she found the +tiny faded rose-bud, Peter Dillon had placed in his pocket that day when +he had picked the two buds in the old Washington garden at Mt. Vernon. + +On the way downstairs, Barbara still kept the flower in her hand. But +when she found Peter's eyes were upon her she deliberately crushed the +little rose-bud, then defiantly tossed it away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BARBABA'S UNEXPECTED GOOD LUCK + + +It was the second day after Mrs. Wilson's dinner when Barbara made up her +mind to tell Ruth of her debt to Mrs. Wilson and to ask her friend to +lend her the money to relieve her of her obligation. Bab could endure the +situation no longer. She simply determined to tell Ruth everything, +except the part that poor Mollie had played in the original difficulty. +She meant to explain to Ruth that she had needed fifty dollars, that she +had intended going to a pawn shop to secure the money, her interview with +Mrs. Wilson and her acceptance of the loan offered by the beautiful +woman. She would not tell Ruth, however, why she had suddenly required +this sum of money. Now, Bab knew Ruth would ask her no questions and +would grant her request without a moment's hesitation or loss of faith. +The sympathy between Ruth and Barbara was very deep and real. + +It was one thing for Barbara Thurston to decide to appeal to Ruth's +ever-ready generosity, but another thing actually to make her demand. + +The two girls lay on Ruth's bed, resting. They had been to a dance at the +British Embassy the night before. Mollie and Grace were together in the +next room and Harriet was alone. + +"Barbara!" exclaimed Ruth suddenly. "If you could have one wish, that +would surely be granted, what would you wish?" + +"I would like to have some money in a hurry," flashed through Bab's mind, +but she was ashamed to make such a speech to Ruth, so she said rather +soberly. "I have so many wishes its hard to single out one." + +"Well what are some of them?" persisted Ruth. "Do you wish to be rich, or +famous, or to write a great book or a play?" + +"Oh, yes; I wish all those things, Ruth," Bab agreed. "But you were not +thinking of such big things. What little private wish of your own did you +have in your mind? Please don't wish for things that will take you far +away from me," Bab entreated. + +Ruth's blue eyes were misty when she replied: "Oh, no, Bab! I was just +going to wish that something would happen so that you and I need never be +separated again. I love you just as though you were my sister, and I am +so lonely at home without you and Mollie. Yet, as soon as our visit to +Harriet is over, you must go back to school in Kingsbridge and I have to +go home to Chicago. Who knows when we shall see each other again? I don't +suppose that our motor trips can go on happening forever." + +Bab pressed Ruth's hand silently, her own thoughts flying toward the +future, when she would perhaps be working her way through college, and +teaching school later on, and Ruth would be in society, a beauty and a +belle in her Western home. + +"Why don't you say something, Bab?" queried Ruth, feeling slightly +offended at Bab's silence. "Can't you say you wish the same thing that I +do, and that you believe our motor trips will last forever?" + +A knock at the door interrupted Bab's answer. When she went to open +it a maid handed her three letters. Two of them were for Ruth and one +for Barbara. + +Ruth opened her letters quickly. The handwriting on one of them was her +Aunt Sallie's. The other was from Ruth's father. + +The postmark on Bab's letter was unfamiliar, however, so she did not +trouble to open it, until she heard what Ruth had to say. + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" Ruth ejaculated. "See here, Bab, Aunt Sallie writes +us that she cannot come on to Washington. She has rheumatism, or +something, in her shoulder and does not want to make the long trip. She +says I had better come home in a week or ten days, and that Father will +probably come for me. Of course, Aunt Sallie sends love and kisses all +around to her 'Automobile Girls.' She ends by declaring I must bring you +home with me." + +Bab gave a deep sigh. "I do wish Miss Sallie had been here with us," +she murmured. + +Ruth looked reflective. "Have you any special reason for needing Aunt +Sallie, Bab? I have an idea you have something on your mind. Won't I do +for your confidant!" + +"Yes, you will, Ruth!" Bab said slowly, turning her face to hide her +painful embarrassment. "Ruth will you--" + +Bab had picked up her own letter. More to gain time than for any other +reason, she opened it idly. A piece of paper fluttered out on the bed, +which Ruth picked up. + +"Why, Bab!" she cried. "Look! Here is a check for fifty dollars! And +there is some strange name on it that I never heard of before." + +But Ruth could not speak again, for Bab had thrown her arms about her and +was embracing her excitedly. + +"Oh, Ruth, I am so glad, I am so glad!" Bab exclaimed, half laughing, +half crying. "Just think of it--fifty dollars! And just now of all times. +I never dreamed of such luck coming to me. It is just too wonderful!" + +"Barbara Thurston, will you be quiet and tell me what has happened to +you?" Ruth insisted. "You haven't lost your wits, have you, child?" + +"No, I have found them," Bab declared. "More wits than I ever dreamed I +had. Now, Ruth, don't be cross with me because I never confided this to +you before. But I have not told a single person until to-day, not even +Mother or Mollie. Months before I came to Washington, just before school +commenced, I saw a notice in a newspaper, saying that a prize would be +given for a short story written by a schoolgirl between the ages of +sixteen and eighteen. So, up in the little attic at Laurel Cottage, I +wrote a story. I worked on it for days and days, and then I sent it off +to the publisher. I was ashamed to tell any one that I had written it, +and never dreamed I should hear of it again. But now I have won the prize +of fifty dollars," + +Bab stood up on the bed waving her check in one hand and, holding +the skirt of her blue kimono in the other, executed a few jubilant +dance steps. + +"Oh, Barbara, I am so proud!" Ruth rejoined, looking fully as happy as +Bab. "Just think how clever you are! The fame of being an author is more +desirable than the money. I must tell Mollie and Grace all about it." + +[Illustration: "Oh, Ruth, I Am So Glad!"] + +But Mollie and Grace had been attracted by the excitement in the next +room, and now rushed in to hear the news. + +Mollie's eyes filled with tears as she embraced her sister. She knew how +Bab's fifty dollars must be used, and why her sister was so delighted +with her success. + +"What are you going to do with the fifty dollars, Bab?" Grace inquired. +"I suppose you will put it away for your college money." + +Bab did not reply. She was already longing for a little time to herself, +a pen, and ink and note paper. + +Harriet came in now with a message: + +"Children," she said, "it is time to dress for dinner. I have just had a +telephone call from Father. He is going out of town to-night, but Mrs. +Wilson is to stay with us. Father is not going until after dinner, and +Mrs. Wilson and Elmer and Peter Dillon will be here to dine with us. So +we shall have rather a jolly party. You girls had better dress." + +Harriet's was at once informed of Bab's good luck, and in offering +Barbara her congratulations she forgot to tell the rest of her story. + +Harriet had asked her father to come home half an hour before his guests +arrived. She had almost persuaded herself to make a full confession of +her fault. But the tangle of circumstance was not to be so easily +unraveled. + +Before Bab went down to dinner she slipped over to her desk and indorsed +the check, put it in an envelope, and hid the envelope inside her dress. +Her heart was lighter than it had been in weeks, for she believed her own +and Mollie's share in the Washington trouble was over. + +Mr. William Hamlin was late to dinner and his guests were compelled to +hurry through the meal on his account, as he wished to catch a special +train out of the city. But they had a gay dinner party nevertheless and +Harriet did not know whether she was sorry or glad that her confession +had been delayed. + +After Mr. Hamlin had said good-bye to his visitors Harriet followed her +father out into the hall. She thought if she told him of her fault just +before he went away his anger would have time to cool before he could +have opportunity to do more than reproach her for her extravagance. + +"Father," Harriet whispered timidly, "can't you wait a few minutes +longer? I told you there was something I had to tell you." + +Mr. Hamlin shook his head impatiently. "No, Harriet, this is not the time +nor the place for confidences. I am in far too much of a hurry. If you +want to ask me for money I positively haven't any to give you. Now run +on back to your guests." + +Harriet turned slowly away, and so Mr. Hamlin lost his chance to set +matters straight. + +Just before he went out the door, he called back to his daughter: + +"Oh, Harriet, I have left the key to my strong box on my study table. +Don't forget to put it away for me; it is most important that you do so, +for I really have not time to turn back." + +During the entire evening Peter Dillon devoted himself exclusively to +Harriet, and Bab was vastly relieved that he did not approach her. She +decided that he fully understood that she did not consider the pledge of +the faded rose-bud, binding. Mrs. Wilson had apparently forgotten Bab's +refusal of her request. She was as cordial to Barbara as she was to +Harriet, or to any of the "Automobile Girls." + +It was after midnight when Mrs. Wilson told Elmer and Peter that they +must both go home. Bab's envelope was still tucked inside her dress. She +had had no chance so far to give it to Mrs. Wilson. After Peter and Elmer +had gone, however, and the girls trooped upstairs to bed, laughing and +chatting gayly, Bab found a chance to slip the troublesome envelope into +Mrs. Wilson's hand. With a whispered, "In the envelope is a check for the +money I borrowed. I thank you so much for your kindness," Bab ran down +the hall to her own room, feeling more at ease in her mind than she had +since Mollie's confession. + +As for Harriet, she was so fully occupied with her guests that her +father's command to secure the key of his strong box, which he had left +on his study table, slipped from her mind and she retired without giving +the matter a second thought. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE WHITE VEIL + + +Long after every one had retired Ruth Stuart lay wide awake. Try as she +might, sleep refused to visit her eyelids. At last, after she had counted +innumerable sheep and was wider awake than ever, she resolved to go and +waken Bab. Ruth moved about in the dark carefully, in order not to arouse +Grace, with whom she roomed, found her dressing-gown and slippers, and +tip-toed softly into Barbara's room. She knew that Barbara would not +resent being awakened even at that unseasonable hour. + +"Barbara, are you awake?" she whispered, coming up to Bab's bed and +laying a gentle hand on her friend's face. "I want to talk with you +and I am so thirsty. Won't you come downstairs with me to get a drink +of water?" + +Bab turned over sleepily and yawned: "Isn't there always some water in +the hall, Ruth? I am so tired I can't wake up," she declared. + +But Ruth gave her another shake. Barbara crawled slowly out of bed, while +Ruth found her bedroom slippers and wrapped her in her warm bathrobe. +Then both girls stole softly out into the dark hall. + +At the head of the stairs there was a broad landing. On this landing, +just under a stained glass window, there was a leather couch and a table, +which always held a pitcher of drinking water. On the window ledge the +servants were required to keep a candle, so that anyone who wished to do +so might find his way downstairs at night, without difficulty. + +The two girls made their way slowly to this spot, and Bab felt along the +sill for the candle. It was not in its accustomed place. + +"I can't find the candle, Ruth," Bab whispered. "But you know where to +find the water. Just fumble until you get hold of the pitcher." + +"Won't you have a glass of water?" Ruth invited, pushing the tumbler +under Bab's very nose. Then the two girls began to giggle softly. + +"No, thank you," Bab answered decidedly. "Come, thirsty maiden! Who took +me from my nice warm bed? Ruth Stuart! Let's go back upstairs and get to +sleep again in a hurry." + +But for answer, Ruth drew Barbara down on the old leather couch in the +complete darkness and put her arms about her. + +"Don't go back to bed, Bab. I'm not a bit sleepy. That's why I dragged +you out of bed. I couldn't go to sleep and I just had to have company. Be +a nice Bab and let's sit here and exchange conversation." + +"All right," Bab replied amiably, snuggling up closer to her friend. +"Dear me, isn't it cold and dark and quiet out here!" + +Ruth gave a faint shiver. Then both girls sat absolutely still without +speaking or moving--they had heard an unmistakable sound in the hall +below them. The noise was so slight it could hardly be called a sound. +Yet even this slight movement did not belong to the night and the silence +of the sleeping household. + +The sound was repeated. Then a stillness followed, more absolute +than before. + +"Is it a burglar, Bab?" Ruth breathed. + +Barbara's hand pressure meant they must listen and wait. "It may be +possible," Bab thought, "that a dog or cat has somehow gotten into the +house downstairs." + +At this, the girls left the sofa and, going over to the banister, peered +cautiously down into the darkness. + +This time the two girls saw a light that shone like a flame in the +darkness below. Quietly there floated into their line of vision something +white, ethereal--perchance a spirit from another world. It vanished and +the blackness was again unbroken. The figure had seemed strangely tall. +It appeared to swim along, rather than to walk, draperies as fine as mist +hanging about it. + +"What on earth was that, Barbara?" Ruth queried, more curious than +frightened by the apparition. "If I believed in spirits I might think we +had just seen the ghost of Harriet's mother. Harriet's old black Mammy +has always said that Aunt Hattie comes back at night to guard Harriet, if +she is in any special trouble or danger." + +"I suppose we had better go downstairs and find out what we have seen," +whispered more matter-of-fact Bab. "Mr. Hamlin is not here. I don't think +there is any sense in our arousing the family until we know something +more. I should not like to frighten Mrs. Wilson and Harriet for nothing." + +The two girls slipped downstairs without making a sound. Everything on +the lower floor seemed dark and quiet. Ruth and Bab both began to think +they had been haunted by a dream. They were on their way upstairs again, +when Ruth suddenly turned and glanced behind her. + +"Bab," she whispered, clutching at Barbara's bathrobe until that young +woman nearly tumbled backwards down the steps, "there is a light in +Uncle's study! I suppose it is Harriet who is down there." + +It flashed across Bab's mind to wonder, oddly, if Harriet's visit to her +father's study at night could have anything to do with her debt to her +dressmaker of five hundred dollars! For Mollie had reported to her sister +that Harriet was feeling desperate over her unpleasant situation. + +"If it is Harriet downstairs I don't think we ought to go down," Bab +objected. "We would frighten her if we walked in on her so unexpectedly." + +"Harriet ought not to be alone downstairs," Ruth insisted. "Uncle would +not like it. I am going to peep in on her, and then make her come on +upstairs to bed." + +Ruth led the way, with Bab at her heels. But it occurred to Barbara that +the midnight visitor to Mr. Hamlin's study might be some one other than +his daughter. Bab did not know whether Mr. Hamlin kept any money in his +strong box in the study. She and Ruth were both unarmed, and might be +approaching an unknown danger. Quick as a flash Bab arranged a little +scheme of defense. + +There were two old-fashioned square stools placed on opposite sides of +the hall. Without a word to Ruth, who was intent on her errand, Bab drew +out these two stools and placed them side by side in the immediate centre +of the hall. Any one who tried to escape from the study would stumble +over these stools and at once alarm the household. Of course, if Bab and +Ruth found Harriet in her father's study Bab could warn them of her trap. + +"What shall we do, Bab?" Ruth asked when Barbara joined her. "The light +is still shining in the study. But I do not want to knock on the door; it +would frighten Harriet. And it would terrify her even more if we walked +right into the study out of this darkness. But we can't wait out here all +night. I am catching cold." + +Barbara did not reply. They were in a difficult situation. Suppose +Harriet were in the study? They did not wish to frighten her. In case the +veiled figure was not Harriet any speech of theirs would give their +presence away. + +"I think we had better open the door quickly and rush in," Ruth now +decided. "Then Harriet can see at once who we are." + +Without waiting for further consultation with Bab, Ruth flung wide the +study door. + +In the same instant the light in the room went out like a flash. + +"Harriet, is that you?" Ruth faltered. There was no answer, save some +one's quick breathing. Ruth and Bab could both perceive that an +absolutely white figure was crouched in a corner of the room in the dark. + +Bab moved cautiously toward the spot where she knew an electric light +swung just above Mr. Hamlin's desk. But it was so dark that she had to +move her hand gropingly above her head, for a moment, in order to locate +the light. + +The veiled being in the corner must have guessed her motive. Like a +zephyr it floated past the two girls. So light and swift was its movement +that Bab's hand was arrested in its design. Surely a ghost, not a human +creature, had passed by them. + +The next sound that Ruth and Bab heard was not ghostlike. It was very +human. First came a crash, then a cry of terror and surprise. + +At the same moment Bab found the light she sought, turned it on, and Ruth +rushed out into the hall. + +There on the floor Ruth discovered a jumble of stools and white +draperies. And, shaking with the shock of her fall and forced +laughter, was--not Harriet, but her guest, Mrs. Wilson! She had a long +white chiffon veil over her head, a filmy shawl over her shoulders, +and a white gown. With her white hair she made a very satisfactory +picture of a ghost. + +"My dear Mrs. Wilson!" cried Ruth, in horrified tones, "What has happened +to you? Were you walking in your sleep! Do let me help you up. I did not +know these stools were out here where you could stumble over them." + +Bab stood gravely looking on at the scene without expressing such +marked surprise. + +Mrs. Wilson gave one curious, malignant glance at Bab, then she smiled: + +"Help me up, children. I am fairly caught in my crime." + +Bab took hold of Mrs. Wilson by one arm, Ruth grasped her by the other, +and they both struggled to lift her. Mrs. Wilson gave a slight groan as +she got fairly on her feet. Her right hand clutched Bab for added +support. In falling over the stools Mrs. Wilson had given her knee a +severe wrench. + +At the moment she staggered, Barbara saw a large, oblong envelope fall to +the floor from under Mrs. Wilson's soft white draperies. + +"What is the trouble?" called Harriet, Mollie and Grace, poking their +three sleepy heads over the banisters. + +At this interruption Bab stooped down and quickly caught up the envelope, +while Mrs. Wilson's attention was distracted by the three girls who were +rapidly descending the steps. + +"Mrs. Wilson came downstairs for something," Ruth explained in her quiet, +well-bred fashion. "Bab and I heard a noise and, as we did not recognize +her, we followed her. We frightened Mrs. Wilson so that she stumbled over +these stools out in the hall. I am afraid she is a little hurt. I think +you had better call the servants, Harriet." + +Ruth did not, for an instant, let the surprise she felt at Mrs. Wilson's +extraordinary conduct appear in her voice. + +"No, don't call any of the servants to-night, Harriet," Mrs. Wilson +demurred. "I am all right now. I owe you children an apology for my +conduct to-night and also an explanation. But I think I can explain +everything much more satisfactorily if we wait until morning. I think +Miss Thurston already understands my escapade. I have taken her into my +confidence." + +Mrs. Wilson directed at Barbara a glance so compelling that it was +almost hypnotic. + +Bab did not return her look or make any answer. + +A little while later Barbara disappeared. She went back alone to Mr. +Hamlin's study. On top of his desk she discovered a box about a foot and +a half long. It had been opened and a key was lying beside it on the +desk. Barbara could see that there was no money in the box, only a +collection of papers. Bab returned the long envelope, which she had found +at Mrs. Wilson's feet in the hall to its place, turned the key in the +lock of the box, and then carried the key upstairs, intending to hand it +over to Harriet. But Bab did not know whether or not she ought to explain +to Harriet how she had come by the key. + +Harriet was in the room with Mrs. Wilson, seeing her guest to bed for the +second time, when Barbara went upstairs. Bab had no desire to face Mrs. +Wilson again that night. The distrust of the woman that was deepening in +the girl's mind was too great to conceal. + +"Come into my room in the morning before breakfast, Harriet, dear," Mrs. +Wilson entreated, as she kissed her young hostess good night. "I know you +will forgive my foolishness, when I have had a little talk with you. It +is too late now for explanations." + +It was between two and three o'clock in the morning before the household +of the Assistant Secretary of State again settled itself to sleep. Under +her pillow Barbara Thurston had the key to Mr. William Hamlin's strong +box, in which valuable state papers were sometimes temporarily placed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TANGLED WEB OF CIRCUMSTANCE + + +Harriet Hamlin spent half an hour in the room with Mrs. Wilson before she +came down to the breakfast table the next morning. + +"It is all right, girls," she announced promptly, as soon as the maid +left the room. "Mrs. Wilson is going to have her breakfast in bed. She is +a little upset by the happenings of last night. But she has explained +everything to me. For some time, Mrs. Wilson has been trying to play a +joke on Father, and last night she made another attempt. I promised her +none of us would mention to him what had occurred. Will you give me your +word, all of you, not to tell?" + +"Certainly, Harriet," Ruth agreed seriously. The other three "Automobile +Girls" quietly nodded their heads. + +"I don't know that I quite approve of Mrs. Wilson's method of practical +joking," Harriet went on. "She frightened all of us. But then, if no one +had discovered her, no harm would have been done." + +Mollie and Grace gazed at Harriet, without trying to conceal their +surprise, but Ruth and Bab only looked steadfastly at their plates. + +"Father is so strict and good all the time, I just wish somebody would +play a trick on him," Harriet went on angrily. She was annoyed at the +attitude of the "Automobile Girls," and she was still smarting under the +hurt of her father's speech the night before. As long as her father had +refused her money before she had even asked him for it, Harriet had +decided that it would be worse than useless to appeal to him again. She +was now waiting for disaster to break over her head. + +"Mrs. Wilson rather blames you, Barbara," Harriet continued. "She says +she did not succeed in her joke, after all, because you came down +stairs at the wrong time and foiled the whole thing. She could not find +the silly old paper she needed. But do please be quiet as mice about +the whole affair. Don't mention it before the servants. Father will be +home to-night. Will you girls mind excusing me for the day, and finding +some way of amusing yourselves? I have promised Mrs. Wilson to go home +with her." + +"Of course we can get along, Harriet," Grace replied. "I hope you will +have a good time." + +Bab made no answer to Harriet's report of Mrs. Wilson's attitude toward +her. But she was convinced that Mrs. Wilson knew she had discovered the +stolen paper and returned it to its rightful place. + +The "Automobile Girls" did not see Harriet again that morning. + +At noon a message was sent upstairs. Mr. William Hamlin had returned and +wished to see his daughter at once. When he learned that Harriet was not +at home, he immediately sent for Ruth. + +"Ruth, I have come home sooner than I had planned," he declared, "And I +wish to have a talk with you. Now, please keep your self-control. Girls +and women have such a fashion of flying into a rage at the first word one +says, that it is perfectly impossible to have any reasonable conversation +with them. I wish to talk with you quite quietly and calmly." + +"Very well, Uncle," Ruth replied, meekly enough, though she was far from +feeling meek. She could readily understand why Harriet had found it +impossible to make a confidant of her father. + +"I am glad you are so sensible, Ruth," Mr. Hamlin went on. "For I have +reason to believe that your friend, Barbara Thurston, has proved herself +an undesirable guest, since her arrival in Washington, which I very much +deplore. She is dishonorable, for she has secretly entered my study and +been seen handling my papers, and she has contracted a debt; for I saw +the check by means of which she returned the borrowed money to Mrs. +Wilson. I cannot understand how you and your father have managed to be so +deceived by the young woman." + +"Stop, Uncle William," Ruth interrupted hotly. "I cannot, of course, tell +you that the things which you say are untrue. But at least I have the +right to say that I positively know you are wrong. I shall ask Barbara to +come down to your study, at once, to deny these charges. Then we shall go +home immediately." + +"There, Ruth, I expected it," Mr. Hamlin answered testily. "Just as I +said. You have gone off the handle at once. Of course your young friend +may have some plausible explanation for her actions. But I will not be +guilty of making any accusations against a guest in my own house under +any circumstances. I have only mentioned these facts to you because I +feel that it is my positive duty to warn you against this girl, whom you +have chosen for your most intimate friend. It is impossible that I have +been deceived in regard to her. I have positive proof of what I say, and +I sadly fear she is a very headstrong and misguided girl." + +Ruth was already crying from anger, which made it hard for her to answer +her uncle's speech. "You certainly don't object to my telling Barbara of +your accusations, Uncle William?" Ruth demanded. "I think it is only +fair to her." + +"Not while she is in my house. You are to tell her nothing," Mr. Hamlin +ordered. "When Miss Thurston leaves you may tell her whatever you wish. +But I will not have a scene with her while she is staying here." + +Mr. Hamlin was a cold, selfish and arrogant man. He well deserved the +blow to his pride that he was to receive later. + +Ruth controlled herself in order to think deeply and quietly. Her father +was wise in his trust in her. Ruth had excellent judgment and good +sense. She was not particularly impressed by her uncle's command. She +felt that she had a perfect right to tell her friend of what she had +been accused. Yet would it be a good idea? Barbara would be +heart-broken, and nothing would induce her to remain in Mr. Hamlin's +house another hour after she learned his opinion of her. Ruth knew it +would not be well for Bab to rush off home in sudden anger, leaving a +false impression behind her. Barbara must stay in Mr. Hamlin's house +until he himself apologized to her. + +Ruth did not dare to go back upstairs to the other girls immediately +after her interview with her uncle. She knew her friends would recognize +at once, from her red eyes and her excitement, that something was the +matter. Yet Ruth longed for a confidant, and she meant to unburden +herself to Grace as soon as she had the opportunity. To go upstairs now +would reveal everything to Mollie and Barbara as well. + +Ruth seized her coat and hat from a closet in the hall and rushed out +into the street. She began walking as rapidly as she could, to let the +fresh air cool the tumult of feeling that was surging within her. Ruth +must have walked a mile before she determined what to do. Before she +returned to Mr. Hamlin's house, she found a telegraph office and went +into it. She sent a telegram to her father in Chicago, which read: + +"Come to Washington as soon as possible. Bab wrongly suspected. She is +still in ignorance, but we need you. + +"Ruth Stuart." + +Little did Ruth yet dream why these toils were being wound about +unhappy Barbara. Mollie's one act of weakness had involved her sister in +a number of actions that did look wrong to an outsider. Yet the +explanation of them was so simple, if Bab had only known it were best for +her to tell the whole story! But Barbara was trying to shield Mollie, and +Mollie did not dream that Bab would suffer any consequences from her +foolish deed. So Bab's peculiar proceedings since her arrival in +Washington had indeed played well into the hands of her enemies. Mr. +Hamlin's mind had been poisoned against her. She had been seen to do +several underhanded things, one following directly after the other. If a +big game were being attempted, the reputation of Barbara Thurston was of +little account. Besides Bab had already blocked several of the players in +the game. Revenge could very well enter into the present scheme of +things, and a girl who had no one to defend her might prove a useful +tool. As a last resort she could be made a scapegoat. + +In the meanwhile, Barbara was blissfully unconscious of any trouble, and +went singing cheerily about her room that morning. Since the delivery of +her check to Mrs. Wilson it seemed to her that the skies were blue again. +During the rest of her stay in Washington Bab meant just to enjoy the +beautiful sights of the wonderful city and not to trouble about the +disagreeable people. She did intend to ask Harriet to take her to see the +cunning little Chinese girl, Wee Tu, before she went home, but she had no +other very definite desires. + +As for Mrs. Wilson? Barbara had just wisely decided that the woman +belonged to a curious type, which she did not understand and wished to +keep away from. Bab did not admire Mrs. Wilson's methods of playing +jokes. On the other hand it was none of Barbara Thurston's business. So +long as she had put the paper back in Mr. Hamlin's strong box no harm had +been done. + +Barbara still had in her possession the key to that strong box. She had +neglected to give it to Harriet, because Harriet had left home so soon +after breakfast. And now that very terrifying person, Mr. William +Hamlin, had returned home, and Barbara Thurston still had the key in her +possession. Even Ruth had gone out. What should she do? She decided to +keep the key until Harriet came back in the afternoon. Then Harriet could +make some sort of explanation to her father. Barbara simply did not have +the courage to tell Mr. Hamlin that she had discovered Mrs. Wilson +tampering with his papers, and that it was she who had found the stolen +paper and locked it up again. + +However, fate was certainly against Bab at the present time. A +servant knocked at the door of the next room, where Grace and Mollie +were reading. + +"Please," the maid said, "Mr. Hamlin wants to know if Miss Harriet +left a key with you? It is a most important key, and Mr. Hamlin needs +it at once." + +Grace and Mollie both shook their heads. No; Harriet had mentioned no +such key to them. + +Barbara was waiting in the next room with the door open. She knew her +turn would come next. + +"Do you know anything of the key, Miss Barbara?" Harriet's maid inquired. + +Of course Bab blushed. She always did at the wrong time. + +"Yes, I have the key, Mary," she replied. "Wait a minute, I will get +it for you." + +"Do the young ladies know anything of my key?" Mr. William Hamlin's +impatient voice was heard just outside Barbara's door. + +Innocently the maid opened it. "Wait a minute, Mr. Hamlin, please. Miss +Thurston says she has the key. She is getting it for you now." + +And Barbara had to come to the door herself to present the key to this +dreadful old "Bluebeard." + +"I presume my daughter left my key in your charge," Mr. Hamlin +asked coldly. + +"No," she declared almost under her breath, hoping her stern host would +either not hear her, or at least not heed her. "Harriet did not leave +it with me." + +"Then kindly tell me how my key came into your possession?" Mr. Hamlin +inquired, in chilling, even tones. Bab shivered. + +"I found it," Bab answered lamely, having it in mind to tell the whole +strange story of last night's experience. But she was too frightened by +Mr. Hamlin's manner and by the fear that she would be regarded as a +telltale by Harriet. If Mr. Hamlin's own daughter had not considered her +guest's actions unusual, it was not exactly Bab's place to report them. +So she remained silent, and her host also turned away in silence. + +Harriet did not come home until just before dinner time. She told the +"Automobile Girls" she had spent a delightful day, but her behavior was +unusual. She looked frightened, though at the same time happier than she +had seemed since the hour she had received the first threatening letter +from her dressmaker. + +Peter Dillon had walked home with Harriet. Barbara, who happened to be +standing at the front window, saw them stop to talk for a moment at the +door before Peter said good-bye. Peter was making himself very charming +to Harriet. He was talking to her in his half laughing, half earnest +fashion in the very manner that had seemed so attractive to Bab, too, +at first. But it was a manner she had learned later on to distrust and +even to fear. + +When Harriet parted from Peter Dillon she nodded her head emphatically +and apparently made him a promise, and Barbara saw Peter look back at her +with a peculiar smile as she ascended the steps. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HARRIET IN DANGER + + +Harriet Hamlin was restless and nervous all the next day. Even Mr. +Hamlin, noticing his daughter's nervous manner at luncheon, suggested +that she take her friends out to pay some calls. So Bab put forth her +plea that she wished to make another visit to the home of the Chinese +minister. As the girls had not yet paid their luncheon call at the +embassy Harriet agreed to take them to see Wee Tu. Before she left the +house Harriet called up her dressmaker and had a long confidential talk +with her over the telephone. She seemed in better spirits afterwards. + +The Chinese minister's wife, Lady Tu, was receiving. As there were no men +in the drawing-room, her daughter, Wee Tu, sat among the young girls as +quiet and demure as a picture on a fan. + +Bab managed to persuade the little girl into a corner to have a quiet +chat with her. But Miss Wee Tu was difficult to draw out. Across the +room, Harriet Hamlin chanced to mention the name of Peter Dillon. At +once the little Chinese girl's expression changed. The change was very +slight. Hardly a shade of emotion crossed her unexpressive, Oriental +face, but curious Barbara was watching for that very change. She +remembered the young girl had been affected by Peter's appearance during +their former visit. + +"Do you like Mr. Dillon?" inquired Bab. She had no excuse for her +question except her own wilful curiosity. + +But Wee Tu was not to be caught napping. + +"Lige?" she answered, with a soft rising inflection that made the "k" in +"like" sound as "g." "I do not know what Americans mean by the +word--'Lige.' You 'lige' so many people. A Chinese girl 'liges' only a +few--her parents, her relatives; sometimes she 'liges' her husband, but +not always." + +"Don't like your husband!" exclaimed Bab in surprise. "Why, what do +you mean?" + +The little Chinese maiden was confused both by the American word and the +American idea. + +"The Chinese girl has respect for her husband; she does what he tells her +to do, but she does not all the time 'lige' him, because her father has +chosen him for her husband. I shall marry a prince, when I go back to +China, but he is 'verra' old." + +"Oh, I see!" Bab rejoined. "You thought I meant 'love' when I said +'like.' It is quite different to love a person." Bab smiled wisely. "To +love is to like a great deal." + +"Then I love this Mr. Peter Dillon," said the Chinese girl sweetly. + +Bab gasped in shocked surprise. + +"It is most improper that I say so, is it not?" smiled Miss Wee Tu. "But +so many things that American girls do seem improper to Chinese ladies. +And I do like this Mr. Peter very much. He comes always to our house. He +is 'verra' intimate with my father. He talks to him a long, long time and +they have Chinese secrets together. Then he talks with me so that I can +understand him. Many people will not trouble with a Chinese girl, who is +only fifteen, even if her father is a minister." + +Barbara was overwhelmed with Wee Tu's confidence, but she knew she +deserved it as a punishment for her curiosity. The strangest thing was +that the young Chinese girl spoke in a low, even voice, without the least +change of expression in her long, almond eyes. Any one watching her would +have thought she was talking of the weather. + +"I go back to China when my father's time in the United States is over +and then I get married. It makes no difference. But while I am in your +country I play I am free, like an American girl, and I do what I like +inside my own head." + +"It's very wrong," Barbara argued hastily. "It is much better to trust to +your parents." + +"Yes?" answered Wee Tu quietly. Bab was vexed that Peter Dillon's +careless Irish manners had also charmed this little Oriental maiden. But +Bab was wise enough to understand that Wee Tu's interest was only that of +a child who was grateful to the young man for his kindness. + +Barbara rose to join her friends, who were at this moment saying good-bye +to their hostess. + +"It is the Chinese custom," Lady Tu remarked graciously, "to make little +presents to our guests. Will not Mr. Hamlin's daughter and her four +friends receive these poor offerings?" + +A servant handed the girls five beautiful, carved tortoise shell boxes, +containing exquisite sets of combs for their hair, the half dozen or more +that Chinese women wear. + +"I felt ashamed of my wind-blown hair when Lady Tu presented us with +these combs," Grace exclaimed, just before the little party reached home. +They had paid a dozen more calls since their visit to the Chinese +Embassy. "I suppose Chinese women are shocked at the way American girls +wear their hair." + +"Yes, but we can't take three hours to fix ours," laughed Mollie, running +up the steps of the Hamlin house. In the front hall Mollie spied an +immense box of roses. They were for Harriet. Harriet picked up the box +languidly and started upstairs. She had talked very little during the +afternoon, and had seemed unlike herself. + +"Aren't you going to open your flowers, Harriet?" Mollie pleaded. "I am +crazy to see them." + +"I'll open them if it pleases you, Mollie," Harriet returned gently. The +great box was crowded with long-stemmed American beauties and violets. + +"Have some posies, girls?" Harriet said generously, holding out her arms +filled with flowers. For a long time afterwards the "Automobile Girls" +remembered how beautiful Harriet looked as she stood there, her face very +pale, her black hair and hat outlined against the dark oak woodwork with +the great bunch of American beauties in her arms. + +"Of course we don't want your posies, Lady Harriet," Mollie answered +affectionately. "Here is the note to tell you who sent them to you." But +Harriet went on to her room without showing enough interest in her gift +to open the letter. + +After dinner Harriet complained of a headache, and went immediately to +her room. The "Automobile Girls" were going out to a theater party, which +was being given in their honor by their old friends, Mrs. Post and Hugh. +Harriet sent word she would have to be excused. When Ruth put her head +into Harriet's room to say good-bye, just before she started for the +theater, she thought she heard her cousin crying. + +"Harriet, dear, do let me stay with you," Ruth pleaded. "I am afraid you +are feeling worse than you will let us know." + +But Harriet insisted that she desired only to be left alone. Feeling +strangely unhappy about her cousin, Ruth, at last joined the +theater party. + +Mr. Hamlin did not leave the house immediately after dinner, although he +had an engagement to spend the evening at the home of Mrs. Wilson. She +had asked him, only that morning, to come. Mr. Hamlin was also troubled +about his daughter. He had not been so unobservant that he had not seen +the change in her. She was less animated, less talkative. Mr. Hamlin +feared Harriet was not well. Though he was stern and unsympathetic with +Harriet, he was genuinely frightened if she were in the least ill. + +So it was with unusual gentleness that he tapped lightly on +Harriet's door. + +"I am all right, Mary, thank you," Harriet replied, believing her maid +to be outside. "Go to bed whenever you please. I shall fall asleep +after a while." + +Mr. Hamlin cleared his throat and Harriet started nervously. Why was her +father standing outside her door? Had he learned of her bill to her +dressmaker? + +"I do not wish to disturb you, Harriet," Mr. Hamlin began awkwardly. "I +only desired to know if I could do anything for you." + +"No, Father," poor Harriet replied wearily. As Mr. Hamlin turned away, +she sprang up and started to run after him. At her own door she stopped. +She heard her father's stern voice giving an order to a servant, and her +sudden resolution died within her. A few moments later the front door +closed behind him and her opportunity had passed. + +An hour afterwards, when the house was quiet and the servants nowhere +about, Harriet Hamlin slipped cautiously downstairs. She was gone only a +few minutes. But when she came back to her own room, she opened a private +drawer in her bureau and hid something in it. Harriet then threw herself +on her bed and lay for a long time with her eyes wide open, staring +straight ahead of her. + +Just before midnight, when she heard the gay voices of her friends +returning from the theater, and when Ruth tripped softly to her bedroom, +Harriet lay with closed eyes, apparently fast asleep. + +The next morning Harriet was really ill. Her hand trembled so while she +poured the breakfast coffee that she spilled some of it on the +tablecloth. When Mr. Hamlin spoke to her sharply she burst into tears and +left the room, leaving her father ashamed of himself, and the "Automobile +Girls" so embarrassed that they ate the rest of their breakfast in +painful silence. Ruth did dart one indignant glance at her uncle, which +Mr. Hamlin saw, but did not in his heart resent. + +Harriet was willing, that morning, to have Ruth come into her darkened +bedroom and sit by her bed. For Harriet's wakeful night had left her +slightly feverish. + +"I don't want to disturb you, Harriet," Bab apologized, coming softly to +the door. "But some one has just telephoned for you. The person at the +telephone has a message for you, but whoever it is refuses to give his +name. What shall I do!" + +Harriet sat up in bed, quickly, a hunted expression on her beautiful +face. "Tell Mr. Peter Dillon that I will keep my word," Harriet answered +angrily. "He is not to worry about me again." + +"Is that your message?" Bab queried wonderingly. "It was not Mr. +Dillon's voice." + +Harriet laughed hysterically. "Of course not!" she returned. "Oh, I know +you girls are wondering why I am behaving so strangely. And I am +breaking my word to tell you. But I must tell some one. I don't care +what Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon say, I know I can trust you. I have +decided to help Mrs. Wilson and Peter play their silly joke on Father +and the State Department! Oh, you needn't look so horrified, girls. It +is only a joke. The papers are about some Chinese business. I have them +hid in my bureau drawer." + +Harriet nodded toward her dressing-table, while Ruth and Bab stood +looking at each other, speechless with horror, the same idea growing in +their minds. + +"When Father comes to look for his stupid papers he'll find them gone, +and, of course, will think he has misplaced them," Harriet continued. "He +will be dreadfully worried for a little while; then Mrs. Wilson will +return the papers to me and I will slip them back in their old place, and +Father will never know what has happened. Mrs. Wilson and Peter have +vowed they will never betray me, and I have promised not to betray them. +If I were to be caught, I suppose Father would never forgive me. But I'll +take good care that he doesn't find out about it." + +"Harriet, do please give up this foolish plan!" Ruth entreated earnestly. +"I know you are doing something wrong. Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Dillon both +know that Uncle William's papers are too valuable to be played with. Why, +they belong to the United States Government, not to him! Harriet, I +implore you, do not touch your father's papers!" + +Harriet shook her head obstinately. She was absolutely adamant. Ruth +pleaded, scolded, in vain. Bab did not say a word nor enter a protest. +She was too frightened. All of a sudden a veil had been rent asunder. Now +she believed she understood what Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson had planned +from the beginning. They were spies in the service of some higher power. +The papers that Harriet thought were to be used for a joke on her father +were really to be sold! Was not some state secret to be betrayed? Ever +since Bab's arrival in Washington it had looked as though Peter Dillon +and Mrs. Wilson had been working toward this very end. Having failed with +her they had turned their attention to poor Harriet. But Mrs. Wilson and +Peter Dillon must be only hired tools! Shrewdly Barbara Thurston recalled +her recent conversation with innocent Wee Tu: "Mr. Dillon and my father, +they have Chinese secrets together." Could a certain distinguished and +wisely silent Oriental gentleman be responsible for the thrilling drama +about to be enacted? Bab was never to know positively, and she wisely +kept her suspicion to herself. + +"I do wish, Ruth, you and Bab would go away and leave me alone," Harriet +protested. "I shall be well enough to get up for luncheon, if you will +let me take a nap. I don't see any harm in playing this joke on Father. +At any rate, I have quite made up my mind to go through with my part in +it and I won't give up my plan. You can tell Father if you choose, of +course. I cannot prevent that. I know I was foolish to have confided in +you. But, unless you are despicable tale bearers, the papers in my bureau +drawer will go out of this house in a few hours! I don't see any harm in +their disappearing for a little while. Father will have them back in a +few days. Please go!" + +Yet with all Harriet's air of bravado, however, there was one point in +her story which she did not mention. In return for her delivery of +certain of her father's state papers Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon had +promised to advance to Harriet the five hundred dollars necessary to pay +her dressmaker. Harriet had agreed only to receive it as a loan. And she +tried to comfort herself with the idea that her friends were only doing +her a kindness in exchange for the favor she was to do for them. Still, +the thought of the money worried Harriet. But how else was she to be +saved from the weight of her stern father's displeasure? + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FOILED! + + +At Harriet's request Bab and Ruth went silently out of her room, their +faces white and frightened. + +"Ruth, is there any place where we can be alone?" Barbara whispered +faintly. "I must talk with you." + +Ruth nodded, and the two friends found their way into the library, +turning the key in the lock. Then they stood facing each other, +speechless, for a moment, from the very intensity of their feelings. + +"Ruth, you must do something," Bab entreated. "The papers that Mrs. +Wilson and Mr. Dillon are making Harriet get for them they do not intend +to use for a joke. Oh, Ruth, they are no doubt important state papers! +Harriet may be betraying her country and ruining her father by placing +these papers in their hands." + +"I think, too, that Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon are spies," Ruth +returned more quietly. "And, of course, we must do something to prevent +their getting their hands on the papers." + +"But what can we do?" Barbara demanded sharply. "We cannot tell Mr. +Hamlin of Harriet's deed. It would be too cruel of us. Nor can we +confront Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon with the accusation. They would +only laugh at us, and declare that we were mad to have imagined any such +thing. Then, again, we would be betraying Harriet's confidence. We do not +know just what state papers Harriet is to give to them, but they must be +very, very valuable. I suppose those dreadful people will have the papers +copied, sell our country's secret, and return the papers to Harriet when +all the mischief has been done. Ruth, I believe, now, that Mrs. Wilson +and Peter Dillon both meant to make me steal Mr. Hamlin's papers. Then +they would have declared I had sold them to some one. And Mr. Hamlin +would never have suspected his friends. Now, they think poor Harriet will +be too much afraid to betray them." + +Bab's voice trembled slightly. She realized how nearly she had been the +dupe of these two clever schemers. She felt that she and Ruth must save +Harriet at all events. + +"Mrs. Wilson tried to steal Mr. Hamlin's papers the night she masqueraded +as a ghost," Barbara continued. "I picked up the envelope she dropped on +the floor in the hall." + +"I know it, Barbara," Ruth answered in her self-controlled fashion, +which always had a calming effect on the more impetuous Bab. "I also +believe Mrs. Wilson meant to fix the guilt of the theft upon you. Uncle +William called me into his study the other day and asked me if I +considered you trustworthy. Of course I was awfully indignant and told +him just what I thought of him for being so suspicious. But I believe +Mrs. Wilson had tried to poison his mind against you. You must be on +your guard now, Bab, dear. If Harriet gives up these papers of Uncle's +the plotters may still try to use you as their scapegoat. When Uncle +finds his papers have disappeared Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Dillon will, of +course, appear to know nothing of them; but they will somehow try to +direct suspicion against you, trusting to Harriet's cowardice. Don't you +worry though, Bab, dear. You shall not suffer for Harriet's fault while +I am here." + +"Oh, I am not worrying about myself, Ruth," Bab answered. "It is +Harriet's part in the affair that troubles me. Do, please, go to Harriet +and talk to her again. Surely you can make her see the risk she is +running. Do you suppose it would do any good if I were to call on Mrs. +Wilson? I could just pretend I still thought she meant to play the joke +on Mr. Hamlin. You know she told me she intended to do so. I could beg +her to give it up without mentioning Harriet's name or letting Mrs. +Wilson guess that Harriet had confided in us." + +Ruth shook her head. "It would not do any good for you to go to Mrs. +Wilson, Bab. And, somehow, I am afraid for you. We do not know how much +further they intend to involve you in their plot." + +"Oh, they won't do me any harm, now," Barbara rejoined. "Anyhow, I am +willing to take the risk, if Harriet will not give in." + +"Just wait here, Bab, until I have been to see Harriet again," Ruth +entreated. "I will go down on my knees to her, if I can persuade her to +give up this wicked deed. Oh, why is she so determined to be so reckless +and so foolish?" + +Fifteen minutes afterwards Ruth came back from her second interview with +Harriet, looking utterly discouraged. "Harriet simply won't give up," +Ruth reported to Bab. "She is absolutely determined to go her own way, +and she is angry with me for interfering. Oh, Bab, what will happen? +Uncle is so proud! If his daughter is known to have given Mrs. Wilson and +Peter Dillon state papers, the report will be circulated that she stole +them, and Uncle William will be disgraced. Then, what will become of +Harriet? She does not intend to do wrong. But I simply can't make her +see this thing as we see it. So what can we do?" Unusually +self-contained, Ruth broke down, now, weeping on Bab's shoulder. The +thought of the dreadful disgrace to her uncle and her cousin was more +than she could face. + +"I am going to see Mrs. Wilson, Ruth," Bab declared. "You had better +stay here and do your best with Harriet. The papers are not to be +delivered until four this afternoon, when, I believe, Harriet is to meet +Peter Dillon. Of course it was he who telephoned Harriet, only he was +clever enough to disguise his voice. So we have until afternoon to work. +Don't worry yourself sick. We simply must save Harriet in some way. I +don't pretend that I see the way clearly yet, but I have faith that it +will come. I cannot do any harm by going to Mrs. Wilson, and I may do +some good." + +"I don't like you to go there alone, Bab," Ruth faltered. "But I don't +dare to leave Harriet by herself. She might find a way to give up the +papers while we were out, and then all would be lost!" + +When Bab rang the bell at the door of Mrs. Wilson's home she did not know +that her approach had been watched. She meant to be very careful during +her interview, for she realized that she and Ruth were endeavoring to +foil two brilliant and unscrupulous enemies. + +Mrs. Wilson and Peter were in the library, and through the window Mrs. +Wilson had watched Bab approaching the house. + +"Here comes that tiresome Thurston girl, whom you were going to use as +your tool, Peter," teased Mrs. Wilson. "She wasn't so easy to manage as +you thought, was she? Never mind; she will still be used as our +scapegoat. But I shall not see her this morning. What's the use?" + +"Let her come in, by all means, Mrs. Wilson," Peter Dillon urged. "I +shall hide so that she will not see me. What would fall in with our plans +better than to have this girl come here to-day! Who knows how this visit +may be made to count against her? Of course, if suspicion never points to +us we had best never mention the name of Barbara Thurston. But--if Mr. +Hamlin ever questions you, why not say Miss Thurston came here to-day and +betrayed the fact to you that she had stolen Mr. Hamlin's papers? We have +circumstantial evidence enough against her." + +Bab found Mrs. Wilson very much surprised to see her, and looking very +languid and bored. + +Straightforward Barbara rushed headlong into her request. + +"Really, Miss Thurston, don't you think you are rather impertinent?" +drawled her hostess, when Bab finished. "I don't see what business it is +of yours whether or not I wish to play a joke on my friend, Mr. Hamlin. +Don't try to get out of mischief by reporting to Mr. Hamlin the story of +my poor little joke. You can hardly save yourself by any such method. No +one will believe you. And I have an idea that you came to my house +to-day for a very different purpose than to persuade me to give up my +joke. What was it?" + +Bab was mystified. She had no idea how Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon had +planned to use her visit as evidence against her, so it was impossible +for her to understand Mrs. Wilson's insinuation. + +Barbara did not stay long. She saw Mrs. Wilson had no intention of being +persuaded from her design. Even though the woman was beginning to see +that Bab and Ruth were a little suspicious of her, she had no idea of +being frightened from her deep-laid scheme by two insignificant +schoolgirls. + +Barbara hurried to her car as fast as she could, anxious to get back to +Ruth and to devise some other move to checkmate the traitors. She even +hoped, against hope, that Harriet had been induced to change her mind and +that all would yet be well. But as Bab jumped aboard her car she saw +another girl, running down the street, waving something in the air and +evidently trying to induce Bab's street car to wait for her. Barbara +begged the conductor to hold the car for a moment, before she recognized +the figure, running toward them. But the next second she beheld the +ever-present newspaper girl, Marjorie Moore, tablet and pencil in hand, +completely out of breath and exhausted. Marjorie Moore could not speak +for some time after she had secured a seat next Bab in the car. + +"I have been watching Mrs. Wilson's house since eight o'clock this +morning," she finally gasped. "What on earth made you go in there?" + +"I can't tell you," Bab returned coldly. Not for anything in the world +would she have Marjorie Moore suspect what she and Ruth feared. + +Miss Moore gave a little, half amused, half sarcastic laugh. "You can't +tell? Oh, never mind, my dear. I know you are all right. You weren't +doing anything wrong. I expect you were trying to help set matters +straight. You don't need to tell me anything. I think I know all that is +necessary. Good-bye now. I must get off this car at the corner. Let me +tell you, however, not to worry, whatever happens. I am in possession of +all the facts, so there will be no trouble in proving them. But if +anything disagreeable happens to you," Marjorie Moore gave Bab a +reassuring smile, "telephone me, will you? My number is 1607, Union." + +Marjorie Moore rushed out of the street car as hurriedly as she had +entered it, before Bab could take in what she had said. + +Barbara puzzled all the rest of the way home. Could it be possible that +Marjorie Moore had discovered Mrs. Wilson's and Peter's plot? Could she +also have guessed Harriet's part in it? Bab shuddered, for she remembered +the newspaper girl's words to her on the night of their first meeting: +"If ever I have a chance to get even with Harriet Hamlin, won't I take my +revenge?" Did Marjorie Moore also suspect that an effort would be made to +draw Barbara into this whirlpool of disgrace? + +No one ate any luncheon at the home of the Assistant Secretary of State, +except Mollie and Grace. Fortunately Mr. Hamlin did not return home. Ruth +and Bab had decided not to tell the other two "Automobile Girls" of their +terrible uneasiness unless they actually needed the help of the younger +girls to save the situation. Ruth and Bab did not wish to prejudice +Mollie and Grace against Harriet if it were possible to spare her. But +Ruth had told Bab that, at four o'clock, Harriet was determined to +deliver the papers to Peter Dillon. + +At two o'clock, however, the two friends had found no way to influence +Harriet to give up her mad project. Indeed, Harriet scarcely spoke to +either of them, she was so bitterly angry at what she termed their +interference. + +At three o'clock, Ruth and Barbara grew desperate. For, at three, Harriet +Hamlin closed the door of her bedroom and commenced to dress for her +engagement. + +"Try once again, Ruth," Bab pleaded. "It is worse even than you know. I +believe Marjorie Moore suspects what Harriet is about to do. Suppose she +publishes the story in the morning papers. Tell Harriet I have a reason +for thinking she knows about the affair." + +Bab waited apprehensively for Ruth's return. It seemed to her that, for +the first time in their adventures, the "Automobile Girls" had met with +a situation that no amount of pluck or effort on their part could +control. This was the most important experience of their whole lives, +for their country was about to be betrayed! Once Barbara stamped her +foot in her impatience. How dared Harriet Hamlin be so willful, so +headstrong? Bab's face was white with anxiety and suspense. Her lips +twitched nervously. Then in a flash her whole expression changed. The +color came back to her cheeks, the light to her eyes. At the eleventh +hour the way had been made clear. + +Ruth had no such look when she returned to Barbara. She flung herself +despondently into a chair. "It's no use," she declared despairingly. +"Harriet must go her own way. We can do nothing with her!" + +"Yes, we can!" Bab whispered. She leaned over and murmured something in +Ruth's ear. + +Ruth sprang to her feet. "Barbara Thurston, you are perfectly wonderful!" +she cried. "Yes, I do know where it is. Go to my desk and take that blank +paper. It is just the right size. Fold it up in three parts. There, it +will do, now; give it to me. Now go and command Grace and Mollie, if they +love us, to call Harriet out of her room for a minute. We can explain to +them afterwards." + +Mollie and Grace feared Barbara had gone suddenly mad when she rushed in +upon them with her demand. But Mollie did manage to persuade Harriet to +go into the next room. As Harriet slipped out of her bedroom, her cousin, +Ruth Stuart, stole into it, hiding something she held in her hand. She +was alone in Harriet's room for not more than two minutes. + +At a quarter to four o'clock, Harriet Hamlin left her father's house +with a large envelope concealed inside her shopping bag. Opposition +had merely strengthened Harriet's original resolution. She was no +longer frightened. Ruth and Bab were absurd to have been so tragic over +a silly joke. + +At a little after four o'clock, in a quiet, out-of-the-way street in +Washington, Harriet turned over to Peter Dillon this envelope, which, as +she supposed, contained the much-coveted papers which she had extracted +from the private collection of the Assistant Secretary of State. + +Whatever the papers were, Peter Dillon took them carelessly with his +usual charming smile. But inwardly he was chanting a song of victory. He +and Mrs. Wilson would be many-thousands of dollars richer by this time +to-morrow. He glanced into the envelope with his near-sighted eyes. The +papers were folded up inside and all was well! Peter did not dare, before +Harriet, to be too interested in what the envelope contained. + +It would not have made him happier to have looked closer; the song of +victory would have died away on his lips. For, instead of certain secret +documents sent to the office of the Secretary of State, from +representatives of the United States Government in China, Harriet Hamlin +had turned over to Peter Dillon an official envelope, which contained +only folded sheets of blank paper! + +It had been Barbara's idea and Ruth had carried it out successfully. In +the moment when Harriet left her room in answer to Mollie's call, Ruth +had exchanged the valuable state papers for the worthless ones. Once +Harriet was safely out of the way, she and Bab carried the precious +documents downstairs and shut them up in Mr. Hamlin's desk. Both girls +hoped that all trouble was now averted, and that Mr. Hamlin would never +hear of Harriet's folly! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DISCOVERY + + +The members of the Hamlin household went early to their own rooms +that night. + +Ruth at once flung herself down on a couch without removing her clothing. +In a few minutes she was fast asleep, for she believed their difficulties +were over. Bab did not feel as secure. She was still thinking of the +speech the newspaper girl had made to her in the car. + +At ten o'clock the Assistant Secretary of State, who was sitting alone +in his study, heard a violent ringing of his telephone bell. He did +not know that, at this same instant, his daughter Harriet had crept +down to his study door intending to make a full confession of her +mistakes to him. + +Mr. Hamlin picked up the receiver. "'The Washington News?' Yes. You have +something important to say to me? Well, what is it?" Mr. Hamlin listened +quietly for a little while. Then Harriet heard him cry in a hoarse, +unnatural voice: "Impossible! The thing is preposterous! Where did you +ever get hold of such an absurd idea?" + +Harriet stopped to listen no longer. She never knew how she got back +upstairs to her room. She half staggered, half fell up the steps. +Suddenly she realized everything! She had been used as a tool by Mrs. +Wilson and Peter Dillon. Ruth and Barbara had been right. She had stolen +her father's state papers. A newspaper had gotten hold of the story and +already her father and she were disgraced. + +In the meantime, Mr. Hamlin continued to talk over the telephone, though +his hand shook so he was hardly able to hold the receiver. + +"You say you think it best to warn me that the story of the theft of my +papers will be published in the morning paper, that you know that private +state documents entrusted to me keeping have been sold to secret spies? +What evidence have you? I have missed no such papers. Wait a minute." Mr. +Hamlin went to his strong box. Sure enough, certain documents were +missing. Ruth and Bab had put the papers in the desk. "Have you an idea +who stole my papers?" Mr. Hamlin called back over the telephone wire, his +voice shaken with passion. + +Evidently the editor who was talking to Mr. Hamlin now lost his courage. +He did not dare to tell Mr. Hamlin that his own daughter was suspected of +having sold her father's papers. Mr. Hamlin repeated the editor's exact +words. "You say a young woman sold my papers? You are right; this is not +a matter to be discussed over the telephone. Send some one up from your +office to see me at once." + +Mr. Hamlin reeled over to his bell-rope and gave it a pull, so that the +noise of its ringing sounded like an alarm through the quiet house. + +A frightened servant answered the bell. + +"Tell Miss Thurston and my niece, Miss Stuart, to come to my study at +once," Mr. Hamlin ordered. The man-servant obeyed. + +"Ruth, dear, wake up," Bab entreated, giving her friend a shake. +"Something awful must have happened. Your uncle has sent for us. He must +have missed those papers." + +[Illustration: "What Have You Done With My Papers?"] + +Ruth and Bab, both of them looking unutterably miserable and shaken, +entered Mr. Hamlin's study. Their host did not speak as they first +approached him. When he did he turned on them such a haggard, wretched +face that they were filled with pity. But the instant Mr. Hamlin caught +sight of Barbara his expression changed. He took her by the arm, and, +before she could guess what was going to happen, he shook her violently. + +"What have you done with my state papers?" he demanded. "Tell me quickly. +Don't hesitate. There may yet be time to save us both. Oh, I should never +have let you stay in this house!" he groaned. "I suspected you of +mischief when I learned of your first visit to my office. But I did not +believe such treachery could be found in a young girl. Ruth, can't you +make your friend speak! If she will tell me to whom she sold my papers, I +will forgive her everything! But I must know where they are at once. I +can then force the newspaper to keep silence and force my enemies to +return me the documents, if there is only time!" + +Barbara dropped into a chair and covered her face with her hands. She did +not utter a word of reproach to Mr. Hamlin for his cruel suspicion of +her. She could not tell him that his daughter Harriet was the real thief. + +"Uncle," Ruth entreated, laying a quiet hand on Mr. Hamlin's arm, +"listen to me for a moment. Yes, you must listen! You are not disgraced; +you are not ruined. Look in your desk. Your papers are still there. Only +the old envelope is gone. I put the papers in this drawer only this +afternoon, because I did not know in what place you kept them. Some +papers were given away, a few hours ago, to two people, whom you believed +to be your friends, to Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon. But they were not +your state papers, they were only blank sheets." + +Mr. Hamlin looked into his drawer and saw the lost documents, then he +passed his hand over his forehead. "I don't understand," he muttered. "Do +you mean that, instead of the actual papers, you saved me by substituting +blank papers for these valuable ones? Then your friend did try to sell +her country's secrets, and you saved her and me. I shall never cease to +be grateful to you to the longest day I live. For your sake I will spare +your friend. But she must leave my house in the morning. I do not wish +ever to look upon her again." + +"Bab did not sell your papers, Uncle," Ruth protested passionately. "You +shall not make such accusations against her. It was she who saved you. I +did only what she told me to do. I did substitute the papers, but it was +Barbara who thought of it." + +"Then who, in Heaven's name, is guilty of this dreadful act?" Mr. +Hamlin cried. + +Neither Ruth nor Bab answered. Bab still sat with her face covered with +her hands, in order to hide her hot tears. She cried partly for poor +Harriet, and partly because of her sympathy for Mr. Hamlin. Ruth gazed at +her uncle, white, silent and trembling. + +"Who, Ruth? I demand to know!" Mr. Hamlin repeated. + +"I shall not tell you," Ruth returned, with a little gasp. + +"Send for my daughter, Harriet. She may know something," Mr. Hamlin +ejaculated. Then he rang for a servant. + +The two girls and the one man, who had grown old in the last few minutes, +waited in unbroken silence. The girls had a strong desire to scream, to +cry out, to warn Harriet. She must not let her father know of her foolish +deed while his anger was at its height. + +It seemed an eternity before the butler returned to Mr. Hamlin's study. + +"Miss Hamlin is not in her room," he reported respectfully. + +"Not in her room? Then look for her through the house," Mr. Hamlin +repeated more quietly. He had gained greater control of himself. But a +new fear was oppressing him, weighing him down. He would not give the +idea credence even in his own mind. + +Three--four--five minutes passed. Still Harriet did not appear. + +"Let me look for Harriet, Uncle," Ruth implored, unable to control +herself any longer. + +At this moment Mollie came innocently down the stairs. "Is Mr. Hamlin +looking for Harriet?" she inquired. "Harriet left the house ten minutes +ago. She had on her coat and her hat, but she would not stop to say +good-bye. I think her maid went with her. Mary had just a shawl thrown +over her head. I am sure they will be back in a few minutes. Harriet +must have gone out to post a letter. I thought she would have come back +before this." + +Imagine poor Mollie's horror and surprise when Mr. Hamlin dropped into +a chair at her news and groaned: "It was Harriet after all. It was _my +own child_!" + +"Uncle, rouse yourself!" Ruth implored him. "Harriet thought she was only +playing a harmless trick on you. She did not dream that the papers were +of any importance. Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon deceived her cruelly. You +must go and find out what has become of Harriet." Mr. Hamlin shook his +head drearily. + +"You must go!" insisted gentle Ruth, bursting into tears. "Harriet does +not even know that the papers she gave away were worthless. If she has +found out she has been duped she will be doubly desperate." + +At this instant the door bell rang loudly. No one in the study appeared +to hear it. Mollie had crept slowly back upstairs to Grace. Ruth, Mr. +Hamlin and Bab were too wretched to stir. + +A sound of hasty footsteps came down the hall, followed by a knock at +the study door. The door flew open of its own accord. Like a vision +straight from Heaven appeared the faces of Mr. Robert Stuart and his +sister, Miss Sallie! + +Ruth sprang into her father's arms with a cry of joy. And Bab, her eyes +still streaming with tears, was caught up in the comforting arms of +Miss Sallie. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS + + +"What does all this mean, William Hamlin?" Mr. Stuart inquired +without ceremony. + +With bowed head Mr. Hamlin told the whole story, not attempting to excuse +himself, for Mr. Hamlin was a just man, though a severe one. He declared +that he had been influenced to suspect Barbara ever since her arrival in +his home. His enemies had also made a dupe of him, but his punishment had +come upon him swiftly. He had just discovered that his own daughter had +tried to deliver into the hands of paid spies, state papers of the United +States Government. + +Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie looked extremely serious while Mr. Hamlin was +telling his story. But when Mr. Hamlin explained how Ruth and Bab had +exchanged the valuable political documents for folded sheets of blank +paper, Mr. Stuart burst into a loud laugh, and his expression changed as +though by a miracle. He patted his daughter's shoulder to express his +approval, while Miss Sallie kissed Bab with a sigh of relief. + +Mr. Stuart and his sister had both been extremely uneasy since the +arrival of Ruth's singular telegram, not knowing what troubled waters +might be surrounding their "Automobile Girls." Indeed Miss Sallie had +insisted on accompanying her brother to Washington, as she felt sure her +presence would help to set things right. + +Mr. Stuart's laugh cleared the sorrowful atmosphere of the study as +though by magic. Ruth and Barbara smiled through their tears. They were +now so sure that all would soon be well! + +"It seems to me, William, that all this is 'much ado about nothing,'" Mr. +Stuart declared. "Of course, I can see that the situation would have been +pretty serious if poor Harriet had been deceived into giving up the real +documents. But Bab and Ruth have saved the day! There is no harm done +now. You even know the names of the spies. There is only one thing for us +to consider at present, and that is--where is Harriet?" + +"Yes, Father," Ruth pleaded. "Do find Harriet." + +"The child was foolish, and she did wrong, of course," Mr. Stuart went +on. "But, as Ruth tells me Harriet did not know the real papers were +exchanged for false ones, she probably thinks she has disgraced you +and she is too frightened to come home. You must take steps to find +her at once, and to let her know you forgive her. It is a pity to lose +any time." + +Mr. Hamlin was silent. "I cannot forgive Harriet," he replied. "But, of +course, she must be brought home at once." + +"Nonsense!" Mr. Stuart continued. "Summon your servants and have some one +telephone to Harriet's friends. She has probably gone to one of them. +Tell the child that Sallie and I are here and wish to see her. But where +are my other 'Automobile Girls,' Mollie and Grace?" + +"Upstairs, Father," Ruth answered happily. "Come and see them. I want to +telephone for Harriet. I think she will come home for me." + +"Show your aunt and father to their rooms, Ruth," Mr. Hamlin begged. +"I must wait here until a messenger arrives from the newspaper, which +in some way has learned the story of our misfortune. And even they do +not know that the stolen papers were valueless. I must explain +matters to them." + +"A man of your influence can keep any mention of this affair out of the +newspapers," Mr. Stuart argued heartily. "So the storm will have blown +over by to-morrow. And I believe you will be able to punish the two +schemers who have tried to betray your daughter and disgrace my Barbara, +without having Harriet's name brought into this affair." + +For the first time, Mr. Hamlin lifted his head and nodded briefly. "Yes, +I can attend to them," he declared in the quiet fashion that showed him +to be a man of power. "It is best, for the sake of the country, that the +scandal be nipped in the bud. I alone know what was in these state papers +that Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon were hired to steal. So I alone know to +whom they would be valuable. There would be an international difficulty +if I should expose the real promoter of the theft. Peter Dillon shall be +dismissed from his Embassy. Mrs. Wilson will find it wiser to leave +Washington, and never to return here again. I will spare the woman as +much as I can for the sake of her son, Elmer, who is a fine fellow. Ruth, +dear, do telephone to Harriet's friends. Your father is right. We must +find my daughter at once." + +Miss Sallie, Mr. Stuart and Ruth started to leave the room. Bab rose to +follow them. + +"Miss Thurston, don't go for a minute," Mr. Hamlin said. "I wish to beg +your pardon. Will you forgive a most unhappy man? Of course I see, now, +that I had no right to suspect you without giving you a chance to defend +yourself. I can only say that I was deceived, as well as Harriet. The +whole plot is plain to me now. Harriet was to be terrified into not +betraying her own part in the theft, so she would never dare reveal the +names of Mrs. Wilson or Peter Dillon. I, with my mind poisoned against +you, would have sought blindly to fasten the crime on you. I regard my +office as Assistant Secretary of State as a sacred trust. If the papers +entrusted to my keeping had been delivered into the hands of the enemies +of my country, through my own daughter's folly, I should never have +lifted my head again, I cannot say--I have no words to express--what I +owe to you and Ruth. But how do you think a newspaper man could have +unearthed this plot? It seems incredible, when you consider how +stealthily Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson have worked. A man--" + +"I don't think a man did unearth it," Bab replied. Just then the bell +rang again. + +The next moment the door opened, and the butler announced: "Miss Marjorie +Moore!" The newspaper girl gave Bab a friendly smile; then she turned +coldly to Mr. William Hamlin. + +"Miss Moore!" Mr. Hamlin exclaimed in surprise and in anger. "I wish to +see a man from your newspaper. What I have to say cannot possibly +concern you." + +"I think it does, Mr. Hamlin," Miss Moore repeated calmly. "One of the +editors from my paper has come here with me. He is waiting in the hall. +But it was I who discovered the theft of your state documents. I have +been expecting mischief for some time. I am sorry for you, of +course--very sorry, but I have all the facts of the case, and as no one +else knows of it, it will be a great scoop for me in the morning." + +"Your newspaper will not publish the story at all, Miss Moore," Mr. +Hamlin rejoined, when he had recovered from his astonishment at Miss +Moore's appearance. "The stolen papers were not of the least value. Will +you explain to Miss Moore exactly what occurred, Miss Thurston?" Mr. +Hamlin concluded. + +When Bab told the story of how she and Ruth had made their lightning +substitution of the papers, Marjorie Moore gave a gasp of surprise. + +"Good for you, Miss Thurston!" she returned. "I knew you were clever, as +well as the right sort, the first time I saw you. So I had gotten hold of +the whole story of the theft except, the most important point--the +exchange of the papers. It spoils my story as sensational political news. +But," Miss Moore laughed, "it makes a perfectly great personal story, +because it has such a funny side to it: 'Foiled by the "Automobile +Girls"!' 'The Assistant Secretary of State's Daughter!'" Miss Moore +stopped, ashamed of her cruelty when she saw Mr. Hamlin's face. But he +did not speak. + +It was Bab who exclaimed: "Oh, Miss Moore, you are not going to betray +Harriet, are you? Poor Harriet thought it was all a joke. She did not +know the papers were valuable. It would be too cruel to spread this story +abroad. It might ruin Harriet's reputation." + +Marjorie Moore made no answer. + +"You heard Miss Thurston," Mr. Hamlin interposed. "Surely you will grant +our request." + +"Mr. Hamlin," Marjorie Moore protested, "I am dreadfully sorry for you. +I told you so, but I am going to have this story published in the +morning. It is too good to keep and I have worked dreadfully hard on it. +Indeed, I almost lost my life because of it. I knew it was Peter Dillon +who struck me down on the White House lawn the night of the reception. +But I said nothing because I knew that, if I made trouble, I would have +been put off the scent of the story somehow. I tried to see Miss +Thurston alone, that evening, to warn her that Mrs. Wilson and Peter +Dillon were going to try to fasten their crime on her. I am obliged to +be frank with you, Mr. Hamlin. I will stick to the facts as you have +told them to me, but a full account of the attempted theft will be +published in the morning's 'News.'" + +"Call the man who is with you, Miss Moore; I prefer to talk with him," +Mr. Hamlin commanded. "You do not seem to realize the gravity of what you +intend to do. It will be a mistake for your newspaper to make an enemy of +a man in my official position." + +Mr. Hamlin talked for some time to one of the editors of the Washington +"News." He entreated, threatened and finally made an appeal to him to +save his daughter and himself by not making the story public. + +"I am afraid we shall have to let the story go, Miss Moore," the editor +remarked regretfully. "It was a fine piece of news, but we don't wish to +make things too hard for Mr. Hamlin." The man turned to go. + +"Mr. Hughes," Marjorie Moore announced, speaking to her editor, "if you +do not intend to use this story, which I have worked on so long, in your +paper, I warn you, right now, that I shall simply sell it to some other +newspaper and take the consequences. All the papers will not be so +careful of Mr. Hamlin's feelings." + +"Oh, Miss Moore, you would not be so cruel!" Bab cried. + +Marjorie Moore turned suddenly on Barbara; "Why shouldn't I?" she +returned. "Both Harriet Hamlin and Peter Dillon have been hateful and +insolent to me ever since I have been making my living in Washington. I +told you I meant to get even with them some day. Well, this is my chance, +and I intend to take it. Good-bye; there is no reason for me to stay here +any longer." + +"Mr. Hamlin, if Miss Moore insists on selling her story on the outside, I +cannot see how we would benefit you by failing to print the story," the +editor added. + +"Very well," Mr. Hamlin returned coldly. But he sank back into his chair +and covered his face with his hands. Harriet's reputation was ruined, +for no one would believe she had not tried deliberately to sell her +father's honor. + +But Bab resolved to appeal once more to the newspaper girl. She ran to +Marjorie Moore and put her arm about the newspaper girl's waist to detain +her. She talked to her in her most winning fashion, with her brown eyes +glowing with feeling and her lips trembling with eagerness. + +The tears came to Marjorie Moore's eyes as she listened to Bab's pleading +for Harriet. But she still obstinately shook her head. + +Some one came running down the stairs and Ruth entered the study without +heeding the strangers in it. + +"Uncle!" she exclaimed in a terrified voice, "Harriet cannot be found! We +have telephoned everywhere for her. No one has seen her or knows anything +about her. What shall we do? It is midnight!" + +Mr. Hamlin followed Ruth quickly out of the room, forgetting every other +consideration in his fear for his daughter. He looked broken and old. Was +Harriet in some worse peril? + +As Marjorie Moore saw Mr. Hamlin go, she turned swiftly to Barbara and +kissed her. "It's all right, dear," she said. "You were right. Revenge is +too little and too mean. Mr. Hughes has said he will not publish the +story, and I shall not sell it anywhere else. Indeed, I promise that what +I know shall never be spoken of outside this room. Good night." Before +Barbara could thank her she was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SUSPENSE AND THE REWARD + + +All night long diligent search was made for Harriet Hamlin, but no word +was heard of her. The "Automobile Girls" telephoned her dearest friends. +Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Stuart tramped from one hotel to the other. None of +the Hamlin household closed their eyes that night. + +"It has been my fault, Robert," Mr. Hamlin admitted, as he and his +brother-in-law returned home in the gray dawn of the morning, hoping +vainly to hear that Harriet had returned. "My child has gotten into debt +and she has been afraid to confess her mistake to me. Her little friend, +Mollie, told me the story. Mollie believes that Mrs. Wilson and Peter +Dillon tempted Harriet by offering to lend her money. And so she agreed +to aid them in what she thought was their 'joke.' I have seen, lately, +that Harriet has been so worried she hardly knew what she was doing. Yet, +when my poor child tried to confess her fault to me, I would not let her +go on. My harshness and lack of sympathy have driven her to--I know not +what. Oh, Robert, what shall I do? She is the one joy of my life!" + +Mr. Stuart did not try to deny Mr. Hamlin's judgment of himself. He knew +Mr. Hamlin had been too severe with his daughter. If only Harriet could +be found she and her father would be closer friends after this +experience. Mr. Stuart realized fully what danger Harriet was in with +her unusual beauty, with no mother and with a father who did not +understand her. + +"Harriet has done very wrong," Mr. Hamlin added slowly. It was hard, +indeed, for a man of his nature to forgive. "But I shall not reproach her +when she comes back to me," he said quickly. The fear that Harriet might +never return to him at all struck a sudden chill to his soul. + +"The child has done wrong, William, I admit it," returned good-natured +Mr. Stuart. "She has been headstrong and foolish. But we have done worse +things in our day, remember." + +"I will remember," Mr. Hamlin answered drearily, as he shut himself up +in his room. + +Mr. Hamlin would not come down to breakfast. There was still no news of +Harriet. While dear, comfortable Aunt Sallie and the "Automobile Girls" +were seated around the table, making a pretense of eating, there came a +ring at the front door bell. + +Ruth jumped up and ran out into the hall. Then followed several moments +of awful suspense. Ruth came back slowly, not with Harriet, but with a +note in her hand. She opened it with shaking fingers, for she recognized +Harriet's handwriting in the address. + +The note read: "Dearest Ruth, I shall never come home again. I have +disgraced my father and myself. I would not listen to you and Bab, and +now I know the worst. Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon were villains and I +was only a foolish dupe. I spent the night in a boarding house with an +old friend of my mother's." Ruth stopped reading. Her voice sank so low +it was almost impossible to hear her. She had not noticed that her uncle +was standing just outside the door, listening, with white lips. + +"I don't know what else to do," Harriet's note continued, when Ruth had +strength to go on. "So early this morning I telegraphed to Charlie +Meyers. When you receive this note, I shall be married to him. Ask my +father to forgive me, for I shall never see him again. Your heart-broken +cousin, Harriet." + +"Absurd child!" Miss Sallie ejaculated, trying to hide her tears. But Mr. +Stuart stepped to Mr. Hamlin's side as he entered the room, looking +conscience-stricken and miserable. + +Poor Harriet was paying for her folly with a life-time of wretchedness. +She was to marry a man she did not love; and her friends were powerless +to save her. + +Mollie slipped quietly away from the table. No one tried to stop her. +Every one thought Mollie was overcome, because she had been especially +devoted to Harriet. + +"Won't you try to find Mr. Meyers, Uncle?" Ruth pleaded. "It may not be +too late to prevent Harriet's marriage. Oh, do try to find her. She does +not care for Charlie Meyers in the least. She is only marrying him +because she is so wretched she does not know what to do." + +Mr. Stuart was already getting into his coat and hat. Mr. Hamlin was not +far behind him. The two men were just going out the front door, when a +cry from Mollie interrupted them. The three girls rushed into the hall, +not knowing what Mollie's cry meant. But when they saw the little golden +haired girl, who sympathized the most deeply with Harriet in her trouble, +because of her own recent acquaintance with debt, the "Automobile Girls" +knew at once that all was well! + +"Oh, Mr. Hamlin! Oh, Mr. Stuart! Do wait until I get my breath," Mollie +begged. "Dear, darling Harriet is all right. She will come home if her +father will come for her. I telephoned to Mr. Meyers and he declares +Harriet is safe with his aunt. He says, of course, he is not such a cad +as to marry Harriet when she is so miserable and frightened. He went to +the boarding house for her, then took her to his aunt's home. Mr. Meyers +was on his way here to see Mr. Hamlin." + +Two hours later, Harriet was at home again and in bed, suffering from +nervous shock. But her father's forgiveness, his sympathy, his +reassuring words, and above all, the thought that by the ruse of Bab, she +had been mercifully saved from the deep disgrace that had shadowed her +life, soon restored her to her normal spirits. There was a speedy +investigation by the State Department--the result of which was that Mrs. +Wilson disappeared from Washington society. Her son Elmer reported that +his mother had grown tired of Washington and was living in New England. +As for Peter Dillon, his connection with the Russian Embassy was severed +at once. No one knew where he went. + + * * * * * + +"The President would like to see the 'Automobile Girls' at the White +House to-day at half past twelve o'clock," Mr. William Hamlin announced a +few mornings later, looking up from his paper to smile first at his +daughter and then at the group of happy faces about his breakfast table, +which included Miss Sallie Stuart and Mr. Robert Stuart. + +Harriet was looking very pale. She had been ill for two days after her +unhappy experience. + +"What on earth do you mean, Mr. Hamlin?" inquired Grace Carter anxiously, +turning to their host. + +The other girls smiled, thinking Mr. Hamlin was joking, he had been in +such different spirits since Harriet's return home. + +"I mean what I say," Mr. Hamlin returned gravely. "The President wishes +to see the 'Automobile Girls' in order to thank them for their service to +their country." Mr. Hamlin allowed an earnest note to creep into his +voice. "The story has not been made public. But I myself told the +President of my narrow escape from disgrace, and he desires personally to +thank the young girls who saved us. I told him that he might rely on your +respecting his invitation." + +"Oh, but we can't go, Mr. Hamlin," Mollie expostulated. "Grace and I had +nothing to do with saving the papers. It was only Ruth and Bab!" + +"It is most unusual to decline an invitation from the President, Mollie," +Mr. Hamlin continued. "Only a death in the family is regarded as a +reasonable excuse. Now the President most distinctly stated that he +desired a visit from the 'Automobile Girls'!" + +"United we stand, divided we fall!" Ruth announced. "Bab and I will not +stir a single step without Grace and Mollie." + +"There is one other person who ought to be included in this visit to the +President," Harriet added, shyly. + +"Whom do you mean, my child?" Mr. Hamlin queried. + +Harriet hung her proud little head. "I mean Marjorie Moore, Father. I +think she did as much as any one by keeping the story out of the papers +when it would have meant so much for her to have published it." + +"Good for Harriet!" Ruth murmured under her breath. + +"I did not neglect to tell the President of Miss Moore's part in the +affair, Daughter," Mr. Hamlin rejoined. "But I am glad you spoke of it. I +shall certainly see that she is included in the invitation." + +Promptly at twelve o'clock the "Automobile Girls" set out for the White +House in the care of their old and faithful friend, Mr. A. Bubble. On +the way there they picked up Marjorie Moore, who had now become their +staunch friend. + +The girls were greatly excited over their second visit to the White +House. It was, of course, very unlike their first, since to-day they were +to be the special guests of the President. On the evening of the +Presidential reception they had been merely included among several +hundred callers. + +Ruth sent in Mr. Hamlin's card with theirs, in order to explain whose +visitors they were. The five girls were immediately shown into a small +room, which the President used for seeing his friends when he desired a +greater privacy than was possible in the large state reception rooms. + +The girls sat waiting the appearance of the President, each one a little +more nervous than the other. + +"What shall we say, Bab?" Mollie whispered to her sister. + +"Goodness knows, child!" Bab just had time to answer, when a servant +bowed ceremoniously. A man entered the room quickly and walked from one +girl to the other, shaking hands with each one in turn. + +"I am very glad to meet you," he declared affably. "Mr. Hamlin tells me +you were able to do him a service, and through him to your country, which +it is also my privilege to serve. I thank you." The President bowed +ceremoniously. "It was a pretty trick you played on our enemies. Strategy +is sometimes better than war, and a woman's wits than a man's fists." +Then the President turned cordially to Marjorie Moore. + +"Miss Moore, it gives me pleasure to say a word of appreciation to you. +Your act in withholding this information from the public rather than to +sell it and make a personal gain by it, was a thoroughly patriotic act, +and I wish you to know that I value your service." + +"Thank you, Mr. President," replied Miss Moore, blushing deeply. + +The President's wife now entered the sitting-room with several other +guests and members of her family. When luncheon was announced, the +President of the United States offered his arm to Barbara Thurston. + +The "Automobile Girls" are not likely to forget their luncheon with the +President, his family and a few intimate friends. The girls were +frightened at first; but, being simple and natural, they soon ceased to +think of themselves. They were too much interested in what they saw and +heard around them. + +The President talked to Ruth, who sat on his left, about automobiles. He +was interested to hear of the travels of Mr. A. Bubble, and seemed to +know a great deal about motor cars. But, after a while, as the girls +heard him converse with three distinguished men who sat at his table, one +an engineer, the other a judge, and the third an artist, the "Automobile +Girls" decided wisely that the President knew almost everything that was +worth knowing. + + * * * * * + +"Children," said Mr. Stuart that night, when the girls could tell no +more of their day's experience, "it seems to me that it is about time +for you to be going home." Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie were in the Hamlin +drawing-room with the "Automobile Girls." Mr. Hamlin and Harriet had +gone for a short walk. It was now their custom to walk together each +evening after dinner, since it gave them a little opportunity for a +confidential talk. + +"You girls have had to-day the very happiest opportunity that falls to +the lot of any visitor in Washington," Mr. Stuart continued. "You have +had a private interview with the President and have been entertained by +him at the Executive Mansion. I have no doubt you have also seen all the +sights of Washington in the last few weeks. So homeward-bound must be our +next forward move!" + +"Oh, Father," cried Ruth regretfully, her face clouding as she looked +at her beloved automobile friends. How long before she should see +them again? + +The same thought clouded the bright faces of Mollie, Grace and Bab. + +"We have hardly seen you at all, Miss Sallie," Grace lamented, taking +Miss Sarah Stuart's plump, white hand in her own. "We have been the +centre of so much excitement ever since you arrived in Washington." + +"Must we go, Father?" Ruth entreated. + +"I am afraid we must, Daughter," Mr. Stuart answered, with a half +anxious and half cheerful twinkle in his eye. + +"Then it's Chicago for me!" sighed Ruth. + +"And Kingsbridge for the rest of us!" echoed the other three girls. + +"Ruth cannot very well travel home alone," Mr. Stuart remonstrated, +looking first at Barbara, then at Mollie and Grace, and winking solemnly +at Miss Sallie. + +"Don't tease the child, Robert," Miss Sallie remonstrated. + +"Aren't you and Aunt Sallie going home with me, Father?" Ruth queried, +too much surprised for further questioning. + +"No, Ruth," Mr. Stuart declared. "You seem to have concluded to return to +Chicago. But your Aunt Sallie and I are on our way to Kingsbridge, New +Jersey, to pay a visit to Mrs. Mollie Thurston at Laurel Cottage. Mrs. +Thurston wrote inviting us to visit her before we returned to the West. +But, of course, if you do not wish to go with us, Daughter--." + +Mr. Stuart had no chance to speak again. For the four girls surrounded +him, plying him with questions, with exclamations. They were all laughing +and talking at once. + +"It's too good to be true, Father!" cried Ruth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HOME AT LAUREL COTTAGE + + +Mrs. Thurston stood on the front porch of her little cottage, looking out +in the gathering dusk. Back of her the lights twinkled gayly. A big wood +fire crackled in the sitting-room and shone through the soft muslin +curtains. A small maid was busily setting the table for supper in the +dinning room, and there was a delicious smell of freshly baked rolls +coming through the kitchen door. On the table stood a great dish of +golden honey and a pitcher of rich milk. Mrs. Thurston had not forgotten, +in two years, the favorite supper of her friend, Robert Stuart. + +It was a cold night, but she could not wait indoors. She had gathered up +a warm woolen shawl of a delicate lavender shade, and wrapped it about +her head and shoulders, looking not unlike the gracious spirit of an +Autumn twilight as she lingered to welcome the travelers home. She was +thinking of all that had happened since the day that Bab had stopped +Ruth's runaway horses. She was recalling how much Mr. Stuart had done for +her little girls in the past two years. "He could not have been kinder +to Mollie and Barbara, if they had been his own daughters," thought +pretty Mrs. Thurston, with a blush. + +But did she not hear the ever-welcome sound of a friendly voice? Was not +Mr. Bubble calling to her out of the darkness? Surely enough his two +great shining eyes now appeared at the well-known turn in the road. A few +moments later Mrs. Thurston was being tempestuously embraced by the +"Automobile Girls." + +"Do let me speak to Miss Stuart, children," Mrs. Thurston entreated, +trying to extricate herself from four pairs of girlish arms. + +"Come in, Miss Stuart," she laughed. "I hope you are not tired from your +journey. I cannot tell you what pleasure it gives me to see you and Mr. +Stuart once more." + +Mr. Stuart gave Mrs. Thurston's hand a little longer pressure than +was absolutely necessary. Mrs. Thurston blushed and finally drew her +hand away. + +"Look after Mr. Stuart, dear," she said to Bab. "He is to have the guest +chamber upstairs. I want to show Miss Stuart to her room. I am sorry, +Ruth, our little home is too small to give you a room to yourself. You +will have to be happy with Mollie and Bab. Grace you are to stay to +supper with us. Your father will come for you after supper. I had to beg +awfully hard, but he finally consented to let you remain with us. Our +little reunion would not be complete without you." + +Mrs. Thurston took Miss Sallie into a charming room which she had lately +renovated for her guest. It was papered in Miss Stuart's favorite +lavender paper, had lavender curtains at the windows, and a bright wood +fire in the grate. + +"I hope you will be comfortable, Miss Stuart," said little Mrs. Thurston, +who stood slightly in awe of stately and elegant Miss Sallie. + +For answer Miss Sallie smiled and looked searchingly at Mrs. Thurston. + +"Is there any question you wish to ask me?" Mrs. Thurston inquired, +flushing slightly at Miss Stuart's peculiar expression. + +"Oh, no," smiled Miss Sallie. "Oh, no, I have no question to ask you!" + +It was seven o 'clock when the party sat down to supper, and after nine +when they finally rose. They stopped then only because Squire Carter +arrived and demanded his daughter, Grace, whom he had to carry off, as he +and her mother could bear to be parted from their child no longer. + +Miss Sallie asked to be excused, soon after supper, as she was tired +from her trip. "I think the 'Automobile Girls' had better go to bed, +too," she suggested. Then Miss Sallie flushed. For she was so accustomed +to telling her girls what they ought to do that she forgot it was no +longer her privilege to advise Bab and Mollie when they were in their +mother's house. + +Bab insisted on running out to their little stable to see if her beloved +horse, "Beauty," were safe and sound. And, of course, Ruth and Mollie +went with her. But not long afterwards, the three girls retired to their +room to talk until they fell asleep, too worn out for further +conversation. + +"I am not tired, Mrs. Thurston, are you?" Mr. Stuart asked. "If you don't +mind, won't you sit and talk to me for a little while before this cozy +open fire? We never have a chance to say much to each other before our +talkative daughters. How charming the little cottage looks to-night! It +is like a second home." + +Mrs. Thurston smiled happily. "It makes me very happy to have you and +Ruth feel so. I hope you will always feel at home here. I wish I could +do something in return for all the kindness you have shown to my two +little girls." + +Mr. Stuart did not reply at once. He seemed to be thinking so deeply that +Mrs. Thurston did not like to go on talking. + +"Mrs. Thurston," Mr. Stuart spoke slowly, "why would you not come to my +house in Chicago to make us a visit when I asked you, nearly a year ago?" + +Mrs. Thurston hesitated. "I told you my reasons then, Mr. Stuart. It was +quite impossible. But it has been so long I have almost forgotten why I +had to refuse." + +"It was after our trip in the private car with our friends, the fall +before, you remember, Mrs. Thurston. But I know why you would not come to +my home," Mr. Stuart answered, smiling. "You were willing to accept my +hospitality for your daughters, but you would not accept it for yourself. +Am I not right?" + +"Yes," Mrs. Thurston faltered. "I thought it would not be best." + +"I am sorry," Mr. Stuart said sadly. "Because I want to do a great deal +more than ask you to come to visit me in Chicago. I wish you to come to +live there as my wife." + +Mrs. Thurston's reply was so low it could hardly be heard. But Mr. Stuart +evidently understood it and found it satisfactory. + +A few moments later Mrs. Thurston murmured, "I don't believe that Ruth +and your sister Sallie will be pleased." + +"Ruth will be the happiest girl in the world!" Mr. Stuart retorted. "Poor +child, she has longed for sisters all her life. Now she is going to have +the two she loves best in the world. As for Sallie--." Here Mr. Stuart +hesitated. He thought Miss Sallie did not dream of his affection for the +little widow, and he was not at all sure how she would receive the news. +"As for Sallie," he continued stoutly, "I am sure Sallie wishes my +happiness more than anything else and she will be glad when she hears +that I can find it only through you." + +Mrs. Thurston shook her head. "I can only consent to our marriage," she +returned, "if my girls and yours are really happy in our choice and if +your sister is willing to give us her blessing." + + * * * * * + +"Oh, Aunt Sallie, dear, please are you awake?" Ruth cried at half-past +seven the next morning, tapping gently on Miss Stuart's door. + +Ruth had been awakened by her father at a little after six that morning +and carried off to his bedroom in her dressing-gown, to sit curled up on +her father's bed, while he made his confession to her. + +Ruth had listened silently at first with her head turned away. Once her +father thought she was crying. But when she turned toward him her eyes +were shining with happy tears. Ruth never thought of being jealous, or +that her adored father would love her any less. She only thought, first, +of his happiness and next of her own. + +Mr. Stuart would not let Ruth go until, with her arms about his neck and +her cheek pressed to his, she begged him to let her be the messenger to +Barbara, Mollie and Aunt Sallie. + +"You will be careful when you break the news to your aunt," Mr. Stuart +entreated. "I should have given her some warning in regard to my feelings +for Mrs. Thurston. I fear the news will be an entire surprise to her." + +Ruth wondered what she should say first. + +"Come in, dear," Miss Sallie answered placidly in reply to Ruth's knock. +Miss Stuart was sitting up in bed with a pale lavender silk dressing +sacque over her lace and muslin gown. + +"I suppose," Miss Sallie continued calmly, "that you have come to tell me +that your father is going to marry Mrs. Thurston." + +"Aunt Sallie," gasped Ruth, "are you a wizard?" + +"No," said Miss Stuart, "I am a woman. Why, child, I have seen this thing +coming ever since we first left Robert Stuart here in Kingsbridge when I +took you girls off to Newport. Are you pleased, child?" Miss Sallie +inquired, a little wistfully. + +"Gladder than anything, if you are, Aunt Sallie," Ruth replied. "But +Father told me to come to ask you how you felt. He says Mrs. Thurston +won't marry him unless we all consent." + +"Nonsense!" returned Miss Stuart in her accustomed fashion. "Of course I +am glad to have Robert happy. Mrs. Thurston is a dear little woman. +Only," dignified Miss Sallie choked with a tiny sob in her voice, "I +can't give you up, Ruth, dear." And Miss Stuart and her beloved niece +shed a few comfortable tears in each other's arms. + +"I never, never will care for any one as I do for you, Aunt Sallie," Ruth +protested. "And aren't you Chaperon Extraordinary and Ministering Angel +Plentipotentiary to the 'Automobile Girls'? The other girls care for you +almost as much as I do. I wonder if Mrs. Thurston has told Bab and +Mollie. Do you think they will be glad to have me for a sister?" + +"Fix my hair, Ruth, and don't be absurd," Miss Sallie rejoined, returning +to her former severe manner, which no longer alarmed any one of the +"Automobile Girls." "It is wonderful to me how I have learned to do +without a maid while I have been traveling about the world with you +children." + +The winter sunshine poured into the breakfast room of Laurel Cottage. +The canary sang rapturously in his golden cage. He rejoiced at the sound +of voices and the cheerful sounds in the house. + +Bab and Mollie were helping to set the breakfast table, when Ruth joined +them. Neither girl said anything except to ask Ruth why she had slipped +out of their room so early. + +Ruth's heart sank. After all, then, Barbara and Mollie were not +pleased. They did not care for her enough to be happy in this closer +bond between them. + +Mrs. Thurston kissed Ruth shyly, but she made no mention of anything +unusual. And when Mr. Stuart came in to breakfast he looked as +embarrassed and uncomfortable as a boy. There was a constraint over the +little party at breakfast that had not been there the night before. + +Unexpectedly the door opened. Into the room came Grace Carter with a big +bunch of white roses in her hand. "I just had to come early," she +declared simply. "I wanted to find out." Grace thrust the flowers upon +Mrs. Thurston. + +"Come here to me, Grace," Miss Sallie commanded. "You are a girl after my +own heart. Robert, Mrs. Thurston, I congratulate you and I wish you joy +with my whole heart." + +Barbara and Mollie gazed at each other in stupefied silence. What did +it all mean? + +Mrs. Thurston blushed like a girl over her roses. "Miss Stuart, I +never dreamed you could have heard so soon. I have not yet told +Barbara and Mollie." + +"Told us what?" Bab demanded in her emphatic fashion. Then Ruth's heart +was light again. + +But Bab did not wait to be answered. She suddenly guessed the truth. Now +she knew why Ruth's manner had changed so quickly a short time before. +She ran round the table, upsetting her chair in her rush. And before she +said a word either to her mother or to Mr. Stuart, she flung her arms +about Ruth and whispered: "Our wish has come true, Ruth, darling! We are +sisters as well as best friends." + +Then Bab congratulated her mother and Mr. Stuart in a much more +dignified fashion. + +"When is it to be, Father?" Ruth queried. + +Mr. Stuart looked at Mrs. Thurston. "In the spring," she faltered. + +"Then we will all go away together and have a happy summer, somewhere," +Mr. Stuart asserted, smiling on the faces of his dear ones. + +"We shall do no such thing, Robert Stuart," Miss Sallie interposed +firmly. "You shall have your honeymoon alone. I intend to take my +'Automobile Girls' some place where we have never been before. Will you +go with me, children?" + +"Yes," chorused the four girls. "Aunt Sallie and the 'Automobile +Girls' forever." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12559 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..daed2c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12559 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12559) diff --git a/old/12559-8.txt b/old/12559-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6be5a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12559-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6307 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Automobile Girls At Washington, by Laura +Dent Crane + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Automobile Girls At Washington + +Author: Laura Dent Crane + +Release Date: June 8, 2004 [eBook #12559] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT +WASHINGTON*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Project Gutenberg Beginners Projects, +Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON + +or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies + +By + +LAURA DENT CRANE + +Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls in the +Berkshires, The Automobile Girls Along the Hudson, The Automobile Girls +at Chicago, The Automobile Girls at Palm Beach, etc. + +1913 + + + + + + +[Illustration: A Fat Chinese Gentleman Stood Regarding Her. +(Frontispiece)] + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + + I. A Chance Meeting + II. Cabinet Day in Washington + III. Mr. Tu Fang Wu + IV. At the Chinese Embassy + V. Sub Rosa + VI. The Arrest + VII. Mollie's Temptation + VIII. At the White House + IX. Bab's Discovery + X. The Confession + XI. In Mr. Hamlin's Study + XII. Barbara's Secret Errand + XIII. A Foolish Girl + XIV. "Grant No Favors!" + XV. Bab Refuses to Grant a Favor + XVI. Barbara's Unexpected Good Luck + XVII. The White Veil + XVIII. A Tangled Web or Circumstance + XIX. Harriet in Danger + XX. Foiled! + XXI. The Discovery + XXII. Oil on the Troubled Waters + XXIII. Suspense and the Reward + XXIV. Home at Laurel Cottage + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CHANCE MEETING + + +Barbara Thurston stood at the window of a large old-fashioned house, +looking out into Connecticut Avenue. It was almost dark. An occasional +light twinkled outside in the street, but the room in which Barbara was +stationed was still shrouded in twilight. + +Suddenly she heard a curtain at the farther end of the drawing-room +rustle faintly. + +Bab turned and saw a young man standing between the curtains, peering +into the shadows with a pair of near-sighted eyes. + +Barbara started. The stranger had entered the room through a small study +that adjoined it. He seemed totally unaware of any other presence, for he +was whistling softly: "Kathleen Mavourneen." + +"I beg your pardon," Bab began impulsively, "but are you looking for +some one?" + +The newcomer flashed a charming smile at Barbara. He did not seem in the +least surprised at her appearance. + +"No," he declared cheerfully, "I was not looking for any one or anything. +The butler told me Mr. Hamlin and Harriet were both out. But, I say, +don't you think I am fortunate to have found you quite by accident! I +came in here to loaf a few minutes." + +Barbara frowned slightly. The young man's manner was surprisingly +familiar, and she had never seen him before in her life. + +"I hope I am not disturbing you," he went on gayly. "I am an attaché of +the Russian legation, and a friend of Miss Hamlin's. I came with a +message for Mr. Hamlin. I was wondering if it were worth while to wait +for him. But I can go away if I am troublesome." + +"Oh, no, you are not disturbing me in the least," Barbara returned. "I +expect Miss Hamlin and my friends soon. We arrived in Washington last +night, and the other girls have gone out to a reception. I had a headache +and stayed at home. Won't you be seated while I ring for the butler to +turn on the lights?" + +The newcomer sat down, gravely watching Barbara. + +"Would you like me to guess who you are?" he asked, after half a +minute's silence. + +Bab laughed. "I am sure you will give me the first chance to tell you +your name. I did not recognize you at first. But I believe Harriet told +us about you last night. She described several of her Washington friends +to us. You are Peter Dillon, aren't you?" + +"At your service," declared the young attaché, who looked almost boyish. +"But now give me my opportunity. I do not know your name, but I have +guessed this much. You are an 'Automobile Girl!' Permit me to bid you +welcome to Washington." + +Barbara nodded her head decidedly. "Yes, I am Barbara Thurston, one of +the 'Automobile Girls.' There are four of us. Harriet has probably +explained to you. My sister, Mollie Thurston, Grace Carter, Ruth Stuart +and I form the quartet. Mr. William Hamlin is Ruth's uncle. So we are +going to spend a few weeks here with Harriet and see the Capital. I have +never been in Washington before." + +"Then you have a new world before you, Miss Thurston," said the young +man, his manner changing. "Washington is like no other city in the world, +I think. I have been here for four years. Before that time I had lived in +Dublin, in Paris, in St. Petersburg." + +"Then you are not an American!" exclaimed Bab, regarding the young man +with interest. + +"I am a man without a country, Miss Thurston." Bab's visitor laughed +carelessly. "Or, perhaps, I had better say I am a man of several +countries. My father was an Irishman and a soldier of fortune. My mother +was a Russian. Therefore, I am a member of the Russian legation in +Washington in spite of my half-Irish name. Have you ever been abroad?" + +"Oh, no," Bab returned, shaking her head. "For the past two years, since +I have known Ruth Stuart, the 'Automobile Girls' have traveled about in +this country a good deal. But we are only school girls still. We have +never really made our début in society, although we mean to forget this +while we are in Washington, and to see as much of the world as we can. I +do wish I knew something about politics. It would make our visit in +Washington so much more interesting." + +"It is the most interesting game in the world," declared Barbara's +companion, dropping for an instant his expression of indifference. His +blue eyes flashed. Then he said quickly: "Perhaps you will let me teach +you something of the political game at Washington. I am sure you will be +quick to learn and to enjoy it." + +"Thank you," Bab answered shyly. "But I am much too stupid ever to +understand." + +"I don't quite believe that. You know, you will, of course, hear a +great deal about politics while you are the guests of the Assistant +Secretary of State. Mr. Hamlin is one of the cleverest men in +Washington. I am sure you will be instructing me in diplomacy by the end +of a week. But good-bye; I must not keep you any longer. Will you tell +Mr. Hamlin that I left the bundle of papers he desired on his study +table? And please tell Harriet that I shall hope to be invited very +often to see the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +The young man looked intently at Barbara, as though trying to read her +very thoughts while she returned his scrutiny with steady eyes. Then with +a courteous bow, he left the room. + +When Barbara found herself alone she returned to the window. + +"I do wish the girls would come," she murmured to herself. "I am just +dying to know what Mollie and Grace think of their first reception in +Washington. Of course, Ruth has visited Harriet before, so the experience +is not new to her. I am sorry I did not go with the girls, in spite of my +headache. I wonder if some one is coming in here again! I seem to be +giving a reception here myself." + +By this time the room was lighted, and Barbara saw a young woman of about +twenty-five years of age walk into the drawing-room and drop into a big +arm chair with a little tired sigh. + +"You are Miss Thurston, aren't you?" she asked briskly as Bab came +forward to speak to her, wondering how on earth this newcomer knew her +name and what could be the reason for this unexpected call. + +"Yes," Barbara returned in a puzzled tone, "I am Miss Thurston." + +"Oh, don't be surprised at my knowing your name," Bab's latest caller +went on. "It is my business to know everybody. I met Mr. Dillon on the +corner. He told me Harriet Hamlin was not at home and that I had better +not come here this afternoon. I did not believe him; still I am not sorry +Miss Hamlin is out, I would ever so much rather see you. Harriet Hamlin +is dreadfully proud, and she is not a bit sympathetic. Do you think so?" + +Bab was lost in wonder. What on earth could this talkative young woman +wish of her? Did her visitor believe Bab would confide her opinion of +Harriet to a complete stranger? But the young woman did not wait for +an answer. + +"I want to see you about something awfully important," she went on. +"Please promise me you will do what I ask you before I tell you +what it is." + +Bab laughed. "Don't ask me that. Why you may be an anarchist, for +all I know." + +The new girl shook her head, smiling. She looked less tired now. She was +pretty and fragile, with fair hair and blue eyes. She was very pale and +was rather shabbily and carelessly dressed. + +"No; I am not an anarchist," she said slowly. "I am a newspaper woman, +which is almost as bad in some people's eyes, I suppose, considering the +way society people fight against giving me news of themselves and their +doings. I came to ask you if you would give me the pictures of the +'Automobile Girls' for my paper? Oh, you need not look so surprised. We +have all heard of the 'Automobile Girls.' Everybody in Washington of +importance has heard of you. Couldn't you let me write a sketch about you +and your adventures, and put your photographs on the society page of our +Sunday edition? It would be such a favor to me." + +Barbara looked distressed. She was beginning to like her visitor. +Though Barbara had been associated mainly with wealthy people in the +last two years of the "Automobile Girls'" adventures, she could not +help feeling interested in a girl who was evidently trying to make her +own way in the world. + +"I am awfully sorry," Bab declared almost regretfully, but before she +finished speaking the drawing-room door opened and Ruth Stuart and +Harriet Hamlin entered the room together. + +"How is your head, Bab, dear?" Ruth cried, before she espied their +caller. + +Harriet Hamlin bowed coldly to the newspaper woman in the big arm chair. +The young woman had flushed, looked uncomfortable at sight of Harriet and +said almost humbly: + +"I am sorry to interrupt you, Miss Hamlin, but my paper sent me to ask +you for the pictures of your guests. May I have them?" + +"Most certainly not, Miss Moore," Harriet answered scornfully. "My +friends would not dream of allowing you to publish their pictures. And my +father would not consent to it either. Just because he is Assistant +Secretary of State I do not see why my visitors should be annoyed in this +way. I hope you don't mind, Ruth and Barbara." Harriet's voice changed +when she turned to address her cousin and friend. "Forgive my refusing +Miss Moore for you. But it is out of the question." + +Ruth and Bab both silently agreed with Harriet. But Barbara could not +help feeling sorry for the other girl, who flushed painfully at Harriet's +tone and turned to go without another word. + +Bab followed the girl out into the hall. + +"I am so sorry not to give you our photographs," Barbara declared. "But, +of course, we cannot let you have them if Mr. Hamlin would object. And, +to tell you the honest truth, the 'Automobile Girls' would not like it +either." Barbara smiled in such a frank friendly way that no one could +have been vexed with her. + +The older girl's eyes were full of tears, which she bravely winked +out of sight. + +"Everyone has his picture published in the papers nowadays," she replied. +"I am sure I intended no discourtesy to you or to Miss Hamlin." + +Then the girl's self-control gave way. She was very tired, and Bab's +sympathy unnerved her. "I hate Harriet Hamlin," she whispered, +passionately. "I am as well bred as she is. Because I am poor, and have +to support my mother, is no reason why she should treat me as though I +were dust under her feet. I shall have a chance to get even with her, +some day, just as certainly as I live. Then, won't I take my revenge!" + +Barbara did not know what to reply, so she went on talking quietly. "I am +sure your asking us for our pictures was a very great compliment to us. +Only important people and beauties and belles have their pictures in the +society papers. It is just because the 'Automobile Girls' are too +insignificant to be shown such an honor that we can't consent. But please +don't be angry with us. I am sure Harriet did not intend to wound your +feelings, and I hope I shall see you soon again." + +Marjorie Moore shook Barbara's hand impulsively before she went out into +the gathering darkness. "I like you," she said warmly. "I wish we might +be friends. Good-night." + +"Where are Mollie and Grace?" was Bab's first question when she rejoined +Ruth and Harriet. + +"They would not come away from the reception," Harriet returned, smiling. +She was quite unconscious of having treated Marjorie Moore unkindly. +"Ruth and I were worried about your headache, so we did not wish to leave +you alone any longer. Strange to relate, Father offered to stay until +Mollie and Grace were ready to come home. That is a great concession on +his part, as he usually runs away from a reception at the first +opportunity that offers itself. Mrs. Wilson, a friend of Father's is +helping him to look after Mollie and Grace this afternoon. Bab, did some +boxes come for me this afternoon? I left orders at the shop to send them +when Father would surely be out. Come on upstairs, children, and see my +new finery." + +"Why, Harriet, are you getting more clothes?" Ruth exclaimed. "You are +like 'Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square, who never had anything +good enough to wear.'" + +"I am no such thing, Ruth Stuart," returned her cousin, a little +peevishly. "You don't understand. Does she, Barbara? Ruth has so much +money she simply cannot realize what it means to try to make a good +appearance on a small allowance, especially here in Washington where one +goes out so much." + +"I was only joking, Harriet," Ruth apologized as she and Barbara +obediently followed their hostess upstairs. Bab, however, secretly +wondered how she and Mollie were to manage in Washington, with their +simple wardrobes, if their young hostess thought that clothes were the +all-important thing in Washington society. + +Harriet Hamlin was twenty years of age, but she seemed much older to Bab +and Ruth. In the first place, Harriet was an entirely different type of +girl. She had been mistress of her father's house in Washington since she +was sixteen. She had received her father's guests and entertained his +friends; and at eighteen she had made her début into Washington society, +and had taken her position as one of the women of the Cabinet. Harriet's +mother, Ruth's aunt, had died a few months before Mr. Hamlin had received +his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State. Since that time Harriet +had borne the responsibilities of a grown woman, and being an only child +she had to a certain extent done as she pleased, although she was +secretly afraid of her cold, dignified father. + +Mr. William Hamlin was one of the ablest men in Washington. He was a +quiet, stern, reserved man, and although he was proud of his daughter, of +her beauty and accomplishments, he was also very strict with her. He was +a poor man, and it was hard work for Harriet to keep up the appearance +necessary to her father's position on his salary as Assistant Secretary +of State. Harriet, however, never dared tell her father of this, and Mr. +Hamlin never offered Harriet either sympathy or advice. + +Barbara and Ruth could only watch with admiring eyes and little +exclamations of delight the exquisite garments that Harriet now lifted +out of three big, pasteboard boxes; a beautiful yellow crêpe frock, a +pale green satin evening gown and a gray broadcloth tailor-made suit. +Harriet was tall and dark, with very black hair and large dark eyes. She +was considered one of the beauties of the "younger set" in Washington +society. Ruth had not seen her cousin for several years, until she +received the invitation to bring the "Automobile Girls" to Washington. + +Ruth Stuart and Barbara Thurston had changed very little since their +last outing together at Palm Beach. Barbara was now nearly eighteen. At +the close of the school year she was to be graduated from the Kingsbridge +High School. And she hoped to be able to enter Vassar College the +following fall. Yet the fact that she was in Washington early in December +requires an explanation. + +Two weeks before Bab had walked slowly home to Laurel Cottage at +about three o'clock one November afternoon with a great pile of books +under her arm. + +On the front porch of their little cottage she found her mother and +Mollie, greatly excited. A telegram had just come from Ruth Stuart. The +"Automobile Girls" were invited to visit Ruth's cousin in Washington, +D.C. Ruth wished them to start at the end of the week. + +Bab's face flushed with pleasure at the news. She had not been with her +beloved Ruth since the Easter before. Then the color died out of her face +and her cheeks showed an unaccustomed pallor. + +"I am so sorry, Mother," Bab responded. "I would give anything in the +world to see Ruth. But I simply can't stop school just now, or I shall +lose the scholarship. Mollie, you can accept Ruth's invitation. You and +Grace Carter can go to Washington together. You won't mind going +without me." + +"I shall not stir a single step without you," blue-eyed Mollie returned +firmly. "And Mother thinks you can go!" + +Mollie and Mrs. Thurston, aided by Bab's teachers, at last persuaded +Barbara to take a few weeks' holiday. Bab could study to make up for lost +time during the Christmas holidays. For no one, except the young woman +herself, doubted Barbara's ability to win the desired Vassar scholarship. + +And so it was arranged that Bab and Mollie should go with Ruth to +Washington. Bab had grown taller and more slender in the past few months. +Her brown braids are now always coiled about her graceful head. Her hair +was parted in the middle, although a few little curls still escaped in +the old, careless fashion. + +Ruth Stuart, too, was looking sweeter and fresher than ever, and was the +same ingenuous, unspoiled girl, whose sunny disposition no amount of +wealth and fashion could change. + +Readers of the first volume in the "Automobile Girls Series," entitled +"The Automobile Girls At Newport," will recall how, nearly two years ago, +Ruth Stuart, with her father and her aunt, Miss Sallie Stuart, came from +their home in far away Chicago to spend the summer in Kingsbridge, New +Jersey. The day that Barbara Thurston stopped a pair of runaway horses +and saved Ruth Stuart from death she did not dream that she had turned +the first page in the history of the "Automobile Girls." A warm +friendship sprang up between Ruth and Bab, and a little later Ruth Stuart +invited Barbara, her younger sister, Mollie Thurston, and their friend, +Grace Carter, to take a trip to Newport in her own, red automobile with +Ruth herself as chauffeur and her aunt, Miss Sallie Stuart, as chaperon. + +Exciting days at Newport followed, and the four girls brought to bay the +"Boy Raffles," the cracksman, who had puzzled the fashionable world! +There were many thrilling adventures connected with the discovery of this +"society thief," and the "Automobile Girls" proved themselves capable of +meeting whatever emergencies sprang up in their path. + +In "The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires," the second volume of the +"Automobile Girls Series," the scene is laid in a little log cabin on +top of one of the highest peaks in the Berkshire hills, where the four +girls and Miss Sallie spent a happy period of time "roughing it." There +it was that they discovered an Indian Princess and laid the "Ghost of +Lost Man's Trail." + +In the third volume of the series, "The Automobile Girls Along the +Hudson," the quartet of youthful travelers, accompanied by Miss Sallie +Stuart, motored through the beautiful Sleepy Hollow country, spending +several weeks at the home of Major Ted Eyck, an old friend of the +Stuarts. There many diverting experiences fell to their lot, and before +leaving the hospitable major's home they were instrumental in saving it +from destruction by forest fires. + +The fourth volume of the series, "The Automobile Girls at Chicago," +relates the adventures of the four friends during the Christmas holidays, +which Mollie, Grace and Bab spent with Ruth at Chicago and at +"Treasureholme," the country estate of the Presbys, who were cousins of +the Stuart family. While there, principally through the cleverness of +Barbara Thurston, the hiding place of a rich treasure buried by one of +The ancestors of the Presbys was discovered in time to prevent the +financial ruin of both Richard Presby and Robert Stuart, who had become +deeply involved through speculation in wheat. + +Before Mollie, Grace and Barbara returned to Kingsbridge, Mr. Stuart had +promised that they should see Ruth again in March at Palm Beach, where he +had planned a happy reunion for the "Automobile Girls." There it was +that they had, through a series of happenings, formed the acquaintance of +a mysterious countess and become involved in the net of circumstances +that was woven about her. How they continued to be her friend in spite of +dark rumors afloat to the effect that she was an impostor and how she +afterwards turned out to be a princess, is fully set forth in "The +Automobile Girls at Palm Beach." + +"Really, Bab," said Ruth, as the two girls went upstairs to their rooms +to dress for dinner, "I have not had a chance to talk to you, alone, +since we arrived in Washington. How is your mother?" + +"As well as can be," Bab answered. "How is darling Aunt Sallie? I am so +sorry she did not come to Washington with you to chaperon us. There is no +telling what mischief we may get into without her." + +Ruth laughed. "I have special instructions for the 'Automobile Girls' +from Aunt Sallie. We are to be particularly careful to mind our 'P's' and +'Q's' on this visit, for Aunt Sallie wishes us to make a good impression +in Washington." + +Barbara sighed. "I'll try, Ruth," she declared, "but you know what +remarkable talent I have for getting into mischief." + +"Then you are to be specially par-tic-u-lar, Mistress Bab!" Ruth said +teasingly. "For Aunt Sallie's last words to me were: 'Tell Barbara she is +to look before she leaps.'" + +Barbara shook her brown head vigorously. "I am not the impetuous Bab of +other automobile days. But, just the same, I wish Aunt Sallie had come +along with you." + +"Oh, she may join us later," Ruth returned. "To tell you the truth, Bab, +Aunt Sallie is not fond of Harriet. She thinks Harriet is clever and +pretty, but vain and spoiled. Here come Mollie and Grace. Home from that +reception at last!" + +The other two girls burst into Ruth's room at this moment. + +"Whom do you think we have seen?" called out Miss Mollie rapturously. +"Oh, Washington is the greatest fun! I feel just like a girl in a book, +we have been presented to so many noted people. I tell you, Barbara +Thurston, we are country girls no longer! Now we have been traveling +about the country so much with Ruth and Mr. Stuart, that we know people +everywhere. Just guess whom we know in Washington?" + +"I can guess," Ruth rejoined, clapping her hands. "You have seen Mrs. +Post and Hugh. Surely, you had not forgotten that they live in +Washington. Hugh has finished college and has a position in the Forestry +Department. I had a note from him this morning." + +"And didn't tell! Oh, Ruth!" teased Grace Carter. "But, Bab, what about +our Lenox friends, who spend their winters in Washington?" + +"You mean Dorothy and Gwendolin Morton, the British Ambassador's +daughters, and funny little Franz Haller, the German secretary, I hope we +shall see them. But do hurry, children. Please don't keep the Assistant +Secretary of State waiting for his dinner. That would surely be a bad +beginning for our Washington visit. No, Mollie Thurston; don't you put on +your very best dress for dinner to-night. I have just gotten out your +white muslin." + +"But Harriet wears such lovely clothes all the time, Bab," Mollie +pleaded, when she and Barbara were alone. + +"Never mind, child. Harriet Hamlin is not Mollie Thurston," Barbara +concluded wisely. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CABINET DAY IN WASHINGTON + + +It was Harriet Hamlin's reception day. There are certain times appointed +in Washington when the members of the President's Cabinet hold +receptions. + +The "Automobile Girls" had come to Washington in time for one of these +special entertainments. For, as Harriet explained, they could see +everyone worth seeing at once. Not only would the diplomats, the senators +and congressmen call with their wives, but the Army and Navy officers, +all official Washington would appear to pay their respects to Mr. William +Hamlin and his lovely daughter. + +"Then there will be a crowd of unimportant people besides," Harriet had +continued. "People who are never asked to any small parties come to this +reception just because they can get in. So you girls will have to +entertain yourselves this morning. I have a thousand things to do. Why +not take the girls to look at the White House, Ruth? That is the first +thing to do in Washington. I am sorry I can't go with you. But you just +walk straight down Connecticut Avenue and you can't miss it." + +It was a perfect day. Although it was early in December, the atmosphere +was like Indian summer. Washington shone sparkling white through a dim +veil of haze. The "Automobile Girls" walked briskly along toward the +White House, chatting every step of the way. + +"Where are the poplar trees planted along this avenue by Thomas +Jefferson, Ruth?" Grace Carter demanded. "I read somewhere that Jefferson +meant to make this avenue look like the famous street called '_Unter den +Linden_' in Berlin." + +"He did, child, but most of the poplar trees died," Ruth rejoined, "and +some one else planted these oaks and elms. Why are you so silent, +Barbara? Are you tired?" + +"I think Washington is the most beautiful city in the whole world," Bab +answered with sudden enthusiasm. + +"Wait until you have seen it," Ruth teased. "Uncle William wants to take +us through the Capitol. But I suppose there is no harm in our looking at +the outside of the White House. Later on, when we go to one of the +President's receptions, we can see the inside of it." + +"Shall we ever see the President?" Mollie asked breathlessly. "Won't it +be wonderful? I never dreamed that even Mr. Hamlin could take us to the +President's home." + +"Here we are at the White House," said Ruth. + +The "Automobile Girls" stood silent for a moment, looking in through the +autumn foliage at the simple colonial mansion, which is the historic +"White House." + +"I am glad our White House looks like that," Bab said, after half a +moment's pause. "I was so afraid it would be pretentious. But it is just +big and simple and dignified as our President's home ought to be. It +makes me feel so glad to be an American," Barbara ended with a flush. She +was afraid the other girls were laughing at her. + +"I think so too, Bab," Ruth agreed. "I don't see why girls cannot be as +patriotic as boys. We may be able to serve our country in some way, some +day. I hope we shall have the chance." + +The "Automobile Girls" had entered the White House grounds and were +strolling along through the park. + +Bab and Ruth were talking of the beauties of Washington. But no such +thoughts were engrossing pretty Mollie's attention. Mollie's mind was +dwelling on the society pleasures the "Automobile Girls" expected to +enjoy at the Capital City. Grace Carter was listening to Barbara's and +Ruth's animated conversation. + +From the very first days at Newport, Mollie Thurston had cared more for +society than had her sister and two friends. Her dainty beauty and pretty +manners made her a favorite wherever she went. Mollie's friends had +spoiled her, and since her arrival in Washington the old story had +repeated itself. Harriet Hamlin had already taken Mollie under her +special protection. And Mollie was wildly excited with the thought of the +social experiences ahead of her. + +The four girls spent some time strolling about the White House +grounds. Then Ruth proposed that they take a car and visit the +Congressional Library. + +"I think it is the most beautiful building in Washington, and, in fact, +one of the finest in the world," she said enthusiastically, and later +when the "Automobile Girls" were fairly inside the famous library, they +fully agreed with her. It was particularly hard to tear Barbara away from +what seemed to her the most fascinating place she was ever in, and she +announced her intention of visiting it again at the first opportunity. + +The sightseers arrived home in time for luncheon and at four o'clock that +afternoon they stood in a row, beside Harriet Hamlin and her father, +helping to receive the guests who crowded in to the reception. Some of +the women wore beautiful gowns, others looked as though they had come +from small towns where the residents knew nothing of fashionable society. + +Mollie and Bab wore the white chiffon frocks Mr. Prescott had presented +them with in Chicago. But Grace and Ruth wore gowns that had been ordered +for this particular occasion. Bab thought their white frocks, which +looked as though they were new, as pretty as any of the gowns worn there. +But little Mollie was not satisfied. She hated old clothes, no matter how +well they looked. And Harriet Hamlin was rarely beautiful in an imported +gown of pale, yellow crêpe. + +After receiving for an hour, Bab slipped quietly into a chair near a +window. She wished to examine the guests at her leisure. Mollie and Ruth +were deep in conversation with Mrs. Post and Hugh. Grace was talking to +Dorothy and Gwendolin Morton. + +Barbara's eyes wandered eagerly over the throng of people. Suddenly some +one touched her on the shoulder. + +"You do not remember me, do you?" + +Bab turned and saw a young woman. + +"I am Marjorie Moore," said the newcomer. "I am the girl who came to ask +you for your pictures. Perhaps you think it is strange for me to come to +Harriet Hamlin's reception when she was so rude to me last night. But I +am not a guest. Besides, newspaper people are not expected to have any +feelings. My newspaper sent me to find out what people were here this +afternoon. So here I am! I know everybody in Washington. Would you like +me to point out some of the celebrities to you? See that stunning woman +just coming in at the door? She has the reputation of being the most +popular woman in Washington. But nobody knows just where she comes from, +or who she is, or how she gets her money. But I must not talk Washington +gossip. You'll meet her soon yourself." + +"How do you do, Miss Moore?" broke in a charming contralto voice. +"You are the very person I wish to see. I can give you some news for +your paper. It is not very important, but I thought you might like +to have it." + +"You are awfully good, Mrs. Wilson," Marjorie Moore replied gratefully. +"I have just been talking to Miss Thurston about you. May I introduce +her? She has just arrived in Washington, and I told her, only half a +second ago, that you were the nicest woman in this town." + +Mrs. Wilson laughed quietly. "I know Miss Thurston's sister and her +friend, Miss Carter. Mr. Hamlin let me help chaperon them at a reception +yesterday afternoon. But Miss Moore has been flattering me dreadfully. I +am a very unimportant person, though I happen to have the good fortune to +be a friend of Mr. Hamlin's and Harriet's. I am keeping house in +Washington at present. Some day you must come to see me." + +Bab thanked her new acquaintance. She thought she had never seen a more +unusual looking woman. It was impossible to guess her age. Mrs. Wilson's +hair was snow-white, but her face was as young as a girl's and her eyes +were fascinatingly dark under her narrow penciled brows. She was gowned +in a pale blue broadcloth dress, and wore on her head a large black hat +trimmed with a magnificent black plume. + +"The top of the afternoon to you!" declared a new arrival in Bab's +sheltered corner. "How is a man to find you if you will hide behind +curtains?" This time Bab recognized Peter Dillon, her acquaintance of the +afternoon before. + +Mrs. Wilson, whose manner suggested a charming frankness and innocence, +took Peter by the arm. "Which of the three Graces do you mean to devote +yourself to this afternoon, Peter? You shall not flatter us all at once." + +"I flatter?" protested Peter, in aggrieved tones. "Why truthfulness is my +strong point." + +Marjorie Moore gave a jarring laugh. "Is it, Mr. Dillon?" she returned, +not too politely. "Please count me out of Mr. Dillon's flatteries. He +does not include a woman who works in them." Marjorie Moore hurried away. + +"Whew-w!" ejaculated Peter. "Miss Moore does not love me, does she? I +came up only to say a few words. Miss Hamlin is keeping me busy this +afternoon. Come and have some coffee, Miss Thurston. I am sure you +look tired." + +"I would rather not," Barbara protested. "I am going to run away upstairs +for a minute, if you will excuse me." + +Before Barbara could make her escape from the drawing-room she saw that +Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson had both lost their frivolous manner and +were deep in earnest conversation. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MR. TU FANG WU + + +Bab knew that at the rear of this floor of Mr. Hamlin's house there was a +small room that was seldom used. She hoped to find refuge in it for a few +minutes, and then to return to her friends. + +The room was empty. Bab sank down into a great arm chair and +closed her eyes. + +A few moments later she opened them though she heard no sound. A fat +little Chinese gentleman stood regarding her with an expression of +amusement on his face. + +Barbara jumped hastily to her feet. Where was she? She felt frightened. +Although the man before her was yellow and foreign, and wore strange +Chinese clothes, he was evidently a person of importance. Had Barbara +awakened at the Court of Pekin? Her companion wore a loose, black satin +coat, heavily embroidered in flowers and dragons and a round, close +fitting silk cap with a button on top of it. + +"I beg your pardon," Bab exclaimed in confusion. "Whom did you wish to +see? There is no one in here." + +The Chinese gentleman made Bab a stately bow. "No one," he protested. +"This is the first time, since my residence in America, that I have heard +an American girl speak of herself as no one. Miss United States is always +some one in her own country. But may I therefore present myself to little +'Miss No One'? I am Dr. Tu Fang Wu, His Imperial Chinese Majesty's Envoy +Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States." + +"I am very proud to meet you, Mr. Minister," Barbara returned, wondering +if "Mr. Minister" was the proper way to address a foreign ambassador. +She thought Mr. Hamlin had told her so, only the night before. + +Bab did not know in the least what she should do or say to such a +distinguished Oriental. She might make a mistake at any minute. For Bab +had been learning, every hour since her arrival in Washington, that in no +place is social etiquette more important than in the Capital City. + +"May I find Mr. Hamlin for you?" Bab suggested, hoping to make her +escape. + +The Chinese Minister shook his head slowly. "Mr. Hamlin is engaged with +his other guests." + +"Then won't you be seated?" Bab asked in desperation. Really she and this +strange yellow gentleman could not stand staring at each other the whole +afternoon. It made Bab feel creepy to have a Chinaman regard her so +steadfastly and without the slightest change of expression, even if he +were a foreign minister. + +Bab felt this meeting to be one of the strangest experiences of her whole +life. She had never seen a Chinaman before, except on the street carrying +a basket of laundry. But here she was forced into a tête-à-tête with one +in the highest social position. + +"Have you any daughters?" Barbara asked in her effort to break the +awful silence. + +Mr. Tu Fang Wu again bowed gravely. "I have one daughter and one small +son. My daughter is not here with me this afternoon. Chinese girls do +not go to entertainments where there are young men. My daughter has been +brought up according to the customs of our country. But she has been in +Washington for several years. I fear she, too, would like to be +emancipated, like the American girl. It is not possible, although she +enjoys many privileges she will not have when she returns to China. My +daughter is betrothed to a nobleman in her own country. Perhaps you would +like to meet my daughter, Wee Tu? She is fifteen years old. I shall ask +Miss Hamlin to bring you to luncheon at the Embassy." + +To Barbara's relief Mr. William Hamlin now appeared at the door. + +The Chinese minister again bowed profoundly to Barbara. "I was +looking for your smoking-room," he laughed, "but I found this young +woman instead." + +As the two men went out of the room, Bab had difficulty in making sure +that she had not been dreaming of this fat, yellow gentleman. + +"Barbara Thurston, what do you mean by running away by yourself?" +exclaimed Grace Carter, a moment later. "We have been looking for you for +ten minutes." + +Hugh Post, Mollie and a strange young man were close behind Grace. + +"I want to present my friend, Lieutenant Elmer Wilson," Hugh announced. +"He is a very important person in Washington." + +"Not a bit of it," laughed the young man. "I am one of the President's +aides. I try to make myself generally useful." + +"Your work must be very interesting," Barbara said quickly. "Do you--" + +Just then a soft contralto voice interrupted her. "Are you ready to go +with me, Elmer?" it said. + +Barbara recognized the voice as belonging to the Mrs. Wilson whom she had +met in the drawing room not an hour before. Could it be that this young +and lovely looking woman was the mother of Elmer Wilson? Surely the young +man was at least twenty-two years old. + +"Coming in a moment, Mother," Elmer replied. "Have you said good-bye +to Harriet?" + +"Harriet is not in the reception room now. Nearly all her guests have +gone," Mrs. Wilson murmured softly. "Mr. Hamlin is angry. But poor +Harriet ought to have a chance to talk for a few minutes to the richest +young man in Washington. I will leave you, Elmer. If you see Harriet, you +may tell her I did not think it fair to disturb her." + +Barbara went back to the drawing-room to search for Ruth. She found Ruth +standing next her uncle, Mr. Hamlin, saying the adieux in Harriet's +place. A few moments later the last visitor had withdrawn and Mr. Hamlin +quickly left Ruth and Bab alone. + +Mr. Hamlin was a small man, with iron gray hair, a square jaw and thin, +tightly closed lips. He seldom talked, and the "Automobile Girls" felt +secretly afraid of him. + +"Uncle is dreadfully angry with Harriet," Ruth explained to Bab, after +Mr. Hamlin was out of hearing. "But he is awfully strict and I do not +think he is exactly fair. He does not give Harriet credit for what she +does, but he gets awfully cross if she makes any mistakes. Harriet is +upstairs, in her own sitting-room, talking to a great friend of hers. He +is a man Uncle hates, although he has known Charlie Meyers since +childhood. He is immensely rich, but he is very ill-bred, and that is why +Uncle dislikes him. I don't think Harriet cares a bit more for this young +man than she does for half a dozen others. But if Uncle doesn't look out +Harriet will marry him for spite. Harriet hates being poor. She is not +poor, really. But I am afraid she is terribly extravagant. Promise not to +laugh when you see Charlie Meyers. He looks a little like a pig, he is so +pink and fat." + +"Girls!" called Harriet's voice. "Are you still in here? Mr. Meyers has +just gone, and I wanted you to meet him. He is going to have a motor +party and take you to see Mount Vernon. We can drive along the Potomac +and have our supper somewhere in the country." + +"I'm going to drive Mr. A. Bubble, Harriet," Ruth replied. "As long as I +brought my car to Washington I must use it. But I suppose we can get up +guests enough to fill two automobiles, can't we?" + +"Where's Father?" Harriet inquired, trying to conceal a tremor in her +voice. "Did he know I was upstairs?" + +"I am afraid he did, Harriet," Ruth replied. + +"Well, I don't care," declared Harriet defiantly. "I will select my own +friends. Charlie Meyers is stupid and ill-bred, but he is good natured, +and I am tired of position and poverty." + +"You are no such thing, Harriet," protested Ruth, taking her cousin by +the hand and leading her to a long mirror. "There, look at yourself in +your yellow gown. You look like a queen. Please don't be silly." + +"It's clothes that make the woman, Ruth," Harriet replied, kissing Ruth +unexpectedly. "And this yellow gown is just one of the things that +troubles me. Dear me, I am glad the reception is over!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AT THE CHINESE EMBASSY + + +"Shall we eat our luncheon with chopsticks to-day?" Mollie Thurston asked +Harriet Hamlin an hour before the "Automobile Girls" and their hostess +were to start for the Chinese Embassy. + +Harriet laughed good-humoredly at Mollie's question. "You absurd child, +don't you know the Chinese minister is one of the most cultivated men in +Washington! When he is in America he does what the Americans do. But his +wife, Lady Tu, is delightfully Chinese. She paints her face in the +Chinese fashion and wears beautiful Chinese clothes in her own home. And +the little Chinese daughter is a darling. Really, Mollie, you will feel +as though you had been on a trip to the Orient when you meet dainty +little Wee Tu." + +"Oh, I don't believe a Chinese girl can be attractive," Mollie argued, +her eyes fixed on the pile of pretty gowns which Harriet was laying out +on her bed. + +"Do wear the rose-colored gown to-day, Harriet!" Mollie pleaded. "It is +such a love of a frock and so becoming to you with your white skin and +dark hair. Dear me, it must be nice to have such lovely clothes!" Mollie +paused for a minute. + +Harriet turned around to find her little friend blushing. + +"I do hope," Mollie went on, "that you are not going to feel ashamed of +Bab and me while we are your guests in Washington. You can see for +yourself that we are poor, and have only a few gowns. Of course it is +different with Grace and Ruth. But our father is dead, and--" Mollie +stopped. She did not know how to go on with her explanation. Somehow she +did not feel that Barbara or her mother would approve of her apologizing +to Harriet for their simple wardrobes. + +"Mollie!" Harriet exclaimed reproachfully. "You know I think you and +Barbara are so pretty and clever that it does not matter what your +clothes are like. Besides, if you should ever want anything special to +wear while you are here, why, I have a host of gowns." + +Mollie shook her head. Of course she could not borrow Harriet's gowns. +And, though Harriet was trying to comfort her, her tone showed very +plainly that she had noticed the slimness of the Thurston girls' +preparations in the matter of wardrobe for several weeks of gayety in +Washington. + +At a little before one o'clock the "Automobile Girls" and Harriet were +ushered into the reception room of the Chinese Embassy by a grave Chinese +servant clad in immaculate white and wearing his long pig-tail curled on +top of his head. + +The minister and his wife came forward. Lady Tu wore a dress of heavy +Chinese embroidery with a long skirt and a short full coat. Her hair was +inky black and built out on each side of her head. She had a band of gold +across it and golden flowers set with jewels hung above each ear. Her +face was enameled in white and a small patch of crimson was painted just +under her lip. + +Bab could hardly restrain an exclamation of delight at the beauty of the +reception room. The walls were covered with Chinese silk and heavy panels +of embroidery. A Chinese banner, with a great dragon on it, hung over the +mantel-piece. The furniture was elaborately carved teakwood. + +The girls at once glanced around for the Chinese minister's daughter. But +she was no where to be seen. Instead, Peter Dillon, Bab's first chance +acquaintance in Washington, was smiling a welcome. Mrs. Wilson and her +son were also present. The two or three other visitors were unknown to +the "Automobile Girls." Even when luncheon was served the little Chinese +girl did not make her appearance. The four girls were beginning to feel +rather disappointed. They had come to the Embassy chiefly to see Wee Tu, +and they were evidently not going to be granted that pleasure. + +Just as they were about to go back to the reception room, Mr. Tu Fang Wu +suggested courteously to his girl guests: "If it pleases you, will you +now go up to my daughter's apartments? She does not eat her meals with us +when we entertain young men guests. It is not the custom of our country." +The Chinese minister touched a bell and another Chinese servant appeared, +his slippered feet making no noise. At the top of the stairs a Chinese +woman met the "Automobile Girls" and conducted them to the apartment of +Wee Tu, the minister's daughter. + +Wee Tu bowed her head to the floor when the "Automobile Girls" entered. +But when she raised her face her little black eyes were glowing, and a +faint pink showed under her smooth, yellow skin. Think what it meant to +this little Chinese maid, with her shut-in life, to meet four American +girls like Barbara, Ruth, Grace and Mollie! Harriet had lingered behind +for a few moments. + +"Your most honorable presence does my miserable self much honor," stated +Wee Tu automatically. + +Bab laughed. She simply could not help it. Wee Tu's greeting seemed so +absurd to her ears, though she knew it was the Chinese manner of +speaking. But Bab's merry laugh saved the situation, as it often had done +before, for the little Chinese maid laughed in return, and the five girls +sat giggling in the most intimate fashion. + +The servant passed around preserved Chinese fruits, nuts and dried +melon seed. + +"Is Miss Hamlin not with you?" the Chinese minister's daughter asked +finally, in broken English. + +At this moment Harriet's voice was heard in the corridor. She was talking +gayly to Peter Dillon. The Chinese girl caught the sound of the young +man's charming laugh. Bab was gazing straight at Wee Tu. Wee Tu looked +like a beautiful Chinese doll, not a bit like a human being. + +At the entrance to Wee Tu's apartment Peter bowed gracefully. He waited +until Harriet entered. + +"Your most honorable ladyship," he inquired. "Have I your permission to +enter your divine apartment? Your most noble father has waived ceremony +in my favor and says I may be allowed to see you in company with your +other guests. You are to pretend you are an American girl to-day." + +Wee Tu again made a low bow, almost touching the soft Chinese rug with +her crown of black hair. Her mantle was of blue silk crepe embroidered in +lotus flowers, and she wore artificial lotus blossoms drooping on either +side of her head. + +After Peter's entrance, Wee Tu did not speak nor smile. She sat with her +slender yellow hands clasped together, her nails so long they were tipped +with gold to prevent their breaking. Her tiny feet in their embroidered +slippers looked much too small for walking. + +Peter made himself agreeable to all the girls. He chatted with Harriet, +joked with Bab and Ruth. Now and then he spoke to the Chinese girl in +some simple gentle fashion that she could understand. + +"Peter Dillon is awfully attractive," Bab thought. "I wonder why I +was prejudiced against him at first because of what that newspaper +girl said." + +Peter walked with Barbara back to Mr. Hamlin's house. + +"Would you mind my asking you a question?" Bab demanded when they were +fairly on the way. + +Peter laughed. "It's a woman's privilege, isn't it?" + +"Well, how do you happen to be so intimate at the Chinese minister's?" +was Barbara's direct question. "They seemed so formal and then all of a +sudden Mr. Tu Fang Wu let you come up to see his daughter." + +"I know them very well," Peter returned simply. "I often dine at the +Chinese minister's with his family. So I have met his daughter several +times before. I have made myself useful to Mr. Tu Fang Wu once or twice, +and my legation likes me to keep in touch with the people in authority." + +"Oh," exclaimed Barbara. She remembered that Peter was equally intimate +at Mr. Hamlin's, and she wondered how he managed to keep up such a +variety of acquaintances. + +"I wonder if you would do a fellow a favor some day?" Peter asked. "I'll +bet you have lots of nerve. Harriet is apt to get frightened at the +critical minute." + +"It would all depend on what you asked me to do," Bab returned puzzled by +Peter's remark. + +"Oh, I won't ask you until I have managed to do something for you first. +It is only that I think you can see a joke and I have a good one that I +mean to try some day," Peter replied. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SUB ROSA + + +The next morning, Peter Dillon was lounging in Mrs. Wilson's library, +chatting with her on apparently easy terms. + +"I think it is a special dispensation of Providence that sent the +'Automobile Girls' to Washington to visit Harriet Hamlin just at this +particular time, Mrs. Wilson," declared Peter Dillon. + +Mrs. Wilson walked back and forth across her drawing room floor several +times before she answered. She looked older in the early morning light. +But her restlessness did not disturb Peter, who was reclining gracefully +in a chair, smoking a cigarette. + +"I am not sure you have reason to bless Providence, Peter Dillon," Mrs. +Wilson protested. "What a man you are! You simply cannot judge all girls +by the same standard. Some day you are going to meet a girl who is +cleverer than you are. And then, where will you be?" + +"Oh, I'll go slowly," Peter argued. "I know I am taking chances in making +friends with the clever one. But she has more nerve and courage than the +others. I am sure it will be much better to leave Harriet out of the +whole business, if possible." + +"All right, Peter," Mrs. Wilson agreed. "Manage your own affairs, since +this happens to be your own special joke. But you had much better have +left the whole matter to me." + +"And spoil my good time with five charming girls?" Peter protested, +smiling. "No, Mrs. Wilson; that is too much to ask of me. If I can't +carry the thing off successfully, you will come to the rescue and help +me. You've promised that. We have had our little jokes together before. +But this strikes me as being about the best of the whole lot. We will +have everybody in Washington laughing up his sleeve pretty soon. There +will be a few people who won't laugh, but so long as we keep quiet we +need not worry about them. Has Elmer gone to work? I know I have made +you a dreadfully early visit. It is very charming of you to be up in +time to see me." + +"Don't flatter me, Peter; it is not worth while," Mrs. Wilson said +angrily. Then she smiled. "Never mind, Peter; you can no more help +flattering than you can help breathing, whether your reason is a good or +a bad one. I suppose it is because you are an Irishman. By the way, Elmer +admires one of these charming 'Automobile Girls.' He has talked of no +one else except Mollie Thurston since Harriet's tea. Be careful what you +say or do before him." + +"I shall be careful," Peter returned easily. "My attentions are directed +toward the other sister. How have you managed to keep that big boy of +yours so much in the dark about--oh, a number of things?" finished Peter. + +"It is because Elmer has perfect faith in me, Peter," Mrs. Wilson +answered, passing her hand over her eyes to hide their expression. + +"As all other men have had before him, my lady," Peter avowed. "Is it +true that Mr. William Hamlin is now a worshiper at your shrine?" + +"Absurd!" protested Mrs. Wilson. "Here comes Elmer." + +"Why, Peter Dillon, this is a surprise!" exclaimed the young lieutenant, +walking into the room in search of his mother. "I never knew Mother to +get up so early before. I have just been inquiring of your maid, Mother, +to know what had become of you. Harriet Hamlin wants you to chaperon us +on an automobile ride out to Mt. Vernon and along the Potomac River. +Charlie Meyers is giving the party, and Harriet thinks her father won't +object if you will go along to look after us. That Charlie Meyers is an +awful bounder! But Harriet wants to show her little Yankee visitors the +sights. Do come along with us, Mother. For I have a fancy I should like +to stroll through the old Washington garden with 'sweet sixteen.'" + +"I will chaperon you with pleasure, Elmer," Mrs. Wilson agreed. "But what +about you, Peter? Are you not invited?" + +Peter looked chagrined. + +"No; I am not invited, and I call it unkind of Harriet. She knows I am +dreadfully impressed with the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +Mrs. Wilson and Elmer both laughed provokingly. "That is just what's the +trouble with you, Peter. Harriet is accustomed to your devotion to her. +Now that you have turned your thoughts in another direction, she may look +upon you as a faithless swain," Mrs. Wilson teased. + +"Don't undertake more than you can manage, Peter," teased Elmer Wilson. + +"That is good advice for Peter. Remember, Peter, I have warned you. Some +day you will run across a girl who is cleverer than you are. Then look +out, young man," Mrs. Wilson repeated. + +But Peter only laughed cheerfully. "What girl isn't cleverer than a man?" +he protested. "_Au revoir_. I shall do my best to persuade Harriet to +let me go along with her party this afternoon. I suppose we shall be +starting soon after luncheon, as it is Saturday." + +"Mother, can you let me have some money?" Elmer asked, as soon as Peter +was out of hearing. "I am ashamed to ask you for it. But going out in +society does cost a fellow an awful lot." + +Mrs. Wilson shook her head. "I am sorry, Boy; I can't let you have +anything just now. I am short of money myself at present. But I expect to +have some money coming in, say in about two weeks, or even ten days. Then +I can let you have what you like." + + * * * * * + +"How shall we divide our party for the motor ride, Ruth?" asked Harriet +Hamlin about two o'clock on the afternoon of the same day. + +Ruth's red car was standing in front of Mr. Hamlin's door with another +larger one belonging to Harriet's friend, Charlie Meyers, waiting +behind it. + +The automobile party stood out on the side walk and Peter Dillon had +somehow managed to be one of them. + +"Suppose, Barbara, Grace and Hugh Post go along with me, Harriet?" Ruth +proposed. "Mr. Meyers' car is larger than mine. He can take the rest of +the party." + +"What a division!" protested Peter Dillon, as he climbed into Ruth's +automobile and took his seat next Bab. "Do you suppose, for one instant, +that we are going to see Hugh Post drive off, the only man among three +girls? Not if I can help it!" + +The two automobiles traveled swiftly through Washington allowing the four +"Automobile Girls" only tantalizing glimpses of the executive buildings +which they passed on the way. + +In about an hour the cars covered the sixteen miles that lay between the +Capital City and the home of its first President. + +Such a deep and abiding tranquillity pervaded the atmosphere of Mt. +Vernon that the noisy chatter of the young people was, for an instant, +hushed into silence, as they drove through the great iron gates at the +entrance to Mt. Vernon, and on up the elm-shaded lawn to the house. + +Although it was December, the fall had been unusually warm and the trees +were not yet bare of their autumn foliage; the grass still looked smooth +and green under foot. + +The "Automobile Girls" held their breath as their eyes rested on the most +famous historic home in America. + +"Oh, Ruth!" exclaimed Bab. But when she saw Peter's eyes smiling at her +enthusiasm she stopped and would not say another word. + +Of course, Mt. Vernon was an old story to Mrs. Wilson, to Harriet, and +indeed to the entire party, except the four girls. But they wished to see +every detail of the Washington house. They went into the wide hall and +there beheld the key to the Bastile presented by Lafayette to General +Washington. They examined the music room, with its queer, old-fashioned +musical instruments; went up to Martha Washington's bedroom and even +looked upon the white-canopied bed where George Washington died. Indeed, +they wandered from garret to cellar in the old house. But it was a +beautiful afternoon and the outdoors called them at last. + +And, after all, it is the outdoors at Mt. Vernon that is most beautiful. +The house is a simple country home with a wide, old-fashioned portico and +gallery built of frame and painted to look like stone. + +But there is no palace on the Rhine, no castle in Spain, that has a more +beautiful natural situation than Mt. Vernon. It stands on a piece of +gently swelling land that slopes gradually down to the Potomac, and +commands a view of many miles of the broad and noble river. + +Bab and Ruth managed to get away from the rest of their party and to slip +out on the wide colonnaded veranda. + +"How peaceful and beautiful it is out here," Ruth exclaimed, with her +arm around her friend's waist. "It seems to me that, if I lived in +Washington, I would just run out here whenever anything uncomfortable +happened to me. I am sure, if I spent the day at Mt. Vernon, I should not +feel trouble any more." + +Barbara stood silent. A vague premonition of some possible trouble +overtook her. + +"Ruth," Bab asked suddenly, "do you like Harriet's friend, Peter Dillon? +Every now and then he talks to me in the most mysterious fashion. I don't +understand what he means." + +Ruth looked unusually grave. Then she answered Bab in a very curious +tone. "I know you have lots of common sense, Bab, dear," Ruth began. "But +promise me you won't put any special faith in Peter Dillon. He is not one +bit like Hugh, or Ralph Ewing, or the boys we met at the Major's house +party. When I meet any one who is such a favorite with everyone I always +wonder whether he has any real feelings or whether he is trying to +accomplish some end. I suppose Peter Dillon can't help striving to be +agreeable to everyone." + +Bab laughed a little. "Why, Ruth," she protested, "that idea does not +sound a bit like you. You are sweet to everyone yourself, dear, and +everyone loves you. But I do know what you mean about Peter Dillon. I--" + +"Hello," cried Mollie's sweet voice. She waved a long blue scarf +toward Ruth and Bab. Mollie and Elmer Wilson were standing on the +lawn, examining the motto on the sun dial. It read, "I record none but +sunny hours." + +"Let me write down that motto for you, Miss Thurston," Elmer Wilson +suggested. "I hope you may follow the old sun dial's example and record +none but sunny hours yourself." + +"Ruth!" called Hugh, coming around from the other side of the porch with +Peter Dillon. "Well, here you are, at last! It is not fair for you two +girls to run off together like this. Harriet has disappeared, and Mrs. +Wilson is hiding somewhere. Do you remember, Ruth, you promised to go +with me to see the old Washington deer park. It has just been restocked +with deer. Won't you come, too, Bab?" + +Barbara shook her head as Hugh and Ruth walked off together. Bab felt +sure that Hugh would like to have a chance to talk with Ruth alone, +for they had never ceased to be intimate friends since the early days +at Newport. + +Peter Dillon stood looking out at the river, whistling softly, "Kathleen +Mavourneen." It was the song Barbara had first heard him whistle in the +drawing-room of Mr. Hamlin's house. The young man said nothing, for a few +moments, even when he and Bab were alone. But when Bab came over toward +him, Peter smiled. He had his hat off and he had run his hands through +his dark auburn hair. + +"I say, Miss Thurston, why can't you make up your mind to like me?" he +questioned. "Surely you don't suspect me of dark designs, do you? You +American people are so strange. Just because I am half a Russian you +think I have some sinister purpose in my mind. I am not an anarchist, +and I don't want to go about trampling on the poor. I wish you could +meet the Russian ambassador. He is about the most splendid-looking man +you ever saw. I know him, well, you see, because my mother was a distant +cousin of his." + +Barbara laughed good-humoredly. "You seem to be a kind of connecting link +between three or four nations--Russia, America, China. What are your real +duties at your legation?" + +Barbara looked at her companion with a real question in her brown eyes--a +question she truly desired to have answered. She was interested to know +what duties an attaché performed for his embassy. Peter, in spite of his +frivolities, claimed to be a hard worker. + +"You have not seen the loveliest part of Mt. Vernon yet, Miss Thurston," +Peter Dillon interposed just at this instant. "I want to show you the old +garden, and we must hurry before the gates are closed. Yes; I know I did +not answer your question. An attaché just makes himself generally useful +to his chief. But if you really want to know what my ambition is, and how +I work to achieve it, why some day I will tell you." Peter looked at Bab +so seriously that she answered quickly: + +"Yes, I should dearly love to see the garden." + +Bab and Peter Dillon wandered together through the paths formed by the +box hedges planted in Martha Washington's garden more than a century ago. + +Neither seemed to feel like talking. The young man had seen the gardener +as they entered the enclosure, and had persuaded him to allow them to go +through the lovely spot alone. + +Bab's vivid imagination brought to life the old colonial ladies who had +once wandered in this famous garden. She saw their white wigs, their +powder and patches and full skirts. So Bab forgot all about her +companion. + +Suddenly she heard Peter give a slight exclamation. They had both come to +the end of the garden walk. There before them stood a great rose tree. +Blooming in the unusually warm sunshine were two rose-buds, gently tipped +with frost. + +"Ah, Miss Thurston, how glad I am we found the garden first!" Peter +cried. "This is the famous Mary Washington rose, which Washington +planted here in his garden, and named in honor of his mother. Wait here +until I find the gardener. I am going to make him let us have these two +tiny rose-buds." + +"How nice Peter Dillon really is," Bab thought. "Ruth was mistaken in +warning me against him. Of course, he does not show on the surface what +he actually feels. But perhaps I shall find out he is a finer fellow than +we think he is. Mr. Hamlin says Harriet is wrong in believing Peter is +never in earnest about anything." + +"It's all right, Miss Thurston," called Peter, returning in a few minutes +with his eyes shining. "The gardener says we may have the roses." The +young fellow dropped down on his knees before the rose bush without a bit +of affectation or self-consciousness. He skilfully cut the two half faded +rose-buds from the stalk and handed one to Barbara. + +"Keep this, Miss Thurston," he said earnestly. "And if ever you should +wish me to do you a favor, just send the flower to me and I shall perform +whatever task you set me to do to the best of my skill." Peter looked at +his own rose. "May I keep my rose-bud for the same purpose?" he begged +quietly. "Perhaps I shall send my flower to you some day and ask you to +do me a service. Will you do it for me?" + +"Yes, Mr. Dillon, I will do you any favor that I can," Bab returned +steadily. "But I don't make rash promises in the dark. And I have very +little opportunity to do people favors. You make me think of the +newspaper girl, Marjorie Moore. She tried to force me into a promise +without letting me know what she wanted, the first day I saw her. Does +everyone try to get some one to do something for him in Washington?" + +At the mention of Marjorie Moore's name the change in Peter Dillon's face +was so startling that Barbara was startled. Just now he did not look in +the least like an Irishman. His lips tightened into a fine, cruel line, +his eyes grew almost black and had a queer, Chinese slant to them. It +suddenly dawned on Barbara, that Russians have Asiatic blood in their +veins and are often more like Oriental people than they are like those of +the western world. + +But Peter only said carelessly, after he had regained control of his +face: "Miss Moore doesn't like me; and frankly, I don't like her. She +told you she did society work for her newspaper. She does a great deal +more. She is constantly watching at the legations to see if she can spy +on any of their secret information. It is not good form to warn one girl +against another. But if I were you, Miss Thurston, I would take with a +grain of salt any information that Miss Moore might give you." + +Barbara answered quietly: "Oh, I don't suppose Miss Moore will tell me +any of her secrets. She does not come to Mr. Hamlin's except on business. +Harriet does not like her." + +"Good for Harriet!" Peter muttered to himself. "It may be Harriet, +after all!" + +"Barbara Thurston, you and Peter come along this minute," Harriet ordered +unexpectedly. "Don't you know we shall be locked up in Mt. Vernon if we +stay here much longer. Ruth's automobile is already filled and she is +waiting to start. You and Peter are to get into Mr. Meyers' car with me. +We have another hour before sunset. We are going to motor along the river +and have our supper at an inn a few miles from here." + +As Peter Dillon ran ahead to join Harriet Hamlin, a small piece of paper +fell out of his pocket. Barbara picked it up and slipped it inside her +coat, intending to hand it back to Mr. Dillon as soon as she had an +opportunity. But there were other things that seemed of more importance +to absorb her attention for the rest of the evening. And Barbara was not +to remember the paper until some time later. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ARREST + + +After eating supper, and spending the evening at an old-fashioned +Southern Inn on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, the two +automobile parties started back to Washington. + +Barbara and Peter Dillon occupied seats in the car with Harriet and Mr. +Meyers, Mrs. Wilson, and two Washington girls who had been members of +their party. + +As Ruth did not know the roads it was decided that she keep to the rear +and follow the car in front of her. + +It was a clear moonlight night, and, though the roads were not good, no +member of the party dreamed of trouble. + +Bab sat next to Charlie Meyers, and her host was in a decidedly sulky +temper. For Harriet had grown tired of his devotion, after several hours +of it during the afternoon, and was amusing herself with Peter. + +No sooner had the two cars sped away from the peaceful shadows of Mt. +Vernon, than Peter began to play Prince Charming to Harriet. + +Charlie Meyers did not know what to do. He was a stupid fellow, who +expected his money to carry him through everything. He would hardly +listen to Barbara's conversation or take the slightest interest in +anything she tried to say. + +Every time Harriet's gay laugh rang out from the next seat Charlie Meyers +would drive his car faster than ever, until it fairly bounded over the +rough places in the road. + +Several times Mrs. Wilson remonstrated with him. "You are going too fast, +Mr. Meyers. It is dark, and I am afraid we shall have an accident if you +are not more careful. Please go slower." + +For an instant, Mr. Meyers would obey Mrs. Wilson's request to lessen the +speed of his car. Then he would dash ahead as though the very furies were +after him. + +As for Ruth, she had to follow the automobile in front in order to find +her way, so it was necessary for her to run her car at the same high +speed. Neither Ruth nor her companions knew the pitfalls along the road. +Hugh did not keep his automobile in Washington, and, though he had a +general idea of the direction they should take, he had never driven along +the particular course selected by Mr. Meyers for their return trip. + +Ruth felt her face flush with temper as her car shook and plunged along +the road. In order to keep within a reasonable distance of the heavier +car, she had to put on full power and forge blindly ahead. + +Once or twice Ruth called out: "Won't you go a little slower in front, +please? I can't find my way along this road at such a swift pace." + +But Ruth's voice floated back on the winds and the leading car paid no +heed to her. + +Then Elmer and Hugh took up the refrain, shouting with all their lung +power. They merely wasted their breath. Charlie Meyers either did not +hear them or pretended not to do so. He never once turned his head, or +asked if those back of him were making a safe journey. + +Barbara was furious. She fully realized Ruth's predicament, although she +was not in her chum's car. "Please don't get out of sight of Ruth's car, +Mr. Meyers," Bab urged her companion. But he paid not the slightest +attention to her request. + +Bab looked anxiously back over the road. Now and then she could see Mr. +A. Bubble's lamps; more often Ruth's car was out of sight. Patience was +not Barbara's strong point. + +"Harriet," she protested, "Won't you ask Mr. Meyers to slow down so that +Ruth can follow him. He will not pay the least attention to me." + +"What is your hurry, Charlie!" asked Harriet, in a most provoking tone. +She knew the young fellow was not a gentleman, and that he was showing +his anger against her by making them all uncomfortable. But Harriet was +in a wicked humor herself, and she would not try to appease their cross +host. She was having an extremely pleasant time with Peter Dillon, and +really did not realize Ruth's difficulties. + +The front car slowed imperceptibly, then hurried on again. + +At about half past ten o'clock, Mr. Meyers turned into one of the narrow +old-fashioned streets of the town of Alexandria, which is just south-west +of Washington. The town was only dimly lighted and the roads made winding +turns, so that it was impossible to see any great distance ahead. + +Ruth had managed to keep her car going, though she had long since lost +her sweet temper, and the others of her party were very angry. + +"It serves us right," Hugh Post declared to Ruth. "We ought never to have +accepted this fellow's invitation. I knew he wasn't a gentleman, and I +know Mr. Hamlin does not wish Harriet to have anything to do with him. +Yet, just because the fellow is enormously rich and gives automobile +parties, here we have been spending the evening as his guests. Look here, +Ruth, do you think I can forget I have enjoyed his hospitality, and +punch his head for him when we get back to Washington, for leading you on +a chase like this?" + +Ruth smiled and shook her head. She was seldom nervous about her +automobile after all her experiences as chauffeur. Yet this wild ride at +night through towns of which she knew little or nothing, was not exactly +her idea of sport. + +Mr. Bubble was again outdistanced. As the streets were deserted, Ruth +decided to make one more violent spurt in an effort to catch up with the +front car. Poor Mr. A. Bubble who had traveled so far with his carload of +happy girls was shaking from side to side. But Ruth did not think of +danger. Alexandria is a sleepy old Southern town and nearly all its +inhabitants were in bed. + +"Aren't there any speed regulations in this part of the world, Hugh?" +Ruth suddenly inquired. + +But she was too late. At this instant everyone in her car heard a +loud shout. + +"Hold up there! Stop!" A figure on a bicycle darted out of a dark alley +in hot pursuit of them. + +"Go it, Ruth!" Hugh whispered. But Ruth shook her head. + +"No," she answered. "We must face the music." Ruth put on her stop brake +and her car slowed down. + +"What do you mean," cried a wrathful voice, "tearing through a peaceful +town like this, lickitty-split, as though there were no folks on earth +but you. You just come along to the station with me! You'll find out, +pretty quick, what twenty-five miles an hour means in this here town." + +"Let me explain matters to you," Hugh protested. "It is all a mistake." + +"I ain't never arrested anybody for speeding yet that they ain't told me +it was just a mistake," fumed the policeman. "But you will git a chance +to tell your story to the chief of police. You're just wasting good time +talkin' to me. I ain't got a mite of patience with crazy automobilists." + +"Don't take us all to the station house, officer!" Hugh pleaded. "Just +take me along, and let the rest of the party go on back to Washington. +It's awfully late. You surely wouldn't keep these young ladies." + +"It's the lady that's a-runnin' the car, ain't it? She's the one that is +under arrest," said the policeman obstinately. + +Ruth had not spoken since her automobile was stopped. + +She had a lump in her throat, caused partly by anger and partly by +embarrassment and fright. Then, too, Ruth was wondering what her father +would say. In the years she had been running her automobile, over all the +thousands of miles she had traveled, Ruth had never before been stopped +for breaking the speed laws. She had always promised Mr. Stuart to be +careful. And one cannot have followed the fortunes of Ruth Stuart and her +friends in their adventures without realizing Ruth's high and fine regard +for her word. Yet here were Ruth and her friends about to be taken to +jail for breaking the laws of the little Virginia city. + +It was small wonder that Ruth found it difficult to speak. + +"I will go with the policeman," she assented. "Perhaps he will let you +take Mollie and Grace on home." + +Of course no one paid the slightest attention to Ruth's ridiculous +suggestion. Her friends were not very likely to leave her alone to argue +her case before the justice of the peace. + +"I say, man, do be reasonable," Hugh urged. He would not give up. "You +can hold me in jail all night if you will just let the others go." + +"Please don't argue with the policeman, Hugh," Ruth begged. "He is only +doing his duty. I am so sorry, Mollie darling, for you and Grace. But I +know you won't leave me." + +"Oh, we don't mind," the two girls protested. "I suppose we can pay the +fine and they will let us go at once." + +Hugh said nothing, for he knew that he had only a few dollars in +his pocket. + +When Ruth's car finally reached the station house it was almost +eleven o'clock. + +The policeman took the automobile party inside the station. It was bitter +cold in the room, for the winter chill had fallen with the close of the +December day. The fire had died out in the air-tight iron stove in the +room, and Mollie, Ruth and Grace could hardly keep from shivering. + +"Well, where is the justice of the peace or whatever man we ought to see +about this wretched business?" Hugh demanded. + +At last the policeman looked a little apologetic. "I'll get some one to +make up a fire for you," he answered. "I have got to go out and wake up +the justice to look after your case. It's bed-time and he's home asleep." + +"Do you expect us to sit here in this freezing dirty old room half the +night while you go around looking up a magistrate?" Hugh demanded, +wrathfully. + +"I told you I would have the fire built up," the policeman answered +sullenly. "But it ain't my fault you got into this trouble. You ought +not to have broken the law. We have had about as much trouble with +automobilists in this here town as we are willing to stand for. And I +might as well tell you, right now, the court will make it pretty hot for +you. It may be I can't get the justice to hear your case until to-morrow, +and you'll have to stay here all night." + +"Stay here all night!" cried the five young people, as they sank down +into five hard wooden chairs in utter despair. + +"Harriet, have you seen Ruth's automobile?" Bab asked, as Charlie Meyers' +car got safely out of Alexandria and started on the road toward +Washington. + +Harriet and Peter both looked around and strained their eyes in the +darkness. But there was no sign of Ruth or her party. + +"Don't you think we had better go back a little, Charlie?" Harriet now +suggested. "I am afraid you have gotten too far ahead of Ruth for her to +follow you." + +"What has Miss Stuart got Hugh Post and Elmer Wilson with her for, if +they can't show her the way to town?" argued the impolite host of the +automobile parties. + +"I think Charlie is right, Harriet. I would not worry," interposed Mrs. +Wilson, in her soft tones. "Elmer may not have known the road during the +early part of our trip, but neither one of the boys is very apt to lose +his way between Alexandria and Washington." Mrs. Wilson laughed at the +very absurdity of the idea. + +Harriet said nothing more, and, although Bab was by no means satisfied, +she felt compelled to hold her peace. + +"Will you leave me at my house, Charlie?" Mrs. Wilson demanded, as soon +as their automobile reached Washington. "I know Harriet expects to make a +Welsh rarebit for you at her home, but I am going to ask you to excuse +me. I am a good deal older than you children, and I am tired." + +When Barbara reached the Hamlin house she hoped ardently to see the +familiar lights of her old friend, A. Bubble waiting outside the door. +But the street was bare of automobiles. + +There was nothing to do but to follow the other young people into the +house and take off her hat and coat. But Bab had not the heart to join +Harriet in the dining-room where the preparations for making the rarebit +were now going on. She lingered forlornly in the hall. Every now and then +she would peer anxiously out into the darkness. Still there was no sign +of Ruth or any member of her party! Barbara was wretched. She was now +convinced that some accident had befallen them. + +"Come in, Barbara," called Harriet cheerfully. "The Welsh rarebit is +done and it has to be eaten on the instant. I will make another for +Ruth's crowd when they get in. They are certainly awfully slow in +arriving." + +"Harriet!" Barbara's white face appeared at the dining-room door. "I +hate to be a nuisance, but I am dreadfully worried about the other +girls. I know they would have gotten home by this time if nothing had +happened to them." + +Poor Barbara had to make a dreadful effort to swallow her pride, for +Charlie Meyers had been dreadfully rude to her all afternoon. "Mr. +Meyers," she pleaded, "won't you take me back in your car to look for my +friends? I simply can't bear the suspense any longer." Barbara's eyes +were full of tears. + +"Oh, Bab, you are foolish to worry," Harriet protested. "It would not be +worth while for you and Mr. Meyers to go back now. You would only pass +Ruth on the road. It is nearly midnight." + +"I know it is," Bab agreed. "And that is why I am so frightened. Don't +you think you could take me to look for them? Please do, Mr. Meyers." + +The ill-bred fellow shrugged his shoulders. "What do you take me for, +Miss Thurston? I am not going to let my rarebit get cold. There is +nothing the matter with your friends. They are likely to be along at +any minute." + +Barbara did not know what to do. Mr. Hamlin had not yet come in. Yet she +must find out what had happened to Ruth, Mollie and Grace. Bab once +thought of starting out alone and on foot, back up the long country road, +but she gave up the idea as sheer foolishness. + +At that moment the grandfather's clock in the hall chimed midnight. +Almost two hours had passed since the two automobiles had entered +Alexandria, and the little town was only eight miles from Washington. + +Bab felt she was going to cry before Harriet's guests. She slipped her +hand in her pocket to find her handkerchief. As she silently pressed her +handkerchief against her trembling lips she smelt a delicate perfume. +Something fresh and cool and aromatic touched her face. It was the tiny +rose-bud Peter Dillon had presented to her in the garden! + +Now Bab had determined never to ask Peter to do her a favor. She felt +that, once she returned his pledge to him, he had the same right to ask +a favor of her. But what could Barbara do? Her beloved sister and +friends had certainly come to grief somewhere. And Bab was helpless to +find them alone. + +"Mr. Dillon," Bab spoke under her breath, just showing her handkerchief +to him with the rose-bud crushed between its damp folds, "won't you help +me to find Ruth?" Bab only glanced at the flower with a shy smile. But +Peter saw it. + +He jumped to his feet, his face flushing. + +"Put the flower back, Miss Thurston," he said quietly to Barbara. "You do +not need to ask me to help you look for your friends as a favor to you. I +am ashamed of myself to have waited until you asked me. Harriet, I am +going back to look for your guests." + +Harriet, who was also feeling uneasy without being willing to confess it, +cheerfully agreed. + +"I am going to take your car, Meyers," declared Peter Dillon without +saying so much as by your leave. + +Bab and Peter Dillon hurried out to the waiting automobile. Both stopped +only to take coats and caps from the rack in the hall. + +If Peter Dillon wished to make a friend of Barbara Thurston, his prompt +response to her plea for help came nearer accomplishing it than anything +else in the world. When Peter refused Bab's proffered rose-bud she then +determined to do him any favor that she could whenever he might desire to +ask it of her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MOLLIE'S TEMPTATION + + +The next morning the "Automobile Girls" were sitting in the library of +Mr. Hamlin's home. Ruth, Mollie and Grace were there, for Peter and Bab +had secured their release from the Alexandria jail. + +"But how do you think he ever accomplished it?" Mollie inquired. + +Harriet laughed and flushed. "Oh, Peter accomplished it in the same way +he does everything else--by making friends with people," she declared. +"Girls, I hope you realize how ashamed I am of last night's proceedings. +I never dreamed that anything had happened to you, or I should have +certainly forced Charlie Meyers to turn back. But I think I have learned +a lesson. Charlie Meyers was horribly rude to you, Bab, and I told him +what we thought of him after you left. I don't want to see him again. So +Father, at least, will be glad. Though how I am to get on in this world +without a husband with money, I don't know." And Harriet sighed. + +"Still I would like to have my questions answered," Mollie repeated. "How +did Peter Dillon get us away from that wretched jail in such a short +time when we thought we might have to stay there all night?" + +"Why, he just found the justice of the peace, arranged about Ruth's fine, +mentioned Mr. Hamlin's name and did a few more things," Bab laughed. "So, +at last, you were permitted to come home." + +"Poor Hugh and Elmer were so mortified at not having enough money with +them to pay the fine. It was just an accident. Yet it was truly my +fault," Ruth argued. "Father has always insisted that I take my +pocket-book whenever I go out of the house. But, of course, I forgot it +yesterday." + +"Will Uncle Robert be very angry with you, Ruth, for being arrested?" +Harriet asked. "He need never find out anything about it. Your fine +wasn't so very large, and you always have money enough to pay for +anything." + +Ruth laughed. "Oh, I always tell Father every thing! I don't think +he will be very angry with me, when he hears how we happened to get +into trouble." + +"Do you really tell your father everything?" Harriet asked, in a +surprised tone. + +"Why, yes; why not?" Ruth questioned. + +Harriet shook her head. "Well, I do not tell my father all my affairs. +Oh, dear me, no!" + +"I suppose I shall have to go back to Alexandria to-day, and appear at +court," Ruth lamented. "I just dread it." + +"Oh, no you won't," Bab explained. "Mr. Dillon said he would talk matters +over with Mr. Hamlin, and that he had some influential friends over +there. You will have to pay your fine, Ruth, but you probably will not +have to appear at the trial. They will settle it privately." + +"Girls," exclaimed Harriet, "I forgot to tell you something. There is a +big reception at the White House to-morrow evening, and Father says he +wishes to take the 'Automobile Girls' to present them to the President." + +"How exciting!" exclaimed Grace Carter. "To think that the 'Automobile +Girls' are going to meet the President, and yet you speak of it as +calmly, Harriet Hamlin, as though it were an everyday affair." + +"Oh, nonsense, Grace," Harriet begged. "It will be fun to go to the +White House with you. You girls are so interested in everything. But a +White House reception is an old story to me, and I am afraid there will +be a frightful crowd. But which one of you will go shopping with me +this morning?" + +"I will," cried Mollie. "I'd dearly love to see the shops. We don't have +any big stores in Kingsbridge." + +"Is there anything I can get for you, girls?" Harriet asked. + +Ruth called her cousin over in the corner. "Will you please order flowers +for us to-morrow night!" Ruth requested. "Father told me to be sure to +get flowers whenever we wanted them." + +"Lucky Ruth!" sighed Harriet. "I wish I had such a rich and generous +father as you have!" + +"What can we wear to the President's reception to-morrow, Bab?" Mollie +whispered in her sister's ear, while Harriet and Ruth were having their +conference. + +Bab thought for a moment. "You can wear the corn-colored frock you wore +to dinner with the Princess Sophia at Palm Beach. It is awfully pretty, +and you have never worn it since." + +"That old thing!" cried Mollie, pouting. + +"Suppose you get some pale yellow ribbons, Mollie, and I will make you a +new sash and a bow for your hair," Bab suggested. + +Pretty Mollie frowned. "All right," she agreed. + +Harriet and Mollie did not go at once to the shops. They drove first to +Harriet's dressmaker, the most fashionable in Washington. + +"I must try on a little frock," Harriet explained. "We can do our +shopping afterwards. I want you to see a beautiful coat I am having made, +from a Chinese crepe shawl the Chinese Minister's wife gave me." + +Madame Louise, the head of the dressmaking establishment, came in to +attend to Harriet. The new coat was in a wonderful shade of apricot, +lined with satin and embroidered in nearly every color of silk. + +"Oh, Harriet, how lovely!" Mollie exclaimed. + +"Yes, isn't it?" Harriet agreed. "But I really ought not to have had this +coat made up. It has cost almost as much as though I had bought it +outright. And I don't need it. I hope you have not made my dress very +expensive, Madame. I told you to get me up a simple frock." + +"Ah, but Miss Hamlin, the simple frocks cost as much as the fancy ones," +argued the dressmaker. "This little gown is made of the best satin and +lace. But how charming is the effect." + +Mollie echoed the dressmaker's verdict as she gazed at Harriet with +admiring eyes. Harriet's gown was white satin. Her black hair and great +dusky eyes looked darker from the contrast and her skin even more +startlingly fair. + +Harriet could not help a little smile of vanity as she saw herself in the +long mirror in the fitting room. + +"Be sure to send these things home by to-morrow, Madame Louise," she +demanded. "Father and I are going to take our guests to one of the +President's receptions and I want to wear this gown." + +Mollie gave a little impatient sigh. + +"What is the matter, Mollie?" inquired Harriet, seeing that her little +friend looked tired and unhappy. "I am awfully sorry to have kept you +waiting like this. It is a bore to watch other people try on their +clothes. I will come with you directly." + +"Oh, I am not tired watching you, Harriet," pretty Mollie answered +truthfully. "I was only wishing I had such a beautiful frock to wear to +the reception to-morrow." + +Madame Louise clapped her hands. "Wait a minute, young ladies. I have +something to show you. You must wait, for it is most beautiful." The +dressmaker turned and whispered to one of her girl assistants. The girl +went out and came back in a few minutes with another frock over her arm. + +Mollie gave a deep sigh of admiration. + +"How exquisite!" Harriet exclaimed. "Whose dress is that, Madame? It +looks like clouds or sea foam, or anything else that is delicately +beautiful." + +Madame shook out a delicate pale blue silk, covered with an even lighter +tint of blue chiffon, which shaded gently into white. + +"This dress was an order, Miss Hamlin," Madame Louise explained. "I sent +to Paris for it. Of course it was some time before it arrived in +Washington. In the meanwhile a death occurred in the family of the young +woman who had ordered the dress. She is now in mourning, and she left the +dress with me to sell for her. She is willing to let it go at a great +bargain. The little frock would just about fit your young friend. Would +she not be beautiful in it, with her pale yellow hair and her blue eyes? +Ah, the frock looks as though it had been created for her! Do you think +she would allow me to try it on her?" + +"Do slip the frock on, Mollie," Harriet urged. "It will not take much +time. And I would dearly love to see you in such a gown. It is the +sweetest thing I ever saw." + +Mollie shook her head. "It is not worth while for me to put it on, +Harriet. Madame must understand that I cannot possibly buy it." + +"But the frock is such a bargain, Mademoiselle," the dressmaker +continued. "I will sell it to you for a mere song." + +"But I haven't the song to pay for it, Madame," Mollie laughed. "Come on, +Harriet. We must be going." + +"Of course you can't buy the dress, Mollie," Harriet interposed. "But +Madame will not mind your just slipping into it. Try it on, just for my +sake. I know you will look like a perfect dream." + +Mollie could not refuse Harriet's request. + +"Shut your eyes, Mollie, while Madame dresses you up," Harriet proposed. + +Mollie shut her eyes tightly. + +Madame Louise slipped on the gown. "It fits to perfection," she whispered +to Harriet. Then the dressmaker, who was really an artist in her line, +picked up Mollie's bunch of soft yellow curls and knotted them carelessly +on top of Mollie's dainty head. She twisted a piece of the pale blue +shaded chiffon into a bandeau around her gold hair. + +"Now, look at yourself, Mademoiselle," she cried in triumph. + +"Mollie, Mollie, you are the prettiest thing in the world!" Harriet +exclaimed. + +Mollie gave a little gasp of astonishment when she beheld herself in the +mirror. Certainly she looked like Cinderella after the latter had been +touched with the fairy wand. She stood regarding herself with wide open +eyes of astonishment, and cheeks in which the rose flush deepened. + +"The dress must belong to Mademoiselle! I could not have made such a fit +if I had tried," repeated the dressmaker. + +"How much is the dress worth, Madame?" Harriet queried. + +"Worth? It is worth one hundred and fifty dollars! But I will give the +little frock away for fifty," the dressmaker answered. + +"Can't you possibly buy it, child?" Harriet pleaded with Mollie. "It is a +perfectly wonderful bargain, and you are too lovely in it. I just can't +bear to have you refuse it." + +"I am sorry, Harriet," Mollie returned firmly. "But I have not the money. +Won't you please take the gown off me, Madame!" + +"Your friend can take the frock from me now and pay me later. It does not +matter," said the dressmaker. "She can write home for the money." + +For one foolish moment Mollie did dream that she might write to her +mother for the price of this darling blue frock. Mollie was sure she had +never desired anything so keenly in her life. But in a moment Mollie came +to her senses. Where would her mother get such a large sum of money to +send her? It had been hard work for Mrs. Thurston to allow Barbara and +Mollie the slight expenses of their trip to Washington. No; the pretty +gown was impossible! + +"Do unbutton the gown for me, please, Harriet," Mollie entreated. "I +really can't buy it." Mollie felt deeply embarrassed, and was sorry she +had allowed herself to be persuaded into trying on the gown. + +"Mollie!" exclaimed Harriet suddenly. "Don't you have a monthly +allowance?" + +Mollie nodded her head. Silly Mollie hoped Harriet would not ask her just +what her allowance was. For Mrs. Thurston could give her daughters only +five dollars a month apiece for their pin money. + +"Then I know just what to do," Harriet declared. "You must just buy this +frock, Mollie dear. I expect to have a dividend from some stock I own, +and when it comes in, I shall pay Madame for the dress, and you can pay +me back as it suits you. Do please consent, Mollie. Just look at yourself +in the glass once more and I know you can't resist my plan." + +Mollie did take one more peep at herself in the mirror. But if she had +only had more time to think, and Harriet and the dressmaker had not +argued the point with her, she would never have fallen before her +temptation. + +"You are sure you won't mind how long I take to pay you back, Harriet?" +Mollie inquired weakly. + +"Sure!" Harriet answered. + +"All right then; I will take it," Mollie agreed in a sudden rush of +recklessness, feeling dreadfully excited. For little Mollie Thurston had +never owned a gown in her life that had cost more than fifteen dollars, +except the two or three frocks which had been given to her on different +occasions. + +"Madame, you will send Miss Thurston's gown with mine, so she can wear it +to the White House reception," Harriet insisted. + +"Certainly; I shall send the frocks this evening," the dressmaker agreed, +suavely. "But are you sure you will be in? I want you to be at home when +the frocks arrive." + +Several other customers had entered Madame Louise's establishment. + +Harriet Hamlin flushed at the dressmaker's question. But she replied +carelessly: "Oh, yes; I shall be in all the afternoon. You can send them +at any time you like." + +Before Mollie and Harriet had gotten out into the street, Mollie clutched +Harriet's arm in swift remorse. "Oh, Harriet, dear, I have done a +perfectly awful thing! I must go back and tell Madame that I cannot take +that gown. I don't see how I could have said I would take it. Why, it +will take me ages to pay you so much money!" Mollie's eyes were big and +frightened. Her lips were trembling. + +"Sh-sh! You silly child!" Harriet protested. "Here comes Mrs. Wilson. You +can't go to tell Madame Louise you have changed your mind before so many +people. And what is the use of worrying over such a small debt? The dress +was a wonderful bargain. You would be a goose not to buy it." + +Now, because Harriet was older than Mollie, and Mollie thought her very +beautiful and well trained in all the graces of society, foolish little +Mollie allowed herself to be silenced, and so made endless trouble for +herself and for the people who loved her. + +"Don't tell Barbara about my buying the frock, Harriet," Mollie +pleaded, as the two girls went up the steps of the Hamlin home, a short +time before luncheon. "I would rather tell Bab about it myself, when I +get a chance." + +"Oh, I won't tell. You may count on me," promised Harriet, in sympathetic +tones. "Will Bab be very cross!" + +"Oh, not exactly that," Mollie hesitated. "But I am afraid she will be +worried. I am glad we are at home. I want to lie down, I feel so tired." + +Not long after Harriet and Mollie had started off on their shopping +expedition, Bab came across from her room into Ruth's. + +"Ruth, do you think I could telephone Mr. Dillon?" she asked. "I picked +up a piece of paper that he dropped in the garden yesterday, and I +forgot to return it to him." + +"Give it to me, child. I told you yesterday that I did not wish you to +grow to be an intimate friend of that man. But I am writing him a note to +thank him for his kindness to us last night. I can just put your paper in +my letter and explain matters to him." + +Bab carelessly tossed the sheet of paper on Ruth's desk. It opened, and +Ruth cried out in astonishment. "Oh, Bab, how queer! This note is written +in Chinese characters. What do you suppose Peter Dillon is doing with a +letter written in Chinese?" + +"I don't know I am sure, Ruth," Bab demurred. "It is none of our +business." + +"Did you get the yellow ribbon, Mollie?" Barbara asked her sister, two +hours later, when Mollie and Harriet came in from their shopping. "I have +been fixing up your dress all morning. It is awfully pretty. Now I want +to make the sash." + +"I did not get any ribbons, Bab." Mollie answered peevishly. "I told you +I would not wear that old yellow dress." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AT THE WHITE HOUSE + + +Mollie Thurston was not well the next day. She stayed in bed and +explained that her head ached. And Harriet Hamlin behaved very strangely. +She was shut up in the room with Mollie for a long time; when she came +out Mollie's eyes were red, and Harriet looked white as a sheet. But +neither of the girls would say what was the matter. + +Just before the hour for starting to the White House reception, Mollie +got out of bed and insisted on dressing. + +"I am afraid you are not well enough to go out to-night, Mollie," Bab +protested. "I hope you won't be too disappointed. Shall I stay at home +with you?" + +Mollie shook her head obstinately. "I am quite well now," she insisted. +"Bab, would you mind leaving me alone while I dress? I do feel nervous, +and I know Ruth and Grace won't care if you go into their room." + +"All right, Mollie," Barbara agreed cheerfully, wondering what had +come over her little sister. "Call me when you wish me to button your +gown. I have put the yellow one out on the lounge, if you should +decide to wear it." + +When Mollie was left alone two large tears rolled down her cheeks. Once +she started to crawl back into bed and to give up the reception +altogether. But, after a while, she walked over to her closet and drew +out a great box. With trembling fingers Mollie opened it and gazed in +upon the exquisite blue frock that had already caused her so much +embarrassment and regret. + +Should she wear the frock that night? Mollie Thurston asked herself. And +what would Bab say when she saw it? For Mollie had not yet mustered up +the courage to make her confession. Well, come what might, Mollie decided +to wear her new frock this one time. She had risked everything to own it, +so she might as well have this poor pleasure. + +When Mollie joined Mr. Hamlin and the other girls downstairs a long party +cape completely concealed her gown. + +Mr. Hamlin did not keep a private carriage; so, as long as Ruth's +automobile was in Washington, he decided to take his party to the White +House in Ruth's car. + +The girls were ready early, for Mr. Hamlin explained to them that they +would have to take their position in the line of carriages that slowly +approached the White House door, and that sometimes this procession was +nearly a mile in length. + +"I suppose you girls won't mind the waiting as much as we older people +do, because you always have so much to say to each other. And perhaps +this is my best chance to learn to know you better. I have been so busy +that I have seen little of you during your visit to Harriet." + +But Mollie and Harriet were strangely silent, and Bab felt absolutely +tongue-tied before Mr. Hamlin. Fortunately, Grace and Ruth sat on each +side of him. + +"Mr. Hamlin," Grace asked timidly, "would you mind telling me what are +the duties of the Secretary of State? Washington is like a new, strange +world to us. I have learned the titles of the different members of the +President's Cabinet, but I have not the faintest idea what they do. +Mollie and I looked over the cards of the guests who came to your +reception. Some of the cards just read: 'The Speaker,' 'The Chief of +Staff,' 'L'Ambassadeur de France,' without any personal names at all." + +Mr. Hamlin seemed pleased. The stern, half-embarrassed expression, that +he usually wore before the girls relaxed a little at Grace's eager +questioning. + +"I am glad, Miss Carter, to find you take an interest in Washington +affairs," he answered. "It is most unusual in a young girl. I wish +Harriet cared more about them, but she seems devoted only to society." +Mr. Hamlin sighed under his breath. "Yes; it is the custom for the +officials in Washington to put only the titles of their office on their +visiting cards. You are sure you wish to know the duties of the Secretary +of State? I don't want to bore you, my child." + +Grace nodded her head eagerly. + +"Well, let me see if I can make it plain to you. The Secretary of State +has charge of all the correspondence between the foreign countries and +their representatives in the United States," Mr. Hamlin continued. "Do +you understand?" + +"I think I do," Grace answered hesitatingly, while Bab leaned over from +the next seat to see if she could understand what Mr. Hamlin was +explaining. + +"The Secretary of State also receives all kinds of information from the +consuls and diplomatic officers, who represent the United States abroad," +Mr. Hamlin went on. "Sometimes this information is very important and +very secret. It might bring on serious trouble, perhaps start a war with +another country, if some of these secrets were discovered. The Secretary +of State has other duties; he keeps the Great Seal of the United States. +But my chief business as Assistant Secretary is just to look after the +important private correspondence with all the other countries." + +"Father," exclaimed Harriet, "why are you boring the girls to death +with so much information? They don't understand what you mean. I have +been living in Washington for four years, and I have not half an idea +of what your duties are. But thank goodness, we have arrived at the +White House at last!" + +Their motor car had finally drawn up before the entrance to the Executive +Mansion at the extremity of the eastern wing. The house was a blaze of +lights; the Marine Band was playing a national air. + +Harriet, who was familiar with all the rules that govern the President's +receptions, quickly marshaled her guests into the lobby, where they had +to take off their coats and hats. + +Bab was so overcome at the enormous number of people about her, that she +did not see Mollie remove her cape. + +Mollie slipped quietly into a corner, and was waiting by Harriet's side, +when Harriet called the other girls to hurry up the broad stairs to the +vestibule above, where the guests were forming in line to enter the +reception room. + +Barbara, Ruth and Grace gave little gasps of astonishment when they +first beheld Mollie. If little Mollie Thurston's heart was heavy within +her on this brilliant occasion, she held her pretty head very high. The +worry and excitement had given her a slight fever; her cheeks were a deep +carmine and her eyes glittered brightly. + +"Why, Mollie! What a vision you are!" exclaimed Ruth and Grace together. +"Where did you get that wonderful gown? You have been saving it to +surprise us to-night, haven't you?" + +But Bab did not say a single word. She only looked at Mollie, her face +paling a little with surprise and curiosity. How had Mollie come by a +gown that was more beautiful than anything Bab had ever seen her sister +wear? Barbara knew Mollie had not had the gown when they left home +together, for she had packed her sister's trunk for her. But this was not +the time to ask questions. Bab's mind was divided between the wonder and +delight she felt at the scene before her, and amazement at Mollie's +secret. "I do hope," she thought, as she followed Mr. Hamlin up the +steps, "that Mollie has not borrowed that gown of Harriet. But no; it +fits her much too well. Some one must have given it to her as a present +and she has kept the secret until to-night to surprise me." + +The "Automobile Girls" stood behind Mr. Hamlin and Harriet in the great +vestibule just outside the famous Blue Room of the White House, where +the President and his wife were waiting to receive their guests. The +line was moving forward so slowly that the girls had a chance to look +about them. Never had any one of them beheld such a beautiful spectacle. +Of course the "Automobile Girls" had been present at a number of +receptions during their brief social careers, but for the first time +to-night they saw men in other than ordinary evening dress. The +diplomats from other countries wore their superb court costumes with the +insignia of their rank. The American Army and Navy officers had on their +bright full dress uniforms. + +Bab thought the Russian Ambassador the most superb looking man she had +ever seen, and Mollie blushed when Lieutenant Elmer Wilson bowed +gallantly to her across the length of the hall. + +When the girls first took up their positions in the line, they believed +they would never grow weary of looking about them. But by and by, as they +waited and the number of people ahead of them only slowly decreased, they +grew tired. + +A girl passed by Barbara and smiled. It was Marjorie Moore. She was +not going to try to shake hands with the President. She had a note +book and a pencil in her hand and was evidently bent on business. +Barbara also caught a glimpse of Peter Dillon, but he did not come up +to speak to them. + +Mr. Hamlin's charges at last entered the Blue Room. The President and his +receiving party stood by a pair of great windows hung with heavy silk +portieres. + +It was now almost time for the "Automobile Girls" to shake hands with the +President. They were overcome with nervousness. + +Harriet was next to her father; Bab stood just behind Harriet, followed +by Ruth, Grace and Mollie. + +"You are just supposed to shake hands with the President, not to talk to +him," Harriet whispered. "Then the President's wife is next and you may +greet the other women in the receiving line as you pass along. The +Vice-President's wife stands next to the President's wife and the ladies +of the Cabinet just after her." + +Bab watched Harriet very carefully. She was determined to make no +false moves. + +Finally, Barbara heard her name announced by the Master of Ceremonies. +She felt her heart stop beating for a moment, and the color mount to her +cheeks. The next moment her hand was clasped in that of the President of +the United States. + +Barbara said a little prayer of thankfulness when she had finished +speaking to all the receiving ladies. She felt glad, indeed, when Mr. +Hamlin drew her behind a thick blue silk cord, where the President's +special guests were talking in groups together. Bab then watched Ruth, +Grace and Mollie go through the same formality. + +Now nobody had ever warned Mollie that it was not good form to speak to +the President before he spoke to her. She thought it was polite to make +some kind of a remark when she was introduced to him. So all the way up +the line she had been wondering what she ought to say. + +As the President took Mollie's little hand he bent over slightly. For a +very small voice said, "I like Washington very much, Mr. President." + +The President smiled. "I am glad you do," he answered. + +A little later, Mr. Hamlin took the girls through all the state +apartments of the White House. One of these rooms was less crowded than +the others. Groups of Mr. Hamlin's friends were standing about laughing +and talking together. Barbara was next Mr. Hamlin when she happened to +glance toward a far corner of the room. There she saw her newspaper +friend. The girl made a mysterious sign to Barbara to come over to her +and to come alone. But Bab shook her head. + +Still she felt the girl's eyes on her. Each time she turned, Marjorie +Moore again made her strange signal. Once she pointed significantly +toward a group of people. But Bab only saw the broad back of the little +Chinese Minister and the stately form of the Russian Ambassador. The +two men were talking to a number of Washington officials whose names +Barbara did not even know. Of course, Marjorie Moore's peculiar actions +could not refer to them. But to save her life Bab could not find any +one else nearby. + +Womanlike, Barbara's curiosity was aroused. What could the girl want with +her? Evidently, her news was a secret, for Miss Moore did not come near +Mr. Hamlin's party and Bab simply could not get away without offering +some explanation to them. + +Barbara was growing tired of the reception. She had been introduced to so +many people that her brain was fairly spinning in an effort to remember +their names. Again Bab looked across at Miss Moore. This time the +newspaper girl pointed with her pencil through a small open door, near +which she was standing. Her actions said as plainly as any words could +speak: "Follow me when you have a chance. There is something I must tell +you!" The next instant Marjorie Moore vanished through this door and was +lost to sight. + +A few minutes later Bab managed to slip over to that side of the room. +She intended merely to peep out the open door to see whether Miss Moore +were waiting for her in the hall. Bab carefully watched her opportunity. +Mr. Hamlin and the girls were not looking. Now was her chance. She was +just at the door, when some one intercepted her. + +"Ah! Good evening, Miss Thurston," said a suave voice. + +Barbara turned, blushing again to confront the Chinese Minister looking +more magnificent than ever in his Imperial robes of state. + +The young girl paused and greeted the official. Still the Chinese +Minister regarded her gravely with his inscrutable Oriental eyes that +seemed to look her through and through. He seemed always about to ask her +some question. + +Of course, Barbara was obliged to give up her effort to follow Marjorie +Moore, though she was still devoured with curiosity to know what the girl +had wished to say to her. The next ten minutes, wherever Bab went, she +felt the Chinese Minister's gaze follow her. + +It was not until Barbara Thurston discovered that the Oriental gentleman +had himself withdrawn from the reception room that she mustered up a +sufficient courage to try her venture the second time. + +"Miss Moore, of course, is not expecting me now," Barbara thought. "But +as I have a chance, I will see what has become of her." + +Bab peeped cautiously out through the still open door. She saw only an +empty corridor with a servant standing idly in the hall. Should she go +forward? No; Barbara did not, of course, dare to wander through the White +House halls alone. She was too likely to find herself in some place to +which visitors were not admitted. + +The servant who waited in the hall saw Barbara hesitate, then turn back. +He leaned over and whispered mysteriously: "You are to come to the door +at the west side, which opens on the lawn. The young woman left a message +that she would wait for you there." + +"But I don't know the west side," Bab faltered hesitatingly, feeling that +she ought to turn back, yet anxious to go on. + +"The young woman said it was most important for her to see you; I can +show you the way to the west door," the man went on. + +Barbara now quickly made up her mind. Marjorie Moore was only a girl like +herself. If she needed her or if she wanted to confide in her, Bab meant +to answer the summons. + +Bab found the portico deserted. There was no one in sight. + +Down on the lawn, some distance ahead, she thought she saw a figure +moving. Barbara drew her chiffon scarf more closely over her shoulders +and ran quickly out into the garden without thinking. It was, of course, +Marjorie Moore ahead of her. But Bab had not gone far, when the figure +disappeared, and she realized her own foolishness. She must get back into +the White House in a hurry before any one found out what she had done. + +It was exceedingly dark out on the lawn in contrast with the brilliant +illumination of the house, and Barbara was running swiftly. She had begun +to wonder what explanation she could make if Harriet or Mr. Hamlin asked +where she had been. As usual, Barbara was repenting a rash impulse too +late. She ran obliquely across the yard in order to return in a greater +hurry. Between a clump of bushes set at some distance apart her feet +struck against something soft and heavy and Bab pitched forward across +the object. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BAB'S DISCOVERY + + +Then Barbara Thurston's heart turned sick with horror. She recognized, in +the same instant, that she had fallen over a human body. In getting back +on her own feet, Bab was obliged to touch the figure over which she had +fallen. She shuddered with fright. It could not be possible that any one +had been murdered in the grounds of the White House, while a great ball +was being given on the inside. Had Marjorie Moore expected foul play and +called on Bab to help her guard some one from harm? + +Barbara did not know what to do--to go on with her search for the +newspaper girl, or go back to the White House and raise an alarm. + +Bab was standing up, but she dared not look at the figure at her feet. +She was now more accustomed to the darkness and she did not know what one +glance might reveal. + +"What a coward I am!" Bab thought. Trembling, she put out her hand and +touched the body. It was warm, but the figure had fallen forward on its +face. As Bab's hand slipped along over the object that lay so still on +the hard ground, an even greater horror seized her. Her hand had come in +contact with a skirt. The figure was that of a woman! + +Barbara dropped on her knees beside the figure. She gently turned +the body over until it was face upward. One long stare at the face +was enough. The woman who lay there was the young newspaper girl who +had summoned Bab to follow her but a short time before. She still +had on her shabby evening dress. The pad and pencil with which she +took down her society items lay at her side. But Marjorie Moore's +face was pale as death. + +Bab's tears dropped down on the girl's face. "My dear Miss Moore, what +has happened? Can't you hear me?" Bab faltered. "It is Barbara Thurston! +I tried to come to help you, but I could not get here until now." + +The figure lay apparently lifeless, but Bab knew now that the girl was +still alive. Bab did not like to leave her, for what dreadful person +might not stumble over the poor, unconscious girl? Yet how else could +Bab get help? + +At this moment Bab looked up and saw a number of lighted cigars in the +garden near the White House. Evidently a group of men had come out on the +lawn to smoke. As Bab ran forward she saw one of the men move away from +the others. He was whistling softly, "Kathleen Mavourneen, the bright +stars are shining." + +"Oh, Mr. Dillon!" cried Bab. "Poor Miss Moore has been dreadfully hurt +and is lying unconscious out here on the grass. Won't you please find Mr. +Hamlin, or some one, to come to her aid?" + +"Miss Moore!" exclaimed Peter Dillon in a shocked tone. "I wonder whom +the girl could have been spying upon to have gotten herself into such +trouble? But, Miss Thurston, you ought not to be out here. Come back with +me to the reception rooms. I will get some one to look after Miss Moore +at once. It is best to keep this affair as quiet as possible." + +"I can't leave the poor girl alone," Bab demurred. "So please find Mr. +Hamlin as soon as you can. I will ask two of these other men to take Miss +Moore up on a side porch, out of the way of the guests." + +The rest of the group of men now came forward; their uniforms showed +they were young Army and Navy officers. One of them was Lieutenant +Elmer Wilson. + +"What a dreadful thing!" he exclaimed, as he and another officer, under +Bab's directions, picked up Marjorie Moore's limp form and carried it +into the light. "Some one has struck Miss Moore over the temple with a +stick. She has a nasty bruise just there. But she is only stunned. She +will come to herself presently." + +Mr. Hamlin now hurried out with Peter Dillon, followed by Ruth and +Harriet. + +"Find our automobile; have it brought as near as possible. We must put +the poor girl into it," Mr. Hamlin declared authoritatively. "Mr. Dillon +is right. This affair must be kept an entire secret. It is incredible! +Above all things, the newspapers must not get hold of it. It would be a +nine days' wonder! Mr. Dillon, will you go to Miss Moore's paper? Say you +feel sure the President himself would not wish this story to be +published. Then you can find out where Miss Moore's mother lives, and see +that she is told. The girl is not seriously injured, but she must be seen +by a physician." + +"But you are not going to take Marjorie Moore to our house, Father," +Harriet protested. "She is so--" Harriet checked herself just in time. +She realized it would not be well to express her feeling toward the +injured girl before so large a group of listeners. + +"I most certainly do intend to take Miss Moore to our house," interrupted +Mr. Hamlin sternly. "Her father was an old friend of mine whom changes in +politics made poor just before his death. His daughter is a brave girl. I +have a great respect for her." + +In the excitement of helping their wounded visitor to bed, Barbara +forgot all about Mollie's wonderful gown, and the questions she intended +asking her. Bab and Ruth undressed Marjorie Moore, and stayed with her +until the doctor and a nurse arrived. Then Bab went quickly to her own +room and undressed by a dim light, so as not to disturb her sister. +Mollie's face was turned toward the wall and she seemed to be fast +asleep. There was no sign of the blue gown about to reawaken Bab's +curiosity. Barbara was too weary from the many impressions of the evening +and the fright that succeeded them, and hurriedly undressing she crept +quietly to bed and was soon fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CONFESSION + + +It was almost dawn when Barbara began to dream that she heard low, +suppressed sobs. No; she must be wrong, she was not dreaming. The sounds +were too real. The sobs were close beside her, and Bab felt Mollie's +shoulders heaving in an effort to hold them back. + +"Why, little sister," cried Bab in a frightened tone, putting out +her hand and taking hold of Mollie, "what is the matter with you! +Are you ill?" + +"No," sobbed Mollie. "There is nothing the matter. Please go to sleep +again, Bab, dear. I did not mean to wake you up." + +"You would not cry, Mollie, if there was nothing the matter. Tell me at +once what troubles you," pleaded Barbara, who was now wide awake. "If you +are not ill, then something pretty serious is worrying you and you must +tell me what it is." + +Mollie only buried her head in her pillow and sobbed harder than ever. + +"Tell me," Bab commanded. + +"It's the blue gown!" whispered Mollie under her breath. + +"The gown?" queried Barbara, suddenly recalling Mollie's wonderful +costume at the President's reception. "Oh, yes. I have not had an +opportunity to ask you where you got such a beautiful frock and how you +happened not to tell me about it." + +"I was ashamed," Mollie sobbed. + +Barbara did not understand what Mollie meant, but she knew her sister +would tell her everything now. + +"I bought the frock," Mollie confessed after a moment's hesitation. +"That is I did not exactly buy it, for I did not have the money to pay +for it. But Harriet was to pay for it and I was to give her back the +money when I could." + +"How much did the gown cost, Mollie?" Bab inquired quietly, although her +heart felt as heavy as lead. + +"It cost fifty dollars!" Mollie returned in a tired, frightened voice. + +"Oh, Mollie!" Bab exclaimed just at first. Then she repented. "Never +mind, Molliekins; it can't be helped now. The dress is a beauty, and I +suppose Harriet won't mind how long we take to pay her back. We must just +save up and do some kind of work when we go home. I can coach some of the +girls at school. So please don't cry your pretty eyes out. There is an +old story about not crying over spilt milk, kitten. Go to sleep. Perhaps +some one will have left us a fortune by morning." + +Barbara felt more wretched about her sister's confession than she was +willing to let Mollie know. She thought if Mollie could once get to +sleep, she could then puzzle out some method by which they could meet +this debt. For fifty dollars did look like an immense sum to the two poor +Thurston girls. + +"But, Bab dear, I have not told you the worst," Mollie added in tones +of despair. + +"Mollie, what do you mean?" poor Bab asked, really frightened this time. + +"Harriet can't let me owe the money to her. Something perfectly awful +has happened to Harriet, too. Promise me you will never tell, not even +Ruth! Well, Harriet thought she could lend me the money. But, the day +after we got home from the dressmaker's, that deceitful Madame Louise +wrote poor Harriet the most awful note. She said that Harriet owed her +such a dreadfully big bill, that she simply would not wait for her money +any longer. She declared if Harriet did not pay her at once she would +take her bill straight to Mr. Hamlin and demand the money. Now Harriet is +almost frightened to death. She says her father will never forgive her, +if he finds out how deeply in debt she is, and that he would not let her +go out into society again this winter. Of course, Harriet went to see +Madame Louise. She begged her for a little more time, and the dressmaker +consented to let us have a week. But she says that at the end of that +time she must have the money from me and from Harriet. Harriet is +dreadfully distressed. She simply can't advance the money to me for, even +if the dividend she expects comes in time, she will have to pay the money +on her own account. Oh, Bab, what can we do? I just can't have Mr. Hamlin +find out what I have done! He is so stern; he would just send me home in +disgrace, and then what would Mother and Aunt Sallie and Mr. Stuart say? +I shall just die of shame!" + +"Mr. Hamlin must not know," Barbara answered, when she could find her +breath. Somehow her own voice sounded unfamiliar, it was so hoarse and +strained. Yet Bab knew she must save Mollie. How was she to do it? + +"Do you think, Bab," Mollie asked, "that we could ask Ruth to lend us the +money? I should be horribly ashamed to tell her what I have done. But +Ruth is so sweet, and she could lend us the money without any trouble." + +"I have thought of that, Mollie," Barbara answered. "But, oh, we could +not ask Ruth for the money! It is because she has been so awfully good to +us, that I can't ask her. She has already done so much for us and she +would be so pleased to help us now that somehow I would rather do most +anything than ask her. Don't you feel the same way, Mollie?" + +"Yes, I do," Mollie agreed. "Only I just can't think what else we can do, +Bab. I have worried and worried until I am nearly desperate. We have only +one week in which to get hold of the money, Bab." + +"Yes, I know. But go to sleep now, Mollie. You are too tired to try to +think any more. I will find some way out of the difficulty. Don't worry +any more about it now." Bab kissed her sister's burning cheeks, whereat +Mollie could only throw her arms about Barbara and cry: "Oh, Bab, I am so +sorry and so ashamed! I shall never forget this as long as I live." + +Bab never closed her eyes again that night. A little while later she saw +the gray dawn change into rose color, and the rose to the blue of the +day-time sky. She heard several families of sparrows discussing their +affairs while they made their morning toilets on the bare branches of +the trees. + +At last an idea came to Barbara. She could pawn her jewelry and so raise +the money they needed. She had the old-fashioned corals her mother had +given to her on her first trip to Newport. There was also the beautiful +ruby, which had been Mr. Presby's gift to her from the rich stores of his +buried treasure. And the Princess Sophia had made Bab a present of a +beautiful gold star when they were at Palm Beach. Barbara's other jewelry +was marked with her initials. + +Now Bab had very little knowledge of the real value of her jewelry, and +she had an equally dim notion of what a pawn shop was. But she did know +that at pawn shops people were able to borrow money at a high rate of +interest on their valuable possessions, and this seemed to be the only +way out of their embarrassment. + +But how was Barbara to locate a pawn shop in Washington? And how was she +to find her way there, without being found out either by Mr. Hamlin or +any one of the girls? + +Bab was still puzzling over these difficulties when she went down to +breakfast. + +"Miss Moore says she would like to see you, Barbara," Harriet Hamlin +explained, when Bab had forced down a cup of coffee and eaten a small +piece of toast. "Miss Moore is much better this morning, and a carriage +is to take her home in a few hours. I have just been up to inquire about +her. Father," continued Harriet, turning to Mr. Hamlin, "Miss Moore wants +me to thank you for your kindness in bringing her here, and to say she +hopes to be able to repay you some day. Marjorie Moore seems to think you +discovered her out on the White House lawn, Barbara. However did you do +it? I suppose you were out there walking with Peter Dillon. But it is +against the rules." + +"Does Miss Moore happen to know how she was hurt, Daughter?" Mr. Hamlin +queried. "Lieutenant Wilson declares the girl was struck a glancing blow +on the head with the end of a loaded cane. And the doctor seemed to have +the same idea last night." + +"Miss Moore does not understand just what did happen to her," Harriet +replied. "Or at least she won't tell me. She declares she was out in the +grounds looking for some one, when she was knocked down from behind. She +never saw who struck her. How perfectly ridiculous for her to be running +about the White House park alone at night! I wonder the guards permitted +it. What do you suppose she was doing?" + +"Attending to her business, perhaps, Daughter," Mr. Hamlin returned +dryly. "Miss Moore works exceedingly hard. It cannot always be pleasant +for a refined young woman to do the work she is sometimes required to do. +I hope you will be kind to her, Harriet, and help her when it is within +your power." + +But Harriet only shrugged her shoulders and looked obstinate. "I should +think Miss Moore would find the society news for her paper inside the +reception rooms, rather than outside in the dark. It looks to me as +though she went out into the grounds either to meet some one, or to find +out what some one else was doing." + +None of the "Automobile Girls" or Mr. Hamlin made response to Harriet's +unkind remark and they were all glad when breakfast was over and the +discussion ended. + +Barbara at once went upstairs to the room that had been allotted to their +wounded guest the night before. She found Marjorie Moore dressed in a +shabby serge suit, lying on the bed looking pale and weak. A refined, +middle-aged woman, with a sad face, sat by her daughter holding her hand. +She was Marjorie's mother. The two women were waiting for the carriage to +take them home. + +"I want to thank you, Miss Thurston," Marjorie Moore spoke weakly. "I +believe it was you who found me. I ought not to have asked you to come +out into the yard, but I did not dream there would be any danger to +either one of us. I want you to believe that I did have a real reason for +persuading you to join me, a reason that I thought important to your +happiness, not to mine. But I cannot tell you what it was, now; perhaps +because I may have made a mistake. I must have been struck by a tramp, +who had managed to hide in the White House grounds. I have no other +explanation of what happened to me. But--" Miss Moore stopped and +hesitated. "I have an explanation of the reason I wanted to talk to you +alone. Yet I cannot tell you what I mean to-day. I want to ask you to +trust me if ever you need a friend in Washington." + +Bab thought the only friend she was likely to need was some one who could +lend her fifty dollars. And Marjorie Moore was too poor to do that. She +would have liked to ask the newspaper girl where she could find a pawn +shop, but was ashamed to make her strange request before that gentle, +sad-eyed woman, Marjorie Moore's mother. + +So Barbara only pressed the other girl's hand affectionately, and said +she was glad to know she was better, and that she appreciated her +friendship. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN MR. HAMLIN'S STUDY + + +All morning Barbara pondered on how she could find a pawn shop in +Washington, without asking questions and without being discovered. Her +cheeks burned with humiliation and disgust at the very name pawn shop! +Still Mollie must never know how much she dreaded her errand, and her +mother must be spared the knowledge of their debt at any cost. + +About noon the Hamlin house was perfectly quiet. Grace and Ruth had gone +out sight-seeing and Harriet and Mollie were both in their rooms. Mr. +Hamlin was over at his office in the State Department. + +Bab had taken a book and gone downstairs to the library, pretending she +meant to read, but really only desiring to think. She was feeling almost +desperate. A week seemed such a little time in which to raise fifty +dollars. Bab wished to try the pawn shop venture at once, so that in case +it failed her, she would have time to turn somewhere else to secure the +sum of money she needed. + +Barbara was idly turning over the pages of her book, staring straight +ahead of her at nothing in particular, when she unexpectedly leaped to +her feet. Her face flushed, but her lips took on a more determined curve. + +When Barbara Thurston undertook to accomplish a thing she usually found a +way. Only weak people are deterred by obstacles. + +Bab had remembered that she had heard Mr. Hamlin say that he kept a +Washington directory in his private study. She knew that by searching +diligently through this book she could find the address of a pawn shop. + +Now was the time, of all others, to accomplish her purpose. With Bab, to +think, was to do. + +Barbara knew that no one was expected to enter Mr. Hamlin's study. She +did not dream, however, that she would be doing any harm just to slip +quietly into it, find the directory and slip quickly out again, without +touching a single other thing in the room. + +As has already been explained, Mr. Hamlin's study was a small room +adjoining the drawing-room, and separated from it by a pair of heavy +curtains and folding doors, which were occasionally left open, when Mr. +Hamlin was not in the house, so that the room could be aired and at the +same time shut it off from public view. + +Bab went straight through the hall and entered Mr. Hamlin's study through +a small back door. + +The room was dark, and Bab thought empty when she entered it. The inside +blinds were closed, but there was sufficient light through the openings +for Barbara to see her way about perfectly. She was bent upon business +and went straight to her task without pausing to open the window, for she +wished to take no liberties with Mr. Hamlin's apartment. + +The four walls of the study were lined with books, reports from Congress; +everything pertaining to the business of the government at Washington. +Certainly finding that old-time needle in a haystack was an easy duty +compared with locating the city directory in such a wilderness of books. + +First on her hands and knees, then on tip-toe, Bab thoroughly searched +through every shelf. No directory could be found. + +"I can hardly see," Bab decided at last. "It will not do any harm for me +to turn on an electric light." + +Bab was so intent on her occupation that, even after she had turned on +the light, which hung immediately over Mr. Hamlin's private desk, she +still thought she was alone in the room. + +Lying under a heap of magazines and pages of manuscript on Mr. Hamlin's +desk, was a large book, which looked very much as though it might be the +desired directory. + +Still Bab wavered. She knew no one was ever allowed to lay a hand on Mr. +Hamlin's desk. Even Harriet herself never dared to touch it. But what +harm could it do Mr. Hamlin for Barbara to pick up the book she desired? +She would not disarrange a single paper. + +Bab reached out, intending to secure what she wished. But immediately she +felt her arm seized and held in a tight grip. + +A low contralto voice said distinctly: "What do you mean by stealing in +here to search among Mr. Hamlin's papers?" The vise-like hold on Bab's +arm continued. The fingers were slender, but strong as steel, and the +grip hurt Barbara so, she wanted to cry out from the pain. + +"Answer me," the soft voice repeated. "What are you doing, prying among +Mr. Hamlin's papers, when he is out of the house? You know he never +allows any one to touch them." + +[Illustration: Bab Felt Her Arm Seized In a Tight Grip.] + +"I am not prying," cried Bab indignantly. "I only came in here to look +for the city directory. I thought it might be on Mr. Hamlin's desk." + +"A likely story," interrupted Bab's accuser scornfully. "If you wished +the directory, why did you not ask Mr. Hamlin to lend it to you? You +wanted something else! What was it? Tell me?" The hold on Barbara's arm +tightened. + +"Let go my arm, Mrs. Wilson," returned Barbara firmly. "I am telling you +the truth. How absurd for you to think anything else! What could I wish +in here? But I needed to look into the directory at once--for a--for a +special purpose," Barbara finished lamely. + +Then her eyes flashed indignantly. "I am a guest in Mr. Hamlin's house," +she said, coldly. "How do you know, Mrs. Wilson, that I have not received +his permission to enter this room? But you! Will you be good enough to +explain to me why you were hiding behind the curtains in Mr. Hamlin's +study when I came in? You, too, knew Mr. Hamlin was not at home. Besides, +Harriet receives her guests in the drawing-room, not in here." + +"I came to see Mr. Hamlin on private business," Mrs. Wilson replied +haughtily. "He is an old and intimate friend of mine, so I took the +liberty of coming in here to wait for his return. But seeing you enter, +and suspecting you of mischief, I did conceal myself behind the +curtains. I shall be very glad, however, to remain here with you until +Mr. Hamlin returns from his office. I can readily explain my intrusion +and you will have an equal opportunity to tell Mr. Hamlin what you were +doing in here." + +Now Barbara, who had slept very little the night before, and had worried +dreadfully all morning, did a very foolish thing. She blushed crimson at +Mrs. Wilson's request. She might very readily have agreed to stay, and +could simply have explained later to Mr. Hamlin that she had come into +his private room because she needed to see the directory. But would Mr. +Hamlin have inquired of Barbara her reason for desiring the directory? +This is, of course, what Barbara feared, and it caused her to behave most +unwisely. She trembled and fixed on Mrs. Wilson two pleading brown eyes. + +"Please do not ask me to wait here until Mr. Hamlin returns," she +entreated. "And, if you don't mind, you will not mention to Mr. Hamlin +that I came into his study without asking his permission. Truly I only +wanted to look at the directory, and I will tell Harriet that I have +been in here." + +Mrs. Wilson eyed Bab, with evident suspicion. "Why are you so anxious to +see the directory?" she inquired. "If you wish to know a particular +address why do you not ask your friends, the Hamlins, about it?" + +"That is something that I cannot explain to you, Mrs. Wilson," said +Barbara, a look of fear leaping into her eyes that was not lost on her +companion. + +"Very well, if you cannot explain yourself, I shall lay the whole matter +before Mr. Hamlin the instant he comes home," returned Mrs. Wilson +cruelly. "It looks very suspicious, to say the least, when a guest takes +advantage of his absence to prowl among his private papers." + +Tears of humiliation sprang to Barbara's eyes. It was bad enough to have +Mrs. Wilson doubt her integrity, but it would be infinitely worse if +stern Mr. Hamlin were told of her visit to his study. Bab felt that he +would be sure to believe that she was deliberately meddling with matters +that did not concern her. She looked at Mrs. Wilson. The forbidding +expression on her face left no doubt in Bab's mind that the older woman +would carry out her threat. Suddenly it flashed across the young girl +that perhaps if Mrs. Wilson really knew the truth she would agree to drop +the affair without saying anything to Mr. Hamlin. + +"Perhaps it will be better after all for me to tell you my reason +for being here," Bab said with a gentle dignity that caused Mrs. +Wilson's stern expression to soften. "What I am about to say, +however, is in strictest confidence, as it involves another person +besides myself. I shall expect you to respect my confidence, Mrs. +Wilson," she added firmly. + +Mrs. Wilson made a jesture of acquiescence. Then Barbara poured forth the +story of Mollie's extravagance and her subsequent remorse over the +difficulties into which her love of dress had plunged both of the +Thurston girls. "It is just this way, Mrs. Wilson," Bab concluded. "We +have very little money of our own and we simply can't ask Mother to pay +this debt. I won't ask Ruth to lend it to us because we are too deeply +indebted to her already. I have some jewelry that is valuable; a ring, a +pin and several trinkets, and I intend to take them to a pawn shop and +borrow enough money on them to free Mollie of this debt. Then we will +save our allowance money and redeem the things. I have never been in a +pawn shop and don't know anything about them, so I thought I would find +the address of a pawn broker in the directory and go there this +afternoon. That is why I wanted the directory and why I came into Mr. +Hamlin's study. Now that I have told you, perhaps you will feel +differently about saying anything to Mr. Hamlin. He is so stern and cold +that he would never forgive me if he knew of all this, although I am +doing nothing wrong. It is very humiliating to be placed in this +position, but now that the mischief has been done we shall have to pay +for the gown and set it all down under the head of bitter experience." + +Mrs. Wilson regarded Barbara steadily while she was speaking. There was a +look of admiration in the older woman's eyes when Barbara had finished. +"You are a very brave girl, Miss Thurston, to take your sister's trouble +on your own shoulders. I am very glad that you saw fit to tell me what +you have. I hope you will forgive me for my seeming cruelty, but I simply +cannot endure anything dishonorable or underhanded. To show you that I +believe what you have told me, and to prove to you that your confidence +in me is well founded, I propose to help you out of your difficulty." + +"You?" queried Bab in surprise. "I--I don't understand." + +"I will lend you the money to pay the modiste," exclaimed Mrs. Wilson. +"Then you shall pay it back whenever it is convenient for you to do so, +and no one will ever be the wiser. We need tell no one that we met here +in the study this afternoon." + +"But--I--can't," protested Barbara rather weakly. "It wouldn't be right. +It would be asking entirely too much of you and--" + +Mrs. Wilson held up her hand authoritatively. "My dear little girl," she +said quickly. "I insist on lending you this money. I am a mother, and if +my son were in any little difficulty and needed help, I should like to +feel that perhaps some one would be ready to do for him the little I am +going to do for you. Come to my house this afternoon and I will have the +money ready for you. Will you do this, Barbara?" she asked extending her +hand to the young girl. + +Barbara hesitated for a second, then she placed her hand in that of Mrs. +Wilson's. "I will take the money," she said slowly, "and I thank you for +your kindness. I hope I shall be able to do something for you in return +to show my appreciation." + +"Perhaps you may have the opportunity," replied Mrs. Wilson meaningly. +"Who knows. I think I won't wait any longer for Mr. Hamlin. Come to my +house at half past four o'clock this afternoon. I shall expect you. +Good-bye, my dear." + +"Good-bye," replied Bab mechanically, as she accompanied Mrs. Wilson to +the vestibule door. "I'll be there at half past four." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BARBARA'S SECRET ERRAND + + +After the older woman had departed, Bab remained in a brown study. Had +she been wise in accepting Mrs. Wilson's offer? Would it have been better +after all to ask Ruth for the loan of the money? Bab sighed heavily. She +had been so happy and so interested in Washington, and now Mollie's +ill-advised purchase had changed everything. For a moment Barbara felt a +little resentment toward Mollie, then she shook off the feeling as +unworthy. Mollie had experienced bitter remorse for her folly, and Bab +knew that her little sister had learned a lesson she would never forget. +As for the money, it should be paid back at the earliest opportunity. + +Barbara turned and went slowly upstairs to prepare for luncheon. She +found Mollie sitting by the window in their room. Her pretty mouth +drooped at the corners and her eyes were red with weeping. + +"Cheer up, Molliekins!" exclaimed Bab. "I've found a way out of the +difficulty." + +"Oh, Bab," said Mollie in a shamed voice. "Did you have to tell Ruth?" + +"No, dear," responded Bab. "Ruth knows nothing about it. Bathe your face +at once. It is almost time to go down to luncheon, and your eyes are +awfully red. While you are fixing up I'll tell you about it." + +"Oh, Bab!" Mollie said contritely when her sister had finished her +account of what had happened in the study. "You're the best sister a girl +ever had. I don't believe I'll ever be so silly about my clothes again. +This has cured me. I'm so sorry." + +"Of course you are, little Sister," soothed Bab. "Don't say another word. +Here comes Ruth and Grace." + +The two girls entered the room at that moment and a little later the four +descended to luncheon. + +"I am going to do some shopping this afternoon," announced Ruth. "Would +you girls like to do the stores with me?" + +"I'll go," replied Grace. "I want to buy a pair of white gloves and I +need a number of small things." + +"I have an engagement this afternoon," said Harriet enigmatically. "I +must ask you to excuse me, Ruth." + +"Certainly, Harriet," returned Ruth. "How about you and Mollie, Bab?" + +"Mollie can go with you," answered Bab, coloring slightly. "But would +you be disappointed if I do not go? I have something else that I am +obliged to see to this afternoon." + +"Of course, I'd love to have you with me, Bab, but you know your own +business best." + +Suspecting that Bab wished to spend the afternoon in going over her own +and Mollie's rather limited wardrobe, Ruth made no attempt to persuade +Bab to make one of the shopping party, and when a little later A. Bubble +carried the three girls away, she went directly upstairs to prepare for +her call on Mrs. Wilson. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Bab decided +that she would walk to her destination. As she swung along through the +crisp December air the feeling of depression that had clung to her ever +since Mollie had made her tearful confession vanished, and Bab became +almost cheerful. She would save every penny, she reflected hopefully, and +when she and Mollie received their next month's pocket money, she would +send that to Mrs. Wilson. It would take some time to pay back the fifty +dollars, but Mrs. Wilson had assured her that she could return it at her +own convenience. Bab felt that her vague distrust of this whole-souled, +generous woman had been groundless, and in her impulsive, girlish fashion +she was ready to do everything in her power to make amends for even +doubting this fascinating stranger who had so nobly come to her rescue. + +By following carefully the directions given her by Mrs. Wilson for +finding her house, Bab arrived at her destination with very little +confusion. She looked at her watch as she ascended the steps and saw that +it was just half past four o'clock. "I'm on time at any rate," she +murmured as she rang the bell. + +"Is Mrs. Wilson here?" she inquired of the maid who answered the bell. + +"Come this way, please," said the maid, and Bab followed her across the +square hall and through a door hung with heavy portieres. She found +herself in what appeared to be half library, half living room, and seemed +especially designed for comfort. A bright fire burned in the open fire +place at one side of the room, and before the fire stood a young man, who +turned abruptly as Bab entered. + +"How do you do, Miss Thurston," said Peter Dillon, coming forward and +taking her hand. + +"Why--I thought--" stammered Barbara, a look of keen disappointment +leaping into her brown eyes, "that Mrs. Wilson--was--" + +"To be here," finished Peter Dillon, smiling almost tantalizingly at her +evident embarrassment. "So she was, but she received a telephone message +half an hour ago and was obliged to go out for a little while. I +happened to be here when the message came and she told me that she +expected you to call at half past four o'clock and asked me if I would +wait and receive you. She left a note for you in my care. Here it is." + +Peter Dillon handed Bab an envelope addressed to "Miss Barbara Thurston," +looking at her searchingly as he did so. Bab colored hotly under his +almost impertinent scrutiny as she reached out her hand for the envelope. +She had an uncomfortable feeling at that moment that perhaps Peter Dillon +knew as much about the contents of the envelope as she did. + +"Thank you, Mr. Dillon," she said in a low voice. "I think I won't wait +for Mrs. Wilson. Please tell her that I thank her and that I'll write." + +"Very well," replied the young man. "I will deliver your message." He +held the heavy portieres back for Bab as she stepped into the hall and +accompanied her to the vestibule door. "Good-bye, Miss Thurston," he said +with a peculiar, meaning flash of his blue eyes that completed Bab's +discomfiture. "I shall hope to see you in a day or two." + +Bab hurried down the steps and into the street. The shadows were +beginning to fall and in another hour it would be dark. When she reached +the corner she looked about her in bewilderment, then with a little +impatient exclamation she wheeled and retraced her steps. She had been +going in the wrong direction. She had passed Mrs. Wilson's house, when a +murmur of familiar voices caused her to start and look back at it in +amazement. Stepping off the walk and behind the trunk of a great tree, +Barbara stared from her place of concealment, hardly able to believe the +evidence of her own eyes. Peter Dillon was standing just outside the +vestibule door, his hat in his hand and just inside stood Mrs. Wilson. +The two were deep in conversation and Bab heard the young man's musical +laugh ring out as though something had greatly amused him. Filled with a +sickening apprehension that she was the cause of his laughter, Bab +stepped from behind the tree unobserved by the two on the step above and +walked on down the street assailed by the disquieting suspicion that Mrs. +Wilson had had a motive far from disinterested in lending her the fifty +dollars. She glanced down at the envelope in her hand. She felt positive +that it contained the money, and her woman's intuition told her that +Peter Dillon's presence in the house had not been a matter of chance. She +experienced a strong desire to run back to the house and return the +envelope unopened, and at the same time ask Mrs. Wilson why Peter had +untruthfully declared that she was not at home. Bab paused irresolutely. +Then a vision of Mollie's tearful face rose before her, and squaring her +shoulders, she marched along through the gathering twilight, determined +to use the borrowed money to pay Mollie's debt and face the consequences +whatever they might be. + +When Bab reached home she found that Harriet had come in and gone to her +room, while the other girls had not yet returned. Barbara was glad that +no one had discovered her absence, and divesting herself of her hat and +coat she hurried up to her room. Closing and locking the door, she sat +down and tore open the envelope and with hands that trembled, drew out a +folded paper. Inside the folded paper was a crisp fifty dollar bill. Mrs. +Wilson had kept her word. + +While she sat fingering the bill, she heard voices downstairs and a +moment later Mollie tried the door, then knocked. Bab rose and unlocked +the door for her sister. + +"Did you get it, Bab?" asked Mollie eagerly, a deep flush rising +to her face. + +"Yes, Molliekins, here it is," answered Barbara quietly, holding up the +money. "To-morrow you and I will go to Madame Louise and pay the bill." + +"Oh, Bab," said Mollie, her lips quivering. "I'm so sorry. I've been so +much trouble, but I'll save every cent of my pocket money and pay Mrs. +Wilson as soon as I can. It was so good of her to lend us the money +wasn't it?" + +Barbara merely nodded. Her early gratitude toward Mrs. Wilson had +vanished, in spite of her efforts to believe in Mrs. Wilson, her first +feeling of distrust had returned. She thought gloomily, as she listened +to Mollie's praise of Mrs. Wilson's generosity, that perhaps after all it +would have been better to pay a visit to the pawn broker. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FOOLISH GIRL + + +In the meantime Harriet Hamlin was equally as unhappy as Bab and Mollie. +For, instead of owing Madame Louise a mere fifty dollars, she owed her +almost five hundred and she dared not ask her father for the money to pay +the bill. The dividend, with which she had tempted Mollie to make her +ill-advised purchase, amounted to only twenty-five dollars. It had seemed +a sufficient sum to Harriet to pay down on her friend's investment, but +she knew the amount was not large enough to stay the wrath of her +dressmaker, as far as her own account was concerned. + +Now, Harriet had never intended to let her bill mount up to such a +dreadful sum. She was horrified when she found out how large it really +was. Yet month by month Harriet had been tempted to add to her stock of +pretty clothes, without inquiring about prices, and she now found herself +in this painful predicament. + +Harriet, also, thought of every possible scheme by which she might raise +the money she needed. On one thing she was determined. Her father should +never learn of her indebtedness. She would take any desperate measure +before this should happen; for Harriet stood very much in awe of her +father, and knew that he had a special horror of debt. + +Since Charlie Meyers had behaved so rudely to Barbara, on the night of +their automobile ride to Mt. Vernon, Harriet had had nothing to do with +him. But now, in her anxiety, she decided to appeal to him. She could +think of no other plan. Charlie Meyers was immensely rich and a very old +friend. Five hundred dollars could mean very little to him, and Harriet +could, of course, pay him back later on. She fully intended to live +within her allowance in the future and save her money until she had paid +every dollar that she owed. + +But how was Harriet to see Charlie Meyers? After all she had said about +him to the "Automobile Girls," she was really ashamed to invite him to +her house. So Harriet dispatched a note to the young man, making an +appointment with him to meet her on a corner some distance from the +house on the same afternoon that Bab made her uncomfortable visit to +Mrs. Wilson. + +Charlie Meyers was highly elated when he read Harriet Hamlin's note. He +had known her since she was a little girl in short frocks and was very +fond of her. He had been deeply hurt by her coldness to him since their +automobile party, but he was such an ill-bred fellow that he simply had +not understood how badly he had behaved. He did know that Mr. Hamlin +disliked him and did not enjoy his attentions to his daughter; so he +hated Mr. Hamlin in consequence. + +When Harriet's note arrived, he interpreted it to mean that she was sorry +she had treated him unkindly, and that she did care for him in spite of +her father's opposition. So he drove down to the designated corner in his +car, feeling very well pleased with himself. + +Harriet, however, started out to meet the young man feeling ashamed of +herself. She knew that she was behaving very indiscreetly, but she +believed that Charlie Meyers would be ready to help her and that she +could make him do anything she wished. She accepted his invitation to +take a ride, but she put off the evil moment of voicing her request as +long as possible, and as they glided along in Meyers' car, she made +herself as agreeable to her escort as she knew how to be. + +After they had driven some distance out from Washington in the direction +of Arlington, the old home of General Robert E. Lee, Charlie Meyers said +bluntly to Harriet: + +"Now, Harriet, what's the matter? You said in your note that you wanted +to see me about something important. What is it?" + +Harriet stopped abruptly and looked rather timidly at Meyers. She had +been trying in vain to lead up to the point of asking her favor, and here +her companion had given her the very opportunity she required. + +Yet Harriet hesitated, and the laughter died away on her lips. She knew +she was doing a very wrong thing in asking this young man to lend her +money. But Harriet had been spoiled by too much admiration and she had +had no mother's influence in the four years of her life when she most +needed it. She was determined not to ask her father's help, and she knew +of no one else to whom she could appeal. + +"I am not feeling very well, Charlie," Harriet answered queerly, turning +a little pale and trying to summon her courage. + +"You've been entertaining too much company!" Charlie Meyers exclaimed. "I +don't think much of that set of 'Automobile Girls' you have staying with +you. They are good-looking enough, but they are kind of standoffish and +superior." + +"No, indeed; I am not having too much company," Harriet returned +indignantly, forgetting she must not let herself grow angry with her +ill-bred friend. "I am perfectly devoted to every one of the 'Automobile +Girls,' and Ruth Stuart is my first cousin." + +Harriet and Charlie were both silent for a little while after this +unfortunate beginning to their conversation, for Harriet did not know +exactly how to go on. + +"I am worried," she began again, after a slight pause in which she +counted the trees along the road to see how fast their car was running. +"I am worried because I am in a great deal of trouble." + +"You haven't been getting engaged, have you, Harriet?" asked the young +man anxiously. "If you want to break it off, just leave matters to me." + +Harriet laughed in spite of herself. It seemed so perfectly absurd to +her to be expected to leave a matter as important to her happiness as her +engagement to a person like Charlie Meyers to settle. + +Charlie Meyers was twenty-two years of age. He had refused to go to +college and had never even finished high school. His father had died when +he was a child, leaving him to the care of a stepmother who had little +affection for him. At the age of twenty-one the boy came into control of +his immense fortune. So it was not remarkable that Charlie Meyers, who +had almost no education, no home influence and a vast sum of money at his +disposal, thought himself of tremendous importance without making any +effort to prove himself so. + +"No, I am not engaged, Charlie," Harriet answered frankly. "But I do want +you to do me a favor, and I wonder if you will do it?" + +The young man flushed. His red face grew redder still. What was Harriet +going to ask him? He began to feel suspicious. + +Now this rich young man had a peculiarity of which Harriet had not +dreamed, or she would never have dared to ask him for a loan. He was very +stingy, and he had an abnormal fear that people were going to try to make +use of him. + +Harriet had started with her request, so she went bravely on: + +"I'll just tell you the whole story, Charlie," she declared, "so you +will see what an awful predicament I am in. I know you won't tell Father, +and you may be able to help me out. I owe Madame Louise, my dressmaker, +five hundred dollars! She has threatened to bring suit against me at the +end of a week unless I pay her what I owe before that time. Would you +lend me the money, Charlie? I am awfully ashamed to ask you. But I could +pay you back in a little while." + +Harriet's voice dropped almost to a whisper, she was so embarrassed. Her +companion must have heard her, for he was sitting beside her in the +automobile, but he made no answer. + +Poor Harriet sat very still for a moment overcome with humiliation. She +had trampled upon her pride and self-respect in making her request, and +she had begun to realize more fully how very unwise she had been in +asking such a favor of this young man. Yet it had really never dawned on +the girl that Charlie Meyers could refuse her request. When he did not +answer, she began to feel afraid. Harriet could not have spoken again for +the world. Her usually haughty head was bent low, and her lids dropped +over her eyes in which the tears of humiliation were beginning to gather. + +"Look here, Harriet," protested the young man at last. "Five hundred +dollars is a good deal of money even for me to lend. What arrangements do +you want to make about paying it back?" + +"Why, Charlie!" Harriet exclaimed. "You can have the interest on the +money, if you like. I never thought of that." + +"You can pay me back the interest if you wish," Charlie replied sullenly. +"But you know, Harriet, that I like you an awful lot, and for a long time +I've been wanting you to marry me. But you've always refused me. Now if +you'll promise to marry me, I'll let you have the money. But if you +won't, why you can't have it--that's all! I am not going to lend my good +money to you, and then have you go your way and perhaps not have anything +more to do with me for weeks. I tell you, Harriet, I like you an awful +lot and you know it; but I am not going to be made a fool of, and you +might as well find it out right now." + +Harriet was so angry she simply could not speak for a few minutes. The +enormity of her mistake swept over her. But silence was her best weapon, +for Charlie Meyers began to feel ashamed. He was dimly aware that he had +insulted Harriet, and he really did care for her as much as he was +capable of caring for any one. + +"I didn't mean to make you angry, Harriet," he apologized in a half +frightened voice. "I don't see why you can't care for me anyhow. I've +asked you to marry me over and over again. And I can just tell you, you +won't have to worry over debts to dressmakers ever again, if you marry +me. I've got an awful lot of money." + +"I am very glad you have, Mr. Meyers," Harriet answered coldly, with a +slight catch in her voice. "But I am certainly sorry I asked you to lend +any of it to me. Will you never refer to this conversation again, and +take me home as soon as you can? I don't think it is worth while for me +even to refuse your offer. But please remember that my affection is +something that mere money cannot buy." Harriet's tone was so scornful +that the young man winced. He could think of nothing to reply, and turned +his car around in shame-faced silence. + +Harriet too was very quiet. She would have liked to tell her companion +what she truly thought of him, how coarse and ill-bred he was, but she +set her lips and remained silent. She did not wish to make an enemy of +Charlie Meyers. After that day's experience, she would simply drop him +from her list of acquaintances and have nothing more to do with him. + +Stupid though he was, the discomfited young man felt Harriet's silent +contempt. He wanted to apologize to her, to explain, to say a thousand +things. But he was too dense to know just what he should say. It was +better for him that he did wait to make his apology until a later day, +when Harriet's anger had in a measure cooled and she was even more +miserable and confused than she was at that time. + +"I am awfully sorry, Harriet," Charlie Meyers stumbled over his words as +he helped her out of his machine. "You know I didn't exactly mean to +refuse your request. I'll be awfully glad to--" + +But Harriet's curt good-bye checked his apologetic speech, and he turned +and drove swiftly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"GRANT NO FAVORS!" + + +"Mrs. Wilson's tea is at four o'clock, girls, remember," Harriet +announced a day or so later, looking up from the note she was writing. +"Are you actually going sight-seeing again to-day before the reception? +Truly, I never imagined such energy!" + +"Oh, come, Harriet Hamlin, don't be sarcastic," Ruth rejoined. "If you +had not lived so long in Washington you would be just as much interested +in everything as the 'Automobile Girls' are. But Bab and I are the only +ones to go sight-seeing to-day. Mollie isn't feeling well, and Grace is +staying to console her. We shall be back in plenty of time. Why don't you +lie down for a while! You look so tired." + +"Oh, I am all right," Harriet answered gently. "Good-bye, children. Be +good and remember you have promised not to be late." + +Ruth and Bab were highly anxious for a walk and talk together, and they +had a special enterprise on hand for this afternoon. Bab had received a +mysterious summons from her newspaper friend, Marjorie Moore. The note +had asked Bab to bring Ruth, and to come to the Visitors' Gallery in the +Senate Chamber at an appointed time. Marjorie Moore chose this strange +meeting place because she had a "special story" of the Senate to write +for her paper and was obliged to be in the gallery. + +Barbara was not particularly surprised at the request. She knew that +Marjorie Moore had been wishing to make her a confidant ever since the +reception at the White House. And she knew that the girl could not come +to Mr. Hamlin's house because of Harriet's hostile attitude toward her. + +So Bab confided the whole story to Ruth, and feeling much mystified and +excited, the two girls set out for the Capitol. + +During the long walk Barbara thought of her own secret, which she longed +to confide to Ruth, but she dared not tell Ruth of the borrowed money for +fear Ruth would at once insist on paying her debt. The money had to be +paid, of course, and Bab hoped to pay it back at an early date, but she +had not yet come to the point where she could bear to ask Ruth for it. + +When Ruth and Bab finally reached the Capitol building, and made their +way to the Visitors' Gallery in the Senate Chamber, Marjorie Moore was +not there. She had failed to keep her appointment. + +"I am not so very sorry Miss Moore has not come," Barbara remarked to +Ruth. "She seems to be such a mysterious kind of person, always +suggesting something and never really telling you what it is." + +Ruth laughed. "The 'Automobile Girls' hate mysteries, don't they, Bab? +But goodness knows, we are always being involved in them!" + +The two visitors sat down to listen to the speeches of United States +Senators. There was some excitement in the Chamber, Bab decided, but +neither she nor Ruth could exactly understand what was going on. +Both girls listened and watched the proceedings below them with +such intensity that they forgot all about Marjorie Moore and her +strange request. + +A few moments later she dropped down into the vacant seat next to +Barbara. She looked more hurried and agitated than ever. Her hat was on +one side, and her coat collar was half doubled under. She was a little +paler from her trying experience of a few nights before, and an ugly +bruise showed over her temple. But she made no reference to her accident. + +"I am sorry I am late," she whispered. "But come back here in the far +corner of the gallery with me. I want to talk with you just half a +minute. I am so busy I can't stay with you any longer. I just felt I must +see you, Miss Thurston, before you go to tea with Mrs. Wilson this +afternoon." + +"Tea with Mrs. Wilson!" Bab ejaculated. "How did you know we were going +to Mrs. Wilson's tea? And has that anything to do with your message to +me?" Barbara did not speak in her usual friendly tones. She was getting +decidedly cross. It seemed to her that she had been under some one's +supervision ever since her arrival in Washington. + +"Yes, it has, Miss Thurston," the newspaper girl replied quickly. "I want +to ask you something. Promise me you will grant no one a favor, no matter +who asks it of you to-day?" + +Barbara flushed. "Why how absurd, Miss Moore. I really cannot make you +any such promise. It is too foolish." + +"Foolish or not, you must promise me," Marjorie Moore insisted. Then she +turned earnestly to Ruth. "I know you have a great deal of influence with +your friend. If she will not agree to what I ask her, won't you make her +promise you this: She is not to consent to do a favor for any one this +afternoon, no matter how simple the favor seems to be. Do you +understand?" + +Ruth looked at Marjorie Moore blankly, but something in the newspaper +girl's earnest expression arrested her attention. + +"I don't see why you won't make Miss Moore the promise she begs of you, +Bab," Ruth argued. "It seems a simple thing she has asked you. And I +don't think it is very nice of you, dear, to refuse her, even though her +request does seem a little absurd to you." + +"But won't you tell me why you ask me to be so exceedingly +unaccommodating, Miss Moore?" Bab retorted. + +Marjorie Moore shook her head. "That's just the trouble. Again I can't +tell you why I ask this of you. But I want to assure you of one thing. It +would mean a great deal more to me, personally, to have you agree to do +the favor that may or may not be asked of you this afternoon. I am the +only outside person in Washington who knows of a certain game that is to +be played. It would mean a big scoop for my paper and a lot of money for +me if I would just let things drift. But I like you too well to hold my +tongue, though I am not going to tell you anything more. And I certainly +won't beg you to do what I ask of you. Of course you may do just as you +please. Good-bye; I am too busy to talk any more to-day." Before Barbara +could make up her mind what to answer, the newspaper woman hurried away. + +Ruth looked decidedly worried after Marjorie Moore's departure. But +Barbara was still incredulous and a little bored at being kept so +completely in the dark. + +"Look here, Bab," Ruth advised, as the two girls walked slowly home +together, "you did not promise Miss Moore to do what she asked of you. +But you must promise me. Oh, I know it seems absurd! And I am not exactly +blaming you for refusing to make that promise to Miss Moore. But, Bab, we +cannot always judge the importance of little things. So I, at least, +shall be much happier at this particular tea if you will promise me not +to do a single thing that any one asks you to do." + +Both girls laughed gayly at Ruth's request. + +"Won't I be an agreeable guest, Ruth?" Bab mimicked. "If any one asks +me to sit down, I must say, 'No; I insist on standing up. Because I +have promised my friend Miss Stuart not to do a single thing I am +requested to do all afternoon.' I wish I did not have to go to Mrs. +Wilson's tea to-day." + +"You need not joke, Bab," Ruth persisted. "And you need not pretend you +would have to behave so foolishly. I only ask you to promise me what you +would not agree to, when Marjorie Moore asked it of you: 'Don't do any +favor for any one, no matter who asks it of you this afternoon!'" + +Bab gave up. "All right, Ruth, dear; I promise," she conceded. "You know +very well that I can't refuse you anything, though I do think you and +Miss Moore are asking me to be ridiculous. I do hereby solemnly swear to +be, for the rest of this day, the most unaccommodating young person in +the whole world. But beware, Ruth Stuart! The boomerang may return and +strike you. Don't dare request me to do you a favor until after the bells +chime midnight, when I shall be released from my present idiotic vow." + +Mrs. Wilson's afternoon teas were not like any others in Washington. They +were not crowded affairs, where no one had a chance to talk, but small +companies of guests especially selected by Mrs. Wilson for their +congeniality. So Mrs. Wilson was regarded as one of the most popular +hostesses at the Capital and distinguished people came to her +entertainments who could not be persuaded to go anywhere else. + +Harriet and the four "Automobile Girls" were delighted to see a number of +service uniforms when they entered the charming French drawing-room of +their hostess, which was decorated in old rose draperies against ivory +tinted walls. + +Lieutenant Elmer Wilson's friends, young Army and Navy officers, were out +in full force. They were among the most agreeable young men in Washington +society. Lieutenant Elmer at once attached himself to Mollie; and his +attentions might have turned the head of that young woman if she had not +been feeling unusually sobered by her recent experience with debt. + +Barbara soon recognized the two young men who had helped her carry +Marjorie Moore from the lawn to the White House veranda. But neither one +of them referred to the incident while there were other people +surrounding them. Finally an opportunity came to one of the two men to +speak to Barbara. He leaned over and whispered softly: "How is the young +woman we rescued the other night? I almost thought she had been killed. +We have been sworn to secrecy. But one of my friends has an idea that he +saw the man who may have attacked Miss Moore. He was out on a porch +before the rest of us joined him, and he swears he saw two figures at +some distance across the lawn." + +Bab shuddered. "I was on the lawn. Perhaps he saw me." + +"No," her companion argued, unconvinced. "My friend is sure he saw two +men; one of them was rather heavily built--" + +Peter Dillon's approach cut short the conversation and the young Army +officer turned away, as Peter joined Bab. + +Barbara hardly turned around to greet the newcomer. She did not like +Peter Dillon and she was very anxious to hear what her previous companion +had to say. So Bab only gave Mr. Dillon her haughtiest bow. Peter did not +appear discouraged; he stood for a moment smiling at Bab good humoredly, +the boyish look shining in his near-sighted dark blue eyes. + +Barbara was forced to speak to him. "How do you do, Mr. Dillon?" she +asked at last. + +"Very well indeed," replied the young man cheerfully. "Did you arrive +home safely the other day?" + +Barbara colored hotly. She felt certain now that despite her promise of +secrecy Mrs. Wilson had betrayed her confidence and told Peter Dillon +about the borrowed money. Why she had done so was a mystery and why he +had lied to Bab in saying Mrs. Wilson was out was also a problem Bab +could not solve. + +While all this was passing through her mind Peter stood regarding her +with a quizzical smile. Then he said smoothly: "Miss Thurston, will you +do me a favor?" + +Bab flashed a peculiar glance at him. "No," she replied abruptly. + +The young man looked surprised. "I am sorry," he declared. "I was only +going to ask you to go in the other room to look at a picture with me." + +A little later in the afternoon, Harriet managed to get the four +"Automobile Girls" together. "Mrs. Wilson wishes us to stay to dinner +with her," Harriet explained. "She has asked eight or ten other +people and Father has telephoned that he will come in after dinner to +take us home." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BAB REFUSES TO GRANT A FAVOR + + +The dinner party was delightful. The "Automobile Girls" had not had such +a good time since their arrival in Washington. Mrs. Wilson was a charming +hostess. She was particularly gracious to Bab, and the young girl decided +to forget the disquieting suspicions she had harbored against this +fascinating woman and enjoy herself. + +It was almost ten o'clock. Mr. Hamlin had not yet arrived at Mrs. +Wilson's. Bab was sitting in one corner of the drawing-room talking gayly +with a young Annapolis graduate, who was telling her all about his first +cruise, when Elmer Wilson interrupted them. + +"I am terribly sorry to break into your conversation like this, Miss +Thurston," he apologized. "But Mother wishes to have a little talk with +you in the library before you leave here. I am sure I don't know what she +wishes to see you about; she told me to give you her message and ask no +questions. May I show you the way to her!" + +Bab's gay laughter died on her lips. She rose at once and signified her +willingness to accompany Elmer to the library, but both young men +noticed that her face had grown grave and she seemed almost embarrassed. + +Elmer Wilson wondered why Miss Thurston had taken his mother's simple +message so seriously. He was almost as embarrassed as Bab appeared to be. + +When Barbara entered the room where she had received the envelope +from Peter Dillon the room was but dimly lighted. Two rose-colored +shades covered the low lamps, and great bunches of pink roses +ornamented the mantel. + +Mrs. Wilson wore a black and white chiffon gown over white silk and had a +little band of black velvet about her throat from which hung a small +diamond star. Her beautiful white hair looked like a silver crown on her +head. She was leaning back in her chair with closed eyes when Bab entered +the room, and she did not open them at once. She let the young girl stand +and look at her, expecting her unusual beauty to influence Bab, as it had +many other older people. Mrs. Wilson looked tired and in a softened mood. +Her head rested against a pile of dark silken cushions. Her hands were +folded, in her lap. + +She opened her dark eyes finally and smiled at Barbara. "Come here, +Barbara," she commanded, pointing to a chair opposite her. + +Bab looked at her beautiful hostess timidly, but her brown eyes were +honest and clear. "You sent for me?" Bab queried, sitting down very stiff +and straight among the soft cushions. + +"Of course I did," Mrs. Wilson smiled. "And I should have done so +before, only you and I have both been too busy. I am so glad you came to +my tea to-day." Mrs. Wilson reached out her slender white hand and took +hold of Barbara's firm brown one. "I want to make you a very humble +apology," she continued. "I am very sorry that I was obliged to be away +the other day when you called. I left the envelope with Mr. Dillon. I +received your note yesterday, so I know that it was delivered into your +hands. I did not return until after seven o'clock the other night, so it +was just as well you didn't wait for me. I knew I could trust Mr. Dillon +to give it to you." + +The girl made no reply. She did not dare raise her eyes to the other +woman's face for fear Mrs. Wilson would divine from their expression that +Bab knew she had lied. At the same time a thrill of consternation swept +over her. What had been Mrs. Wilson's object in lending her the money? +Bab was now sure that the loan had not been made disinterestedly. But +what had Peter Dillon to do with it? It looked very much as though Mrs. +Wilson and the attaché were playing a game, and were seeking to draw her +into it. She resolved at that moment that she would write to her mother +for the money, or ask Ruth for it. She would do anything rather than +remain in Mrs. Wilson's debt. There was something about the intent way in +which her hostess looked at her that aroused fresh suspicion in her mind. +Bab braced herself to hear what she knew instinctively was to follow. + +"I am so glad I was able to help you," Mrs. Wilson purred, continuing to +watch the young girl intently. "I know that you meant what you said when +you declared that you hoped to some day be able to do some favor for me. +I did not think then that I should ever wish to take you at your word, +but strange as it may seem, you are the very person I have been looking +for to help me with a joke that I wish to play upon Mr. Hamlin. You know, +Mr. Hamlin is a very methodical man. Well, I wagered him a dozen pairs of +gloves, the other day, that he would misplace one of his beloved papers. +And I hope to win the wager. What I wish you to do is to secure a certain +paper from his desk and give it to me. He will never know how I obtained +it. Of course I shall return it to him in a day or so, after he +acknowledges his defeat and pays his wager." + +Barbara shook her head. "I don't think I can take any part in any such +joke, Mrs. Wilson," she said, looking appealingly at her hostess. "You +don't really mean that you wish me to take one of Mr. Hamlin's papers +without his knowledge, and then give the paper to you?" + +"Certainly, child, I do mean just that thing," Mrs. Wilson said, laughing +lightly. "You need not take my request so seriously. Mr. Hamlin will +appreciate the joke more than any one else when I have explained it to +him. Won't you keep your word and grant me this favor?" + +"I can't do what you ask, Mrs. Wilson," Bab said slowly. "I'm awfully +sorry, but it wouldn't be honorable." + +Mrs. Wilson turned away her head, so that Barbara could not see the +expression of her face. "Very well, Miss Thurston," she said sharply. +"Don't trouble about it, if you think you will be committing one of the +cardinal sins in doing me this favor. But don't you think you are rather +ungrateful? You were perfectly willing to accept my offer the other day +when you were in need of money to pay your sister's debt, but now you are +in no hurry to cancel your obligation. I consider you an extremely +disobliging young woman." + +Barbara sat silent and ashamed. Yet she made no effort to propitiate her +angry hostess. + +The butler came to the library door to announce the arrival of +Mr. Hamlin. + +Barbara rose quickly. "I am so sorry not to be able to do you the favor +you asked of me, Mrs. Wilson," she said in a low tone. + +Mrs. Wilson did not reply. Then in a flash Barbara Thurston remembered +something! It was the promise Marjorie Moore had asked of her, and which +Ruth Stuart had insisted upon her making. Without recalling that promise +at the time, Bab had still kept her word. She had been asked to do some +one a favor--and she had refused. But of course Marjorie Moore must have +had some other thing in mind when she made her curious demand. Now that +Barbara thought again of her vow, she determined to be wary for the rest +of the evening and to keep as far away from Peter Dillon as possible. + +"I am going to play chaperon at your house in the near future, Harriet," +Mrs. Wilson announced, as her guests were saying good night. "Your father +says he is to be out of town on business and that I may look after you." + +"We shall be delighted to have you, Mrs. Wilson," Harriet returned +politely, though she wondered why her father had suddenly requested Mrs. +Wilson to act as chaperon. Harriet had often stayed at home alone with +only their faithful old servants to look after her, when her father went +away for a short time. And now that she had the four "Automobile Girls" +as her guests, she did not feel in need of a chaperon. + +Peter Dillon had not spoken to Bab again during the evening, but had +studiously avoided her, and Bab was exceedingly glad that he had kept his +distance. But as she put on her coat to go home, she heard the rustle of +a small piece of paper. + +Barbara glanced down at it, of course, and found that some one had pinned +a folded square of paper to the inner lining of her coat. + +She blushed furiously, for fear one of the other guests would discover +what had happened. Bab hated sentimentality and secrecy more than +anything in the world. Inside the folded square of paper she found the +tiny faded rose-bud, Peter Dillon had placed in his pocket that day when +he had picked the two buds in the old Washington garden at Mt. Vernon. + +On the way downstairs, Barbara still kept the flower in her hand. But +when she found Peter's eyes were upon her she deliberately crushed the +little rose-bud, then defiantly tossed it away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BARBABA'S UNEXPECTED GOOD LUCK + + +It was the second day after Mrs. Wilson's dinner when Barbara made up her +mind to tell Ruth of her debt to Mrs. Wilson and to ask her friend to +lend her the money to relieve her of her obligation. Bab could endure the +situation no longer. She simply determined to tell Ruth everything, +except the part that poor Mollie had played in the original difficulty. +She meant to explain to Ruth that she had needed fifty dollars, that she +had intended going to a pawn shop to secure the money, her interview with +Mrs. Wilson and her acceptance of the loan offered by the beautiful +woman. She would not tell Ruth, however, why she had suddenly required +this sum of money. Now, Bab knew Ruth would ask her no questions and +would grant her request without a moment's hesitation or loss of faith. +The sympathy between Ruth and Barbara was very deep and real. + +It was one thing for Barbara Thurston to decide to appeal to Ruth's +ever-ready generosity, but another thing actually to make her demand. + +The two girls lay on Ruth's bed, resting. They had been to a dance at the +British Embassy the night before. Mollie and Grace were together in the +next room and Harriet was alone. + +"Barbara!" exclaimed Ruth suddenly. "If you could have one wish, that +would surely be granted, what would you wish?" + +"I would like to have some money in a hurry," flashed through Bab's mind, +but she was ashamed to make such a speech to Ruth, so she said rather +soberly. "I have so many wishes its hard to single out one." + +"Well what are some of them?" persisted Ruth. "Do you wish to be rich, or +famous, or to write a great book or a play?" + +"Oh, yes; I wish all those things, Ruth," Bab agreed. "But you were not +thinking of such big things. What little private wish of your own did you +have in your mind? Please don't wish for things that will take you far +away from me," Bab entreated. + +Ruth's blue eyes were misty when she replied: "Oh, no, Bab! I was just +going to wish that something would happen so that you and I need never be +separated again. I love you just as though you were my sister, and I am +so lonely at home without you and Mollie. Yet, as soon as our visit to +Harriet is over, you must go back to school in Kingsbridge and I have to +go home to Chicago. Who knows when we shall see each other again? I don't +suppose that our motor trips can go on happening forever." + +Bab pressed Ruth's hand silently, her own thoughts flying toward the +future, when she would perhaps be working her way through college, and +teaching school later on, and Ruth would be in society, a beauty and a +belle in her Western home. + +"Why don't you say something, Bab?" queried Ruth, feeling slightly +offended at Bab's silence. "Can't you say you wish the same thing that I +do, and that you believe our motor trips will last forever?" + +A knock at the door interrupted Bab's answer. When she went to open +it a maid handed her three letters. Two of them were for Ruth and one +for Barbara. + +Ruth opened her letters quickly. The handwriting on one of them was her +Aunt Sallie's. The other was from Ruth's father. + +The postmark on Bab's letter was unfamiliar, however, so she did not +trouble to open it, until she heard what Ruth had to say. + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" Ruth ejaculated. "See here, Bab, Aunt Sallie writes +us that she cannot come on to Washington. She has rheumatism, or +something, in her shoulder and does not want to make the long trip. She +says I had better come home in a week or ten days, and that Father will +probably come for me. Of course, Aunt Sallie sends love and kisses all +around to her 'Automobile Girls.' She ends by declaring I must bring you +home with me." + +Bab gave a deep sigh. "I do wish Miss Sallie had been here with us," +she murmured. + +Ruth looked reflective. "Have you any special reason for needing Aunt +Sallie, Bab? I have an idea you have something on your mind. Won't I do +for your confidant!" + +"Yes, you will, Ruth!" Bab said slowly, turning her face to hide her +painful embarrassment. "Ruth will you--" + +Bab had picked up her own letter. More to gain time than for any other +reason, she opened it idly. A piece of paper fluttered out on the bed, +which Ruth picked up. + +"Why, Bab!" she cried. "Look! Here is a check for fifty dollars! And +there is some strange name on it that I never heard of before." + +But Ruth could not speak again, for Bab had thrown her arms about her and +was embracing her excitedly. + +"Oh, Ruth, I am so glad, I am so glad!" Bab exclaimed, half laughing, +half crying. "Just think of it--fifty dollars! And just now of all times. +I never dreamed of such luck coming to me. It is just too wonderful!" + +"Barbara Thurston, will you be quiet and tell me what has happened to +you?" Ruth insisted. "You haven't lost your wits, have you, child?" + +"No, I have found them," Bab declared. "More wits than I ever dreamed I +had. Now, Ruth, don't be cross with me because I never confided this to +you before. But I have not told a single person until to-day, not even +Mother or Mollie. Months before I came to Washington, just before school +commenced, I saw a notice in a newspaper, saying that a prize would be +given for a short story written by a schoolgirl between the ages of +sixteen and eighteen. So, up in the little attic at Laurel Cottage, I +wrote a story. I worked on it for days and days, and then I sent it off +to the publisher. I was ashamed to tell any one that I had written it, +and never dreamed I should hear of it again. But now I have won the prize +of fifty dollars," + +Bab stood up on the bed waving her check in one hand and, holding +the skirt of her blue kimono in the other, executed a few jubilant +dance steps. + +"Oh, Barbara, I am so proud!" Ruth rejoined, looking fully as happy as +Bab. "Just think how clever you are! The fame of being an author is more +desirable than the money. I must tell Mollie and Grace all about it." + +[Illustration: "Oh, Ruth, I Am So Glad!"] + +But Mollie and Grace had been attracted by the excitement in the next +room, and now rushed in to hear the news. + +Mollie's eyes filled with tears as she embraced her sister. She knew how +Bab's fifty dollars must be used, and why her sister was so delighted +with her success. + +"What are you going to do with the fifty dollars, Bab?" Grace inquired. +"I suppose you will put it away for your college money." + +Bab did not reply. She was already longing for a little time to herself, +a pen, and ink and note paper. + +Harriet came in now with a message: + +"Children," she said, "it is time to dress for dinner. I have just had a +telephone call from Father. He is going out of town to-night, but Mrs. +Wilson is to stay with us. Father is not going until after dinner, and +Mrs. Wilson and Elmer and Peter Dillon will be here to dine with us. So +we shall have rather a jolly party. You girls had better dress." + +Harriet's was at once informed of Bab's good luck, and in offering +Barbara her congratulations she forgot to tell the rest of her story. + +Harriet had asked her father to come home half an hour before his guests +arrived. She had almost persuaded herself to make a full confession of +her fault. But the tangle of circumstance was not to be so easily +unraveled. + +Before Bab went down to dinner she slipped over to her desk and indorsed +the check, put it in an envelope, and hid the envelope inside her dress. +Her heart was lighter than it had been in weeks, for she believed her own +and Mollie's share in the Washington trouble was over. + +Mr. William Hamlin was late to dinner and his guests were compelled to +hurry through the meal on his account, as he wished to catch a special +train out of the city. But they had a gay dinner party nevertheless and +Harriet did not know whether she was sorry or glad that her confession +had been delayed. + +After Mr. Hamlin had said good-bye to his visitors Harriet followed her +father out into the hall. She thought if she told him of her fault just +before he went away his anger would have time to cool before he could +have opportunity to do more than reproach her for her extravagance. + +"Father," Harriet whispered timidly, "can't you wait a few minutes +longer? I told you there was something I had to tell you." + +Mr. Hamlin shook his head impatiently. "No, Harriet, this is not the time +nor the place for confidences. I am in far too much of a hurry. If you +want to ask me for money I positively haven't any to give you. Now run +on back to your guests." + +Harriet turned slowly away, and so Mr. Hamlin lost his chance to set +matters straight. + +Just before he went out the door, he called back to his daughter: + +"Oh, Harriet, I have left the key to my strong box on my study table. +Don't forget to put it away for me; it is most important that you do so, +for I really have not time to turn back." + +During the entire evening Peter Dillon devoted himself exclusively to +Harriet, and Bab was vastly relieved that he did not approach her. She +decided that he fully understood that she did not consider the pledge of +the faded rose-bud, binding. Mrs. Wilson had apparently forgotten Bab's +refusal of her request. She was as cordial to Barbara as she was to +Harriet, or to any of the "Automobile Girls." + +It was after midnight when Mrs. Wilson told Elmer and Peter that they +must both go home. Bab's envelope was still tucked inside her dress. She +had had no chance so far to give it to Mrs. Wilson. After Peter and Elmer +had gone, however, and the girls trooped upstairs to bed, laughing and +chatting gayly, Bab found a chance to slip the troublesome envelope into +Mrs. Wilson's hand. With a whispered, "In the envelope is a check for the +money I borrowed. I thank you so much for your kindness," Bab ran down +the hall to her own room, feeling more at ease in her mind than she had +since Mollie's confession. + +As for Harriet, she was so fully occupied with her guests that her +father's command to secure the key of his strong box, which he had left +on his study table, slipped from her mind and she retired without giving +the matter a second thought. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE WHITE VEIL + + +Long after every one had retired Ruth Stuart lay wide awake. Try as she +might, sleep refused to visit her eyelids. At last, after she had counted +innumerable sheep and was wider awake than ever, she resolved to go and +waken Bab. Ruth moved about in the dark carefully, in order not to arouse +Grace, with whom she roomed, found her dressing-gown and slippers, and +tip-toed softly into Barbara's room. She knew that Barbara would not +resent being awakened even at that unseasonable hour. + +"Barbara, are you awake?" she whispered, coming up to Bab's bed and +laying a gentle hand on her friend's face. "I want to talk with you +and I am so thirsty. Won't you come downstairs with me to get a drink +of water?" + +Bab turned over sleepily and yawned: "Isn't there always some water in +the hall, Ruth? I am so tired I can't wake up," she declared. + +But Ruth gave her another shake. Barbara crawled slowly out of bed, while +Ruth found her bedroom slippers and wrapped her in her warm bathrobe. +Then both girls stole softly out into the dark hall. + +At the head of the stairs there was a broad landing. On this landing, +just under a stained glass window, there was a leather couch and a table, +which always held a pitcher of drinking water. On the window ledge the +servants were required to keep a candle, so that anyone who wished to do +so might find his way downstairs at night, without difficulty. + +The two girls made their way slowly to this spot, and Bab felt along the +sill for the candle. It was not in its accustomed place. + +"I can't find the candle, Ruth," Bab whispered. "But you know where to +find the water. Just fumble until you get hold of the pitcher." + +"Won't you have a glass of water?" Ruth invited, pushing the tumbler +under Bab's very nose. Then the two girls began to giggle softly. + +"No, thank you," Bab answered decidedly. "Come, thirsty maiden! Who took +me from my nice warm bed? Ruth Stuart! Let's go back upstairs and get to +sleep again in a hurry." + +But for answer, Ruth drew Barbara down on the old leather couch in the +complete darkness and put her arms about her. + +"Don't go back to bed, Bab. I'm not a bit sleepy. That's why I dragged +you out of bed. I couldn't go to sleep and I just had to have company. Be +a nice Bab and let's sit here and exchange conversation." + +"All right," Bab replied amiably, snuggling up closer to her friend. +"Dear me, isn't it cold and dark and quiet out here!" + +Ruth gave a faint shiver. Then both girls sat absolutely still without +speaking or moving--they had heard an unmistakable sound in the hall +below them. The noise was so slight it could hardly be called a sound. +Yet even this slight movement did not belong to the night and the silence +of the sleeping household. + +The sound was repeated. Then a stillness followed, more absolute +than before. + +"Is it a burglar, Bab?" Ruth breathed. + +Barbara's hand pressure meant they must listen and wait. "It may be +possible," Bab thought, "that a dog or cat has somehow gotten into the +house downstairs." + +At this, the girls left the sofa and, going over to the banister, peered +cautiously down into the darkness. + +This time the two girls saw a light that shone like a flame in the +darkness below. Quietly there floated into their line of vision something +white, ethereal--perchance a spirit from another world. It vanished and +the blackness was again unbroken. The figure had seemed strangely tall. +It appeared to swim along, rather than to walk, draperies as fine as mist +hanging about it. + +"What on earth was that, Barbara?" Ruth queried, more curious than +frightened by the apparition. "If I believed in spirits I might think we +had just seen the ghost of Harriet's mother. Harriet's old black Mammy +has always said that Aunt Hattie comes back at night to guard Harriet, if +she is in any special trouble or danger." + +"I suppose we had better go downstairs and find out what we have seen," +whispered more matter-of-fact Bab. "Mr. Hamlin is not here. I don't think +there is any sense in our arousing the family until we know something +more. I should not like to frighten Mrs. Wilson and Harriet for nothing." + +The two girls slipped downstairs without making a sound. Everything on +the lower floor seemed dark and quiet. Ruth and Bab both began to think +they had been haunted by a dream. They were on their way upstairs again, +when Ruth suddenly turned and glanced behind her. + +"Bab," she whispered, clutching at Barbara's bathrobe until that young +woman nearly tumbled backwards down the steps, "there is a light in +Uncle's study! I suppose it is Harriet who is down there." + +It flashed across Bab's mind to wonder, oddly, if Harriet's visit to her +father's study at night could have anything to do with her debt to her +dressmaker of five hundred dollars! For Mollie had reported to her sister +that Harriet was feeling desperate over her unpleasant situation. + +"If it is Harriet downstairs I don't think we ought to go down," Bab +objected. "We would frighten her if we walked in on her so unexpectedly." + +"Harriet ought not to be alone downstairs," Ruth insisted. "Uncle would +not like it. I am going to peep in on her, and then make her come on +upstairs to bed." + +Ruth led the way, with Bab at her heels. But it occurred to Barbara that +the midnight visitor to Mr. Hamlin's study might be some one other than +his daughter. Bab did not know whether Mr. Hamlin kept any money in his +strong box in the study. She and Ruth were both unarmed, and might be +approaching an unknown danger. Quick as a flash Bab arranged a little +scheme of defense. + +There were two old-fashioned square stools placed on opposite sides of +the hall. Without a word to Ruth, who was intent on her errand, Bab drew +out these two stools and placed them side by side in the immediate centre +of the hall. Any one who tried to escape from the study would stumble +over these stools and at once alarm the household. Of course, if Bab and +Ruth found Harriet in her father's study Bab could warn them of her trap. + +"What shall we do, Bab?" Ruth asked when Barbara joined her. "The light +is still shining in the study. But I do not want to knock on the door; it +would frighten Harriet. And it would terrify her even more if we walked +right into the study out of this darkness. But we can't wait out here all +night. I am catching cold." + +Barbara did not reply. They were in a difficult situation. Suppose +Harriet were in the study? They did not wish to frighten her. In case the +veiled figure was not Harriet any speech of theirs would give their +presence away. + +"I think we had better open the door quickly and rush in," Ruth now +decided. "Then Harriet can see at once who we are." + +Without waiting for further consultation with Bab, Ruth flung wide the +study door. + +In the same instant the light in the room went out like a flash. + +"Harriet, is that you?" Ruth faltered. There was no answer, save some +one's quick breathing. Ruth and Bab could both perceive that an +absolutely white figure was crouched in a corner of the room in the dark. + +Bab moved cautiously toward the spot where she knew an electric light +swung just above Mr. Hamlin's desk. But it was so dark that she had to +move her hand gropingly above her head, for a moment, in order to locate +the light. + +The veiled being in the corner must have guessed her motive. Like a +zephyr it floated past the two girls. So light and swift was its movement +that Bab's hand was arrested in its design. Surely a ghost, not a human +creature, had passed by them. + +The next sound that Ruth and Bab heard was not ghostlike. It was very +human. First came a crash, then a cry of terror and surprise. + +At the same moment Bab found the light she sought, turned it on, and Ruth +rushed out into the hall. + +There on the floor Ruth discovered a jumble of stools and white +draperies. And, shaking with the shock of her fall and forced +laughter, was--not Harriet, but her guest, Mrs. Wilson! She had a long +white chiffon veil over her head, a filmy shawl over her shoulders, +and a white gown. With her white hair she made a very satisfactory +picture of a ghost. + +"My dear Mrs. Wilson!" cried Ruth, in horrified tones, "What has happened +to you? Were you walking in your sleep! Do let me help you up. I did not +know these stools were out here where you could stumble over them." + +Bab stood gravely looking on at the scene without expressing such +marked surprise. + +Mrs. Wilson gave one curious, malignant glance at Bab, then she smiled: + +"Help me up, children. I am fairly caught in my crime." + +Bab took hold of Mrs. Wilson by one arm, Ruth grasped her by the other, +and they both struggled to lift her. Mrs. Wilson gave a slight groan as +she got fairly on her feet. Her right hand clutched Bab for added +support. In falling over the stools Mrs. Wilson had given her knee a +severe wrench. + +At the moment she staggered, Barbara saw a large, oblong envelope fall to +the floor from under Mrs. Wilson's soft white draperies. + +"What is the trouble?" called Harriet, Mollie and Grace, poking their +three sleepy heads over the banisters. + +At this interruption Bab stooped down and quickly caught up the envelope, +while Mrs. Wilson's attention was distracted by the three girls who were +rapidly descending the steps. + +"Mrs. Wilson came downstairs for something," Ruth explained in her quiet, +well-bred fashion. "Bab and I heard a noise and, as we did not recognize +her, we followed her. We frightened Mrs. Wilson so that she stumbled over +these stools out in the hall. I am afraid she is a little hurt. I think +you had better call the servants, Harriet." + +Ruth did not, for an instant, let the surprise she felt at Mrs. Wilson's +extraordinary conduct appear in her voice. + +"No, don't call any of the servants to-night, Harriet," Mrs. Wilson +demurred. "I am all right now. I owe you children an apology for my +conduct to-night and also an explanation. But I think I can explain +everything much more satisfactorily if we wait until morning. I think +Miss Thurston already understands my escapade. I have taken her into my +confidence." + +Mrs. Wilson directed at Barbara a glance so compelling that it was +almost hypnotic. + +Bab did not return her look or make any answer. + +A little while later Barbara disappeared. She went back alone to Mr. +Hamlin's study. On top of his desk she discovered a box about a foot and +a half long. It had been opened and a key was lying beside it on the +desk. Barbara could see that there was no money in the box, only a +collection of papers. Bab returned the long envelope, which she had found +at Mrs. Wilson's feet in the hall to its place, turned the key in the +lock of the box, and then carried the key upstairs, intending to hand it +over to Harriet. But Bab did not know whether or not she ought to explain +to Harriet how she had come by the key. + +Harriet was in the room with Mrs. Wilson, seeing her guest to bed for the +second time, when Barbara went upstairs. Bab had no desire to face Mrs. +Wilson again that night. The distrust of the woman that was deepening in +the girl's mind was too great to conceal. + +"Come into my room in the morning before breakfast, Harriet, dear," Mrs. +Wilson entreated, as she kissed her young hostess good night. "I know you +will forgive my foolishness, when I have had a little talk with you. It +is too late now for explanations." + +It was between two and three o'clock in the morning before the household +of the Assistant Secretary of State again settled itself to sleep. Under +her pillow Barbara Thurston had the key to Mr. William Hamlin's strong +box, in which valuable state papers were sometimes temporarily placed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TANGLED WEB OF CIRCUMSTANCE + + +Harriet Hamlin spent half an hour in the room with Mrs. Wilson before she +came down to the breakfast table the next morning. + +"It is all right, girls," she announced promptly, as soon as the maid +left the room. "Mrs. Wilson is going to have her breakfast in bed. She is +a little upset by the happenings of last night. But she has explained +everything to me. For some time, Mrs. Wilson has been trying to play a +joke on Father, and last night she made another attempt. I promised her +none of us would mention to him what had occurred. Will you give me your +word, all of you, not to tell?" + +"Certainly, Harriet," Ruth agreed seriously. The other three "Automobile +Girls" quietly nodded their heads. + +"I don't know that I quite approve of Mrs. Wilson's method of practical +joking," Harriet went on. "She frightened all of us. But then, if no one +had discovered her, no harm would have been done." + +Mollie and Grace gazed at Harriet, without trying to conceal their +surprise, but Ruth and Bab only looked steadfastly at their plates. + +"Father is so strict and good all the time, I just wish somebody would +play a trick on him," Harriet went on angrily. She was annoyed at the +attitude of the "Automobile Girls," and she was still smarting under the +hurt of her father's speech the night before. As long as her father had +refused her money before she had even asked him for it, Harriet had +decided that it would be worse than useless to appeal to him again. She +was now waiting for disaster to break over her head. + +"Mrs. Wilson rather blames you, Barbara," Harriet continued. "She says +she did not succeed in her joke, after all, because you came down +stairs at the wrong time and foiled the whole thing. She could not find +the silly old paper she needed. But do please be quiet as mice about +the whole affair. Don't mention it before the servants. Father will be +home to-night. Will you girls mind excusing me for the day, and finding +some way of amusing yourselves? I have promised Mrs. Wilson to go home +with her." + +"Of course we can get along, Harriet," Grace replied. "I hope you will +have a good time." + +Bab made no answer to Harriet's report of Mrs. Wilson's attitude toward +her. But she was convinced that Mrs. Wilson knew she had discovered the +stolen paper and returned it to its rightful place. + +The "Automobile Girls" did not see Harriet again that morning. + +At noon a message was sent upstairs. Mr. William Hamlin had returned and +wished to see his daughter at once. When he learned that Harriet was not +at home, he immediately sent for Ruth. + +"Ruth, I have come home sooner than I had planned," he declared, "And I +wish to have a talk with you. Now, please keep your self-control. Girls +and women have such a fashion of flying into a rage at the first word one +says, that it is perfectly impossible to have any reasonable conversation +with them. I wish to talk with you quite quietly and calmly." + +"Very well, Uncle," Ruth replied, meekly enough, though she was far from +feeling meek. She could readily understand why Harriet had found it +impossible to make a confidant of her father. + +"I am glad you are so sensible, Ruth," Mr. Hamlin went on. "For I have +reason to believe that your friend, Barbara Thurston, has proved herself +an undesirable guest, since her arrival in Washington, which I very much +deplore. She is dishonorable, for she has secretly entered my study and +been seen handling my papers, and she has contracted a debt; for I saw +the check by means of which she returned the borrowed money to Mrs. +Wilson. I cannot understand how you and your father have managed to be so +deceived by the young woman." + +"Stop, Uncle William," Ruth interrupted hotly. "I cannot, of course, tell +you that the things which you say are untrue. But at least I have the +right to say that I positively know you are wrong. I shall ask Barbara to +come down to your study, at once, to deny these charges. Then we shall go +home immediately." + +"There, Ruth, I expected it," Mr. Hamlin answered testily. "Just as I +said. You have gone off the handle at once. Of course your young friend +may have some plausible explanation for her actions. But I will not be +guilty of making any accusations against a guest in my own house under +any circumstances. I have only mentioned these facts to you because I +feel that it is my positive duty to warn you against this girl, whom you +have chosen for your most intimate friend. It is impossible that I have +been deceived in regard to her. I have positive proof of what I say, and +I sadly fear she is a very headstrong and misguided girl." + +Ruth was already crying from anger, which made it hard for her to answer +her uncle's speech. "You certainly don't object to my telling Barbara of +your accusations, Uncle William?" Ruth demanded. "I think it is only +fair to her." + +"Not while she is in my house. You are to tell her nothing," Mr. Hamlin +ordered. "When Miss Thurston leaves you may tell her whatever you wish. +But I will not have a scene with her while she is staying here." + +Mr. Hamlin was a cold, selfish and arrogant man. He well deserved the +blow to his pride that he was to receive later. + +Ruth controlled herself in order to think deeply and quietly. Her father +was wise in his trust in her. Ruth had excellent judgment and good +sense. She was not particularly impressed by her uncle's command. She +felt that she had a perfect right to tell her friend of what she had +been accused. Yet would it be a good idea? Barbara would be +heart-broken, and nothing would induce her to remain in Mr. Hamlin's +house another hour after she learned his opinion of her. Ruth knew it +would not be well for Bab to rush off home in sudden anger, leaving a +false impression behind her. Barbara must stay in Mr. Hamlin's house +until he himself apologized to her. + +Ruth did not dare to go back upstairs to the other girls immediately +after her interview with her uncle. She knew her friends would recognize +at once, from her red eyes and her excitement, that something was the +matter. Yet Ruth longed for a confidant, and she meant to unburden +herself to Grace as soon as she had the opportunity. To go upstairs now +would reveal everything to Mollie and Barbara as well. + +Ruth seized her coat and hat from a closet in the hall and rushed out +into the street. She began walking as rapidly as she could, to let the +fresh air cool the tumult of feeling that was surging within her. Ruth +must have walked a mile before she determined what to do. Before she +returned to Mr. Hamlin's house, she found a telegraph office and went +into it. She sent a telegram to her father in Chicago, which read: + +"Come to Washington as soon as possible. Bab wrongly suspected. She is +still in ignorance, but we need you. + +"Ruth Stuart." + +Little did Ruth yet dream why these toils were being wound about +unhappy Barbara. Mollie's one act of weakness had involved her sister in +a number of actions that did look wrong to an outsider. Yet the +explanation of them was so simple, if Bab had only known it were best for +her to tell the whole story! But Barbara was trying to shield Mollie, and +Mollie did not dream that Bab would suffer any consequences from her +foolish deed. So Bab's peculiar proceedings since her arrival in +Washington had indeed played well into the hands of her enemies. Mr. +Hamlin's mind had been poisoned against her. She had been seen to do +several underhanded things, one following directly after the other. If a +big game were being attempted, the reputation of Barbara Thurston was of +little account. Besides Bab had already blocked several of the players in +the game. Revenge could very well enter into the present scheme of +things, and a girl who had no one to defend her might prove a useful +tool. As a last resort she could be made a scapegoat. + +In the meanwhile, Barbara was blissfully unconscious of any trouble, and +went singing cheerily about her room that morning. Since the delivery of +her check to Mrs. Wilson it seemed to her that the skies were blue again. +During the rest of her stay in Washington Bab meant just to enjoy the +beautiful sights of the wonderful city and not to trouble about the +disagreeable people. She did intend to ask Harriet to take her to see the +cunning little Chinese girl, Wee Tu, before she went home, but she had no +other very definite desires. + +As for Mrs. Wilson? Barbara had just wisely decided that the woman +belonged to a curious type, which she did not understand and wished to +keep away from. Bab did not admire Mrs. Wilson's methods of playing +jokes. On the other hand it was none of Barbara Thurston's business. So +long as she had put the paper back in Mr. Hamlin's strong box no harm had +been done. + +Barbara still had in her possession the key to that strong box. She had +neglected to give it to Harriet, because Harriet had left home so soon +after breakfast. And now that very terrifying person, Mr. William +Hamlin, had returned home, and Barbara Thurston still had the key in her +possession. Even Ruth had gone out. What should she do? She decided to +keep the key until Harriet came back in the afternoon. Then Harriet could +make some sort of explanation to her father. Barbara simply did not have +the courage to tell Mr. Hamlin that she had discovered Mrs. Wilson +tampering with his papers, and that it was she who had found the stolen +paper and locked it up again. + +However, fate was certainly against Bab at the present time. A +servant knocked at the door of the next room, where Grace and Mollie +were reading. + +"Please," the maid said, "Mr. Hamlin wants to know if Miss Harriet +left a key with you? It is a most important key, and Mr. Hamlin needs +it at once." + +Grace and Mollie both shook their heads. No; Harriet had mentioned no +such key to them. + +Barbara was waiting in the next room with the door open. She knew her +turn would come next. + +"Do you know anything of the key, Miss Barbara?" Harriet's maid inquired. + +Of course Bab blushed. She always did at the wrong time. + +"Yes, I have the key, Mary," she replied. "Wait a minute, I will get +it for you." + +"Do the young ladies know anything of my key?" Mr. William Hamlin's +impatient voice was heard just outside Barbara's door. + +Innocently the maid opened it. "Wait a minute, Mr. Hamlin, please. Miss +Thurston says she has the key. She is getting it for you now." + +And Barbara had to come to the door herself to present the key to this +dreadful old "Bluebeard." + +"I presume my daughter left my key in your charge," Mr. Hamlin +asked coldly. + +"No," she declared almost under her breath, hoping her stern host would +either not hear her, or at least not heed her. "Harriet did not leave +it with me." + +"Then kindly tell me how my key came into your possession?" Mr. Hamlin +inquired, in chilling, even tones. Bab shivered. + +"I found it," Bab answered lamely, having it in mind to tell the whole +strange story of last night's experience. But she was too frightened by +Mr. Hamlin's manner and by the fear that she would be regarded as a +telltale by Harriet. If Mr. Hamlin's own daughter had not considered her +guest's actions unusual, it was not exactly Bab's place to report them. +So she remained silent, and her host also turned away in silence. + +Harriet did not come home until just before dinner time. She told the +"Automobile Girls" she had spent a delightful day, but her behavior was +unusual. She looked frightened, though at the same time happier than she +had seemed since the hour she had received the first threatening letter +from her dressmaker. + +Peter Dillon had walked home with Harriet. Barbara, who happened to be +standing at the front window, saw them stop to talk for a moment at the +door before Peter said good-bye. Peter was making himself very charming +to Harriet. He was talking to her in his half laughing, half earnest +fashion in the very manner that had seemed so attractive to Bab, too, +at first. But it was a manner she had learned later on to distrust and +even to fear. + +When Harriet parted from Peter Dillon she nodded her head emphatically +and apparently made him a promise, and Barbara saw Peter look back at her +with a peculiar smile as she ascended the steps. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HARRIET IN DANGER + + +Harriet Hamlin was restless and nervous all the next day. Even Mr. +Hamlin, noticing his daughter's nervous manner at luncheon, suggested +that she take her friends out to pay some calls. So Bab put forth her +plea that she wished to make another visit to the home of the Chinese +minister. As the girls had not yet paid their luncheon call at the +embassy Harriet agreed to take them to see Wee Tu. Before she left the +house Harriet called up her dressmaker and had a long confidential talk +with her over the telephone. She seemed in better spirits afterwards. + +The Chinese minister's wife, Lady Tu, was receiving. As there were no men +in the drawing-room, her daughter, Wee Tu, sat among the young girls as +quiet and demure as a picture on a fan. + +Bab managed to persuade the little girl into a corner to have a quiet +chat with her. But Miss Wee Tu was difficult to draw out. Across the +room, Harriet Hamlin chanced to mention the name of Peter Dillon. At +once the little Chinese girl's expression changed. The change was very +slight. Hardly a shade of emotion crossed her unexpressive, Oriental +face, but curious Barbara was watching for that very change. She +remembered the young girl had been affected by Peter's appearance during +their former visit. + +"Do you like Mr. Dillon?" inquired Bab. She had no excuse for her +question except her own wilful curiosity. + +But Wee Tu was not to be caught napping. + +"Lige?" she answered, with a soft rising inflection that made the "k" in +"like" sound as "g." "I do not know what Americans mean by the +word--'Lige.' You 'lige' so many people. A Chinese girl 'liges' only a +few--her parents, her relatives; sometimes she 'liges' her husband, but +not always." + +"Don't like your husband!" exclaimed Bab in surprise. "Why, what do +you mean?" + +The little Chinese maiden was confused both by the American word and the +American idea. + +"The Chinese girl has respect for her husband; she does what he tells her +to do, but she does not all the time 'lige' him, because her father has +chosen him for her husband. I shall marry a prince, when I go back to +China, but he is 'verra' old." + +"Oh, I see!" Bab rejoined. "You thought I meant 'love' when I said +'like.' It is quite different to love a person." Bab smiled wisely. "To +love is to like a great deal." + +"Then I love this Mr. Peter Dillon," said the Chinese girl sweetly. + +Bab gasped in shocked surprise. + +"It is most improper that I say so, is it not?" smiled Miss Wee Tu. "But +so many things that American girls do seem improper to Chinese ladies. +And I do like this Mr. Peter very much. He comes always to our house. He +is 'verra' intimate with my father. He talks to him a long, long time and +they have Chinese secrets together. Then he talks with me so that I can +understand him. Many people will not trouble with a Chinese girl, who is +only fifteen, even if her father is a minister." + +Barbara was overwhelmed with Wee Tu's confidence, but she knew she +deserved it as a punishment for her curiosity. The strangest thing was +that the young Chinese girl spoke in a low, even voice, without the least +change of expression in her long, almond eyes. Any one watching her would +have thought she was talking of the weather. + +"I go back to China when my father's time in the United States is over +and then I get married. It makes no difference. But while I am in your +country I play I am free, like an American girl, and I do what I like +inside my own head." + +"It's very wrong," Barbara argued hastily. "It is much better to trust to +your parents." + +"Yes?" answered Wee Tu quietly. Bab was vexed that Peter Dillon's +careless Irish manners had also charmed this little Oriental maiden. But +Bab was wise enough to understand that Wee Tu's interest was only that of +a child who was grateful to the young man for his kindness. + +Barbara rose to join her friends, who were at this moment saying good-bye +to their hostess. + +"It is the Chinese custom," Lady Tu remarked graciously, "to make little +presents to our guests. Will not Mr. Hamlin's daughter and her four +friends receive these poor offerings?" + +A servant handed the girls five beautiful, carved tortoise shell boxes, +containing exquisite sets of combs for their hair, the half dozen or more +that Chinese women wear. + +"I felt ashamed of my wind-blown hair when Lady Tu presented us with +these combs," Grace exclaimed, just before the little party reached home. +They had paid a dozen more calls since their visit to the Chinese +Embassy. "I suppose Chinese women are shocked at the way American girls +wear their hair." + +"Yes, but we can't take three hours to fix ours," laughed Mollie, running +up the steps of the Hamlin house. In the front hall Mollie spied an +immense box of roses. They were for Harriet. Harriet picked up the box +languidly and started upstairs. She had talked very little during the +afternoon, and had seemed unlike herself. + +"Aren't you going to open your flowers, Harriet?" Mollie pleaded. "I am +crazy to see them." + +"I'll open them if it pleases you, Mollie," Harriet returned gently. The +great box was crowded with long-stemmed American beauties and violets. + +"Have some posies, girls?" Harriet said generously, holding out her arms +filled with flowers. For a long time afterwards the "Automobile Girls" +remembered how beautiful Harriet looked as she stood there, her face very +pale, her black hair and hat outlined against the dark oak woodwork with +the great bunch of American beauties in her arms. + +"Of course we don't want your posies, Lady Harriet," Mollie answered +affectionately. "Here is the note to tell you who sent them to you." But +Harriet went on to her room without showing enough interest in her gift +to open the letter. + +After dinner Harriet complained of a headache, and went immediately to +her room. The "Automobile Girls" were going out to a theater party, which +was being given in their honor by their old friends, Mrs. Post and Hugh. +Harriet sent word she would have to be excused. When Ruth put her head +into Harriet's room to say good-bye, just before she started for the +theater, she thought she heard her cousin crying. + +"Harriet, dear, do let me stay with you," Ruth pleaded. "I am afraid you +are feeling worse than you will let us know." + +But Harriet insisted that she desired only to be left alone. Feeling +strangely unhappy about her cousin, Ruth, at last joined the +theater party. + +Mr. Hamlin did not leave the house immediately after dinner, although he +had an engagement to spend the evening at the home of Mrs. Wilson. She +had asked him, only that morning, to come. Mr. Hamlin was also troubled +about his daughter. He had not been so unobservant that he had not seen +the change in her. She was less animated, less talkative. Mr. Hamlin +feared Harriet was not well. Though he was stern and unsympathetic with +Harriet, he was genuinely frightened if she were in the least ill. + +So it was with unusual gentleness that he tapped lightly on +Harriet's door. + +"I am all right, Mary, thank you," Harriet replied, believing her maid +to be outside. "Go to bed whenever you please. I shall fall asleep +after a while." + +Mr. Hamlin cleared his throat and Harriet started nervously. Why was her +father standing outside her door? Had he learned of her bill to her +dressmaker? + +"I do not wish to disturb you, Harriet," Mr. Hamlin began awkwardly. "I +only desired to know if I could do anything for you." + +"No, Father," poor Harriet replied wearily. As Mr. Hamlin turned away, +she sprang up and started to run after him. At her own door she stopped. +She heard her father's stern voice giving an order to a servant, and her +sudden resolution died within her. A few moments later the front door +closed behind him and her opportunity had passed. + +An hour afterwards, when the house was quiet and the servants nowhere +about, Harriet Hamlin slipped cautiously downstairs. She was gone only a +few minutes. But when she came back to her own room, she opened a private +drawer in her bureau and hid something in it. Harriet then threw herself +on her bed and lay for a long time with her eyes wide open, staring +straight ahead of her. + +Just before midnight, when she heard the gay voices of her friends +returning from the theater, and when Ruth tripped softly to her bedroom, +Harriet lay with closed eyes, apparently fast asleep. + +The next morning Harriet was really ill. Her hand trembled so while she +poured the breakfast coffee that she spilled some of it on the +tablecloth. When Mr. Hamlin spoke to her sharply she burst into tears and +left the room, leaving her father ashamed of himself, and the "Automobile +Girls" so embarrassed that they ate the rest of their breakfast in +painful silence. Ruth did dart one indignant glance at her uncle, which +Mr. Hamlin saw, but did not in his heart resent. + +Harriet was willing, that morning, to have Ruth come into her darkened +bedroom and sit by her bed. For Harriet's wakeful night had left her +slightly feverish. + +"I don't want to disturb you, Harriet," Bab apologized, coming softly to +the door. "But some one has just telephoned for you. The person at the +telephone has a message for you, but whoever it is refuses to give his +name. What shall I do!" + +Harriet sat up in bed, quickly, a hunted expression on her beautiful +face. "Tell Mr. Peter Dillon that I will keep my word," Harriet answered +angrily. "He is not to worry about me again." + +"Is that your message?" Bab queried wonderingly. "It was not Mr. +Dillon's voice." + +Harriet laughed hysterically. "Of course not!" she returned. "Oh, I know +you girls are wondering why I am behaving so strangely. And I am +breaking my word to tell you. But I must tell some one. I don't care +what Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon say, I know I can trust you. I have +decided to help Mrs. Wilson and Peter play their silly joke on Father +and the State Department! Oh, you needn't look so horrified, girls. It +is only a joke. The papers are about some Chinese business. I have them +hid in my bureau drawer." + +Harriet nodded toward her dressing-table, while Ruth and Bab stood +looking at each other, speechless with horror, the same idea growing in +their minds. + +"When Father comes to look for his stupid papers he'll find them gone, +and, of course, will think he has misplaced them," Harriet continued. "He +will be dreadfully worried for a little while; then Mrs. Wilson will +return the papers to me and I will slip them back in their old place, and +Father will never know what has happened. Mrs. Wilson and Peter have +vowed they will never betray me, and I have promised not to betray them. +If I were to be caught, I suppose Father would never forgive me. But I'll +take good care that he doesn't find out about it." + +"Harriet, do please give up this foolish plan!" Ruth entreated earnestly. +"I know you are doing something wrong. Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Dillon both +know that Uncle William's papers are too valuable to be played with. Why, +they belong to the United States Government, not to him! Harriet, I +implore you, do not touch your father's papers!" + +Harriet shook her head obstinately. She was absolutely adamant. Ruth +pleaded, scolded, in vain. Bab did not say a word nor enter a protest. +She was too frightened. All of a sudden a veil had been rent asunder. Now +she believed she understood what Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson had planned +from the beginning. They were spies in the service of some higher power. +The papers that Harriet thought were to be used for a joke on her father +were really to be sold! Was not some state secret to be betrayed? Ever +since Bab's arrival in Washington it had looked as though Peter Dillon +and Mrs. Wilson had been working toward this very end. Having failed with +her they had turned their attention to poor Harriet. But Mrs. Wilson and +Peter Dillon must be only hired tools! Shrewdly Barbara Thurston recalled +her recent conversation with innocent Wee Tu: "Mr. Dillon and my father, +they have Chinese secrets together." Could a certain distinguished and +wisely silent Oriental gentleman be responsible for the thrilling drama +about to be enacted? Bab was never to know positively, and she wisely +kept her suspicion to herself. + +"I do wish, Ruth, you and Bab would go away and leave me alone," Harriet +protested. "I shall be well enough to get up for luncheon, if you will +let me take a nap. I don't see any harm in playing this joke on Father. +At any rate, I have quite made up my mind to go through with my part in +it and I won't give up my plan. You can tell Father if you choose, of +course. I cannot prevent that. I know I was foolish to have confided in +you. But, unless you are despicable tale bearers, the papers in my bureau +drawer will go out of this house in a few hours! I don't see any harm in +their disappearing for a little while. Father will have them back in a +few days. Please go!" + +Yet with all Harriet's air of bravado, however, there was one point in +her story which she did not mention. In return for her delivery of +certain of her father's state papers Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon had +promised to advance to Harriet the five hundred dollars necessary to pay +her dressmaker. Harriet had agreed only to receive it as a loan. And she +tried to comfort herself with the idea that her friends were only doing +her a kindness in exchange for the favor she was to do for them. Still, +the thought of the money worried Harriet. But how else was she to be +saved from the weight of her stern father's displeasure? + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FOILED! + + +At Harriet's request Bab and Ruth went silently out of her room, their +faces white and frightened. + +"Ruth, is there any place where we can be alone?" Barbara whispered +faintly. "I must talk with you." + +Ruth nodded, and the two friends found their way into the library, +turning the key in the lock. Then they stood facing each other, +speechless, for a moment, from the very intensity of their feelings. + +"Ruth, you must do something," Bab entreated. "The papers that Mrs. +Wilson and Mr. Dillon are making Harriet get for them they do not intend +to use for a joke. Oh, Ruth, they are no doubt important state papers! +Harriet may be betraying her country and ruining her father by placing +these papers in their hands." + +"I think, too, that Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon are spies," Ruth +returned more quietly. "And, of course, we must do something to prevent +their getting their hands on the papers." + +"But what can we do?" Barbara demanded sharply. "We cannot tell Mr. +Hamlin of Harriet's deed. It would be too cruel of us. Nor can we +confront Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon with the accusation. They would +only laugh at us, and declare that we were mad to have imagined any such +thing. Then, again, we would be betraying Harriet's confidence. We do not +know just what state papers Harriet is to give to them, but they must be +very, very valuable. I suppose those dreadful people will have the papers +copied, sell our country's secret, and return the papers to Harriet when +all the mischief has been done. Ruth, I believe, now, that Mrs. Wilson +and Peter Dillon both meant to make me steal Mr. Hamlin's papers. Then +they would have declared I had sold them to some one. And Mr. Hamlin +would never have suspected his friends. Now, they think poor Harriet will +be too much afraid to betray them." + +Bab's voice trembled slightly. She realized how nearly she had been the +dupe of these two clever schemers. She felt that she and Ruth must save +Harriet at all events. + +"Mrs. Wilson tried to steal Mr. Hamlin's papers the night she masqueraded +as a ghost," Barbara continued. "I picked up the envelope she dropped on +the floor in the hall." + +"I know it, Barbara," Ruth answered in her self-controlled fashion, +which always had a calming effect on the more impetuous Bab. "I also +believe Mrs. Wilson meant to fix the guilt of the theft upon you. Uncle +William called me into his study the other day and asked me if I +considered you trustworthy. Of course I was awfully indignant and told +him just what I thought of him for being so suspicious. But I believe +Mrs. Wilson had tried to poison his mind against you. You must be on +your guard now, Bab, dear. If Harriet gives up these papers of Uncle's +the plotters may still try to use you as their scapegoat. When Uncle +finds his papers have disappeared Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Dillon will, of +course, appear to know nothing of them; but they will somehow try to +direct suspicion against you, trusting to Harriet's cowardice. Don't you +worry though, Bab, dear. You shall not suffer for Harriet's fault while +I am here." + +"Oh, I am not worrying about myself, Ruth," Bab answered. "It is +Harriet's part in the affair that troubles me. Do, please, go to Harriet +and talk to her again. Surely you can make her see the risk she is +running. Do you suppose it would do any good if I were to call on Mrs. +Wilson? I could just pretend I still thought she meant to play the joke +on Mr. Hamlin. You know she told me she intended to do so. I could beg +her to give it up without mentioning Harriet's name or letting Mrs. +Wilson guess that Harriet had confided in us." + +Ruth shook her head. "It would not do any good for you to go to Mrs. +Wilson, Bab. And, somehow, I am afraid for you. We do not know how much +further they intend to involve you in their plot." + +"Oh, they won't do me any harm, now," Barbara rejoined. "Anyhow, I am +willing to take the risk, if Harriet will not give in." + +"Just wait here, Bab, until I have been to see Harriet again," Ruth +entreated. "I will go down on my knees to her, if I can persuade her to +give up this wicked deed. Oh, why is she so determined to be so reckless +and so foolish?" + +Fifteen minutes afterwards Ruth came back from her second interview with +Harriet, looking utterly discouraged. "Harriet simply won't give up," +Ruth reported to Bab. "She is absolutely determined to go her own way, +and she is angry with me for interfering. Oh, Bab, what will happen? +Uncle is so proud! If his daughter is known to have given Mrs. Wilson and +Peter Dillon state papers, the report will be circulated that she stole +them, and Uncle William will be disgraced. Then, what will become of +Harriet? She does not intend to do wrong. But I simply can't make her +see this thing as we see it. So what can we do?" Unusually +self-contained, Ruth broke down, now, weeping on Bab's shoulder. The +thought of the dreadful disgrace to her uncle and her cousin was more +than she could face. + +"I am going to see Mrs. Wilson, Ruth," Bab declared. "You had better +stay here and do your best with Harriet. The papers are not to be +delivered until four this afternoon, when, I believe, Harriet is to meet +Peter Dillon. Of course it was he who telephoned Harriet, only he was +clever enough to disguise his voice. So we have until afternoon to work. +Don't worry yourself sick. We simply must save Harriet in some way. I +don't pretend that I see the way clearly yet, but I have faith that it +will come. I cannot do any harm by going to Mrs. Wilson, and I may do +some good." + +"I don't like you to go there alone, Bab," Ruth faltered. "But I don't +dare to leave Harriet by herself. She might find a way to give up the +papers while we were out, and then all would be lost!" + +When Bab rang the bell at the door of Mrs. Wilson's home she did not know +that her approach had been watched. She meant to be very careful during +her interview, for she realized that she and Ruth were endeavoring to +foil two brilliant and unscrupulous enemies. + +Mrs. Wilson and Peter were in the library, and through the window Mrs. +Wilson had watched Bab approaching the house. + +"Here comes that tiresome Thurston girl, whom you were going to use as +your tool, Peter," teased Mrs. Wilson. "She wasn't so easy to manage as +you thought, was she? Never mind; she will still be used as our +scapegoat. But I shall not see her this morning. What's the use?" + +"Let her come in, by all means, Mrs. Wilson," Peter Dillon urged. "I +shall hide so that she will not see me. What would fall in with our plans +better than to have this girl come here to-day! Who knows how this visit +may be made to count against her? Of course, if suspicion never points to +us we had best never mention the name of Barbara Thurston. But--if Mr. +Hamlin ever questions you, why not say Miss Thurston came here to-day and +betrayed the fact to you that she had stolen Mr. Hamlin's papers? We have +circumstantial evidence enough against her." + +Bab found Mrs. Wilson very much surprised to see her, and looking very +languid and bored. + +Straightforward Barbara rushed headlong into her request. + +"Really, Miss Thurston, don't you think you are rather impertinent?" +drawled her hostess, when Bab finished. "I don't see what business it is +of yours whether or not I wish to play a joke on my friend, Mr. Hamlin. +Don't try to get out of mischief by reporting to Mr. Hamlin the story of +my poor little joke. You can hardly save yourself by any such method. No +one will believe you. And I have an idea that you came to my house +to-day for a very different purpose than to persuade me to give up my +joke. What was it?" + +Bab was mystified. She had no idea how Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon had +planned to use her visit as evidence against her, so it was impossible +for her to understand Mrs. Wilson's insinuation. + +Barbara did not stay long. She saw Mrs. Wilson had no intention of being +persuaded from her design. Even though the woman was beginning to see +that Bab and Ruth were a little suspicious of her, she had no idea of +being frightened from her deep-laid scheme by two insignificant +schoolgirls. + +Barbara hurried to her car as fast as she could, anxious to get back to +Ruth and to devise some other move to checkmate the traitors. She even +hoped, against hope, that Harriet had been induced to change her mind and +that all would yet be well. But as Bab jumped aboard her car she saw +another girl, running down the street, waving something in the air and +evidently trying to induce Bab's street car to wait for her. Barbara +begged the conductor to hold the car for a moment, before she recognized +the figure, running toward them. But the next second she beheld the +ever-present newspaper girl, Marjorie Moore, tablet and pencil in hand, +completely out of breath and exhausted. Marjorie Moore could not speak +for some time after she had secured a seat next Bab in the car. + +"I have been watching Mrs. Wilson's house since eight o'clock this +morning," she finally gasped. "What on earth made you go in there?" + +"I can't tell you," Bab returned coldly. Not for anything in the world +would she have Marjorie Moore suspect what she and Ruth feared. + +Miss Moore gave a little, half amused, half sarcastic laugh. "You can't +tell? Oh, never mind, my dear. I know you are all right. You weren't +doing anything wrong. I expect you were trying to help set matters +straight. You don't need to tell me anything. I think I know all that is +necessary. Good-bye now. I must get off this car at the corner. Let me +tell you, however, not to worry, whatever happens. I am in possession of +all the facts, so there will be no trouble in proving them. But if +anything disagreeable happens to you," Marjorie Moore gave Bab a +reassuring smile, "telephone me, will you? My number is 1607, Union." + +Marjorie Moore rushed out of the street car as hurriedly as she had +entered it, before Bab could take in what she had said. + +Barbara puzzled all the rest of the way home. Could it be possible that +Marjorie Moore had discovered Mrs. Wilson's and Peter's plot? Could she +also have guessed Harriet's part in it? Bab shuddered, for she remembered +the newspaper girl's words to her on the night of their first meeting: +"If ever I have a chance to get even with Harriet Hamlin, won't I take my +revenge?" Did Marjorie Moore also suspect that an effort would be made to +draw Barbara into this whirlpool of disgrace? + +No one ate any luncheon at the home of the Assistant Secretary of State, +except Mollie and Grace. Fortunately Mr. Hamlin did not return home. Ruth +and Bab had decided not to tell the other two "Automobile Girls" of their +terrible uneasiness unless they actually needed the help of the younger +girls to save the situation. Ruth and Bab did not wish to prejudice +Mollie and Grace against Harriet if it were possible to spare her. But +Ruth had told Bab that, at four o'clock, Harriet was determined to +deliver the papers to Peter Dillon. + +At two o'clock, however, the two friends had found no way to influence +Harriet to give up her mad project. Indeed, Harriet scarcely spoke to +either of them, she was so bitterly angry at what she termed their +interference. + +At three o'clock, Ruth and Barbara grew desperate. For, at three, Harriet +Hamlin closed the door of her bedroom and commenced to dress for her +engagement. + +"Try once again, Ruth," Bab pleaded. "It is worse even than you know. I +believe Marjorie Moore suspects what Harriet is about to do. Suppose she +publishes the story in the morning papers. Tell Harriet I have a reason +for thinking she knows about the affair." + +Bab waited apprehensively for Ruth's return. It seemed to her that, for +the first time in their adventures, the "Automobile Girls" had met with +a situation that no amount of pluck or effort on their part could +control. This was the most important experience of their whole lives, +for their country was about to be betrayed! Once Barbara stamped her +foot in her impatience. How dared Harriet Hamlin be so willful, so +headstrong? Bab's face was white with anxiety and suspense. Her lips +twitched nervously. Then in a flash her whole expression changed. The +color came back to her cheeks, the light to her eyes. At the eleventh +hour the way had been made clear. + +Ruth had no such look when she returned to Barbara. She flung herself +despondently into a chair. "It's no use," she declared despairingly. +"Harriet must go her own way. We can do nothing with her!" + +"Yes, we can!" Bab whispered. She leaned over and murmured something in +Ruth's ear. + +Ruth sprang to her feet. "Barbara Thurston, you are perfectly wonderful!" +she cried. "Yes, I do know where it is. Go to my desk and take that blank +paper. It is just the right size. Fold it up in three parts. There, it +will do, now; give it to me. Now go and command Grace and Mollie, if they +love us, to call Harriet out of her room for a minute. We can explain to +them afterwards." + +Mollie and Grace feared Barbara had gone suddenly mad when she rushed in +upon them with her demand. But Mollie did manage to persuade Harriet to +go into the next room. As Harriet slipped out of her bedroom, her cousin, +Ruth Stuart, stole into it, hiding something she held in her hand. She +was alone in Harriet's room for not more than two minutes. + +At a quarter to four o'clock, Harriet Hamlin left her father's house +with a large envelope concealed inside her shopping bag. Opposition +had merely strengthened Harriet's original resolution. She was no +longer frightened. Ruth and Bab were absurd to have been so tragic over +a silly joke. + +At a little after four o'clock, in a quiet, out-of-the-way street in +Washington, Harriet turned over to Peter Dillon this envelope, which, as +she supposed, contained the much-coveted papers which she had extracted +from the private collection of the Assistant Secretary of State. + +Whatever the papers were, Peter Dillon took them carelessly with his +usual charming smile. But inwardly he was chanting a song of victory. He +and Mrs. Wilson would be many-thousands of dollars richer by this time +to-morrow. He glanced into the envelope with his near-sighted eyes. The +papers were folded up inside and all was well! Peter did not dare, before +Harriet, to be too interested in what the envelope contained. + +It would not have made him happier to have looked closer; the song of +victory would have died away on his lips. For, instead of certain secret +documents sent to the office of the Secretary of State, from +representatives of the United States Government in China, Harriet Hamlin +had turned over to Peter Dillon an official envelope, which contained +only folded sheets of blank paper! + +It had been Barbara's idea and Ruth had carried it out successfully. In +the moment when Harriet left her room in answer to Mollie's call, Ruth +had exchanged the valuable state papers for the worthless ones. Once +Harriet was safely out of the way, she and Bab carried the precious +documents downstairs and shut them up in Mr. Hamlin's desk. Both girls +hoped that all trouble was now averted, and that Mr. Hamlin would never +hear of Harriet's folly! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DISCOVERY + + +The members of the Hamlin household went early to their own rooms +that night. + +Ruth at once flung herself down on a couch without removing her clothing. +In a few minutes she was fast asleep, for she believed their difficulties +were over. Bab did not feel as secure. She was still thinking of the +speech the newspaper girl had made to her in the car. + +At ten o'clock the Assistant Secretary of State, who was sitting alone +in his study, heard a violent ringing of his telephone bell. He did +not know that, at this same instant, his daughter Harriet had crept +down to his study door intending to make a full confession of her +mistakes to him. + +Mr. Hamlin picked up the receiver. "'The Washington News?' Yes. You have +something important to say to me? Well, what is it?" Mr. Hamlin listened +quietly for a little while. Then Harriet heard him cry in a hoarse, +unnatural voice: "Impossible! The thing is preposterous! Where did you +ever get hold of such an absurd idea?" + +Harriet stopped to listen no longer. She never knew how she got back +upstairs to her room. She half staggered, half fell up the steps. +Suddenly she realized everything! She had been used as a tool by Mrs. +Wilson and Peter Dillon. Ruth and Barbara had been right. She had stolen +her father's state papers. A newspaper had gotten hold of the story and +already her father and she were disgraced. + +In the meantime, Mr. Hamlin continued to talk over the telephone, though +his hand shook so he was hardly able to hold the receiver. + +"You say you think it best to warn me that the story of the theft of my +papers will be published in the morning paper, that you know that private +state documents entrusted to me keeping have been sold to secret spies? +What evidence have you? I have missed no such papers. Wait a minute." Mr. +Hamlin went to his strong box. Sure enough, certain documents were +missing. Ruth and Bab had put the papers in the desk. "Have you an idea +who stole my papers?" Mr. Hamlin called back over the telephone wire, his +voice shaken with passion. + +Evidently the editor who was talking to Mr. Hamlin now lost his courage. +He did not dare to tell Mr. Hamlin that his own daughter was suspected of +having sold her father's papers. Mr. Hamlin repeated the editor's exact +words. "You say a young woman sold my papers? You are right; this is not +a matter to be discussed over the telephone. Send some one up from your +office to see me at once." + +Mr. Hamlin reeled over to his bell-rope and gave it a pull, so that the +noise of its ringing sounded like an alarm through the quiet house. + +A frightened servant answered the bell. + +"Tell Miss Thurston and my niece, Miss Stuart, to come to my study at +once," Mr. Hamlin ordered. The man-servant obeyed. + +"Ruth, dear, wake up," Bab entreated, giving her friend a shake. +"Something awful must have happened. Your uncle has sent for us. He must +have missed those papers." + +[Illustration: "What Have You Done With My Papers?"] + +Ruth and Bab, both of them looking unutterably miserable and shaken, +entered Mr. Hamlin's study. Their host did not speak as they first +approached him. When he did he turned on them such a haggard, wretched +face that they were filled with pity. But the instant Mr. Hamlin caught +sight of Barbara his expression changed. He took her by the arm, and, +before she could guess what was going to happen, he shook her violently. + +"What have you done with my state papers?" he demanded. "Tell me quickly. +Don't hesitate. There may yet be time to save us both. Oh, I should never +have let you stay in this house!" he groaned. "I suspected you of +mischief when I learned of your first visit to my office. But I did not +believe such treachery could be found in a young girl. Ruth, can't you +make your friend speak! If she will tell me to whom she sold my papers, I +will forgive her everything! But I must know where they are at once. I +can then force the newspaper to keep silence and force my enemies to +return me the documents, if there is only time!" + +Barbara dropped into a chair and covered her face with her hands. She did +not utter a word of reproach to Mr. Hamlin for his cruel suspicion of +her. She could not tell him that his daughter Harriet was the real thief. + +"Uncle," Ruth entreated, laying a quiet hand on Mr. Hamlin's arm, +"listen to me for a moment. Yes, you must listen! You are not disgraced; +you are not ruined. Look in your desk. Your papers are still there. Only +the old envelope is gone. I put the papers in this drawer only this +afternoon, because I did not know in what place you kept them. Some +papers were given away, a few hours ago, to two people, whom you believed +to be your friends, to Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon. But they were not +your state papers, they were only blank sheets." + +Mr. Hamlin looked into his drawer and saw the lost documents, then he +passed his hand over his forehead. "I don't understand," he muttered. "Do +you mean that, instead of the actual papers, you saved me by substituting +blank papers for these valuable ones? Then your friend did try to sell +her country's secrets, and you saved her and me. I shall never cease to +be grateful to you to the longest day I live. For your sake I will spare +your friend. But she must leave my house in the morning. I do not wish +ever to look upon her again." + +"Bab did not sell your papers, Uncle," Ruth protested passionately. "You +shall not make such accusations against her. It was she who saved you. I +did only what she told me to do. I did substitute the papers, but it was +Barbara who thought of it." + +"Then who, in Heaven's name, is guilty of this dreadful act?" Mr. +Hamlin cried. + +Neither Ruth nor Bab answered. Bab still sat with her face covered with +her hands, in order to hide her hot tears. She cried partly for poor +Harriet, and partly because of her sympathy for Mr. Hamlin. Ruth gazed at +her uncle, white, silent and trembling. + +"Who, Ruth? I demand to know!" Mr. Hamlin repeated. + +"I shall not tell you," Ruth returned, with a little gasp. + +"Send for my daughter, Harriet. She may know something," Mr. Hamlin +ejaculated. Then he rang for a servant. + +The two girls and the one man, who had grown old in the last few minutes, +waited in unbroken silence. The girls had a strong desire to scream, to +cry out, to warn Harriet. She must not let her father know of her foolish +deed while his anger was at its height. + +It seemed an eternity before the butler returned to Mr. Hamlin's study. + +"Miss Hamlin is not in her room," he reported respectfully. + +"Not in her room? Then look for her through the house," Mr. Hamlin +repeated more quietly. He had gained greater control of himself. But a +new fear was oppressing him, weighing him down. He would not give the +idea credence even in his own mind. + +Three--four--five minutes passed. Still Harriet did not appear. + +"Let me look for Harriet, Uncle," Ruth implored, unable to control +herself any longer. + +At this moment Mollie came innocently down the stairs. "Is Mr. Hamlin +looking for Harriet?" she inquired. "Harriet left the house ten minutes +ago. She had on her coat and her hat, but she would not stop to say +good-bye. I think her maid went with her. Mary had just a shawl thrown +over her head. I am sure they will be back in a few minutes. Harriet +must have gone out to post a letter. I thought she would have come back +before this." + +Imagine poor Mollie's horror and surprise when Mr. Hamlin dropped into +a chair at her news and groaned: "It was Harriet after all. It was _my +own child_!" + +"Uncle, rouse yourself!" Ruth implored him. "Harriet thought she was only +playing a harmless trick on you. She did not dream that the papers were +of any importance. Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon deceived her cruelly. You +must go and find out what has become of Harriet." Mr. Hamlin shook his +head drearily. + +"You must go!" insisted gentle Ruth, bursting into tears. "Harriet does +not even know that the papers she gave away were worthless. If she has +found out she has been duped she will be doubly desperate." + +At this instant the door bell rang loudly. No one in the study appeared +to hear it. Mollie had crept slowly back upstairs to Grace. Ruth, Mr. +Hamlin and Bab were too wretched to stir. + +A sound of hasty footsteps came down the hall, followed by a knock at +the study door. The door flew open of its own accord. Like a vision +straight from Heaven appeared the faces of Mr. Robert Stuart and his +sister, Miss Sallie! + +Ruth sprang into her father's arms with a cry of joy. And Bab, her eyes +still streaming with tears, was caught up in the comforting arms of +Miss Sallie. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS + + +"What does all this mean, William Hamlin?" Mr. Stuart inquired +without ceremony. + +With bowed head Mr. Hamlin told the whole story, not attempting to excuse +himself, for Mr. Hamlin was a just man, though a severe one. He declared +that he had been influenced to suspect Barbara ever since her arrival in +his home. His enemies had also made a dupe of him, but his punishment had +come upon him swiftly. He had just discovered that his own daughter had +tried to deliver into the hands of paid spies, state papers of the United +States Government. + +Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie looked extremely serious while Mr. Hamlin was +telling his story. But when Mr. Hamlin explained how Ruth and Bab had +exchanged the valuable political documents for folded sheets of blank +paper, Mr. Stuart burst into a loud laugh, and his expression changed as +though by a miracle. He patted his daughter's shoulder to express his +approval, while Miss Sallie kissed Bab with a sigh of relief. + +Mr. Stuart and his sister had both been extremely uneasy since the +arrival of Ruth's singular telegram, not knowing what troubled waters +might be surrounding their "Automobile Girls." Indeed Miss Sallie had +insisted on accompanying her brother to Washington, as she felt sure her +presence would help to set things right. + +Mr. Stuart's laugh cleared the sorrowful atmosphere of the study as +though by magic. Ruth and Barbara smiled through their tears. They were +now so sure that all would soon be well! + +"It seems to me, William, that all this is 'much ado about nothing,'" Mr. +Stuart declared. "Of course, I can see that the situation would have been +pretty serious if poor Harriet had been deceived into giving up the real +documents. But Bab and Ruth have saved the day! There is no harm done +now. You even know the names of the spies. There is only one thing for us +to consider at present, and that is--where is Harriet?" + +"Yes, Father," Ruth pleaded. "Do find Harriet." + +"The child was foolish, and she did wrong, of course," Mr. Stuart went +on. "But, as Ruth tells me Harriet did not know the real papers were +exchanged for false ones, she probably thinks she has disgraced you +and she is too frightened to come home. You must take steps to find +her at once, and to let her know you forgive her. It is a pity to lose +any time." + +Mr. Hamlin was silent. "I cannot forgive Harriet," he replied. "But, of +course, she must be brought home at once." + +"Nonsense!" Mr. Stuart continued. "Summon your servants and have some one +telephone to Harriet's friends. She has probably gone to one of them. +Tell the child that Sallie and I are here and wish to see her. But where +are my other 'Automobile Girls,' Mollie and Grace?" + +"Upstairs, Father," Ruth answered happily. "Come and see them. I want to +telephone for Harriet. I think she will come home for me." + +"Show your aunt and father to their rooms, Ruth," Mr. Hamlin begged. +"I must wait here until a messenger arrives from the newspaper, which +in some way has learned the story of our misfortune. And even they do +not know that the stolen papers were valueless. I must explain +matters to them." + +"A man of your influence can keep any mention of this affair out of the +newspapers," Mr. Stuart argued heartily. "So the storm will have blown +over by to-morrow. And I believe you will be able to punish the two +schemers who have tried to betray your daughter and disgrace my Barbara, +without having Harriet's name brought into this affair." + +For the first time, Mr. Hamlin lifted his head and nodded briefly. "Yes, +I can attend to them," he declared in the quiet fashion that showed him +to be a man of power. "It is best, for the sake of the country, that the +scandal be nipped in the bud. I alone know what was in these state papers +that Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon were hired to steal. So I alone know to +whom they would be valuable. There would be an international difficulty +if I should expose the real promoter of the theft. Peter Dillon shall be +dismissed from his Embassy. Mrs. Wilson will find it wiser to leave +Washington, and never to return here again. I will spare the woman as +much as I can for the sake of her son, Elmer, who is a fine fellow. Ruth, +dear, do telephone to Harriet's friends. Your father is right. We must +find my daughter at once." + +Miss Sallie, Mr. Stuart and Ruth started to leave the room. Bab rose to +follow them. + +"Miss Thurston, don't go for a minute," Mr. Hamlin said. "I wish to beg +your pardon. Will you forgive a most unhappy man? Of course I see, now, +that I had no right to suspect you without giving you a chance to defend +yourself. I can only say that I was deceived, as well as Harriet. The +whole plot is plain to me now. Harriet was to be terrified into not +betraying her own part in the theft, so she would never dare reveal the +names of Mrs. Wilson or Peter Dillon. I, with my mind poisoned against +you, would have sought blindly to fasten the crime on you. I regard my +office as Assistant Secretary of State as a sacred trust. If the papers +entrusted to my keeping had been delivered into the hands of the enemies +of my country, through my own daughter's folly, I should never have +lifted my head again, I cannot say--I have no words to express--what I +owe to you and Ruth. But how do you think a newspaper man could have +unearthed this plot? It seems incredible, when you consider how +stealthily Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson have worked. A man--" + +"I don't think a man did unearth it," Bab replied. Just then the bell +rang again. + +The next moment the door opened, and the butler announced: "Miss Marjorie +Moore!" The newspaper girl gave Bab a friendly smile; then she turned +coldly to Mr. William Hamlin. + +"Miss Moore!" Mr. Hamlin exclaimed in surprise and in anger. "I wish to +see a man from your newspaper. What I have to say cannot possibly +concern you." + +"I think it does, Mr. Hamlin," Miss Moore repeated calmly. "One of the +editors from my paper has come here with me. He is waiting in the hall. +But it was I who discovered the theft of your state documents. I have +been expecting mischief for some time. I am sorry for you, of +course--very sorry, but I have all the facts of the case, and as no one +else knows of it, it will be a great scoop for me in the morning." + +"Your newspaper will not publish the story at all, Miss Moore," Mr. +Hamlin rejoined, when he had recovered from his astonishment at Miss +Moore's appearance. "The stolen papers were not of the least value. Will +you explain to Miss Moore exactly what occurred, Miss Thurston?" Mr. +Hamlin concluded. + +When Bab told the story of how she and Ruth had made their lightning +substitution of the papers, Marjorie Moore gave a gasp of surprise. + +"Good for you, Miss Thurston!" she returned. "I knew you were clever, as +well as the right sort, the first time I saw you. So I had gotten hold of +the whole story of the theft except, the most important point--the +exchange of the papers. It spoils my story as sensational political news. +But," Miss Moore laughed, "it makes a perfectly great personal story, +because it has such a funny side to it: 'Foiled by the "Automobile +Girls"!' 'The Assistant Secretary of State's Daughter!'" Miss Moore +stopped, ashamed of her cruelty when she saw Mr. Hamlin's face. But he +did not speak. + +It was Bab who exclaimed: "Oh, Miss Moore, you are not going to betray +Harriet, are you? Poor Harriet thought it was all a joke. She did not +know the papers were valuable. It would be too cruel to spread this story +abroad. It might ruin Harriet's reputation." + +Marjorie Moore made no answer. + +"You heard Miss Thurston," Mr. Hamlin interposed. "Surely you will grant +our request." + +"Mr. Hamlin," Marjorie Moore protested, "I am dreadfully sorry for you. +I told you so, but I am going to have this story published in the +morning. It is too good to keep and I have worked dreadfully hard on it. +Indeed, I almost lost my life because of it. I knew it was Peter Dillon +who struck me down on the White House lawn the night of the reception. +But I said nothing because I knew that, if I made trouble, I would have +been put off the scent of the story somehow. I tried to see Miss +Thurston alone, that evening, to warn her that Mrs. Wilson and Peter +Dillon were going to try to fasten their crime on her. I am obliged to +be frank with you, Mr. Hamlin. I will stick to the facts as you have +told them to me, but a full account of the attempted theft will be +published in the morning's 'News.'" + +"Call the man who is with you, Miss Moore; I prefer to talk with him," +Mr. Hamlin commanded. "You do not seem to realize the gravity of what you +intend to do. It will be a mistake for your newspaper to make an enemy of +a man in my official position." + +Mr. Hamlin talked for some time to one of the editors of the Washington +"News." He entreated, threatened and finally made an appeal to him to +save his daughter and himself by not making the story public. + +"I am afraid we shall have to let the story go, Miss Moore," the editor +remarked regretfully. "It was a fine piece of news, but we don't wish to +make things too hard for Mr. Hamlin." The man turned to go. + +"Mr. Hughes," Marjorie Moore announced, speaking to her editor, "if you +do not intend to use this story, which I have worked on so long, in your +paper, I warn you, right now, that I shall simply sell it to some other +newspaper and take the consequences. All the papers will not be so +careful of Mr. Hamlin's feelings." + +"Oh, Miss Moore, you would not be so cruel!" Bab cried. + +Marjorie Moore turned suddenly on Barbara; "Why shouldn't I?" she +returned. "Both Harriet Hamlin and Peter Dillon have been hateful and +insolent to me ever since I have been making my living in Washington. I +told you I meant to get even with them some day. Well, this is my chance, +and I intend to take it. Good-bye; there is no reason for me to stay here +any longer." + +"Mr. Hamlin, if Miss Moore insists on selling her story on the outside, I +cannot see how we would benefit you by failing to print the story," the +editor added. + +"Very well," Mr. Hamlin returned coldly. But he sank back into his chair +and covered his face with his hands. Harriet's reputation was ruined, +for no one would believe she had not tried deliberately to sell her +father's honor. + +But Bab resolved to appeal once more to the newspaper girl. She ran to +Marjorie Moore and put her arm about the newspaper girl's waist to detain +her. She talked to her in her most winning fashion, with her brown eyes +glowing with feeling and her lips trembling with eagerness. + +The tears came to Marjorie Moore's eyes as she listened to Bab's pleading +for Harriet. But she still obstinately shook her head. + +Some one came running down the stairs and Ruth entered the study without +heeding the strangers in it. + +"Uncle!" she exclaimed in a terrified voice, "Harriet cannot be found! We +have telephoned everywhere for her. No one has seen her or knows anything +about her. What shall we do? It is midnight!" + +Mr. Hamlin followed Ruth quickly out of the room, forgetting every other +consideration in his fear for his daughter. He looked broken and old. Was +Harriet in some worse peril? + +As Marjorie Moore saw Mr. Hamlin go, she turned swiftly to Barbara and +kissed her. "It's all right, dear," she said. "You were right. Revenge is +too little and too mean. Mr. Hughes has said he will not publish the +story, and I shall not sell it anywhere else. Indeed, I promise that what +I know shall never be spoken of outside this room. Good night." Before +Barbara could thank her she was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SUSPENSE AND THE REWARD + + +All night long diligent search was made for Harriet Hamlin, but no word +was heard of her. The "Automobile Girls" telephoned her dearest friends. +Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Stuart tramped from one hotel to the other. None of +the Hamlin household closed their eyes that night. + +"It has been my fault, Robert," Mr. Hamlin admitted, as he and his +brother-in-law returned home in the gray dawn of the morning, hoping +vainly to hear that Harriet had returned. "My child has gotten into debt +and she has been afraid to confess her mistake to me. Her little friend, +Mollie, told me the story. Mollie believes that Mrs. Wilson and Peter +Dillon tempted Harriet by offering to lend her money. And so she agreed +to aid them in what she thought was their 'joke.' I have seen, lately, +that Harriet has been so worried she hardly knew what she was doing. Yet, +when my poor child tried to confess her fault to me, I would not let her +go on. My harshness and lack of sympathy have driven her to--I know not +what. Oh, Robert, what shall I do? She is the one joy of my life!" + +Mr. Stuart did not try to deny Mr. Hamlin's judgment of himself. He knew +Mr. Hamlin had been too severe with his daughter. If only Harriet could +be found she and her father would be closer friends after this +experience. Mr. Stuart realized fully what danger Harriet was in with +her unusual beauty, with no mother and with a father who did not +understand her. + +"Harriet has done very wrong," Mr. Hamlin added slowly. It was hard, +indeed, for a man of his nature to forgive. "But I shall not reproach her +when she comes back to me," he said quickly. The fear that Harriet might +never return to him at all struck a sudden chill to his soul. + +"The child has done wrong, William, I admit it," returned good-natured +Mr. Stuart. "She has been headstrong and foolish. But we have done worse +things in our day, remember." + +"I will remember," Mr. Hamlin answered drearily, as he shut himself up +in his room. + +Mr. Hamlin would not come down to breakfast. There was still no news of +Harriet. While dear, comfortable Aunt Sallie and the "Automobile Girls" +were seated around the table, making a pretense of eating, there came a +ring at the front door bell. + +Ruth jumped up and ran out into the hall. Then followed several moments +of awful suspense. Ruth came back slowly, not with Harriet, but with a +note in her hand. She opened it with shaking fingers, for she recognized +Harriet's handwriting in the address. + +The note read: "Dearest Ruth, I shall never come home again. I have +disgraced my father and myself. I would not listen to you and Bab, and +now I know the worst. Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon were villains and I +was only a foolish dupe. I spent the night in a boarding house with an +old friend of my mother's." Ruth stopped reading. Her voice sank so low +it was almost impossible to hear her. She had not noticed that her uncle +was standing just outside the door, listening, with white lips. + +"I don't know what else to do," Harriet's note continued, when Ruth had +strength to go on. "So early this morning I telegraphed to Charlie +Meyers. When you receive this note, I shall be married to him. Ask my +father to forgive me, for I shall never see him again. Your heart-broken +cousin, Harriet." + +"Absurd child!" Miss Sallie ejaculated, trying to hide her tears. But Mr. +Stuart stepped to Mr. Hamlin's side as he entered the room, looking +conscience-stricken and miserable. + +Poor Harriet was paying for her folly with a life-time of wretchedness. +She was to marry a man she did not love; and her friends were powerless +to save her. + +Mollie slipped quietly away from the table. No one tried to stop her. +Every one thought Mollie was overcome, because she had been especially +devoted to Harriet. + +"Won't you try to find Mr. Meyers, Uncle?" Ruth pleaded. "It may not be +too late to prevent Harriet's marriage. Oh, do try to find her. She does +not care for Charlie Meyers in the least. She is only marrying him +because she is so wretched she does not know what to do." + +Mr. Stuart was already getting into his coat and hat. Mr. Hamlin was not +far behind him. The two men were just going out the front door, when a +cry from Mollie interrupted them. The three girls rushed into the hall, +not knowing what Mollie's cry meant. But when they saw the little golden +haired girl, who sympathized the most deeply with Harriet in her trouble, +because of her own recent acquaintance with debt, the "Automobile Girls" +knew at once that all was well! + +"Oh, Mr. Hamlin! Oh, Mr. Stuart! Do wait until I get my breath," Mollie +begged. "Dear, darling Harriet is all right. She will come home if her +father will come for her. I telephoned to Mr. Meyers and he declares +Harriet is safe with his aunt. He says, of course, he is not such a cad +as to marry Harriet when she is so miserable and frightened. He went to +the boarding house for her, then took her to his aunt's home. Mr. Meyers +was on his way here to see Mr. Hamlin." + +Two hours later, Harriet was at home again and in bed, suffering from +nervous shock. But her father's forgiveness, his sympathy, his +reassuring words, and above all, the thought that by the ruse of Bab, she +had been mercifully saved from the deep disgrace that had shadowed her +life, soon restored her to her normal spirits. There was a speedy +investigation by the State Department--the result of which was that Mrs. +Wilson disappeared from Washington society. Her son Elmer reported that +his mother had grown tired of Washington and was living in New England. +As for Peter Dillon, his connection with the Russian Embassy was severed +at once. No one knew where he went. + + * * * * * + +"The President would like to see the 'Automobile Girls' at the White +House to-day at half past twelve o'clock," Mr. William Hamlin announced a +few mornings later, looking up from his paper to smile first at his +daughter and then at the group of happy faces about his breakfast table, +which included Miss Sallie Stuart and Mr. Robert Stuart. + +Harriet was looking very pale. She had been ill for two days after her +unhappy experience. + +"What on earth do you mean, Mr. Hamlin?" inquired Grace Carter anxiously, +turning to their host. + +The other girls smiled, thinking Mr. Hamlin was joking, he had been in +such different spirits since Harriet's return home. + +"I mean what I say," Mr. Hamlin returned gravely. "The President wishes +to see the 'Automobile Girls' in order to thank them for their service to +their country." Mr. Hamlin allowed an earnest note to creep into his +voice. "The story has not been made public. But I myself told the +President of my narrow escape from disgrace, and he desires personally to +thank the young girls who saved us. I told him that he might rely on your +respecting his invitation." + +"Oh, but we can't go, Mr. Hamlin," Mollie expostulated. "Grace and I had +nothing to do with saving the papers. It was only Ruth and Bab!" + +"It is most unusual to decline an invitation from the President, Mollie," +Mr. Hamlin continued. "Only a death in the family is regarded as a +reasonable excuse. Now the President most distinctly stated that he +desired a visit from the 'Automobile Girls'!" + +"United we stand, divided we fall!" Ruth announced. "Bab and I will not +stir a single step without Grace and Mollie." + +"There is one other person who ought to be included in this visit to the +President," Harriet added, shyly. + +"Whom do you mean, my child?" Mr. Hamlin queried. + +Harriet hung her proud little head. "I mean Marjorie Moore, Father. I +think she did as much as any one by keeping the story out of the papers +when it would have meant so much for her to have published it." + +"Good for Harriet!" Ruth murmured under her breath. + +"I did not neglect to tell the President of Miss Moore's part in the +affair, Daughter," Mr. Hamlin rejoined. "But I am glad you spoke of it. I +shall certainly see that she is included in the invitation." + +Promptly at twelve o'clock the "Automobile Girls" set out for the White +House in the care of their old and faithful friend, Mr. A. Bubble. On +the way there they picked up Marjorie Moore, who had now become their +staunch friend. + +The girls were greatly excited over their second visit to the White +House. It was, of course, very unlike their first, since to-day they were +to be the special guests of the President. On the evening of the +Presidential reception they had been merely included among several +hundred callers. + +Ruth sent in Mr. Hamlin's card with theirs, in order to explain whose +visitors they were. The five girls were immediately shown into a small +room, which the President used for seeing his friends when he desired a +greater privacy than was possible in the large state reception rooms. + +The girls sat waiting the appearance of the President, each one a little +more nervous than the other. + +"What shall we say, Bab?" Mollie whispered to her sister. + +"Goodness knows, child!" Bab just had time to answer, when a servant +bowed ceremoniously. A man entered the room quickly and walked from one +girl to the other, shaking hands with each one in turn. + +"I am very glad to meet you," he declared affably. "Mr. Hamlin tells me +you were able to do him a service, and through him to your country, which +it is also my privilege to serve. I thank you." The President bowed +ceremoniously. "It was a pretty trick you played on our enemies. Strategy +is sometimes better than war, and a woman's wits than a man's fists." +Then the President turned cordially to Marjorie Moore. + +"Miss Moore, it gives me pleasure to say a word of appreciation to you. +Your act in withholding this information from the public rather than to +sell it and make a personal gain by it, was a thoroughly patriotic act, +and I wish you to know that I value your service." + +"Thank you, Mr. President," replied Miss Moore, blushing deeply. + +The President's wife now entered the sitting-room with several other +guests and members of her family. When luncheon was announced, the +President of the United States offered his arm to Barbara Thurston. + +The "Automobile Girls" are not likely to forget their luncheon with the +President, his family and a few intimate friends. The girls were +frightened at first; but, being simple and natural, they soon ceased to +think of themselves. They were too much interested in what they saw and +heard around them. + +The President talked to Ruth, who sat on his left, about automobiles. He +was interested to hear of the travels of Mr. A. Bubble, and seemed to +know a great deal about motor cars. But, after a while, as the girls +heard him converse with three distinguished men who sat at his table, one +an engineer, the other a judge, and the third an artist, the "Automobile +Girls" decided wisely that the President knew almost everything that was +worth knowing. + + * * * * * + +"Children," said Mr. Stuart that night, when the girls could tell no +more of their day's experience, "it seems to me that it is about time +for you to be going home." Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie were in the Hamlin +drawing-room with the "Automobile Girls." Mr. Hamlin and Harriet had +gone for a short walk. It was now their custom to walk together each +evening after dinner, since it gave them a little opportunity for a +confidential talk. + +"You girls have had to-day the very happiest opportunity that falls to +the lot of any visitor in Washington," Mr. Stuart continued. "You have +had a private interview with the President and have been entertained by +him at the Executive Mansion. I have no doubt you have also seen all the +sights of Washington in the last few weeks. So homeward-bound must be our +next forward move!" + +"Oh, Father," cried Ruth regretfully, her face clouding as she looked +at her beloved automobile friends. How long before she should see +them again? + +The same thought clouded the bright faces of Mollie, Grace and Bab. + +"We have hardly seen you at all, Miss Sallie," Grace lamented, taking +Miss Sarah Stuart's plump, white hand in her own. "We have been the +centre of so much excitement ever since you arrived in Washington." + +"Must we go, Father?" Ruth entreated. + +"I am afraid we must, Daughter," Mr. Stuart answered, with a half +anxious and half cheerful twinkle in his eye. + +"Then it's Chicago for me!" sighed Ruth. + +"And Kingsbridge for the rest of us!" echoed the other three girls. + +"Ruth cannot very well travel home alone," Mr. Stuart remonstrated, +looking first at Barbara, then at Mollie and Grace, and winking solemnly +at Miss Sallie. + +"Don't tease the child, Robert," Miss Sallie remonstrated. + +"Aren't you and Aunt Sallie going home with me, Father?" Ruth queried, +too much surprised for further questioning. + +"No, Ruth," Mr. Stuart declared. "You seem to have concluded to return to +Chicago. But your Aunt Sallie and I are on our way to Kingsbridge, New +Jersey, to pay a visit to Mrs. Mollie Thurston at Laurel Cottage. Mrs. +Thurston wrote inviting us to visit her before we returned to the West. +But, of course, if you do not wish to go with us, Daughter--." + +Mr. Stuart had no chance to speak again. For the four girls surrounded +him, plying him with questions, with exclamations. They were all laughing +and talking at once. + +"It's too good to be true, Father!" cried Ruth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HOME AT LAUREL COTTAGE + + +Mrs. Thurston stood on the front porch of her little cottage, looking out +in the gathering dusk. Back of her the lights twinkled gayly. A big wood +fire crackled in the sitting-room and shone through the soft muslin +curtains. A small maid was busily setting the table for supper in the +dinning room, and there was a delicious smell of freshly baked rolls +coming through the kitchen door. On the table stood a great dish of +golden honey and a pitcher of rich milk. Mrs. Thurston had not forgotten, +in two years, the favorite supper of her friend, Robert Stuart. + +It was a cold night, but she could not wait indoors. She had gathered up +a warm woolen shawl of a delicate lavender shade, and wrapped it about +her head and shoulders, looking not unlike the gracious spirit of an +Autumn twilight as she lingered to welcome the travelers home. She was +thinking of all that had happened since the day that Bab had stopped +Ruth's runaway horses. She was recalling how much Mr. Stuart had done for +her little girls in the past two years. "He could not have been kinder +to Mollie and Barbara, if they had been his own daughters," thought +pretty Mrs. Thurston, with a blush. + +But did she not hear the ever-welcome sound of a friendly voice? Was not +Mr. Bubble calling to her out of the darkness? Surely enough his two +great shining eyes now appeared at the well-known turn in the road. A few +moments later Mrs. Thurston was being tempestuously embraced by the +"Automobile Girls." + +"Do let me speak to Miss Stuart, children," Mrs. Thurston entreated, +trying to extricate herself from four pairs of girlish arms. + +"Come in, Miss Stuart," she laughed. "I hope you are not tired from your +journey. I cannot tell you what pleasure it gives me to see you and Mr. +Stuart once more." + +Mr. Stuart gave Mrs. Thurston's hand a little longer pressure than +was absolutely necessary. Mrs. Thurston blushed and finally drew her +hand away. + +"Look after Mr. Stuart, dear," she said to Bab. "He is to have the guest +chamber upstairs. I want to show Miss Stuart to her room. I am sorry, +Ruth, our little home is too small to give you a room to yourself. You +will have to be happy with Mollie and Bab. Grace you are to stay to +supper with us. Your father will come for you after supper. I had to beg +awfully hard, but he finally consented to let you remain with us. Our +little reunion would not be complete without you." + +Mrs. Thurston took Miss Sallie into a charming room which she had lately +renovated for her guest. It was papered in Miss Stuart's favorite +lavender paper, had lavender curtains at the windows, and a bright wood +fire in the grate. + +"I hope you will be comfortable, Miss Stuart," said little Mrs. Thurston, +who stood slightly in awe of stately and elegant Miss Sallie. + +For answer Miss Sallie smiled and looked searchingly at Mrs. Thurston. + +"Is there any question you wish to ask me?" Mrs. Thurston inquired, +flushing slightly at Miss Stuart's peculiar expression. + +"Oh, no," smiled Miss Sallie. "Oh, no, I have no question to ask you!" + +It was seven o 'clock when the party sat down to supper, and after nine +when they finally rose. They stopped then only because Squire Carter +arrived and demanded his daughter, Grace, whom he had to carry off, as he +and her mother could bear to be parted from their child no longer. + +Miss Sallie asked to be excused, soon after supper, as she was tired +from her trip. "I think the 'Automobile Girls' had better go to bed, +too," she suggested. Then Miss Sallie flushed. For she was so accustomed +to telling her girls what they ought to do that she forgot it was no +longer her privilege to advise Bab and Mollie when they were in their +mother's house. + +Bab insisted on running out to their little stable to see if her beloved +horse, "Beauty," were safe and sound. And, of course, Ruth and Mollie +went with her. But not long afterwards, the three girls retired to their +room to talk until they fell asleep, too worn out for further +conversation. + +"I am not tired, Mrs. Thurston, are you?" Mr. Stuart asked. "If you don't +mind, won't you sit and talk to me for a little while before this cozy +open fire? We never have a chance to say much to each other before our +talkative daughters. How charming the little cottage looks to-night! It +is like a second home." + +Mrs. Thurston smiled happily. "It makes me very happy to have you and +Ruth feel so. I hope you will always feel at home here. I wish I could +do something in return for all the kindness you have shown to my two +little girls." + +Mr. Stuart did not reply at once. He seemed to be thinking so deeply that +Mrs. Thurston did not like to go on talking. + +"Mrs. Thurston," Mr. Stuart spoke slowly, "why would you not come to my +house in Chicago to make us a visit when I asked you, nearly a year ago?" + +Mrs. Thurston hesitated. "I told you my reasons then, Mr. Stuart. It was +quite impossible. But it has been so long I have almost forgotten why I +had to refuse." + +"It was after our trip in the private car with our friends, the fall +before, you remember, Mrs. Thurston. But I know why you would not come to +my home," Mr. Stuart answered, smiling. "You were willing to accept my +hospitality for your daughters, but you would not accept it for yourself. +Am I not right?" + +"Yes," Mrs. Thurston faltered. "I thought it would not be best." + +"I am sorry," Mr. Stuart said sadly. "Because I want to do a great deal +more than ask you to come to visit me in Chicago. I wish you to come to +live there as my wife." + +Mrs. Thurston's reply was so low it could hardly be heard. But Mr. Stuart +evidently understood it and found it satisfactory. + +A few moments later Mrs. Thurston murmured, "I don't believe that Ruth +and your sister Sallie will be pleased." + +"Ruth will be the happiest girl in the world!" Mr. Stuart retorted. "Poor +child, she has longed for sisters all her life. Now she is going to have +the two she loves best in the world. As for Sallie--." Here Mr. Stuart +hesitated. He thought Miss Sallie did not dream of his affection for the +little widow, and he was not at all sure how she would receive the news. +"As for Sallie," he continued stoutly, "I am sure Sallie wishes my +happiness more than anything else and she will be glad when she hears +that I can find it only through you." + +Mrs. Thurston shook her head. "I can only consent to our marriage," she +returned, "if my girls and yours are really happy in our choice and if +your sister is willing to give us her blessing." + + * * * * * + +"Oh, Aunt Sallie, dear, please are you awake?" Ruth cried at half-past +seven the next morning, tapping gently on Miss Stuart's door. + +Ruth had been awakened by her father at a little after six that morning +and carried off to his bedroom in her dressing-gown, to sit curled up on +her father's bed, while he made his confession to her. + +Ruth had listened silently at first with her head turned away. Once her +father thought she was crying. But when she turned toward him her eyes +were shining with happy tears. Ruth never thought of being jealous, or +that her adored father would love her any less. She only thought, first, +of his happiness and next of her own. + +Mr. Stuart would not let Ruth go until, with her arms about his neck and +her cheek pressed to his, she begged him to let her be the messenger to +Barbara, Mollie and Aunt Sallie. + +"You will be careful when you break the news to your aunt," Mr. Stuart +entreated. "I should have given her some warning in regard to my feelings +for Mrs. Thurston. I fear the news will be an entire surprise to her." + +Ruth wondered what she should say first. + +"Come in, dear," Miss Sallie answered placidly in reply to Ruth's knock. +Miss Stuart was sitting up in bed with a pale lavender silk dressing +sacque over her lace and muslin gown. + +"I suppose," Miss Sallie continued calmly, "that you have come to tell me +that your father is going to marry Mrs. Thurston." + +"Aunt Sallie," gasped Ruth, "are you a wizard?" + +"No," said Miss Stuart, "I am a woman. Why, child, I have seen this thing +coming ever since we first left Robert Stuart here in Kingsbridge when I +took you girls off to Newport. Are you pleased, child?" Miss Sallie +inquired, a little wistfully. + +"Gladder than anything, if you are, Aunt Sallie," Ruth replied. "But +Father told me to come to ask you how you felt. He says Mrs. Thurston +won't marry him unless we all consent." + +"Nonsense!" returned Miss Stuart in her accustomed fashion. "Of course I +am glad to have Robert happy. Mrs. Thurston is a dear little woman. +Only," dignified Miss Sallie choked with a tiny sob in her voice, "I +can't give you up, Ruth, dear." And Miss Stuart and her beloved niece +shed a few comfortable tears in each other's arms. + +"I never, never will care for any one as I do for you, Aunt Sallie," Ruth +protested. "And aren't you Chaperon Extraordinary and Ministering Angel +Plentipotentiary to the 'Automobile Girls'? The other girls care for you +almost as much as I do. I wonder if Mrs. Thurston has told Bab and +Mollie. Do you think they will be glad to have me for a sister?" + +"Fix my hair, Ruth, and don't be absurd," Miss Sallie rejoined, returning +to her former severe manner, which no longer alarmed any one of the +"Automobile Girls." "It is wonderful to me how I have learned to do +without a maid while I have been traveling about the world with you +children." + +The winter sunshine poured into the breakfast room of Laurel Cottage. +The canary sang rapturously in his golden cage. He rejoiced at the sound +of voices and the cheerful sounds in the house. + +Bab and Mollie were helping to set the breakfast table, when Ruth joined +them. Neither girl said anything except to ask Ruth why she had slipped +out of their room so early. + +Ruth's heart sank. After all, then, Barbara and Mollie were not +pleased. They did not care for her enough to be happy in this closer +bond between them. + +Mrs. Thurston kissed Ruth shyly, but she made no mention of anything +unusual. And when Mr. Stuart came in to breakfast he looked as +embarrassed and uncomfortable as a boy. There was a constraint over the +little party at breakfast that had not been there the night before. + +Unexpectedly the door opened. Into the room came Grace Carter with a big +bunch of white roses in her hand. "I just had to come early," she +declared simply. "I wanted to find out." Grace thrust the flowers upon +Mrs. Thurston. + +"Come here to me, Grace," Miss Sallie commanded. "You are a girl after my +own heart. Robert, Mrs. Thurston, I congratulate you and I wish you joy +with my whole heart." + +Barbara and Mollie gazed at each other in stupefied silence. What did +it all mean? + +Mrs. Thurston blushed like a girl over her roses. "Miss Stuart, I +never dreamed you could have heard so soon. I have not yet told +Barbara and Mollie." + +"Told us what?" Bab demanded in her emphatic fashion. Then Ruth's heart +was light again. + +But Bab did not wait to be answered. She suddenly guessed the truth. Now +she knew why Ruth's manner had changed so quickly a short time before. +She ran round the table, upsetting her chair in her rush. And before she +said a word either to her mother or to Mr. Stuart, she flung her arms +about Ruth and whispered: "Our wish has come true, Ruth, darling! We are +sisters as well as best friends." + +Then Bab congratulated her mother and Mr. Stuart in a much more +dignified fashion. + +"When is it to be, Father?" Ruth queried. + +Mr. Stuart looked at Mrs. Thurston. "In the spring," she faltered. + +"Then we will all go away together and have a happy summer, somewhere," +Mr. Stuart asserted, smiling on the faces of his dear ones. + +"We shall do no such thing, Robert Stuart," Miss Sallie interposed +firmly. "You shall have your honeymoon alone. I intend to take my +'Automobile Girls' some place where we have never been before. Will you +go with me, children?" + +"Yes," chorused the four girls. "Aunt Sallie and the 'Automobile +Girls' forever." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON*** + + +******* This file should be named 12559-8.txt or 12559-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/5/5/12559 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/12559-8.zip b/old/12559-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5a73cd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12559-8.zip diff --git a/old/12559.txt b/old/12559.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf6aeb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12559.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6307 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Automobile Girls At Washington, by Laura +Dent Crane + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Automobile Girls At Washington + +Author: Laura Dent Crane + +Release Date: June 8, 2004 [eBook #12559] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT +WASHINGTON*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Project Gutenberg Beginners Projects, +Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON + +or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies + +By + +LAURA DENT CRANE + +Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls in the +Berkshires, The Automobile Girls Along the Hudson, The Automobile Girls +at Chicago, The Automobile Girls at Palm Beach, etc. + +1913 + + + + + + +[Illustration: A Fat Chinese Gentleman Stood Regarding Her. +(Frontispiece)] + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + + I. A Chance Meeting + II. Cabinet Day in Washington + III. Mr. Tu Fang Wu + IV. At the Chinese Embassy + V. Sub Rosa + VI. The Arrest + VII. Mollie's Temptation + VIII. At the White House + IX. Bab's Discovery + X. The Confession + XI. In Mr. Hamlin's Study + XII. Barbara's Secret Errand + XIII. A Foolish Girl + XIV. "Grant No Favors!" + XV. Bab Refuses to Grant a Favor + XVI. Barbara's Unexpected Good Luck + XVII. The White Veil + XVIII. A Tangled Web or Circumstance + XIX. Harriet in Danger + XX. Foiled! + XXI. The Discovery + XXII. Oil on the Troubled Waters + XXIII. Suspense and the Reward + XXIV. Home at Laurel Cottage + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A CHANCE MEETING + + +Barbara Thurston stood at the window of a large old-fashioned house, +looking out into Connecticut Avenue. It was almost dark. An occasional +light twinkled outside in the street, but the room in which Barbara was +stationed was still shrouded in twilight. + +Suddenly she heard a curtain at the farther end of the drawing-room +rustle faintly. + +Bab turned and saw a young man standing between the curtains, peering +into the shadows with a pair of near-sighted eyes. + +Barbara started. The stranger had entered the room through a small study +that adjoined it. He seemed totally unaware of any other presence, for he +was whistling softly: "Kathleen Mavourneen." + +"I beg your pardon," Bab began impulsively, "but are you looking for +some one?" + +The newcomer flashed a charming smile at Barbara. He did not seem in the +least surprised at her appearance. + +"No," he declared cheerfully, "I was not looking for any one or anything. +The butler told me Mr. Hamlin and Harriet were both out. But, I say, +don't you think I am fortunate to have found you quite by accident! I +came in here to loaf a few minutes." + +Barbara frowned slightly. The young man's manner was surprisingly +familiar, and she had never seen him before in her life. + +"I hope I am not disturbing you," he went on gayly. "I am an attache of +the Russian legation, and a friend of Miss Hamlin's. I came with a +message for Mr. Hamlin. I was wondering if it were worth while to wait +for him. But I can go away if I am troublesome." + +"Oh, no, you are not disturbing me in the least," Barbara returned. "I +expect Miss Hamlin and my friends soon. We arrived in Washington last +night, and the other girls have gone out to a reception. I had a headache +and stayed at home. Won't you be seated while I ring for the butler to +turn on the lights?" + +The newcomer sat down, gravely watching Barbara. + +"Would you like me to guess who you are?" he asked, after half a +minute's silence. + +Bab laughed. "I am sure you will give me the first chance to tell you +your name. I did not recognize you at first. But I believe Harriet told +us about you last night. She described several of her Washington friends +to us. You are Peter Dillon, aren't you?" + +"At your service," declared the young attache, who looked almost boyish. +"But now give me my opportunity. I do not know your name, but I have +guessed this much. You are an 'Automobile Girl!' Permit me to bid you +welcome to Washington." + +Barbara nodded her head decidedly. "Yes, I am Barbara Thurston, one of +the 'Automobile Girls.' There are four of us. Harriet has probably +explained to you. My sister, Mollie Thurston, Grace Carter, Ruth Stuart +and I form the quartet. Mr. William Hamlin is Ruth's uncle. So we are +going to spend a few weeks here with Harriet and see the Capital. I have +never been in Washington before." + +"Then you have a new world before you, Miss Thurston," said the young +man, his manner changing. "Washington is like no other city in the world, +I think. I have been here for four years. Before that time I had lived in +Dublin, in Paris, in St. Petersburg." + +"Then you are not an American!" exclaimed Bab, regarding the young man +with interest. + +"I am a man without a country, Miss Thurston." Bab's visitor laughed +carelessly. "Or, perhaps, I had better say I am a man of several +countries. My father was an Irishman and a soldier of fortune. My mother +was a Russian. Therefore, I am a member of the Russian legation in +Washington in spite of my half-Irish name. Have you ever been abroad?" + +"Oh, no," Bab returned, shaking her head. "For the past two years, since +I have known Ruth Stuart, the 'Automobile Girls' have traveled about in +this country a good deal. But we are only school girls still. We have +never really made our debut in society, although we mean to forget this +while we are in Washington, and to see as much of the world as we can. I +do wish I knew something about politics. It would make our visit in +Washington so much more interesting." + +"It is the most interesting game in the world," declared Barbara's +companion, dropping for an instant his expression of indifference. His +blue eyes flashed. Then he said quickly: "Perhaps you will let me teach +you something of the political game at Washington. I am sure you will be +quick to learn and to enjoy it." + +"Thank you," Bab answered shyly. "But I am much too stupid ever to +understand." + +"I don't quite believe that. You know, you will, of course, hear a +great deal about politics while you are the guests of the Assistant +Secretary of State. Mr. Hamlin is one of the cleverest men in +Washington. I am sure you will be instructing me in diplomacy by the end +of a week. But good-bye; I must not keep you any longer. Will you tell +Mr. Hamlin that I left the bundle of papers he desired on his study +table? And please tell Harriet that I shall hope to be invited very +often to see the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +The young man looked intently at Barbara, as though trying to read her +very thoughts while she returned his scrutiny with steady eyes. Then with +a courteous bow, he left the room. + +When Barbara found herself alone she returned to the window. + +"I do wish the girls would come," she murmured to herself. "I am just +dying to know what Mollie and Grace think of their first reception in +Washington. Of course, Ruth has visited Harriet before, so the experience +is not new to her. I am sorry I did not go with the girls, in spite of my +headache. I wonder if some one is coming in here again! I seem to be +giving a reception here myself." + +By this time the room was lighted, and Barbara saw a young woman of about +twenty-five years of age walk into the drawing-room and drop into a big +arm chair with a little tired sigh. + +"You are Miss Thurston, aren't you?" she asked briskly as Bab came +forward to speak to her, wondering how on earth this newcomer knew her +name and what could be the reason for this unexpected call. + +"Yes," Barbara returned in a puzzled tone, "I am Miss Thurston." + +"Oh, don't be surprised at my knowing your name," Bab's latest caller +went on. "It is my business to know everybody. I met Mr. Dillon on the +corner. He told me Harriet Hamlin was not at home and that I had better +not come here this afternoon. I did not believe him; still I am not sorry +Miss Hamlin is out, I would ever so much rather see you. Harriet Hamlin +is dreadfully proud, and she is not a bit sympathetic. Do you think so?" + +Bab was lost in wonder. What on earth could this talkative young woman +wish of her? Did her visitor believe Bab would confide her opinion of +Harriet to a complete stranger? But the young woman did not wait for +an answer. + +"I want to see you about something awfully important," she went on. +"Please promise me you will do what I ask you before I tell you +what it is." + +Bab laughed. "Don't ask me that. Why you may be an anarchist, for +all I know." + +The new girl shook her head, smiling. She looked less tired now. She was +pretty and fragile, with fair hair and blue eyes. She was very pale and +was rather shabbily and carelessly dressed. + +"No; I am not an anarchist," she said slowly. "I am a newspaper woman, +which is almost as bad in some people's eyes, I suppose, considering the +way society people fight against giving me news of themselves and their +doings. I came to ask you if you would give me the pictures of the +'Automobile Girls' for my paper? Oh, you need not look so surprised. We +have all heard of the 'Automobile Girls.' Everybody in Washington of +importance has heard of you. Couldn't you let me write a sketch about you +and your adventures, and put your photographs on the society page of our +Sunday edition? It would be such a favor to me." + +Barbara looked distressed. She was beginning to like her visitor. +Though Barbara had been associated mainly with wealthy people in the +last two years of the "Automobile Girls'" adventures, she could not +help feeling interested in a girl who was evidently trying to make her +own way in the world. + +"I am awfully sorry," Bab declared almost regretfully, but before she +finished speaking the drawing-room door opened and Ruth Stuart and +Harriet Hamlin entered the room together. + +"How is your head, Bab, dear?" Ruth cried, before she espied their +caller. + +Harriet Hamlin bowed coldly to the newspaper woman in the big arm chair. +The young woman had flushed, looked uncomfortable at sight of Harriet and +said almost humbly: + +"I am sorry to interrupt you, Miss Hamlin, but my paper sent me to ask +you for the pictures of your guests. May I have them?" + +"Most certainly not, Miss Moore," Harriet answered scornfully. "My +friends would not dream of allowing you to publish their pictures. And my +father would not consent to it either. Just because he is Assistant +Secretary of State I do not see why my visitors should be annoyed in this +way. I hope you don't mind, Ruth and Barbara." Harriet's voice changed +when she turned to address her cousin and friend. "Forgive my refusing +Miss Moore for you. But it is out of the question." + +Ruth and Bab both silently agreed with Harriet. But Barbara could not +help feeling sorry for the other girl, who flushed painfully at Harriet's +tone and turned to go without another word. + +Bab followed the girl out into the hall. + +"I am so sorry not to give you our photographs," Barbara declared. "But, +of course, we cannot let you have them if Mr. Hamlin would object. And, +to tell you the honest truth, the 'Automobile Girls' would not like it +either." Barbara smiled in such a frank friendly way that no one could +have been vexed with her. + +The older girl's eyes were full of tears, which she bravely winked +out of sight. + +"Everyone has his picture published in the papers nowadays," she replied. +"I am sure I intended no discourtesy to you or to Miss Hamlin." + +Then the girl's self-control gave way. She was very tired, and Bab's +sympathy unnerved her. "I hate Harriet Hamlin," she whispered, +passionately. "I am as well bred as she is. Because I am poor, and have +to support my mother, is no reason why she should treat me as though I +were dust under her feet. I shall have a chance to get even with her, +some day, just as certainly as I live. Then, won't I take my revenge!" + +Barbara did not know what to reply, so she went on talking quietly. "I am +sure your asking us for our pictures was a very great compliment to us. +Only important people and beauties and belles have their pictures in the +society papers. It is just because the 'Automobile Girls' are too +insignificant to be shown such an honor that we can't consent. But please +don't be angry with us. I am sure Harriet did not intend to wound your +feelings, and I hope I shall see you soon again." + +Marjorie Moore shook Barbara's hand impulsively before she went out into +the gathering darkness. "I like you," she said warmly. "I wish we might +be friends. Good-night." + +"Where are Mollie and Grace?" was Bab's first question when she rejoined +Ruth and Harriet. + +"They would not come away from the reception," Harriet returned, smiling. +She was quite unconscious of having treated Marjorie Moore unkindly. +"Ruth and I were worried about your headache, so we did not wish to leave +you alone any longer. Strange to relate, Father offered to stay until +Mollie and Grace were ready to come home. That is a great concession on +his part, as he usually runs away from a reception at the first +opportunity that offers itself. Mrs. Wilson, a friend of Father's is +helping him to look after Mollie and Grace this afternoon. Bab, did some +boxes come for me this afternoon? I left orders at the shop to send them +when Father would surely be out. Come on upstairs, children, and see my +new finery." + +"Why, Harriet, are you getting more clothes?" Ruth exclaimed. "You are +like 'Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square, who never had anything +good enough to wear.'" + +"I am no such thing, Ruth Stuart," returned her cousin, a little +peevishly. "You don't understand. Does she, Barbara? Ruth has so much +money she simply cannot realize what it means to try to make a good +appearance on a small allowance, especially here in Washington where one +goes out so much." + +"I was only joking, Harriet," Ruth apologized as she and Barbara +obediently followed their hostess upstairs. Bab, however, secretly +wondered how she and Mollie were to manage in Washington, with their +simple wardrobes, if their young hostess thought that clothes were the +all-important thing in Washington society. + +Harriet Hamlin was twenty years of age, but she seemed much older to Bab +and Ruth. In the first place, Harriet was an entirely different type of +girl. She had been mistress of her father's house in Washington since she +was sixteen. She had received her father's guests and entertained his +friends; and at eighteen she had made her debut into Washington society, +and had taken her position as one of the women of the Cabinet. Harriet's +mother, Ruth's aunt, had died a few months before Mr. Hamlin had received +his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State. Since that time Harriet +had borne the responsibilities of a grown woman, and being an only child +she had to a certain extent done as she pleased, although she was +secretly afraid of her cold, dignified father. + +Mr. William Hamlin was one of the ablest men in Washington. He was a +quiet, stern, reserved man, and although he was proud of his daughter, of +her beauty and accomplishments, he was also very strict with her. He was +a poor man, and it was hard work for Harriet to keep up the appearance +necessary to her father's position on his salary as Assistant Secretary +of State. Harriet, however, never dared tell her father of this, and Mr. +Hamlin never offered Harriet either sympathy or advice. + +Barbara and Ruth could only watch with admiring eyes and little +exclamations of delight the exquisite garments that Harriet now lifted +out of three big, pasteboard boxes; a beautiful yellow crepe frock, a +pale green satin evening gown and a gray broadcloth tailor-made suit. +Harriet was tall and dark, with very black hair and large dark eyes. She +was considered one of the beauties of the "younger set" in Washington +society. Ruth had not seen her cousin for several years, until she +received the invitation to bring the "Automobile Girls" to Washington. + +Ruth Stuart and Barbara Thurston had changed very little since their +last outing together at Palm Beach. Barbara was now nearly eighteen. At +the close of the school year she was to be graduated from the Kingsbridge +High School. And she hoped to be able to enter Vassar College the +following fall. Yet the fact that she was in Washington early in December +requires an explanation. + +Two weeks before Bab had walked slowly home to Laurel Cottage at +about three o'clock one November afternoon with a great pile of books +under her arm. + +On the front porch of their little cottage she found her mother and +Mollie, greatly excited. A telegram had just come from Ruth Stuart. The +"Automobile Girls" were invited to visit Ruth's cousin in Washington, +D.C. Ruth wished them to start at the end of the week. + +Bab's face flushed with pleasure at the news. She had not been with her +beloved Ruth since the Easter before. Then the color died out of her face +and her cheeks showed an unaccustomed pallor. + +"I am so sorry, Mother," Bab responded. "I would give anything in the +world to see Ruth. But I simply can't stop school just now, or I shall +lose the scholarship. Mollie, you can accept Ruth's invitation. You and +Grace Carter can go to Washington together. You won't mind going +without me." + +"I shall not stir a single step without you," blue-eyed Mollie returned +firmly. "And Mother thinks you can go!" + +Mollie and Mrs. Thurston, aided by Bab's teachers, at last persuaded +Barbara to take a few weeks' holiday. Bab could study to make up for lost +time during the Christmas holidays. For no one, except the young woman +herself, doubted Barbara's ability to win the desired Vassar scholarship. + +And so it was arranged that Bab and Mollie should go with Ruth to +Washington. Bab had grown taller and more slender in the past few months. +Her brown braids are now always coiled about her graceful head. Her hair +was parted in the middle, although a few little curls still escaped in +the old, careless fashion. + +Ruth Stuart, too, was looking sweeter and fresher than ever, and was the +same ingenuous, unspoiled girl, whose sunny disposition no amount of +wealth and fashion could change. + +Readers of the first volume in the "Automobile Girls Series," entitled +"The Automobile Girls At Newport," will recall how, nearly two years ago, +Ruth Stuart, with her father and her aunt, Miss Sallie Stuart, came from +their home in far away Chicago to spend the summer in Kingsbridge, New +Jersey. The day that Barbara Thurston stopped a pair of runaway horses +and saved Ruth Stuart from death she did not dream that she had turned +the first page in the history of the "Automobile Girls." A warm +friendship sprang up between Ruth and Bab, and a little later Ruth Stuart +invited Barbara, her younger sister, Mollie Thurston, and their friend, +Grace Carter, to take a trip to Newport in her own, red automobile with +Ruth herself as chauffeur and her aunt, Miss Sallie Stuart, as chaperon. + +Exciting days at Newport followed, and the four girls brought to bay the +"Boy Raffles," the cracksman, who had puzzled the fashionable world! +There were many thrilling adventures connected with the discovery of this +"society thief," and the "Automobile Girls" proved themselves capable of +meeting whatever emergencies sprang up in their path. + +In "The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires," the second volume of the +"Automobile Girls Series," the scene is laid in a little log cabin on +top of one of the highest peaks in the Berkshire hills, where the four +girls and Miss Sallie spent a happy period of time "roughing it." There +it was that they discovered an Indian Princess and laid the "Ghost of +Lost Man's Trail." + +In the third volume of the series, "The Automobile Girls Along the +Hudson," the quartet of youthful travelers, accompanied by Miss Sallie +Stuart, motored through the beautiful Sleepy Hollow country, spending +several weeks at the home of Major Ted Eyck, an old friend of the +Stuarts. There many diverting experiences fell to their lot, and before +leaving the hospitable major's home they were instrumental in saving it +from destruction by forest fires. + +The fourth volume of the series, "The Automobile Girls at Chicago," +relates the adventures of the four friends during the Christmas holidays, +which Mollie, Grace and Bab spent with Ruth at Chicago and at +"Treasureholme," the country estate of the Presbys, who were cousins of +the Stuart family. While there, principally through the cleverness of +Barbara Thurston, the hiding place of a rich treasure buried by one of +The ancestors of the Presbys was discovered in time to prevent the +financial ruin of both Richard Presby and Robert Stuart, who had become +deeply involved through speculation in wheat. + +Before Mollie, Grace and Barbara returned to Kingsbridge, Mr. Stuart had +promised that they should see Ruth again in March at Palm Beach, where he +had planned a happy reunion for the "Automobile Girls." There it was +that they had, through a series of happenings, formed the acquaintance of +a mysterious countess and become involved in the net of circumstances +that was woven about her. How they continued to be her friend in spite of +dark rumors afloat to the effect that she was an impostor and how she +afterwards turned out to be a princess, is fully set forth in "The +Automobile Girls at Palm Beach." + +"Really, Bab," said Ruth, as the two girls went upstairs to their rooms +to dress for dinner, "I have not had a chance to talk to you, alone, +since we arrived in Washington. How is your mother?" + +"As well as can be," Bab answered. "How is darling Aunt Sallie? I am so +sorry she did not come to Washington with you to chaperon us. There is no +telling what mischief we may get into without her." + +Ruth laughed. "I have special instructions for the 'Automobile Girls' +from Aunt Sallie. We are to be particularly careful to mind our 'P's' and +'Q's' on this visit, for Aunt Sallie wishes us to make a good impression +in Washington." + +Barbara sighed. "I'll try, Ruth," she declared, "but you know what +remarkable talent I have for getting into mischief." + +"Then you are to be specially par-tic-u-lar, Mistress Bab!" Ruth said +teasingly. "For Aunt Sallie's last words to me were: 'Tell Barbara she is +to look before she leaps.'" + +Barbara shook her brown head vigorously. "I am not the impetuous Bab of +other automobile days. But, just the same, I wish Aunt Sallie had come +along with you." + +"Oh, she may join us later," Ruth returned. "To tell you the truth, Bab, +Aunt Sallie is not fond of Harriet. She thinks Harriet is clever and +pretty, but vain and spoiled. Here come Mollie and Grace. Home from that +reception at last!" + +The other two girls burst into Ruth's room at this moment. + +"Whom do you think we have seen?" called out Miss Mollie rapturously. +"Oh, Washington is the greatest fun! I feel just like a girl in a book, +we have been presented to so many noted people. I tell you, Barbara +Thurston, we are country girls no longer! Now we have been traveling +about the country so much with Ruth and Mr. Stuart, that we know people +everywhere. Just guess whom we know in Washington?" + +"I can guess," Ruth rejoined, clapping her hands. "You have seen Mrs. +Post and Hugh. Surely, you had not forgotten that they live in +Washington. Hugh has finished college and has a position in the Forestry +Department. I had a note from him this morning." + +"And didn't tell! Oh, Ruth!" teased Grace Carter. "But, Bab, what about +our Lenox friends, who spend their winters in Washington?" + +"You mean Dorothy and Gwendolin Morton, the British Ambassador's +daughters, and funny little Franz Haller, the German secretary, I hope we +shall see them. But do hurry, children. Please don't keep the Assistant +Secretary of State waiting for his dinner. That would surely be a bad +beginning for our Washington visit. No, Mollie Thurston; don't you put on +your very best dress for dinner to-night. I have just gotten out your +white muslin." + +"But Harriet wears such lovely clothes all the time, Bab," Mollie +pleaded, when she and Barbara were alone. + +"Never mind, child. Harriet Hamlin is not Mollie Thurston," Barbara +concluded wisely. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CABINET DAY IN WASHINGTON + + +It was Harriet Hamlin's reception day. There are certain times appointed +in Washington when the members of the President's Cabinet hold +receptions. + +The "Automobile Girls" had come to Washington in time for one of these +special entertainments. For, as Harriet explained, they could see +everyone worth seeing at once. Not only would the diplomats, the senators +and congressmen call with their wives, but the Army and Navy officers, +all official Washington would appear to pay their respects to Mr. William +Hamlin and his lovely daughter. + +"Then there will be a crowd of unimportant people besides," Harriet had +continued. "People who are never asked to any small parties come to this +reception just because they can get in. So you girls will have to +entertain yourselves this morning. I have a thousand things to do. Why +not take the girls to look at the White House, Ruth? That is the first +thing to do in Washington. I am sorry I can't go with you. But you just +walk straight down Connecticut Avenue and you can't miss it." + +It was a perfect day. Although it was early in December, the atmosphere +was like Indian summer. Washington shone sparkling white through a dim +veil of haze. The "Automobile Girls" walked briskly along toward the +White House, chatting every step of the way. + +"Where are the poplar trees planted along this avenue by Thomas +Jefferson, Ruth?" Grace Carter demanded. "I read somewhere that Jefferson +meant to make this avenue look like the famous street called '_Unter den +Linden_' in Berlin." + +"He did, child, but most of the poplar trees died," Ruth rejoined, "and +some one else planted these oaks and elms. Why are you so silent, +Barbara? Are you tired?" + +"I think Washington is the most beautiful city in the whole world," Bab +answered with sudden enthusiasm. + +"Wait until you have seen it," Ruth teased. "Uncle William wants to take +us through the Capitol. But I suppose there is no harm in our looking at +the outside of the White House. Later on, when we go to one of the +President's receptions, we can see the inside of it." + +"Shall we ever see the President?" Mollie asked breathlessly. "Won't it +be wonderful? I never dreamed that even Mr. Hamlin could take us to the +President's home." + +"Here we are at the White House," said Ruth. + +The "Automobile Girls" stood silent for a moment, looking in through the +autumn foliage at the simple colonial mansion, which is the historic +"White House." + +"I am glad our White House looks like that," Bab said, after half a +moment's pause. "I was so afraid it would be pretentious. But it is just +big and simple and dignified as our President's home ought to be. It +makes me feel so glad to be an American," Barbara ended with a flush. She +was afraid the other girls were laughing at her. + +"I think so too, Bab," Ruth agreed. "I don't see why girls cannot be as +patriotic as boys. We may be able to serve our country in some way, some +day. I hope we shall have the chance." + +The "Automobile Girls" had entered the White House grounds and were +strolling along through the park. + +Bab and Ruth were talking of the beauties of Washington. But no such +thoughts were engrossing pretty Mollie's attention. Mollie's mind was +dwelling on the society pleasures the "Automobile Girls" expected to +enjoy at the Capital City. Grace Carter was listening to Barbara's and +Ruth's animated conversation. + +From the very first days at Newport, Mollie Thurston had cared more for +society than had her sister and two friends. Her dainty beauty and pretty +manners made her a favorite wherever she went. Mollie's friends had +spoiled her, and since her arrival in Washington the old story had +repeated itself. Harriet Hamlin had already taken Mollie under her +special protection. And Mollie was wildly excited with the thought of the +social experiences ahead of her. + +The four girls spent some time strolling about the White House +grounds. Then Ruth proposed that they take a car and visit the +Congressional Library. + +"I think it is the most beautiful building in Washington, and, in fact, +one of the finest in the world," she said enthusiastically, and later +when the "Automobile Girls" were fairly inside the famous library, they +fully agreed with her. It was particularly hard to tear Barbara away from +what seemed to her the most fascinating place she was ever in, and she +announced her intention of visiting it again at the first opportunity. + +The sightseers arrived home in time for luncheon and at four o'clock that +afternoon they stood in a row, beside Harriet Hamlin and her father, +helping to receive the guests who crowded in to the reception. Some of +the women wore beautiful gowns, others looked as though they had come +from small towns where the residents knew nothing of fashionable society. + +Mollie and Bab wore the white chiffon frocks Mr. Prescott had presented +them with in Chicago. But Grace and Ruth wore gowns that had been ordered +for this particular occasion. Bab thought their white frocks, which +looked as though they were new, as pretty as any of the gowns worn there. +But little Mollie was not satisfied. She hated old clothes, no matter how +well they looked. And Harriet Hamlin was rarely beautiful in an imported +gown of pale, yellow crepe. + +After receiving for an hour, Bab slipped quietly into a chair near a +window. She wished to examine the guests at her leisure. Mollie and Ruth +were deep in conversation with Mrs. Post and Hugh. Grace was talking to +Dorothy and Gwendolin Morton. + +Barbara's eyes wandered eagerly over the throng of people. Suddenly some +one touched her on the shoulder. + +"You do not remember me, do you?" + +Bab turned and saw a young woman. + +"I am Marjorie Moore," said the newcomer. "I am the girl who came to ask +you for your pictures. Perhaps you think it is strange for me to come to +Harriet Hamlin's reception when she was so rude to me last night. But I +am not a guest. Besides, newspaper people are not expected to have any +feelings. My newspaper sent me to find out what people were here this +afternoon. So here I am! I know everybody in Washington. Would you like +me to point out some of the celebrities to you? See that stunning woman +just coming in at the door? She has the reputation of being the most +popular woman in Washington. But nobody knows just where she comes from, +or who she is, or how she gets her money. But I must not talk Washington +gossip. You'll meet her soon yourself." + +"How do you do, Miss Moore?" broke in a charming contralto voice. +"You are the very person I wish to see. I can give you some news for +your paper. It is not very important, but I thought you might like +to have it." + +"You are awfully good, Mrs. Wilson," Marjorie Moore replied gratefully. +"I have just been talking to Miss Thurston about you. May I introduce +her? She has just arrived in Washington, and I told her, only half a +second ago, that you were the nicest woman in this town." + +Mrs. Wilson laughed quietly. "I know Miss Thurston's sister and her +friend, Miss Carter. Mr. Hamlin let me help chaperon them at a reception +yesterday afternoon. But Miss Moore has been flattering me dreadfully. I +am a very unimportant person, though I happen to have the good fortune to +be a friend of Mr. Hamlin's and Harriet's. I am keeping house in +Washington at present. Some day you must come to see me." + +Bab thanked her new acquaintance. She thought she had never seen a more +unusual looking woman. It was impossible to guess her age. Mrs. Wilson's +hair was snow-white, but her face was as young as a girl's and her eyes +were fascinatingly dark under her narrow penciled brows. She was gowned +in a pale blue broadcloth dress, and wore on her head a large black hat +trimmed with a magnificent black plume. + +"The top of the afternoon to you!" declared a new arrival in Bab's +sheltered corner. "How is a man to find you if you will hide behind +curtains?" This time Bab recognized Peter Dillon, her acquaintance of the +afternoon before. + +Mrs. Wilson, whose manner suggested a charming frankness and innocence, +took Peter by the arm. "Which of the three Graces do you mean to devote +yourself to this afternoon, Peter? You shall not flatter us all at once." + +"I flatter?" protested Peter, in aggrieved tones. "Why truthfulness is my +strong point." + +Marjorie Moore gave a jarring laugh. "Is it, Mr. Dillon?" she returned, +not too politely. "Please count me out of Mr. Dillon's flatteries. He +does not include a woman who works in them." Marjorie Moore hurried away. + +"Whew-w!" ejaculated Peter. "Miss Moore does not love me, does she? I +came up only to say a few words. Miss Hamlin is keeping me busy this +afternoon. Come and have some coffee, Miss Thurston. I am sure you +look tired." + +"I would rather not," Barbara protested. "I am going to run away upstairs +for a minute, if you will excuse me." + +Before Barbara could make her escape from the drawing-room she saw that +Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson had both lost their frivolous manner and +were deep in earnest conversation. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MR. TU FANG WU + + +Bab knew that at the rear of this floor of Mr. Hamlin's house there was a +small room that was seldom used. She hoped to find refuge in it for a few +minutes, and then to return to her friends. + +The room was empty. Bab sank down into a great arm chair and +closed her eyes. + +A few moments later she opened them though she heard no sound. A fat +little Chinese gentleman stood regarding her with an expression of +amusement on his face. + +Barbara jumped hastily to her feet. Where was she? She felt frightened. +Although the man before her was yellow and foreign, and wore strange +Chinese clothes, he was evidently a person of importance. Had Barbara +awakened at the Court of Pekin? Her companion wore a loose, black satin +coat, heavily embroidered in flowers and dragons and a round, close +fitting silk cap with a button on top of it. + +"I beg your pardon," Bab exclaimed in confusion. "Whom did you wish to +see? There is no one in here." + +The Chinese gentleman made Bab a stately bow. "No one," he protested. +"This is the first time, since my residence in America, that I have heard +an American girl speak of herself as no one. Miss United States is always +some one in her own country. But may I therefore present myself to little +'Miss No One'? I am Dr. Tu Fang Wu, His Imperial Chinese Majesty's Envoy +Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States." + +"I am very proud to meet you, Mr. Minister," Barbara returned, wondering +if "Mr. Minister" was the proper way to address a foreign ambassador. +She thought Mr. Hamlin had told her so, only the night before. + +Bab did not know in the least what she should do or say to such a +distinguished Oriental. She might make a mistake at any minute. For Bab +had been learning, every hour since her arrival in Washington, that in no +place is social etiquette more important than in the Capital City. + +"May I find Mr. Hamlin for you?" Bab suggested, hoping to make her +escape. + +The Chinese Minister shook his head slowly. "Mr. Hamlin is engaged with +his other guests." + +"Then won't you be seated?" Bab asked in desperation. Really she and this +strange yellow gentleman could not stand staring at each other the whole +afternoon. It made Bab feel creepy to have a Chinaman regard her so +steadfastly and without the slightest change of expression, even if he +were a foreign minister. + +Bab felt this meeting to be one of the strangest experiences of her whole +life. She had never seen a Chinaman before, except on the street carrying +a basket of laundry. But here she was forced into a tete-a-tete with one +in the highest social position. + +"Have you any daughters?" Barbara asked in her effort to break the +awful silence. + +Mr. Tu Fang Wu again bowed gravely. "I have one daughter and one small +son. My daughter is not here with me this afternoon. Chinese girls do +not go to entertainments where there are young men. My daughter has been +brought up according to the customs of our country. But she has been in +Washington for several years. I fear she, too, would like to be +emancipated, like the American girl. It is not possible, although she +enjoys many privileges she will not have when she returns to China. My +daughter is betrothed to a nobleman in her own country. Perhaps you would +like to meet my daughter, Wee Tu? She is fifteen years old. I shall ask +Miss Hamlin to bring you to luncheon at the Embassy." + +To Barbara's relief Mr. William Hamlin now appeared at the door. + +The Chinese minister again bowed profoundly to Barbara. "I was +looking for your smoking-room," he laughed, "but I found this young +woman instead." + +As the two men went out of the room, Bab had difficulty in making sure +that she had not been dreaming of this fat, yellow gentleman. + +"Barbara Thurston, what do you mean by running away by yourself?" +exclaimed Grace Carter, a moment later. "We have been looking for you for +ten minutes." + +Hugh Post, Mollie and a strange young man were close behind Grace. + +"I want to present my friend, Lieutenant Elmer Wilson," Hugh announced. +"He is a very important person in Washington." + +"Not a bit of it," laughed the young man. "I am one of the President's +aides. I try to make myself generally useful." + +"Your work must be very interesting," Barbara said quickly. "Do you--" + +Just then a soft contralto voice interrupted her. "Are you ready to go +with me, Elmer?" it said. + +Barbara recognized the voice as belonging to the Mrs. Wilson whom she had +met in the drawing room not an hour before. Could it be that this young +and lovely looking woman was the mother of Elmer Wilson? Surely the young +man was at least twenty-two years old. + +"Coming in a moment, Mother," Elmer replied. "Have you said good-bye +to Harriet?" + +"Harriet is not in the reception room now. Nearly all her guests have +gone," Mrs. Wilson murmured softly. "Mr. Hamlin is angry. But poor +Harriet ought to have a chance to talk for a few minutes to the richest +young man in Washington. I will leave you, Elmer. If you see Harriet, you +may tell her I did not think it fair to disturb her." + +Barbara went back to the drawing-room to search for Ruth. She found Ruth +standing next her uncle, Mr. Hamlin, saying the adieux in Harriet's +place. A few moments later the last visitor had withdrawn and Mr. Hamlin +quickly left Ruth and Bab alone. + +Mr. Hamlin was a small man, with iron gray hair, a square jaw and thin, +tightly closed lips. He seldom talked, and the "Automobile Girls" felt +secretly afraid of him. + +"Uncle is dreadfully angry with Harriet," Ruth explained to Bab, after +Mr. Hamlin was out of hearing. "But he is awfully strict and I do not +think he is exactly fair. He does not give Harriet credit for what she +does, but he gets awfully cross if she makes any mistakes. Harriet is +upstairs, in her own sitting-room, talking to a great friend of hers. He +is a man Uncle hates, although he has known Charlie Meyers since +childhood. He is immensely rich, but he is very ill-bred, and that is why +Uncle dislikes him. I don't think Harriet cares a bit more for this young +man than she does for half a dozen others. But if Uncle doesn't look out +Harriet will marry him for spite. Harriet hates being poor. She is not +poor, really. But I am afraid she is terribly extravagant. Promise not to +laugh when you see Charlie Meyers. He looks a little like a pig, he is so +pink and fat." + +"Girls!" called Harriet's voice. "Are you still in here? Mr. Meyers has +just gone, and I wanted you to meet him. He is going to have a motor +party and take you to see Mount Vernon. We can drive along the Potomac +and have our supper somewhere in the country." + +"I'm going to drive Mr. A. Bubble, Harriet," Ruth replied. "As long as I +brought my car to Washington I must use it. But I suppose we can get up +guests enough to fill two automobiles, can't we?" + +"Where's Father?" Harriet inquired, trying to conceal a tremor in her +voice. "Did he know I was upstairs?" + +"I am afraid he did, Harriet," Ruth replied. + +"Well, I don't care," declared Harriet defiantly. "I will select my own +friends. Charlie Meyers is stupid and ill-bred, but he is good natured, +and I am tired of position and poverty." + +"You are no such thing, Harriet," protested Ruth, taking her cousin by +the hand and leading her to a long mirror. "There, look at yourself in +your yellow gown. You look like a queen. Please don't be silly." + +"It's clothes that make the woman, Ruth," Harriet replied, kissing Ruth +unexpectedly. "And this yellow gown is just one of the things that +troubles me. Dear me, I am glad the reception is over!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AT THE CHINESE EMBASSY + + +"Shall we eat our luncheon with chopsticks to-day?" Mollie Thurston asked +Harriet Hamlin an hour before the "Automobile Girls" and their hostess +were to start for the Chinese Embassy. + +Harriet laughed good-humoredly at Mollie's question. "You absurd child, +don't you know the Chinese minister is one of the most cultivated men in +Washington! When he is in America he does what the Americans do. But his +wife, Lady Tu, is delightfully Chinese. She paints her face in the +Chinese fashion and wears beautiful Chinese clothes in her own home. And +the little Chinese daughter is a darling. Really, Mollie, you will feel +as though you had been on a trip to the Orient when you meet dainty +little Wee Tu." + +"Oh, I don't believe a Chinese girl can be attractive," Mollie argued, +her eyes fixed on the pile of pretty gowns which Harriet was laying out +on her bed. + +"Do wear the rose-colored gown to-day, Harriet!" Mollie pleaded. "It is +such a love of a frock and so becoming to you with your white skin and +dark hair. Dear me, it must be nice to have such lovely clothes!" Mollie +paused for a minute. + +Harriet turned around to find her little friend blushing. + +"I do hope," Mollie went on, "that you are not going to feel ashamed of +Bab and me while we are your guests in Washington. You can see for +yourself that we are poor, and have only a few gowns. Of course it is +different with Grace and Ruth. But our father is dead, and--" Mollie +stopped. She did not know how to go on with her explanation. Somehow she +did not feel that Barbara or her mother would approve of her apologizing +to Harriet for their simple wardrobes. + +"Mollie!" Harriet exclaimed reproachfully. "You know I think you and +Barbara are so pretty and clever that it does not matter what your +clothes are like. Besides, if you should ever want anything special to +wear while you are here, why, I have a host of gowns." + +Mollie shook her head. Of course she could not borrow Harriet's gowns. +And, though Harriet was trying to comfort her, her tone showed very +plainly that she had noticed the slimness of the Thurston girls' +preparations in the matter of wardrobe for several weeks of gayety in +Washington. + +At a little before one o'clock the "Automobile Girls" and Harriet were +ushered into the reception room of the Chinese Embassy by a grave Chinese +servant clad in immaculate white and wearing his long pig-tail curled on +top of his head. + +The minister and his wife came forward. Lady Tu wore a dress of heavy +Chinese embroidery with a long skirt and a short full coat. Her hair was +inky black and built out on each side of her head. She had a band of gold +across it and golden flowers set with jewels hung above each ear. Her +face was enameled in white and a small patch of crimson was painted just +under her lip. + +Bab could hardly restrain an exclamation of delight at the beauty of the +reception room. The walls were covered with Chinese silk and heavy panels +of embroidery. A Chinese banner, with a great dragon on it, hung over the +mantel-piece. The furniture was elaborately carved teakwood. + +The girls at once glanced around for the Chinese minister's daughter. But +she was no where to be seen. Instead, Peter Dillon, Bab's first chance +acquaintance in Washington, was smiling a welcome. Mrs. Wilson and her +son were also present. The two or three other visitors were unknown to +the "Automobile Girls." Even when luncheon was served the little Chinese +girl did not make her appearance. The four girls were beginning to feel +rather disappointed. They had come to the Embassy chiefly to see Wee Tu, +and they were evidently not going to be granted that pleasure. + +Just as they were about to go back to the reception room, Mr. Tu Fang Wu +suggested courteously to his girl guests: "If it pleases you, will you +now go up to my daughter's apartments? She does not eat her meals with us +when we entertain young men guests. It is not the custom of our country." +The Chinese minister touched a bell and another Chinese servant appeared, +his slippered feet making no noise. At the top of the stairs a Chinese +woman met the "Automobile Girls" and conducted them to the apartment of +Wee Tu, the minister's daughter. + +Wee Tu bowed her head to the floor when the "Automobile Girls" entered. +But when she raised her face her little black eyes were glowing, and a +faint pink showed under her smooth, yellow skin. Think what it meant to +this little Chinese maid, with her shut-in life, to meet four American +girls like Barbara, Ruth, Grace and Mollie! Harriet had lingered behind +for a few moments. + +"Your most honorable presence does my miserable self much honor," stated +Wee Tu automatically. + +Bab laughed. She simply could not help it. Wee Tu's greeting seemed so +absurd to her ears, though she knew it was the Chinese manner of +speaking. But Bab's merry laugh saved the situation, as it often had done +before, for the little Chinese maid laughed in return, and the five girls +sat giggling in the most intimate fashion. + +The servant passed around preserved Chinese fruits, nuts and dried +melon seed. + +"Is Miss Hamlin not with you?" the Chinese minister's daughter asked +finally, in broken English. + +At this moment Harriet's voice was heard in the corridor. She was talking +gayly to Peter Dillon. The Chinese girl caught the sound of the young +man's charming laugh. Bab was gazing straight at Wee Tu. Wee Tu looked +like a beautiful Chinese doll, not a bit like a human being. + +At the entrance to Wee Tu's apartment Peter bowed gracefully. He waited +until Harriet entered. + +"Your most honorable ladyship," he inquired. "Have I your permission to +enter your divine apartment? Your most noble father has waived ceremony +in my favor and says I may be allowed to see you in company with your +other guests. You are to pretend you are an American girl to-day." + +Wee Tu again made a low bow, almost touching the soft Chinese rug with +her crown of black hair. Her mantle was of blue silk crepe embroidered in +lotus flowers, and she wore artificial lotus blossoms drooping on either +side of her head. + +After Peter's entrance, Wee Tu did not speak nor smile. She sat with her +slender yellow hands clasped together, her nails so long they were tipped +with gold to prevent their breaking. Her tiny feet in their embroidered +slippers looked much too small for walking. + +Peter made himself agreeable to all the girls. He chatted with Harriet, +joked with Bab and Ruth. Now and then he spoke to the Chinese girl in +some simple gentle fashion that she could understand. + +"Peter Dillon is awfully attractive," Bab thought. "I wonder why I +was prejudiced against him at first because of what that newspaper +girl said." + +Peter walked with Barbara back to Mr. Hamlin's house. + +"Would you mind my asking you a question?" Bab demanded when they were +fairly on the way. + +Peter laughed. "It's a woman's privilege, isn't it?" + +"Well, how do you happen to be so intimate at the Chinese minister's?" +was Barbara's direct question. "They seemed so formal and then all of a +sudden Mr. Tu Fang Wu let you come up to see his daughter." + +"I know them very well," Peter returned simply. "I often dine at the +Chinese minister's with his family. So I have met his daughter several +times before. I have made myself useful to Mr. Tu Fang Wu once or twice, +and my legation likes me to keep in touch with the people in authority." + +"Oh," exclaimed Barbara. She remembered that Peter was equally intimate +at Mr. Hamlin's, and she wondered how he managed to keep up such a +variety of acquaintances. + +"I wonder if you would do a fellow a favor some day?" Peter asked. "I'll +bet you have lots of nerve. Harriet is apt to get frightened at the +critical minute." + +"It would all depend on what you asked me to do," Bab returned puzzled by +Peter's remark. + +"Oh, I won't ask you until I have managed to do something for you first. +It is only that I think you can see a joke and I have a good one that I +mean to try some day," Peter replied. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SUB ROSA + + +The next morning, Peter Dillon was lounging in Mrs. Wilson's library, +chatting with her on apparently easy terms. + +"I think it is a special dispensation of Providence that sent the +'Automobile Girls' to Washington to visit Harriet Hamlin just at this +particular time, Mrs. Wilson," declared Peter Dillon. + +Mrs. Wilson walked back and forth across her drawing room floor several +times before she answered. She looked older in the early morning light. +But her restlessness did not disturb Peter, who was reclining gracefully +in a chair, smoking a cigarette. + +"I am not sure you have reason to bless Providence, Peter Dillon," Mrs. +Wilson protested. "What a man you are! You simply cannot judge all girls +by the same standard. Some day you are going to meet a girl who is +cleverer than you are. And then, where will you be?" + +"Oh, I'll go slowly," Peter argued. "I know I am taking chances in making +friends with the clever one. But she has more nerve and courage than the +others. I am sure it will be much better to leave Harriet out of the +whole business, if possible." + +"All right, Peter," Mrs. Wilson agreed. "Manage your own affairs, since +this happens to be your own special joke. But you had much better have +left the whole matter to me." + +"And spoil my good time with five charming girls?" Peter protested, +smiling. "No, Mrs. Wilson; that is too much to ask of me. If I can't +carry the thing off successfully, you will come to the rescue and help +me. You've promised that. We have had our little jokes together before. +But this strikes me as being about the best of the whole lot. We will +have everybody in Washington laughing up his sleeve pretty soon. There +will be a few people who won't laugh, but so long as we keep quiet we +need not worry about them. Has Elmer gone to work? I know I have made +you a dreadfully early visit. It is very charming of you to be up in +time to see me." + +"Don't flatter me, Peter; it is not worth while," Mrs. Wilson said +angrily. Then she smiled. "Never mind, Peter; you can no more help +flattering than you can help breathing, whether your reason is a good or +a bad one. I suppose it is because you are an Irishman. By the way, Elmer +admires one of these charming 'Automobile Girls.' He has talked of no +one else except Mollie Thurston since Harriet's tea. Be careful what you +say or do before him." + +"I shall be careful," Peter returned easily. "My attentions are directed +toward the other sister. How have you managed to keep that big boy of +yours so much in the dark about--oh, a number of things?" finished Peter. + +"It is because Elmer has perfect faith in me, Peter," Mrs. Wilson +answered, passing her hand over her eyes to hide their expression. + +"As all other men have had before him, my lady," Peter avowed. "Is it +true that Mr. William Hamlin is now a worshiper at your shrine?" + +"Absurd!" protested Mrs. Wilson. "Here comes Elmer." + +"Why, Peter Dillon, this is a surprise!" exclaimed the young lieutenant, +walking into the room in search of his mother. "I never knew Mother to +get up so early before. I have just been inquiring of your maid, Mother, +to know what had become of you. Harriet Hamlin wants you to chaperon us +on an automobile ride out to Mt. Vernon and along the Potomac River. +Charlie Meyers is giving the party, and Harriet thinks her father won't +object if you will go along to look after us. That Charlie Meyers is an +awful bounder! But Harriet wants to show her little Yankee visitors the +sights. Do come along with us, Mother. For I have a fancy I should like +to stroll through the old Washington garden with 'sweet sixteen.'" + +"I will chaperon you with pleasure, Elmer," Mrs. Wilson agreed. "But what +about you, Peter? Are you not invited?" + +Peter looked chagrined. + +"No; I am not invited, and I call it unkind of Harriet. She knows I am +dreadfully impressed with the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +Mrs. Wilson and Elmer both laughed provokingly. "That is just what's the +trouble with you, Peter. Harriet is accustomed to your devotion to her. +Now that you have turned your thoughts in another direction, she may look +upon you as a faithless swain," Mrs. Wilson teased. + +"Don't undertake more than you can manage, Peter," teased Elmer Wilson. + +"That is good advice for Peter. Remember, Peter, I have warned you. Some +day you will run across a girl who is cleverer than you are. Then look +out, young man," Mrs. Wilson repeated. + +But Peter only laughed cheerfully. "What girl isn't cleverer than a man?" +he protested. "_Au revoir_. I shall do my best to persuade Harriet to +let me go along with her party this afternoon. I suppose we shall be +starting soon after luncheon, as it is Saturday." + +"Mother, can you let me have some money?" Elmer asked, as soon as Peter +was out of hearing. "I am ashamed to ask you for it. But going out in +society does cost a fellow an awful lot." + +Mrs. Wilson shook her head. "I am sorry, Boy; I can't let you have +anything just now. I am short of money myself at present. But I expect to +have some money coming in, say in about two weeks, or even ten days. Then +I can let you have what you like." + + * * * * * + +"How shall we divide our party for the motor ride, Ruth?" asked Harriet +Hamlin about two o'clock on the afternoon of the same day. + +Ruth's red car was standing in front of Mr. Hamlin's door with another +larger one belonging to Harriet's friend, Charlie Meyers, waiting +behind it. + +The automobile party stood out on the side walk and Peter Dillon had +somehow managed to be one of them. + +"Suppose, Barbara, Grace and Hugh Post go along with me, Harriet?" Ruth +proposed. "Mr. Meyers' car is larger than mine. He can take the rest of +the party." + +"What a division!" protested Peter Dillon, as he climbed into Ruth's +automobile and took his seat next Bab. "Do you suppose, for one instant, +that we are going to see Hugh Post drive off, the only man among three +girls? Not if I can help it!" + +The two automobiles traveled swiftly through Washington allowing the four +"Automobile Girls" only tantalizing glimpses of the executive buildings +which they passed on the way. + +In about an hour the cars covered the sixteen miles that lay between the +Capital City and the home of its first President. + +Such a deep and abiding tranquillity pervaded the atmosphere of Mt. +Vernon that the noisy chatter of the young people was, for an instant, +hushed into silence, as they drove through the great iron gates at the +entrance to Mt. Vernon, and on up the elm-shaded lawn to the house. + +Although it was December, the fall had been unusually warm and the trees +were not yet bare of their autumn foliage; the grass still looked smooth +and green under foot. + +The "Automobile Girls" held their breath as their eyes rested on the most +famous historic home in America. + +"Oh, Ruth!" exclaimed Bab. But when she saw Peter's eyes smiling at her +enthusiasm she stopped and would not say another word. + +Of course, Mt. Vernon was an old story to Mrs. Wilson, to Harriet, and +indeed to the entire party, except the four girls. But they wished to see +every detail of the Washington house. They went into the wide hall and +there beheld the key to the Bastile presented by Lafayette to General +Washington. They examined the music room, with its queer, old-fashioned +musical instruments; went up to Martha Washington's bedroom and even +looked upon the white-canopied bed where George Washington died. Indeed, +they wandered from garret to cellar in the old house. But it was a +beautiful afternoon and the outdoors called them at last. + +And, after all, it is the outdoors at Mt. Vernon that is most beautiful. +The house is a simple country home with a wide, old-fashioned portico and +gallery built of frame and painted to look like stone. + +But there is no palace on the Rhine, no castle in Spain, that has a more +beautiful natural situation than Mt. Vernon. It stands on a piece of +gently swelling land that slopes gradually down to the Potomac, and +commands a view of many miles of the broad and noble river. + +Bab and Ruth managed to get away from the rest of their party and to slip +out on the wide colonnaded veranda. + +"How peaceful and beautiful it is out here," Ruth exclaimed, with her +arm around her friend's waist. "It seems to me that, if I lived in +Washington, I would just run out here whenever anything uncomfortable +happened to me. I am sure, if I spent the day at Mt. Vernon, I should not +feel trouble any more." + +Barbara stood silent. A vague premonition of some possible trouble +overtook her. + +"Ruth," Bab asked suddenly, "do you like Harriet's friend, Peter Dillon? +Every now and then he talks to me in the most mysterious fashion. I don't +understand what he means." + +Ruth looked unusually grave. Then she answered Bab in a very curious +tone. "I know you have lots of common sense, Bab, dear," Ruth began. "But +promise me you won't put any special faith in Peter Dillon. He is not one +bit like Hugh, or Ralph Ewing, or the boys we met at the Major's house +party. When I meet any one who is such a favorite with everyone I always +wonder whether he has any real feelings or whether he is trying to +accomplish some end. I suppose Peter Dillon can't help striving to be +agreeable to everyone." + +Bab laughed a little. "Why, Ruth," she protested, "that idea does not +sound a bit like you. You are sweet to everyone yourself, dear, and +everyone loves you. But I do know what you mean about Peter Dillon. I--" + +"Hello," cried Mollie's sweet voice. She waved a long blue scarf +toward Ruth and Bab. Mollie and Elmer Wilson were standing on the +lawn, examining the motto on the sun dial. It read, "I record none but +sunny hours." + +"Let me write down that motto for you, Miss Thurston," Elmer Wilson +suggested. "I hope you may follow the old sun dial's example and record +none but sunny hours yourself." + +"Ruth!" called Hugh, coming around from the other side of the porch with +Peter Dillon. "Well, here you are, at last! It is not fair for you two +girls to run off together like this. Harriet has disappeared, and Mrs. +Wilson is hiding somewhere. Do you remember, Ruth, you promised to go +with me to see the old Washington deer park. It has just been restocked +with deer. Won't you come, too, Bab?" + +Barbara shook her head as Hugh and Ruth walked off together. Bab felt +sure that Hugh would like to have a chance to talk with Ruth alone, +for they had never ceased to be intimate friends since the early days +at Newport. + +Peter Dillon stood looking out at the river, whistling softly, "Kathleen +Mavourneen." It was the song Barbara had first heard him whistle in the +drawing-room of Mr. Hamlin's house. The young man said nothing, for a few +moments, even when he and Bab were alone. But when Bab came over toward +him, Peter smiled. He had his hat off and he had run his hands through +his dark auburn hair. + +"I say, Miss Thurston, why can't you make up your mind to like me?" he +questioned. "Surely you don't suspect me of dark designs, do you? You +American people are so strange. Just because I am half a Russian you +think I have some sinister purpose in my mind. I am not an anarchist, +and I don't want to go about trampling on the poor. I wish you could +meet the Russian ambassador. He is about the most splendid-looking man +you ever saw. I know him, well, you see, because my mother was a distant +cousin of his." + +Barbara laughed good-humoredly. "You seem to be a kind of connecting link +between three or four nations--Russia, America, China. What are your real +duties at your legation?" + +Barbara looked at her companion with a real question in her brown eyes--a +question she truly desired to have answered. She was interested to know +what duties an attache performed for his embassy. Peter, in spite of his +frivolities, claimed to be a hard worker. + +"You have not seen the loveliest part of Mt. Vernon yet, Miss Thurston," +Peter Dillon interposed just at this instant. "I want to show you the old +garden, and we must hurry before the gates are closed. Yes; I know I did +not answer your question. An attache just makes himself generally useful +to his chief. But if you really want to know what my ambition is, and how +I work to achieve it, why some day I will tell you." Peter looked at Bab +so seriously that she answered quickly: + +"Yes, I should dearly love to see the garden." + +Bab and Peter Dillon wandered together through the paths formed by the +box hedges planted in Martha Washington's garden more than a century ago. + +Neither seemed to feel like talking. The young man had seen the gardener +as they entered the enclosure, and had persuaded him to allow them to go +through the lovely spot alone. + +Bab's vivid imagination brought to life the old colonial ladies who had +once wandered in this famous garden. She saw their white wigs, their +powder and patches and full skirts. So Bab forgot all about her +companion. + +Suddenly she heard Peter give a slight exclamation. They had both come to +the end of the garden walk. There before them stood a great rose tree. +Blooming in the unusually warm sunshine were two rose-buds, gently tipped +with frost. + +"Ah, Miss Thurston, how glad I am we found the garden first!" Peter +cried. "This is the famous Mary Washington rose, which Washington +planted here in his garden, and named in honor of his mother. Wait here +until I find the gardener. I am going to make him let us have these two +tiny rose-buds." + +"How nice Peter Dillon really is," Bab thought. "Ruth was mistaken in +warning me against him. Of course, he does not show on the surface what +he actually feels. But perhaps I shall find out he is a finer fellow than +we think he is. Mr. Hamlin says Harriet is wrong in believing Peter is +never in earnest about anything." + +"It's all right, Miss Thurston," called Peter, returning in a few minutes +with his eyes shining. "The gardener says we may have the roses." The +young fellow dropped down on his knees before the rose bush without a bit +of affectation or self-consciousness. He skilfully cut the two half faded +rose-buds from the stalk and handed one to Barbara. + +"Keep this, Miss Thurston," he said earnestly. "And if ever you should +wish me to do you a favor, just send the flower to me and I shall perform +whatever task you set me to do to the best of my skill." Peter looked at +his own rose. "May I keep my rose-bud for the same purpose?" he begged +quietly. "Perhaps I shall send my flower to you some day and ask you to +do me a service. Will you do it for me?" + +"Yes, Mr. Dillon, I will do you any favor that I can," Bab returned +steadily. "But I don't make rash promises in the dark. And I have very +little opportunity to do people favors. You make me think of the +newspaper girl, Marjorie Moore. She tried to force me into a promise +without letting me know what she wanted, the first day I saw her. Does +everyone try to get some one to do something for him in Washington?" + +At the mention of Marjorie Moore's name the change in Peter Dillon's face +was so startling that Barbara was startled. Just now he did not look in +the least like an Irishman. His lips tightened into a fine, cruel line, +his eyes grew almost black and had a queer, Chinese slant to them. It +suddenly dawned on Barbara, that Russians have Asiatic blood in their +veins and are often more like Oriental people than they are like those of +the western world. + +But Peter only said carelessly, after he had regained control of his +face: "Miss Moore doesn't like me; and frankly, I don't like her. She +told you she did society work for her newspaper. She does a great deal +more. She is constantly watching at the legations to see if she can spy +on any of their secret information. It is not good form to warn one girl +against another. But if I were you, Miss Thurston, I would take with a +grain of salt any information that Miss Moore might give you." + +Barbara answered quietly: "Oh, I don't suppose Miss Moore will tell me +any of her secrets. She does not come to Mr. Hamlin's except on business. +Harriet does not like her." + +"Good for Harriet!" Peter muttered to himself. "It may be Harriet, +after all!" + +"Barbara Thurston, you and Peter come along this minute," Harriet ordered +unexpectedly. "Don't you know we shall be locked up in Mt. Vernon if we +stay here much longer. Ruth's automobile is already filled and she is +waiting to start. You and Peter are to get into Mr. Meyers' car with me. +We have another hour before sunset. We are going to motor along the river +and have our supper at an inn a few miles from here." + +As Peter Dillon ran ahead to join Harriet Hamlin, a small piece of paper +fell out of his pocket. Barbara picked it up and slipped it inside her +coat, intending to hand it back to Mr. Dillon as soon as she had an +opportunity. But there were other things that seemed of more importance +to absorb her attention for the rest of the evening. And Barbara was not +to remember the paper until some time later. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ARREST + + +After eating supper, and spending the evening at an old-fashioned +Southern Inn on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, the two +automobile parties started back to Washington. + +Barbara and Peter Dillon occupied seats in the car with Harriet and Mr. +Meyers, Mrs. Wilson, and two Washington girls who had been members of +their party. + +As Ruth did not know the roads it was decided that she keep to the rear +and follow the car in front of her. + +It was a clear moonlight night, and, though the roads were not good, no +member of the party dreamed of trouble. + +Bab sat next to Charlie Meyers, and her host was in a decidedly sulky +temper. For Harriet had grown tired of his devotion, after several hours +of it during the afternoon, and was amusing herself with Peter. + +No sooner had the two cars sped away from the peaceful shadows of Mt. +Vernon, than Peter began to play Prince Charming to Harriet. + +Charlie Meyers did not know what to do. He was a stupid fellow, who +expected his money to carry him through everything. He would hardly +listen to Barbara's conversation or take the slightest interest in +anything she tried to say. + +Every time Harriet's gay laugh rang out from the next seat Charlie Meyers +would drive his car faster than ever, until it fairly bounded over the +rough places in the road. + +Several times Mrs. Wilson remonstrated with him. "You are going too fast, +Mr. Meyers. It is dark, and I am afraid we shall have an accident if you +are not more careful. Please go slower." + +For an instant, Mr. Meyers would obey Mrs. Wilson's request to lessen the +speed of his car. Then he would dash ahead as though the very furies were +after him. + +As for Ruth, she had to follow the automobile in front in order to find +her way, so it was necessary for her to run her car at the same high +speed. Neither Ruth nor her companions knew the pitfalls along the road. +Hugh did not keep his automobile in Washington, and, though he had a +general idea of the direction they should take, he had never driven along +the particular course selected by Mr. Meyers for their return trip. + +Ruth felt her face flush with temper as her car shook and plunged along +the road. In order to keep within a reasonable distance of the heavier +car, she had to put on full power and forge blindly ahead. + +Once or twice Ruth called out: "Won't you go a little slower in front, +please? I can't find my way along this road at such a swift pace." + +But Ruth's voice floated back on the winds and the leading car paid no +heed to her. + +Then Elmer and Hugh took up the refrain, shouting with all their lung +power. They merely wasted their breath. Charlie Meyers either did not +hear them or pretended not to do so. He never once turned his head, or +asked if those back of him were making a safe journey. + +Barbara was furious. She fully realized Ruth's predicament, although she +was not in her chum's car. "Please don't get out of sight of Ruth's car, +Mr. Meyers," Bab urged her companion. But he paid not the slightest +attention to her request. + +Bab looked anxiously back over the road. Now and then she could see Mr. +A. Bubble's lamps; more often Ruth's car was out of sight. Patience was +not Barbara's strong point. + +"Harriet," she protested, "Won't you ask Mr. Meyers to slow down so that +Ruth can follow him. He will not pay the least attention to me." + +"What is your hurry, Charlie!" asked Harriet, in a most provoking tone. +She knew the young fellow was not a gentleman, and that he was showing +his anger against her by making them all uncomfortable. But Harriet was +in a wicked humor herself, and she would not try to appease their cross +host. She was having an extremely pleasant time with Peter Dillon, and +really did not realize Ruth's difficulties. + +The front car slowed imperceptibly, then hurried on again. + +At about half past ten o'clock, Mr. Meyers turned into one of the narrow +old-fashioned streets of the town of Alexandria, which is just south-west +of Washington. The town was only dimly lighted and the roads made winding +turns, so that it was impossible to see any great distance ahead. + +Ruth had managed to keep her car going, though she had long since lost +her sweet temper, and the others of her party were very angry. + +"It serves us right," Hugh Post declared to Ruth. "We ought never to have +accepted this fellow's invitation. I knew he wasn't a gentleman, and I +know Mr. Hamlin does not wish Harriet to have anything to do with him. +Yet, just because the fellow is enormously rich and gives automobile +parties, here we have been spending the evening as his guests. Look here, +Ruth, do you think I can forget I have enjoyed his hospitality, and +punch his head for him when we get back to Washington, for leading you on +a chase like this?" + +Ruth smiled and shook her head. She was seldom nervous about her +automobile after all her experiences as chauffeur. Yet this wild ride at +night through towns of which she knew little or nothing, was not exactly +her idea of sport. + +Mr. Bubble was again outdistanced. As the streets were deserted, Ruth +decided to make one more violent spurt in an effort to catch up with the +front car. Poor Mr. A. Bubble who had traveled so far with his carload of +happy girls was shaking from side to side. But Ruth did not think of +danger. Alexandria is a sleepy old Southern town and nearly all its +inhabitants were in bed. + +"Aren't there any speed regulations in this part of the world, Hugh?" +Ruth suddenly inquired. + +But she was too late. At this instant everyone in her car heard a +loud shout. + +"Hold up there! Stop!" A figure on a bicycle darted out of a dark alley +in hot pursuit of them. + +"Go it, Ruth!" Hugh whispered. But Ruth shook her head. + +"No," she answered. "We must face the music." Ruth put on her stop brake +and her car slowed down. + +"What do you mean," cried a wrathful voice, "tearing through a peaceful +town like this, lickitty-split, as though there were no folks on earth +but you. You just come along to the station with me! You'll find out, +pretty quick, what twenty-five miles an hour means in this here town." + +"Let me explain matters to you," Hugh protested. "It is all a mistake." + +"I ain't never arrested anybody for speeding yet that they ain't told me +it was just a mistake," fumed the policeman. "But you will git a chance +to tell your story to the chief of police. You're just wasting good time +talkin' to me. I ain't got a mite of patience with crazy automobilists." + +"Don't take us all to the station house, officer!" Hugh pleaded. "Just +take me along, and let the rest of the party go on back to Washington. +It's awfully late. You surely wouldn't keep these young ladies." + +"It's the lady that's a-runnin' the car, ain't it? She's the one that is +under arrest," said the policeman obstinately. + +Ruth had not spoken since her automobile was stopped. + +She had a lump in her throat, caused partly by anger and partly by +embarrassment and fright. Then, too, Ruth was wondering what her father +would say. In the years she had been running her automobile, over all the +thousands of miles she had traveled, Ruth had never before been stopped +for breaking the speed laws. She had always promised Mr. Stuart to be +careful. And one cannot have followed the fortunes of Ruth Stuart and her +friends in their adventures without realizing Ruth's high and fine regard +for her word. Yet here were Ruth and her friends about to be taken to +jail for breaking the laws of the little Virginia city. + +It was small wonder that Ruth found it difficult to speak. + +"I will go with the policeman," she assented. "Perhaps he will let you +take Mollie and Grace on home." + +Of course no one paid the slightest attention to Ruth's ridiculous +suggestion. Her friends were not very likely to leave her alone to argue +her case before the justice of the peace. + +"I say, man, do be reasonable," Hugh urged. He would not give up. "You +can hold me in jail all night if you will just let the others go." + +"Please don't argue with the policeman, Hugh," Ruth begged. "He is only +doing his duty. I am so sorry, Mollie darling, for you and Grace. But I +know you won't leave me." + +"Oh, we don't mind," the two girls protested. "I suppose we can pay the +fine and they will let us go at once." + +Hugh said nothing, for he knew that he had only a few dollars in +his pocket. + +When Ruth's car finally reached the station house it was almost +eleven o'clock. + +The policeman took the automobile party inside the station. It was bitter +cold in the room, for the winter chill had fallen with the close of the +December day. The fire had died out in the air-tight iron stove in the +room, and Mollie, Ruth and Grace could hardly keep from shivering. + +"Well, where is the justice of the peace or whatever man we ought to see +about this wretched business?" Hugh demanded. + +At last the policeman looked a little apologetic. "I'll get some one to +make up a fire for you," he answered. "I have got to go out and wake up +the justice to look after your case. It's bed-time and he's home asleep." + +"Do you expect us to sit here in this freezing dirty old room half the +night while you go around looking up a magistrate?" Hugh demanded, +wrathfully. + +"I told you I would have the fire built up," the policeman answered +sullenly. "But it ain't my fault you got into this trouble. You ought +not to have broken the law. We have had about as much trouble with +automobilists in this here town as we are willing to stand for. And I +might as well tell you, right now, the court will make it pretty hot for +you. It may be I can't get the justice to hear your case until to-morrow, +and you'll have to stay here all night." + +"Stay here all night!" cried the five young people, as they sank down +into five hard wooden chairs in utter despair. + +"Harriet, have you seen Ruth's automobile?" Bab asked, as Charlie Meyers' +car got safely out of Alexandria and started on the road toward +Washington. + +Harriet and Peter both looked around and strained their eyes in the +darkness. But there was no sign of Ruth or her party. + +"Don't you think we had better go back a little, Charlie?" Harriet now +suggested. "I am afraid you have gotten too far ahead of Ruth for her to +follow you." + +"What has Miss Stuart got Hugh Post and Elmer Wilson with her for, if +they can't show her the way to town?" argued the impolite host of the +automobile parties. + +"I think Charlie is right, Harriet. I would not worry," interposed Mrs. +Wilson, in her soft tones. "Elmer may not have known the road during the +early part of our trip, but neither one of the boys is very apt to lose +his way between Alexandria and Washington." Mrs. Wilson laughed at the +very absurdity of the idea. + +Harriet said nothing more, and, although Bab was by no means satisfied, +she felt compelled to hold her peace. + +"Will you leave me at my house, Charlie?" Mrs. Wilson demanded, as soon +as their automobile reached Washington. "I know Harriet expects to make a +Welsh rarebit for you at her home, but I am going to ask you to excuse +me. I am a good deal older than you children, and I am tired." + +When Barbara reached the Hamlin house she hoped ardently to see the +familiar lights of her old friend, A. Bubble waiting outside the door. +But the street was bare of automobiles. + +There was nothing to do but to follow the other young people into the +house and take off her hat and coat. But Bab had not the heart to join +Harriet in the dining-room where the preparations for making the rarebit +were now going on. She lingered forlornly in the hall. Every now and then +she would peer anxiously out into the darkness. Still there was no sign +of Ruth or any member of her party! Barbara was wretched. She was now +convinced that some accident had befallen them. + +"Come in, Barbara," called Harriet cheerfully. "The Welsh rarebit is +done and it has to be eaten on the instant. I will make another for +Ruth's crowd when they get in. They are certainly awfully slow in +arriving." + +"Harriet!" Barbara's white face appeared at the dining-room door. "I +hate to be a nuisance, but I am dreadfully worried about the other +girls. I know they would have gotten home by this time if nothing had +happened to them." + +Poor Barbara had to make a dreadful effort to swallow her pride, for +Charlie Meyers had been dreadfully rude to her all afternoon. "Mr. +Meyers," she pleaded, "won't you take me back in your car to look for my +friends? I simply can't bear the suspense any longer." Barbara's eyes +were full of tears. + +"Oh, Bab, you are foolish to worry," Harriet protested. "It would not be +worth while for you and Mr. Meyers to go back now. You would only pass +Ruth on the road. It is nearly midnight." + +"I know it is," Bab agreed. "And that is why I am so frightened. Don't +you think you could take me to look for them? Please do, Mr. Meyers." + +The ill-bred fellow shrugged his shoulders. "What do you take me for, +Miss Thurston? I am not going to let my rarebit get cold. There is +nothing the matter with your friends. They are likely to be along at +any minute." + +Barbara did not know what to do. Mr. Hamlin had not yet come in. Yet she +must find out what had happened to Ruth, Mollie and Grace. Bab once +thought of starting out alone and on foot, back up the long country road, +but she gave up the idea as sheer foolishness. + +At that moment the grandfather's clock in the hall chimed midnight. +Almost two hours had passed since the two automobiles had entered +Alexandria, and the little town was only eight miles from Washington. + +Bab felt she was going to cry before Harriet's guests. She slipped her +hand in her pocket to find her handkerchief. As she silently pressed her +handkerchief against her trembling lips she smelt a delicate perfume. +Something fresh and cool and aromatic touched her face. It was the tiny +rose-bud Peter Dillon had presented to her in the garden! + +Now Bab had determined never to ask Peter to do her a favor. She felt +that, once she returned his pledge to him, he had the same right to ask +a favor of her. But what could Barbara do? Her beloved sister and +friends had certainly come to grief somewhere. And Bab was helpless to +find them alone. + +"Mr. Dillon," Bab spoke under her breath, just showing her handkerchief +to him with the rose-bud crushed between its damp folds, "won't you help +me to find Ruth?" Bab only glanced at the flower with a shy smile. But +Peter saw it. + +He jumped to his feet, his face flushing. + +"Put the flower back, Miss Thurston," he said quietly to Barbara. "You do +not need to ask me to help you look for your friends as a favor to you. I +am ashamed of myself to have waited until you asked me. Harriet, I am +going back to look for your guests." + +Harriet, who was also feeling uneasy without being willing to confess it, +cheerfully agreed. + +"I am going to take your car, Meyers," declared Peter Dillon without +saying so much as by your leave. + +Bab and Peter Dillon hurried out to the waiting automobile. Both stopped +only to take coats and caps from the rack in the hall. + +If Peter Dillon wished to make a friend of Barbara Thurston, his prompt +response to her plea for help came nearer accomplishing it than anything +else in the world. When Peter refused Bab's proffered rose-bud she then +determined to do him any favor that she could whenever he might desire to +ask it of her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MOLLIE'S TEMPTATION + + +The next morning the "Automobile Girls" were sitting in the library of +Mr. Hamlin's home. Ruth, Mollie and Grace were there, for Peter and Bab +had secured their release from the Alexandria jail. + +"But how do you think he ever accomplished it?" Mollie inquired. + +Harriet laughed and flushed. "Oh, Peter accomplished it in the same way +he does everything else--by making friends with people," she declared. +"Girls, I hope you realize how ashamed I am of last night's proceedings. +I never dreamed that anything had happened to you, or I should have +certainly forced Charlie Meyers to turn back. But I think I have learned +a lesson. Charlie Meyers was horribly rude to you, Bab, and I told him +what we thought of him after you left. I don't want to see him again. So +Father, at least, will be glad. Though how I am to get on in this world +without a husband with money, I don't know." And Harriet sighed. + +"Still I would like to have my questions answered," Mollie repeated. "How +did Peter Dillon get us away from that wretched jail in such a short +time when we thought we might have to stay there all night?" + +"Why, he just found the justice of the peace, arranged about Ruth's fine, +mentioned Mr. Hamlin's name and did a few more things," Bab laughed. "So, +at last, you were permitted to come home." + +"Poor Hugh and Elmer were so mortified at not having enough money with +them to pay the fine. It was just an accident. Yet it was truly my +fault," Ruth argued. "Father has always insisted that I take my +pocket-book whenever I go out of the house. But, of course, I forgot it +yesterday." + +"Will Uncle Robert be very angry with you, Ruth, for being arrested?" +Harriet asked. "He need never find out anything about it. Your fine +wasn't so very large, and you always have money enough to pay for +anything." + +Ruth laughed. "Oh, I always tell Father every thing! I don't think +he will be very angry with me, when he hears how we happened to get +into trouble." + +"Do you really tell your father everything?" Harriet asked, in a +surprised tone. + +"Why, yes; why not?" Ruth questioned. + +Harriet shook her head. "Well, I do not tell my father all my affairs. +Oh, dear me, no!" + +"I suppose I shall have to go back to Alexandria to-day, and appear at +court," Ruth lamented. "I just dread it." + +"Oh, no you won't," Bab explained. "Mr. Dillon said he would talk matters +over with Mr. Hamlin, and that he had some influential friends over +there. You will have to pay your fine, Ruth, but you probably will not +have to appear at the trial. They will settle it privately." + +"Girls," exclaimed Harriet, "I forgot to tell you something. There is a +big reception at the White House to-morrow evening, and Father says he +wishes to take the 'Automobile Girls' to present them to the President." + +"How exciting!" exclaimed Grace Carter. "To think that the 'Automobile +Girls' are going to meet the President, and yet you speak of it as +calmly, Harriet Hamlin, as though it were an everyday affair." + +"Oh, nonsense, Grace," Harriet begged. "It will be fun to go to the +White House with you. You girls are so interested in everything. But a +White House reception is an old story to me, and I am afraid there will +be a frightful crowd. But which one of you will go shopping with me +this morning?" + +"I will," cried Mollie. "I'd dearly love to see the shops. We don't have +any big stores in Kingsbridge." + +"Is there anything I can get for you, girls?" Harriet asked. + +Ruth called her cousin over in the corner. "Will you please order flowers +for us to-morrow night!" Ruth requested. "Father told me to be sure to +get flowers whenever we wanted them." + +"Lucky Ruth!" sighed Harriet. "I wish I had such a rich and generous +father as you have!" + +"What can we wear to the President's reception to-morrow, Bab?" Mollie +whispered in her sister's ear, while Harriet and Ruth were having their +conference. + +Bab thought for a moment. "You can wear the corn-colored frock you wore +to dinner with the Princess Sophia at Palm Beach. It is awfully pretty, +and you have never worn it since." + +"That old thing!" cried Mollie, pouting. + +"Suppose you get some pale yellow ribbons, Mollie, and I will make you a +new sash and a bow for your hair," Bab suggested. + +Pretty Mollie frowned. "All right," she agreed. + +Harriet and Mollie did not go at once to the shops. They drove first to +Harriet's dressmaker, the most fashionable in Washington. + +"I must try on a little frock," Harriet explained. "We can do our +shopping afterwards. I want you to see a beautiful coat I am having made, +from a Chinese crepe shawl the Chinese Minister's wife gave me." + +Madame Louise, the head of the dressmaking establishment, came in to +attend to Harriet. The new coat was in a wonderful shade of apricot, +lined with satin and embroidered in nearly every color of silk. + +"Oh, Harriet, how lovely!" Mollie exclaimed. + +"Yes, isn't it?" Harriet agreed. "But I really ought not to have had this +coat made up. It has cost almost as much as though I had bought it +outright. And I don't need it. I hope you have not made my dress very +expensive, Madame. I told you to get me up a simple frock." + +"Ah, but Miss Hamlin, the simple frocks cost as much as the fancy ones," +argued the dressmaker. "This little gown is made of the best satin and +lace. But how charming is the effect." + +Mollie echoed the dressmaker's verdict as she gazed at Harriet with +admiring eyes. Harriet's gown was white satin. Her black hair and great +dusky eyes looked darker from the contrast and her skin even more +startlingly fair. + +Harriet could not help a little smile of vanity as she saw herself in the +long mirror in the fitting room. + +"Be sure to send these things home by to-morrow, Madame Louise," she +demanded. "Father and I are going to take our guests to one of the +President's receptions and I want to wear this gown." + +Mollie gave a little impatient sigh. + +"What is the matter, Mollie?" inquired Harriet, seeing that her little +friend looked tired and unhappy. "I am awfully sorry to have kept you +waiting like this. It is a bore to watch other people try on their +clothes. I will come with you directly." + +"Oh, I am not tired watching you, Harriet," pretty Mollie answered +truthfully. "I was only wishing I had such a beautiful frock to wear to +the reception to-morrow." + +Madame Louise clapped her hands. "Wait a minute, young ladies. I have +something to show you. You must wait, for it is most beautiful." The +dressmaker turned and whispered to one of her girl assistants. The girl +went out and came back in a few minutes with another frock over her arm. + +Mollie gave a deep sigh of admiration. + +"How exquisite!" Harriet exclaimed. "Whose dress is that, Madame? It +looks like clouds or sea foam, or anything else that is delicately +beautiful." + +Madame shook out a delicate pale blue silk, covered with an even lighter +tint of blue chiffon, which shaded gently into white. + +"This dress was an order, Miss Hamlin," Madame Louise explained. "I sent +to Paris for it. Of course it was some time before it arrived in +Washington. In the meanwhile a death occurred in the family of the young +woman who had ordered the dress. She is now in mourning, and she left the +dress with me to sell for her. She is willing to let it go at a great +bargain. The little frock would just about fit your young friend. Would +she not be beautiful in it, with her pale yellow hair and her blue eyes? +Ah, the frock looks as though it had been created for her! Do you think +she would allow me to try it on her?" + +"Do slip the frock on, Mollie," Harriet urged. "It will not take much +time. And I would dearly love to see you in such a gown. It is the +sweetest thing I ever saw." + +Mollie shook her head. "It is not worth while for me to put it on, +Harriet. Madame must understand that I cannot possibly buy it." + +"But the frock is such a bargain, Mademoiselle," the dressmaker +continued. "I will sell it to you for a mere song." + +"But I haven't the song to pay for it, Madame," Mollie laughed. "Come on, +Harriet. We must be going." + +"Of course you can't buy the dress, Mollie," Harriet interposed. "But +Madame will not mind your just slipping into it. Try it on, just for my +sake. I know you will look like a perfect dream." + +Mollie could not refuse Harriet's request. + +"Shut your eyes, Mollie, while Madame dresses you up," Harriet proposed. + +Mollie shut her eyes tightly. + +Madame Louise slipped on the gown. "It fits to perfection," she whispered +to Harriet. Then the dressmaker, who was really an artist in her line, +picked up Mollie's bunch of soft yellow curls and knotted them carelessly +on top of Mollie's dainty head. She twisted a piece of the pale blue +shaded chiffon into a bandeau around her gold hair. + +"Now, look at yourself, Mademoiselle," she cried in triumph. + +"Mollie, Mollie, you are the prettiest thing in the world!" Harriet +exclaimed. + +Mollie gave a little gasp of astonishment when she beheld herself in the +mirror. Certainly she looked like Cinderella after the latter had been +touched with the fairy wand. She stood regarding herself with wide open +eyes of astonishment, and cheeks in which the rose flush deepened. + +"The dress must belong to Mademoiselle! I could not have made such a fit +if I had tried," repeated the dressmaker. + +"How much is the dress worth, Madame?" Harriet queried. + +"Worth? It is worth one hundred and fifty dollars! But I will give the +little frock away for fifty," the dressmaker answered. + +"Can't you possibly buy it, child?" Harriet pleaded with Mollie. "It is a +perfectly wonderful bargain, and you are too lovely in it. I just can't +bear to have you refuse it." + +"I am sorry, Harriet," Mollie returned firmly. "But I have not the money. +Won't you please take the gown off me, Madame!" + +"Your friend can take the frock from me now and pay me later. It does not +matter," said the dressmaker. "She can write home for the money." + +For one foolish moment Mollie did dream that she might write to her +mother for the price of this darling blue frock. Mollie was sure she had +never desired anything so keenly in her life. But in a moment Mollie came +to her senses. Where would her mother get such a large sum of money to +send her? It had been hard work for Mrs. Thurston to allow Barbara and +Mollie the slight expenses of their trip to Washington. No; the pretty +gown was impossible! + +"Do unbutton the gown for me, please, Harriet," Mollie entreated. "I +really can't buy it." Mollie felt deeply embarrassed, and was sorry she +had allowed herself to be persuaded into trying on the gown. + +"Mollie!" exclaimed Harriet suddenly. "Don't you have a monthly +allowance?" + +Mollie nodded her head. Silly Mollie hoped Harriet would not ask her just +what her allowance was. For Mrs. Thurston could give her daughters only +five dollars a month apiece for their pin money. + +"Then I know just what to do," Harriet declared. "You must just buy this +frock, Mollie dear. I expect to have a dividend from some stock I own, +and when it comes in, I shall pay Madame for the dress, and you can pay +me back as it suits you. Do please consent, Mollie. Just look at yourself +in the glass once more and I know you can't resist my plan." + +Mollie did take one more peep at herself in the mirror. But if she had +only had more time to think, and Harriet and the dressmaker had not +argued the point with her, she would never have fallen before her +temptation. + +"You are sure you won't mind how long I take to pay you back, Harriet?" +Mollie inquired weakly. + +"Sure!" Harriet answered. + +"All right then; I will take it," Mollie agreed in a sudden rush of +recklessness, feeling dreadfully excited. For little Mollie Thurston had +never owned a gown in her life that had cost more than fifteen dollars, +except the two or three frocks which had been given to her on different +occasions. + +"Madame, you will send Miss Thurston's gown with mine, so she can wear it +to the White House reception," Harriet insisted. + +"Certainly; I shall send the frocks this evening," the dressmaker agreed, +suavely. "But are you sure you will be in? I want you to be at home when +the frocks arrive." + +Several other customers had entered Madame Louise's establishment. + +Harriet Hamlin flushed at the dressmaker's question. But she replied +carelessly: "Oh, yes; I shall be in all the afternoon. You can send them +at any time you like." + +Before Mollie and Harriet had gotten out into the street, Mollie clutched +Harriet's arm in swift remorse. "Oh, Harriet, dear, I have done a +perfectly awful thing! I must go back and tell Madame that I cannot take +that gown. I don't see how I could have said I would take it. Why, it +will take me ages to pay you so much money!" Mollie's eyes were big and +frightened. Her lips were trembling. + +"Sh-sh! You silly child!" Harriet protested. "Here comes Mrs. Wilson. You +can't go to tell Madame Louise you have changed your mind before so many +people. And what is the use of worrying over such a small debt? The dress +was a wonderful bargain. You would be a goose not to buy it." + +Now, because Harriet was older than Mollie, and Mollie thought her very +beautiful and well trained in all the graces of society, foolish little +Mollie allowed herself to be silenced, and so made endless trouble for +herself and for the people who loved her. + +"Don't tell Barbara about my buying the frock, Harriet," Mollie +pleaded, as the two girls went up the steps of the Hamlin home, a short +time before luncheon. "I would rather tell Bab about it myself, when I +get a chance." + +"Oh, I won't tell. You may count on me," promised Harriet, in sympathetic +tones. "Will Bab be very cross!" + +"Oh, not exactly that," Mollie hesitated. "But I am afraid she will be +worried. I am glad we are at home. I want to lie down, I feel so tired." + +Not long after Harriet and Mollie had started off on their shopping +expedition, Bab came across from her room into Ruth's. + +"Ruth, do you think I could telephone Mr. Dillon?" she asked. "I picked +up a piece of paper that he dropped in the garden yesterday, and I +forgot to return it to him." + +"Give it to me, child. I told you yesterday that I did not wish you to +grow to be an intimate friend of that man. But I am writing him a note to +thank him for his kindness to us last night. I can just put your paper in +my letter and explain matters to him." + +Bab carelessly tossed the sheet of paper on Ruth's desk. It opened, and +Ruth cried out in astonishment. "Oh, Bab, how queer! This note is written +in Chinese characters. What do you suppose Peter Dillon is doing with a +letter written in Chinese?" + +"I don't know I am sure, Ruth," Bab demurred. "It is none of our +business." + +"Did you get the yellow ribbon, Mollie?" Barbara asked her sister, two +hours later, when Mollie and Harriet came in from their shopping. "I have +been fixing up your dress all morning. It is awfully pretty. Now I want +to make the sash." + +"I did not get any ribbons, Bab." Mollie answered peevishly. "I told you +I would not wear that old yellow dress." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AT THE WHITE HOUSE + + +Mollie Thurston was not well the next day. She stayed in bed and +explained that her head ached. And Harriet Hamlin behaved very strangely. +She was shut up in the room with Mollie for a long time; when she came +out Mollie's eyes were red, and Harriet looked white as a sheet. But +neither of the girls would say what was the matter. + +Just before the hour for starting to the White House reception, Mollie +got out of bed and insisted on dressing. + +"I am afraid you are not well enough to go out to-night, Mollie," Bab +protested. "I hope you won't be too disappointed. Shall I stay at home +with you?" + +Mollie shook her head obstinately. "I am quite well now," she insisted. +"Bab, would you mind leaving me alone while I dress? I do feel nervous, +and I know Ruth and Grace won't care if you go into their room." + +"All right, Mollie," Barbara agreed cheerfully, wondering what had +come over her little sister. "Call me when you wish me to button your +gown. I have put the yellow one out on the lounge, if you should +decide to wear it." + +When Mollie was left alone two large tears rolled down her cheeks. Once +she started to crawl back into bed and to give up the reception +altogether. But, after a while, she walked over to her closet and drew +out a great box. With trembling fingers Mollie opened it and gazed in +upon the exquisite blue frock that had already caused her so much +embarrassment and regret. + +Should she wear the frock that night? Mollie Thurston asked herself. And +what would Bab say when she saw it? For Mollie had not yet mustered up +the courage to make her confession. Well, come what might, Mollie decided +to wear her new frock this one time. She had risked everything to own it, +so she might as well have this poor pleasure. + +When Mollie joined Mr. Hamlin and the other girls downstairs a long party +cape completely concealed her gown. + +Mr. Hamlin did not keep a private carriage; so, as long as Ruth's +automobile was in Washington, he decided to take his party to the White +House in Ruth's car. + +The girls were ready early, for Mr. Hamlin explained to them that they +would have to take their position in the line of carriages that slowly +approached the White House door, and that sometimes this procession was +nearly a mile in length. + +"I suppose you girls won't mind the waiting as much as we older people +do, because you always have so much to say to each other. And perhaps +this is my best chance to learn to know you better. I have been so busy +that I have seen little of you during your visit to Harriet." + +But Mollie and Harriet were strangely silent, and Bab felt absolutely +tongue-tied before Mr. Hamlin. Fortunately, Grace and Ruth sat on each +side of him. + +"Mr. Hamlin," Grace asked timidly, "would you mind telling me what are +the duties of the Secretary of State? Washington is like a new, strange +world to us. I have learned the titles of the different members of the +President's Cabinet, but I have not the faintest idea what they do. +Mollie and I looked over the cards of the guests who came to your +reception. Some of the cards just read: 'The Speaker,' 'The Chief of +Staff,' 'L'Ambassadeur de France,' without any personal names at all." + +Mr. Hamlin seemed pleased. The stern, half-embarrassed expression, that +he usually wore before the girls relaxed a little at Grace's eager +questioning. + +"I am glad, Miss Carter, to find you take an interest in Washington +affairs," he answered. "It is most unusual in a young girl. I wish +Harriet cared more about them, but she seems devoted only to society." +Mr. Hamlin sighed under his breath. "Yes; it is the custom for the +officials in Washington to put only the titles of their office on their +visiting cards. You are sure you wish to know the duties of the Secretary +of State? I don't want to bore you, my child." + +Grace nodded her head eagerly. + +"Well, let me see if I can make it plain to you. The Secretary of State +has charge of all the correspondence between the foreign countries and +their representatives in the United States," Mr. Hamlin continued. "Do +you understand?" + +"I think I do," Grace answered hesitatingly, while Bab leaned over from +the next seat to see if she could understand what Mr. Hamlin was +explaining. + +"The Secretary of State also receives all kinds of information from the +consuls and diplomatic officers, who represent the United States abroad," +Mr. Hamlin went on. "Sometimes this information is very important and +very secret. It might bring on serious trouble, perhaps start a war with +another country, if some of these secrets were discovered. The Secretary +of State has other duties; he keeps the Great Seal of the United States. +But my chief business as Assistant Secretary is just to look after the +important private correspondence with all the other countries." + +"Father," exclaimed Harriet, "why are you boring the girls to death +with so much information? They don't understand what you mean. I have +been living in Washington for four years, and I have not half an idea +of what your duties are. But thank goodness, we have arrived at the +White House at last!" + +Their motor car had finally drawn up before the entrance to the Executive +Mansion at the extremity of the eastern wing. The house was a blaze of +lights; the Marine Band was playing a national air. + +Harriet, who was familiar with all the rules that govern the President's +receptions, quickly marshaled her guests into the lobby, where they had +to take off their coats and hats. + +Bab was so overcome at the enormous number of people about her, that she +did not see Mollie remove her cape. + +Mollie slipped quietly into a corner, and was waiting by Harriet's side, +when Harriet called the other girls to hurry up the broad stairs to the +vestibule above, where the guests were forming in line to enter the +reception room. + +Barbara, Ruth and Grace gave little gasps of astonishment when they +first beheld Mollie. If little Mollie Thurston's heart was heavy within +her on this brilliant occasion, she held her pretty head very high. The +worry and excitement had given her a slight fever; her cheeks were a deep +carmine and her eyes glittered brightly. + +"Why, Mollie! What a vision you are!" exclaimed Ruth and Grace together. +"Where did you get that wonderful gown? You have been saving it to +surprise us to-night, haven't you?" + +But Bab did not say a single word. She only looked at Mollie, her face +paling a little with surprise and curiosity. How had Mollie come by a +gown that was more beautiful than anything Bab had ever seen her sister +wear? Barbara knew Mollie had not had the gown when they left home +together, for she had packed her sister's trunk for her. But this was not +the time to ask questions. Bab's mind was divided between the wonder and +delight she felt at the scene before her, and amazement at Mollie's +secret. "I do hope," she thought, as she followed Mr. Hamlin up the +steps, "that Mollie has not borrowed that gown of Harriet. But no; it +fits her much too well. Some one must have given it to her as a present +and she has kept the secret until to-night to surprise me." + +The "Automobile Girls" stood behind Mr. Hamlin and Harriet in the great +vestibule just outside the famous Blue Room of the White House, where +the President and his wife were waiting to receive their guests. The +line was moving forward so slowly that the girls had a chance to look +about them. Never had any one of them beheld such a beautiful spectacle. +Of course the "Automobile Girls" had been present at a number of +receptions during their brief social careers, but for the first time +to-night they saw men in other than ordinary evening dress. The +diplomats from other countries wore their superb court costumes with the +insignia of their rank. The American Army and Navy officers had on their +bright full dress uniforms. + +Bab thought the Russian Ambassador the most superb looking man she had +ever seen, and Mollie blushed when Lieutenant Elmer Wilson bowed +gallantly to her across the length of the hall. + +When the girls first took up their positions in the line, they believed +they would never grow weary of looking about them. But by and by, as they +waited and the number of people ahead of them only slowly decreased, they +grew tired. + +A girl passed by Barbara and smiled. It was Marjorie Moore. She was +not going to try to shake hands with the President. She had a note +book and a pencil in her hand and was evidently bent on business. +Barbara also caught a glimpse of Peter Dillon, but he did not come up +to speak to them. + +Mr. Hamlin's charges at last entered the Blue Room. The President and his +receiving party stood by a pair of great windows hung with heavy silk +portieres. + +It was now almost time for the "Automobile Girls" to shake hands with the +President. They were overcome with nervousness. + +Harriet was next to her father; Bab stood just behind Harriet, followed +by Ruth, Grace and Mollie. + +"You are just supposed to shake hands with the President, not to talk to +him," Harriet whispered. "Then the President's wife is next and you may +greet the other women in the receiving line as you pass along. The +Vice-President's wife stands next to the President's wife and the ladies +of the Cabinet just after her." + +Bab watched Harriet very carefully. She was determined to make no +false moves. + +Finally, Barbara heard her name announced by the Master of Ceremonies. +She felt her heart stop beating for a moment, and the color mount to her +cheeks. The next moment her hand was clasped in that of the President of +the United States. + +Barbara said a little prayer of thankfulness when she had finished +speaking to all the receiving ladies. She felt glad, indeed, when Mr. +Hamlin drew her behind a thick blue silk cord, where the President's +special guests were talking in groups together. Bab then watched Ruth, +Grace and Mollie go through the same formality. + +Now nobody had ever warned Mollie that it was not good form to speak to +the President before he spoke to her. She thought it was polite to make +some kind of a remark when she was introduced to him. So all the way up +the line she had been wondering what she ought to say. + +As the President took Mollie's little hand he bent over slightly. For a +very small voice said, "I like Washington very much, Mr. President." + +The President smiled. "I am glad you do," he answered. + +A little later, Mr. Hamlin took the girls through all the state +apartments of the White House. One of these rooms was less crowded than +the others. Groups of Mr. Hamlin's friends were standing about laughing +and talking together. Barbara was next Mr. Hamlin when she happened to +glance toward a far corner of the room. There she saw her newspaper +friend. The girl made a mysterious sign to Barbara to come over to her +and to come alone. But Bab shook her head. + +Still she felt the girl's eyes on her. Each time she turned, Marjorie +Moore again made her strange signal. Once she pointed significantly +toward a group of people. But Bab only saw the broad back of the little +Chinese Minister and the stately form of the Russian Ambassador. The +two men were talking to a number of Washington officials whose names +Barbara did not even know. Of course, Marjorie Moore's peculiar actions +could not refer to them. But to save her life Bab could not find any +one else nearby. + +Womanlike, Barbara's curiosity was aroused. What could the girl want with +her? Evidently, her news was a secret, for Miss Moore did not come near +Mr. Hamlin's party and Bab simply could not get away without offering +some explanation to them. + +Barbara was growing tired of the reception. She had been introduced to so +many people that her brain was fairly spinning in an effort to remember +their names. Again Bab looked across at Miss Moore. This time the +newspaper girl pointed with her pencil through a small open door, near +which she was standing. Her actions said as plainly as any words could +speak: "Follow me when you have a chance. There is something I must tell +you!" The next instant Marjorie Moore vanished through this door and was +lost to sight. + +A few minutes later Bab managed to slip over to that side of the room. +She intended merely to peep out the open door to see whether Miss Moore +were waiting for her in the hall. Bab carefully watched her opportunity. +Mr. Hamlin and the girls were not looking. Now was her chance. She was +just at the door, when some one intercepted her. + +"Ah! Good evening, Miss Thurston," said a suave voice. + +Barbara turned, blushing again to confront the Chinese Minister looking +more magnificent than ever in his Imperial robes of state. + +The young girl paused and greeted the official. Still the Chinese +Minister regarded her gravely with his inscrutable Oriental eyes that +seemed to look her through and through. He seemed always about to ask her +some question. + +Of course, Barbara was obliged to give up her effort to follow Marjorie +Moore, though she was still devoured with curiosity to know what the girl +had wished to say to her. The next ten minutes, wherever Bab went, she +felt the Chinese Minister's gaze follow her. + +It was not until Barbara Thurston discovered that the Oriental gentleman +had himself withdrawn from the reception room that she mustered up a +sufficient courage to try her venture the second time. + +"Miss Moore, of course, is not expecting me now," Barbara thought. "But +as I have a chance, I will see what has become of her." + +Bab peeped cautiously out through the still open door. She saw only an +empty corridor with a servant standing idly in the hall. Should she go +forward? No; Barbara did not, of course, dare to wander through the White +House halls alone. She was too likely to find herself in some place to +which visitors were not admitted. + +The servant who waited in the hall saw Barbara hesitate, then turn back. +He leaned over and whispered mysteriously: "You are to come to the door +at the west side, which opens on the lawn. The young woman left a message +that she would wait for you there." + +"But I don't know the west side," Bab faltered hesitatingly, feeling that +she ought to turn back, yet anxious to go on. + +"The young woman said it was most important for her to see you; I can +show you the way to the west door," the man went on. + +Barbara now quickly made up her mind. Marjorie Moore was only a girl like +herself. If she needed her or if she wanted to confide in her, Bab meant +to answer the summons. + +Bab found the portico deserted. There was no one in sight. + +Down on the lawn, some distance ahead, she thought she saw a figure +moving. Barbara drew her chiffon scarf more closely over her shoulders +and ran quickly out into the garden without thinking. It was, of course, +Marjorie Moore ahead of her. But Bab had not gone far, when the figure +disappeared, and she realized her own foolishness. She must get back into +the White House in a hurry before any one found out what she had done. + +It was exceedingly dark out on the lawn in contrast with the brilliant +illumination of the house, and Barbara was running swiftly. She had begun +to wonder what explanation she could make if Harriet or Mr. Hamlin asked +where she had been. As usual, Barbara was repenting a rash impulse too +late. She ran obliquely across the yard in order to return in a greater +hurry. Between a clump of bushes set at some distance apart her feet +struck against something soft and heavy and Bab pitched forward across +the object. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BAB'S DISCOVERY + + +Then Barbara Thurston's heart turned sick with horror. She recognized, in +the same instant, that she had fallen over a human body. In getting back +on her own feet, Bab was obliged to touch the figure over which she had +fallen. She shuddered with fright. It could not be possible that any one +had been murdered in the grounds of the White House, while a great ball +was being given on the inside. Had Marjorie Moore expected foul play and +called on Bab to help her guard some one from harm? + +Barbara did not know what to do--to go on with her search for the +newspaper girl, or go back to the White House and raise an alarm. + +Bab was standing up, but she dared not look at the figure at her feet. +She was now more accustomed to the darkness and she did not know what one +glance might reveal. + +"What a coward I am!" Bab thought. Trembling, she put out her hand and +touched the body. It was warm, but the figure had fallen forward on its +face. As Bab's hand slipped along over the object that lay so still on +the hard ground, an even greater horror seized her. Her hand had come in +contact with a skirt. The figure was that of a woman! + +Barbara dropped on her knees beside the figure. She gently turned +the body over until it was face upward. One long stare at the face +was enough. The woman who lay there was the young newspaper girl who +had summoned Bab to follow her but a short time before. She still +had on her shabby evening dress. The pad and pencil with which she +took down her society items lay at her side. But Marjorie Moore's +face was pale as death. + +Bab's tears dropped down on the girl's face. "My dear Miss Moore, what +has happened? Can't you hear me?" Bab faltered. "It is Barbara Thurston! +I tried to come to help you, but I could not get here until now." + +The figure lay apparently lifeless, but Bab knew now that the girl was +still alive. Bab did not like to leave her, for what dreadful person +might not stumble over the poor, unconscious girl? Yet how else could +Bab get help? + +At this moment Bab looked up and saw a number of lighted cigars in the +garden near the White House. Evidently a group of men had come out on the +lawn to smoke. As Bab ran forward she saw one of the men move away from +the others. He was whistling softly, "Kathleen Mavourneen, the bright +stars are shining." + +"Oh, Mr. Dillon!" cried Bab. "Poor Miss Moore has been dreadfully hurt +and is lying unconscious out here on the grass. Won't you please find Mr. +Hamlin, or some one, to come to her aid?" + +"Miss Moore!" exclaimed Peter Dillon in a shocked tone. "I wonder whom +the girl could have been spying upon to have gotten herself into such +trouble? But, Miss Thurston, you ought not to be out here. Come back with +me to the reception rooms. I will get some one to look after Miss Moore +at once. It is best to keep this affair as quiet as possible." + +"I can't leave the poor girl alone," Bab demurred. "So please find Mr. +Hamlin as soon as you can. I will ask two of these other men to take Miss +Moore up on a side porch, out of the way of the guests." + +The rest of the group of men now came forward; their uniforms showed +they were young Army and Navy officers. One of them was Lieutenant +Elmer Wilson. + +"What a dreadful thing!" he exclaimed, as he and another officer, under +Bab's directions, picked up Marjorie Moore's limp form and carried it +into the light. "Some one has struck Miss Moore over the temple with a +stick. She has a nasty bruise just there. But she is only stunned. She +will come to herself presently." + +Mr. Hamlin now hurried out with Peter Dillon, followed by Ruth and +Harriet. + +"Find our automobile; have it brought as near as possible. We must put +the poor girl into it," Mr. Hamlin declared authoritatively. "Mr. Dillon +is right. This affair must be kept an entire secret. It is incredible! +Above all things, the newspapers must not get hold of it. It would be a +nine days' wonder! Mr. Dillon, will you go to Miss Moore's paper? Say you +feel sure the President himself would not wish this story to be +published. Then you can find out where Miss Moore's mother lives, and see +that she is told. The girl is not seriously injured, but she must be seen +by a physician." + +"But you are not going to take Marjorie Moore to our house, Father," +Harriet protested. "She is so--" Harriet checked herself just in time. +She realized it would not be well to express her feeling toward the +injured girl before so large a group of listeners. + +"I most certainly do intend to take Miss Moore to our house," interrupted +Mr. Hamlin sternly. "Her father was an old friend of mine whom changes in +politics made poor just before his death. His daughter is a brave girl. I +have a great respect for her." + +In the excitement of helping their wounded visitor to bed, Barbara +forgot all about Mollie's wonderful gown, and the questions she intended +asking her. Bab and Ruth undressed Marjorie Moore, and stayed with her +until the doctor and a nurse arrived. Then Bab went quickly to her own +room and undressed by a dim light, so as not to disturb her sister. +Mollie's face was turned toward the wall and she seemed to be fast +asleep. There was no sign of the blue gown about to reawaken Bab's +curiosity. Barbara was too weary from the many impressions of the evening +and the fright that succeeded them, and hurriedly undressing she crept +quietly to bed and was soon fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CONFESSION + + +It was almost dawn when Barbara began to dream that she heard low, +suppressed sobs. No; she must be wrong, she was not dreaming. The sounds +were too real. The sobs were close beside her, and Bab felt Mollie's +shoulders heaving in an effort to hold them back. + +"Why, little sister," cried Bab in a frightened tone, putting out +her hand and taking hold of Mollie, "what is the matter with you! +Are you ill?" + +"No," sobbed Mollie. "There is nothing the matter. Please go to sleep +again, Bab, dear. I did not mean to wake you up." + +"You would not cry, Mollie, if there was nothing the matter. Tell me at +once what troubles you," pleaded Barbara, who was now wide awake. "If you +are not ill, then something pretty serious is worrying you and you must +tell me what it is." + +Mollie only buried her head in her pillow and sobbed harder than ever. + +"Tell me," Bab commanded. + +"It's the blue gown!" whispered Mollie under her breath. + +"The gown?" queried Barbara, suddenly recalling Mollie's wonderful +costume at the President's reception. "Oh, yes. I have not had an +opportunity to ask you where you got such a beautiful frock and how you +happened not to tell me about it." + +"I was ashamed," Mollie sobbed. + +Barbara did not understand what Mollie meant, but she knew her sister +would tell her everything now. + +"I bought the frock," Mollie confessed after a moment's hesitation. +"That is I did not exactly buy it, for I did not have the money to pay +for it. But Harriet was to pay for it and I was to give her back the +money when I could." + +"How much did the gown cost, Mollie?" Bab inquired quietly, although her +heart felt as heavy as lead. + +"It cost fifty dollars!" Mollie returned in a tired, frightened voice. + +"Oh, Mollie!" Bab exclaimed just at first. Then she repented. "Never +mind, Molliekins; it can't be helped now. The dress is a beauty, and I +suppose Harriet won't mind how long we take to pay her back. We must just +save up and do some kind of work when we go home. I can coach some of the +girls at school. So please don't cry your pretty eyes out. There is an +old story about not crying over spilt milk, kitten. Go to sleep. Perhaps +some one will have left us a fortune by morning." + +Barbara felt more wretched about her sister's confession than she was +willing to let Mollie know. She thought if Mollie could once get to +sleep, she could then puzzle out some method by which they could meet +this debt. For fifty dollars did look like an immense sum to the two poor +Thurston girls. + +"But, Bab dear, I have not told you the worst," Mollie added in tones +of despair. + +"Mollie, what do you mean?" poor Bab asked, really frightened this time. + +"Harriet can't let me owe the money to her. Something perfectly awful +has happened to Harriet, too. Promise me you will never tell, not even +Ruth! Well, Harriet thought she could lend me the money. But, the day +after we got home from the dressmaker's, that deceitful Madame Louise +wrote poor Harriet the most awful note. She said that Harriet owed her +such a dreadfully big bill, that she simply would not wait for her money +any longer. She declared if Harriet did not pay her at once she would +take her bill straight to Mr. Hamlin and demand the money. Now Harriet is +almost frightened to death. She says her father will never forgive her, +if he finds out how deeply in debt she is, and that he would not let her +go out into society again this winter. Of course, Harriet went to see +Madame Louise. She begged her for a little more time, and the dressmaker +consented to let us have a week. But she says that at the end of that +time she must have the money from me and from Harriet. Harriet is +dreadfully distressed. She simply can't advance the money to me for, even +if the dividend she expects comes in time, she will have to pay the money +on her own account. Oh, Bab, what can we do? I just can't have Mr. Hamlin +find out what I have done! He is so stern; he would just send me home in +disgrace, and then what would Mother and Aunt Sallie and Mr. Stuart say? +I shall just die of shame!" + +"Mr. Hamlin must not know," Barbara answered, when she could find her +breath. Somehow her own voice sounded unfamiliar, it was so hoarse and +strained. Yet Bab knew she must save Mollie. How was she to do it? + +"Do you think, Bab," Mollie asked, "that we could ask Ruth to lend us the +money? I should be horribly ashamed to tell her what I have done. But +Ruth is so sweet, and she could lend us the money without any trouble." + +"I have thought of that, Mollie," Barbara answered. "But, oh, we could +not ask Ruth for the money! It is because she has been so awfully good to +us, that I can't ask her. She has already done so much for us and she +would be so pleased to help us now that somehow I would rather do most +anything than ask her. Don't you feel the same way, Mollie?" + +"Yes, I do," Mollie agreed. "Only I just can't think what else we can do, +Bab. I have worried and worried until I am nearly desperate. We have only +one week in which to get hold of the money, Bab." + +"Yes, I know. But go to sleep now, Mollie. You are too tired to try to +think any more. I will find some way out of the difficulty. Don't worry +any more about it now." Bab kissed her sister's burning cheeks, whereat +Mollie could only throw her arms about Barbara and cry: "Oh, Bab, I am so +sorry and so ashamed! I shall never forget this as long as I live." + +Bab never closed her eyes again that night. A little while later she saw +the gray dawn change into rose color, and the rose to the blue of the +day-time sky. She heard several families of sparrows discussing their +affairs while they made their morning toilets on the bare branches of +the trees. + +At last an idea came to Barbara. She could pawn her jewelry and so raise +the money they needed. She had the old-fashioned corals her mother had +given to her on her first trip to Newport. There was also the beautiful +ruby, which had been Mr. Presby's gift to her from the rich stores of his +buried treasure. And the Princess Sophia had made Bab a present of a +beautiful gold star when they were at Palm Beach. Barbara's other jewelry +was marked with her initials. + +Now Bab had very little knowledge of the real value of her jewelry, and +she had an equally dim notion of what a pawn shop was. But she did know +that at pawn shops people were able to borrow money at a high rate of +interest on their valuable possessions, and this seemed to be the only +way out of their embarrassment. + +But how was Barbara to locate a pawn shop in Washington? And how was she +to find her way there, without being found out either by Mr. Hamlin or +any one of the girls? + +Bab was still puzzling over these difficulties when she went down to +breakfast. + +"Miss Moore says she would like to see you, Barbara," Harriet Hamlin +explained, when Bab had forced down a cup of coffee and eaten a small +piece of toast. "Miss Moore is much better this morning, and a carriage +is to take her home in a few hours. I have just been up to inquire about +her. Father," continued Harriet, turning to Mr. Hamlin, "Miss Moore wants +me to thank you for your kindness in bringing her here, and to say she +hopes to be able to repay you some day. Marjorie Moore seems to think you +discovered her out on the White House lawn, Barbara. However did you do +it? I suppose you were out there walking with Peter Dillon. But it is +against the rules." + +"Does Miss Moore happen to know how she was hurt, Daughter?" Mr. Hamlin +queried. "Lieutenant Wilson declares the girl was struck a glancing blow +on the head with the end of a loaded cane. And the doctor seemed to have +the same idea last night." + +"Miss Moore does not understand just what did happen to her," Harriet +replied. "Or at least she won't tell me. She declares she was out in the +grounds looking for some one, when she was knocked down from behind. She +never saw who struck her. How perfectly ridiculous for her to be running +about the White House park alone at night! I wonder the guards permitted +it. What do you suppose she was doing?" + +"Attending to her business, perhaps, Daughter," Mr. Hamlin returned +dryly. "Miss Moore works exceedingly hard. It cannot always be pleasant +for a refined young woman to do the work she is sometimes required to do. +I hope you will be kind to her, Harriet, and help her when it is within +your power." + +But Harriet only shrugged her shoulders and looked obstinate. "I should +think Miss Moore would find the society news for her paper inside the +reception rooms, rather than outside in the dark. It looks to me as +though she went out into the grounds either to meet some one, or to find +out what some one else was doing." + +None of the "Automobile Girls" or Mr. Hamlin made response to Harriet's +unkind remark and they were all glad when breakfast was over and the +discussion ended. + +Barbara at once went upstairs to the room that had been allotted to their +wounded guest the night before. She found Marjorie Moore dressed in a +shabby serge suit, lying on the bed looking pale and weak. A refined, +middle-aged woman, with a sad face, sat by her daughter holding her hand. +She was Marjorie's mother. The two women were waiting for the carriage to +take them home. + +"I want to thank you, Miss Thurston," Marjorie Moore spoke weakly. "I +believe it was you who found me. I ought not to have asked you to come +out into the yard, but I did not dream there would be any danger to +either one of us. I want you to believe that I did have a real reason for +persuading you to join me, a reason that I thought important to your +happiness, not to mine. But I cannot tell you what it was, now; perhaps +because I may have made a mistake. I must have been struck by a tramp, +who had managed to hide in the White House grounds. I have no other +explanation of what happened to me. But--" Miss Moore stopped and +hesitated. "I have an explanation of the reason I wanted to talk to you +alone. Yet I cannot tell you what I mean to-day. I want to ask you to +trust me if ever you need a friend in Washington." + +Bab thought the only friend she was likely to need was some one who could +lend her fifty dollars. And Marjorie Moore was too poor to do that. She +would have liked to ask the newspaper girl where she could find a pawn +shop, but was ashamed to make her strange request before that gentle, +sad-eyed woman, Marjorie Moore's mother. + +So Barbara only pressed the other girl's hand affectionately, and said +she was glad to know she was better, and that she appreciated her +friendship. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN MR. HAMLIN'S STUDY + + +All morning Barbara pondered on how she could find a pawn shop in +Washington, without asking questions and without being discovered. Her +cheeks burned with humiliation and disgust at the very name pawn shop! +Still Mollie must never know how much she dreaded her errand, and her +mother must be spared the knowledge of their debt at any cost. + +About noon the Hamlin house was perfectly quiet. Grace and Ruth had gone +out sight-seeing and Harriet and Mollie were both in their rooms. Mr. +Hamlin was over at his office in the State Department. + +Bab had taken a book and gone downstairs to the library, pretending she +meant to read, but really only desiring to think. She was feeling almost +desperate. A week seemed such a little time in which to raise fifty +dollars. Bab wished to try the pawn shop venture at once, so that in case +it failed her, she would have time to turn somewhere else to secure the +sum of money she needed. + +Barbara was idly turning over the pages of her book, staring straight +ahead of her at nothing in particular, when she unexpectedly leaped to +her feet. Her face flushed, but her lips took on a more determined curve. + +When Barbara Thurston undertook to accomplish a thing she usually found a +way. Only weak people are deterred by obstacles. + +Bab had remembered that she had heard Mr. Hamlin say that he kept a +Washington directory in his private study. She knew that by searching +diligently through this book she could find the address of a pawn shop. + +Now was the time, of all others, to accomplish her purpose. With Bab, to +think, was to do. + +Barbara knew that no one was expected to enter Mr. Hamlin's study. She +did not dream, however, that she would be doing any harm just to slip +quietly into it, find the directory and slip quickly out again, without +touching a single other thing in the room. + +As has already been explained, Mr. Hamlin's study was a small room +adjoining the drawing-room, and separated from it by a pair of heavy +curtains and folding doors, which were occasionally left open, when Mr. +Hamlin was not in the house, so that the room could be aired and at the +same time shut it off from public view. + +Bab went straight through the hall and entered Mr. Hamlin's study through +a small back door. + +The room was dark, and Bab thought empty when she entered it. The inside +blinds were closed, but there was sufficient light through the openings +for Barbara to see her way about perfectly. She was bent upon business +and went straight to her task without pausing to open the window, for she +wished to take no liberties with Mr. Hamlin's apartment. + +The four walls of the study were lined with books, reports from Congress; +everything pertaining to the business of the government at Washington. +Certainly finding that old-time needle in a haystack was an easy duty +compared with locating the city directory in such a wilderness of books. + +First on her hands and knees, then on tip-toe, Bab thoroughly searched +through every shelf. No directory could be found. + +"I can hardly see," Bab decided at last. "It will not do any harm for me +to turn on an electric light." + +Bab was so intent on her occupation that, even after she had turned on +the light, which hung immediately over Mr. Hamlin's private desk, she +still thought she was alone in the room. + +Lying under a heap of magazines and pages of manuscript on Mr. Hamlin's +desk, was a large book, which looked very much as though it might be the +desired directory. + +Still Bab wavered. She knew no one was ever allowed to lay a hand on Mr. +Hamlin's desk. Even Harriet herself never dared to touch it. But what +harm could it do Mr. Hamlin for Barbara to pick up the book she desired? +She would not disarrange a single paper. + +Bab reached out, intending to secure what she wished. But immediately she +felt her arm seized and held in a tight grip. + +A low contralto voice said distinctly: "What do you mean by stealing in +here to search among Mr. Hamlin's papers?" The vise-like hold on Bab's +arm continued. The fingers were slender, but strong as steel, and the +grip hurt Barbara so, she wanted to cry out from the pain. + +"Answer me," the soft voice repeated. "What are you doing, prying among +Mr. Hamlin's papers, when he is out of the house? You know he never +allows any one to touch them." + +[Illustration: Bab Felt Her Arm Seized In a Tight Grip.] + +"I am not prying," cried Bab indignantly. "I only came in here to look +for the city directory. I thought it might be on Mr. Hamlin's desk." + +"A likely story," interrupted Bab's accuser scornfully. "If you wished +the directory, why did you not ask Mr. Hamlin to lend it to you? You +wanted something else! What was it? Tell me?" The hold on Barbara's arm +tightened. + +"Let go my arm, Mrs. Wilson," returned Barbara firmly. "I am telling you +the truth. How absurd for you to think anything else! What could I wish +in here? But I needed to look into the directory at once--for a--for a +special purpose," Barbara finished lamely. + +Then her eyes flashed indignantly. "I am a guest in Mr. Hamlin's house," +she said, coldly. "How do you know, Mrs. Wilson, that I have not received +his permission to enter this room? But you! Will you be good enough to +explain to me why you were hiding behind the curtains in Mr. Hamlin's +study when I came in? You, too, knew Mr. Hamlin was not at home. Besides, +Harriet receives her guests in the drawing-room, not in here." + +"I came to see Mr. Hamlin on private business," Mrs. Wilson replied +haughtily. "He is an old and intimate friend of mine, so I took the +liberty of coming in here to wait for his return. But seeing you enter, +and suspecting you of mischief, I did conceal myself behind the +curtains. I shall be very glad, however, to remain here with you until +Mr. Hamlin returns from his office. I can readily explain my intrusion +and you will have an equal opportunity to tell Mr. Hamlin what you were +doing in here." + +Now Barbara, who had slept very little the night before, and had worried +dreadfully all morning, did a very foolish thing. She blushed crimson at +Mrs. Wilson's request. She might very readily have agreed to stay, and +could simply have explained later to Mr. Hamlin that she had come into +his private room because she needed to see the directory. But would Mr. +Hamlin have inquired of Barbara her reason for desiring the directory? +This is, of course, what Barbara feared, and it caused her to behave most +unwisely. She trembled and fixed on Mrs. Wilson two pleading brown eyes. + +"Please do not ask me to wait here until Mr. Hamlin returns," she +entreated. "And, if you don't mind, you will not mention to Mr. Hamlin +that I came into his study without asking his permission. Truly I only +wanted to look at the directory, and I will tell Harriet that I have +been in here." + +Mrs. Wilson eyed Bab, with evident suspicion. "Why are you so anxious to +see the directory?" she inquired. "If you wish to know a particular +address why do you not ask your friends, the Hamlins, about it?" + +"That is something that I cannot explain to you, Mrs. Wilson," said +Barbara, a look of fear leaping into her eyes that was not lost on her +companion. + +"Very well, if you cannot explain yourself, I shall lay the whole matter +before Mr. Hamlin the instant he comes home," returned Mrs. Wilson +cruelly. "It looks very suspicious, to say the least, when a guest takes +advantage of his absence to prowl among his private papers." + +Tears of humiliation sprang to Barbara's eyes. It was bad enough to have +Mrs. Wilson doubt her integrity, but it would be infinitely worse if +stern Mr. Hamlin were told of her visit to his study. Bab felt that he +would be sure to believe that she was deliberately meddling with matters +that did not concern her. She looked at Mrs. Wilson. The forbidding +expression on her face left no doubt in Bab's mind that the older woman +would carry out her threat. Suddenly it flashed across the young girl +that perhaps if Mrs. Wilson really knew the truth she would agree to drop +the affair without saying anything to Mr. Hamlin. + +"Perhaps it will be better after all for me to tell you my reason +for being here," Bab said with a gentle dignity that caused Mrs. +Wilson's stern expression to soften. "What I am about to say, +however, is in strictest confidence, as it involves another person +besides myself. I shall expect you to respect my confidence, Mrs. +Wilson," she added firmly. + +Mrs. Wilson made a jesture of acquiescence. Then Barbara poured forth the +story of Mollie's extravagance and her subsequent remorse over the +difficulties into which her love of dress had plunged both of the +Thurston girls. "It is just this way, Mrs. Wilson," Bab concluded. "We +have very little money of our own and we simply can't ask Mother to pay +this debt. I won't ask Ruth to lend it to us because we are too deeply +indebted to her already. I have some jewelry that is valuable; a ring, a +pin and several trinkets, and I intend to take them to a pawn shop and +borrow enough money on them to free Mollie of this debt. Then we will +save our allowance money and redeem the things. I have never been in a +pawn shop and don't know anything about them, so I thought I would find +the address of a pawn broker in the directory and go there this +afternoon. That is why I wanted the directory and why I came into Mr. +Hamlin's study. Now that I have told you, perhaps you will feel +differently about saying anything to Mr. Hamlin. He is so stern and cold +that he would never forgive me if he knew of all this, although I am +doing nothing wrong. It is very humiliating to be placed in this +position, but now that the mischief has been done we shall have to pay +for the gown and set it all down under the head of bitter experience." + +Mrs. Wilson regarded Barbara steadily while she was speaking. There was a +look of admiration in the older woman's eyes when Barbara had finished. +"You are a very brave girl, Miss Thurston, to take your sister's trouble +on your own shoulders. I am very glad that you saw fit to tell me what +you have. I hope you will forgive me for my seeming cruelty, but I simply +cannot endure anything dishonorable or underhanded. To show you that I +believe what you have told me, and to prove to you that your confidence +in me is well founded, I propose to help you out of your difficulty." + +"You?" queried Bab in surprise. "I--I don't understand." + +"I will lend you the money to pay the modiste," exclaimed Mrs. Wilson. +"Then you shall pay it back whenever it is convenient for you to do so, +and no one will ever be the wiser. We need tell no one that we met here +in the study this afternoon." + +"But--I--can't," protested Barbara rather weakly. "It wouldn't be right. +It would be asking entirely too much of you and--" + +Mrs. Wilson held up her hand authoritatively. "My dear little girl," she +said quickly. "I insist on lending you this money. I am a mother, and if +my son were in any little difficulty and needed help, I should like to +feel that perhaps some one would be ready to do for him the little I am +going to do for you. Come to my house this afternoon and I will have the +money ready for you. Will you do this, Barbara?" she asked extending her +hand to the young girl. + +Barbara hesitated for a second, then she placed her hand in that of Mrs. +Wilson's. "I will take the money," she said slowly, "and I thank you for +your kindness. I hope I shall be able to do something for you in return +to show my appreciation." + +"Perhaps you may have the opportunity," replied Mrs. Wilson meaningly. +"Who knows. I think I won't wait any longer for Mr. Hamlin. Come to my +house at half past four o'clock this afternoon. I shall expect you. +Good-bye, my dear." + +"Good-bye," replied Bab mechanically, as she accompanied Mrs. Wilson to +the vestibule door. "I'll be there at half past four." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BARBARA'S SECRET ERRAND + + +After the older woman had departed, Bab remained in a brown study. Had +she been wise in accepting Mrs. Wilson's offer? Would it have been better +after all to ask Ruth for the loan of the money? Bab sighed heavily. She +had been so happy and so interested in Washington, and now Mollie's +ill-advised purchase had changed everything. For a moment Barbara felt a +little resentment toward Mollie, then she shook off the feeling as +unworthy. Mollie had experienced bitter remorse for her folly, and Bab +knew that her little sister had learned a lesson she would never forget. +As for the money, it should be paid back at the earliest opportunity. + +Barbara turned and went slowly upstairs to prepare for luncheon. She +found Mollie sitting by the window in their room. Her pretty mouth +drooped at the corners and her eyes were red with weeping. + +"Cheer up, Molliekins!" exclaimed Bab. "I've found a way out of the +difficulty." + +"Oh, Bab," said Mollie in a shamed voice. "Did you have to tell Ruth?" + +"No, dear," responded Bab. "Ruth knows nothing about it. Bathe your face +at once. It is almost time to go down to luncheon, and your eyes are +awfully red. While you are fixing up I'll tell you about it." + +"Oh, Bab!" Mollie said contritely when her sister had finished her +account of what had happened in the study. "You're the best sister a girl +ever had. I don't believe I'll ever be so silly about my clothes again. +This has cured me. I'm so sorry." + +"Of course you are, little Sister," soothed Bab. "Don't say another word. +Here comes Ruth and Grace." + +The two girls entered the room at that moment and a little later the four +descended to luncheon. + +"I am going to do some shopping this afternoon," announced Ruth. "Would +you girls like to do the stores with me?" + +"I'll go," replied Grace. "I want to buy a pair of white gloves and I +need a number of small things." + +"I have an engagement this afternoon," said Harriet enigmatically. "I +must ask you to excuse me, Ruth." + +"Certainly, Harriet," returned Ruth. "How about you and Mollie, Bab?" + +"Mollie can go with you," answered Bab, coloring slightly. "But would +you be disappointed if I do not go? I have something else that I am +obliged to see to this afternoon." + +"Of course, I'd love to have you with me, Bab, but you know your own +business best." + +Suspecting that Bab wished to spend the afternoon in going over her own +and Mollie's rather limited wardrobe, Ruth made no attempt to persuade +Bab to make one of the shopping party, and when a little later A. Bubble +carried the three girls away, she went directly upstairs to prepare for +her call on Mrs. Wilson. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Bab decided +that she would walk to her destination. As she swung along through the +crisp December air the feeling of depression that had clung to her ever +since Mollie had made her tearful confession vanished, and Bab became +almost cheerful. She would save every penny, she reflected hopefully, and +when she and Mollie received their next month's pocket money, she would +send that to Mrs. Wilson. It would take some time to pay back the fifty +dollars, but Mrs. Wilson had assured her that she could return it at her +own convenience. Bab felt that her vague distrust of this whole-souled, +generous woman had been groundless, and in her impulsive, girlish fashion +she was ready to do everything in her power to make amends for even +doubting this fascinating stranger who had so nobly come to her rescue. + +By following carefully the directions given her by Mrs. Wilson for +finding her house, Bab arrived at her destination with very little +confusion. She looked at her watch as she ascended the steps and saw that +it was just half past four o'clock. "I'm on time at any rate," she +murmured as she rang the bell. + +"Is Mrs. Wilson here?" she inquired of the maid who answered the bell. + +"Come this way, please," said the maid, and Bab followed her across the +square hall and through a door hung with heavy portieres. She found +herself in what appeared to be half library, half living room, and seemed +especially designed for comfort. A bright fire burned in the open fire +place at one side of the room, and before the fire stood a young man, who +turned abruptly as Bab entered. + +"How do you do, Miss Thurston," said Peter Dillon, coming forward and +taking her hand. + +"Why--I thought--" stammered Barbara, a look of keen disappointment +leaping into her brown eyes, "that Mrs. Wilson--was--" + +"To be here," finished Peter Dillon, smiling almost tantalizingly at her +evident embarrassment. "So she was, but she received a telephone message +half an hour ago and was obliged to go out for a little while. I +happened to be here when the message came and she told me that she +expected you to call at half past four o'clock and asked me if I would +wait and receive you. She left a note for you in my care. Here it is." + +Peter Dillon handed Bab an envelope addressed to "Miss Barbara Thurston," +looking at her searchingly as he did so. Bab colored hotly under his +almost impertinent scrutiny as she reached out her hand for the envelope. +She had an uncomfortable feeling at that moment that perhaps Peter Dillon +knew as much about the contents of the envelope as she did. + +"Thank you, Mr. Dillon," she said in a low voice. "I think I won't wait +for Mrs. Wilson. Please tell her that I thank her and that I'll write." + +"Very well," replied the young man. "I will deliver your message." He +held the heavy portieres back for Bab as she stepped into the hall and +accompanied her to the vestibule door. "Good-bye, Miss Thurston," he said +with a peculiar, meaning flash of his blue eyes that completed Bab's +discomfiture. "I shall hope to see you in a day or two." + +Bab hurried down the steps and into the street. The shadows were +beginning to fall and in another hour it would be dark. When she reached +the corner she looked about her in bewilderment, then with a little +impatient exclamation she wheeled and retraced her steps. She had been +going in the wrong direction. She had passed Mrs. Wilson's house, when a +murmur of familiar voices caused her to start and look back at it in +amazement. Stepping off the walk and behind the trunk of a great tree, +Barbara stared from her place of concealment, hardly able to believe the +evidence of her own eyes. Peter Dillon was standing just outside the +vestibule door, his hat in his hand and just inside stood Mrs. Wilson. +The two were deep in conversation and Bab heard the young man's musical +laugh ring out as though something had greatly amused him. Filled with a +sickening apprehension that she was the cause of his laughter, Bab +stepped from behind the tree unobserved by the two on the step above and +walked on down the street assailed by the disquieting suspicion that Mrs. +Wilson had had a motive far from disinterested in lending her the fifty +dollars. She glanced down at the envelope in her hand. She felt positive +that it contained the money, and her woman's intuition told her that +Peter Dillon's presence in the house had not been a matter of chance. She +experienced a strong desire to run back to the house and return the +envelope unopened, and at the same time ask Mrs. Wilson why Peter had +untruthfully declared that she was not at home. Bab paused irresolutely. +Then a vision of Mollie's tearful face rose before her, and squaring her +shoulders, she marched along through the gathering twilight, determined +to use the borrowed money to pay Mollie's debt and face the consequences +whatever they might be. + +When Bab reached home she found that Harriet had come in and gone to her +room, while the other girls had not yet returned. Barbara was glad that +no one had discovered her absence, and divesting herself of her hat and +coat she hurried up to her room. Closing and locking the door, she sat +down and tore open the envelope and with hands that trembled, drew out a +folded paper. Inside the folded paper was a crisp fifty dollar bill. Mrs. +Wilson had kept her word. + +While she sat fingering the bill, she heard voices downstairs and a +moment later Mollie tried the door, then knocked. Bab rose and unlocked +the door for her sister. + +"Did you get it, Bab?" asked Mollie eagerly, a deep flush rising +to her face. + +"Yes, Molliekins, here it is," answered Barbara quietly, holding up the +money. "To-morrow you and I will go to Madame Louise and pay the bill." + +"Oh, Bab," said Mollie, her lips quivering. "I'm so sorry. I've been so +much trouble, but I'll save every cent of my pocket money and pay Mrs. +Wilson as soon as I can. It was so good of her to lend us the money +wasn't it?" + +Barbara merely nodded. Her early gratitude toward Mrs. Wilson had +vanished, in spite of her efforts to believe in Mrs. Wilson, her first +feeling of distrust had returned. She thought gloomily, as she listened +to Mollie's praise of Mrs. Wilson's generosity, that perhaps after all it +would have been better to pay a visit to the pawn broker. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FOOLISH GIRL + + +In the meantime Harriet Hamlin was equally as unhappy as Bab and Mollie. +For, instead of owing Madame Louise a mere fifty dollars, she owed her +almost five hundred and she dared not ask her father for the money to pay +the bill. The dividend, with which she had tempted Mollie to make her +ill-advised purchase, amounted to only twenty-five dollars. It had seemed +a sufficient sum to Harriet to pay down on her friend's investment, but +she knew the amount was not large enough to stay the wrath of her +dressmaker, as far as her own account was concerned. + +Now, Harriet had never intended to let her bill mount up to such a +dreadful sum. She was horrified when she found out how large it really +was. Yet month by month Harriet had been tempted to add to her stock of +pretty clothes, without inquiring about prices, and she now found herself +in this painful predicament. + +Harriet, also, thought of every possible scheme by which she might raise +the money she needed. On one thing she was determined. Her father should +never learn of her indebtedness. She would take any desperate measure +before this should happen; for Harriet stood very much in awe of her +father, and knew that he had a special horror of debt. + +Since Charlie Meyers had behaved so rudely to Barbara, on the night of +their automobile ride to Mt. Vernon, Harriet had had nothing to do with +him. But now, in her anxiety, she decided to appeal to him. She could +think of no other plan. Charlie Meyers was immensely rich and a very old +friend. Five hundred dollars could mean very little to him, and Harriet +could, of course, pay him back later on. She fully intended to live +within her allowance in the future and save her money until she had paid +every dollar that she owed. + +But how was Harriet to see Charlie Meyers? After all she had said about +him to the "Automobile Girls," she was really ashamed to invite him to +her house. So Harriet dispatched a note to the young man, making an +appointment with him to meet her on a corner some distance from the +house on the same afternoon that Bab made her uncomfortable visit to +Mrs. Wilson. + +Charlie Meyers was highly elated when he read Harriet Hamlin's note. He +had known her since she was a little girl in short frocks and was very +fond of her. He had been deeply hurt by her coldness to him since their +automobile party, but he was such an ill-bred fellow that he simply had +not understood how badly he had behaved. He did know that Mr. Hamlin +disliked him and did not enjoy his attentions to his daughter; so he +hated Mr. Hamlin in consequence. + +When Harriet's note arrived, he interpreted it to mean that she was sorry +she had treated him unkindly, and that she did care for him in spite of +her father's opposition. So he drove down to the designated corner in his +car, feeling very well pleased with himself. + +Harriet, however, started out to meet the young man feeling ashamed of +herself. She knew that she was behaving very indiscreetly, but she +believed that Charlie Meyers would be ready to help her and that she +could make him do anything she wished. She accepted his invitation to +take a ride, but she put off the evil moment of voicing her request as +long as possible, and as they glided along in Meyers' car, she made +herself as agreeable to her escort as she knew how to be. + +After they had driven some distance out from Washington in the direction +of Arlington, the old home of General Robert E. Lee, Charlie Meyers said +bluntly to Harriet: + +"Now, Harriet, what's the matter? You said in your note that you wanted +to see me about something important. What is it?" + +Harriet stopped abruptly and looked rather timidly at Meyers. She had +been trying in vain to lead up to the point of asking her favor, and here +her companion had given her the very opportunity she required. + +Yet Harriet hesitated, and the laughter died away on her lips. She knew +she was doing a very wrong thing in asking this young man to lend her +money. But Harriet had been spoiled by too much admiration and she had +had no mother's influence in the four years of her life when she most +needed it. She was determined not to ask her father's help, and she knew +of no one else to whom she could appeal. + +"I am not feeling very well, Charlie," Harriet answered queerly, turning +a little pale and trying to summon her courage. + +"You've been entertaining too much company!" Charlie Meyers exclaimed. "I +don't think much of that set of 'Automobile Girls' you have staying with +you. They are good-looking enough, but they are kind of standoffish and +superior." + +"No, indeed; I am not having too much company," Harriet returned +indignantly, forgetting she must not let herself grow angry with her +ill-bred friend. "I am perfectly devoted to every one of the 'Automobile +Girls,' and Ruth Stuart is my first cousin." + +Harriet and Charlie were both silent for a little while after this +unfortunate beginning to their conversation, for Harriet did not know +exactly how to go on. + +"I am worried," she began again, after a slight pause in which she +counted the trees along the road to see how fast their car was running. +"I am worried because I am in a great deal of trouble." + +"You haven't been getting engaged, have you, Harriet?" asked the young +man anxiously. "If you want to break it off, just leave matters to me." + +Harriet laughed in spite of herself. It seemed so perfectly absurd to +her to be expected to leave a matter as important to her happiness as her +engagement to a person like Charlie Meyers to settle. + +Charlie Meyers was twenty-two years of age. He had refused to go to +college and had never even finished high school. His father had died when +he was a child, leaving him to the care of a stepmother who had little +affection for him. At the age of twenty-one the boy came into control of +his immense fortune. So it was not remarkable that Charlie Meyers, who +had almost no education, no home influence and a vast sum of money at his +disposal, thought himself of tremendous importance without making any +effort to prove himself so. + +"No, I am not engaged, Charlie," Harriet answered frankly. "But I do want +you to do me a favor, and I wonder if you will do it?" + +The young man flushed. His red face grew redder still. What was Harriet +going to ask him? He began to feel suspicious. + +Now this rich young man had a peculiarity of which Harriet had not +dreamed, or she would never have dared to ask him for a loan. He was very +stingy, and he had an abnormal fear that people were going to try to make +use of him. + +Harriet had started with her request, so she went bravely on: + +"I'll just tell you the whole story, Charlie," she declared, "so you +will see what an awful predicament I am in. I know you won't tell Father, +and you may be able to help me out. I owe Madame Louise, my dressmaker, +five hundred dollars! She has threatened to bring suit against me at the +end of a week unless I pay her what I owe before that time. Would you +lend me the money, Charlie? I am awfully ashamed to ask you. But I could +pay you back in a little while." + +Harriet's voice dropped almost to a whisper, she was so embarrassed. Her +companion must have heard her, for he was sitting beside her in the +automobile, but he made no answer. + +Poor Harriet sat very still for a moment overcome with humiliation. She +had trampled upon her pride and self-respect in making her request, and +she had begun to realize more fully how very unwise she had been in +asking such a favor of this young man. Yet it had really never dawned on +the girl that Charlie Meyers could refuse her request. When he did not +answer, she began to feel afraid. Harriet could not have spoken again for +the world. Her usually haughty head was bent low, and her lids dropped +over her eyes in which the tears of humiliation were beginning to gather. + +"Look here, Harriet," protested the young man at last. "Five hundred +dollars is a good deal of money even for me to lend. What arrangements do +you want to make about paying it back?" + +"Why, Charlie!" Harriet exclaimed. "You can have the interest on the +money, if you like. I never thought of that." + +"You can pay me back the interest if you wish," Charlie replied sullenly. +"But you know, Harriet, that I like you an awful lot, and for a long time +I've been wanting you to marry me. But you've always refused me. Now if +you'll promise to marry me, I'll let you have the money. But if you +won't, why you can't have it--that's all! I am not going to lend my good +money to you, and then have you go your way and perhaps not have anything +more to do with me for weeks. I tell you, Harriet, I like you an awful +lot and you know it; but I am not going to be made a fool of, and you +might as well find it out right now." + +Harriet was so angry she simply could not speak for a few minutes. The +enormity of her mistake swept over her. But silence was her best weapon, +for Charlie Meyers began to feel ashamed. He was dimly aware that he had +insulted Harriet, and he really did care for her as much as he was +capable of caring for any one. + +"I didn't mean to make you angry, Harriet," he apologized in a half +frightened voice. "I don't see why you can't care for me anyhow. I've +asked you to marry me over and over again. And I can just tell you, you +won't have to worry over debts to dressmakers ever again, if you marry +me. I've got an awful lot of money." + +"I am very glad you have, Mr. Meyers," Harriet answered coldly, with a +slight catch in her voice. "But I am certainly sorry I asked you to lend +any of it to me. Will you never refer to this conversation again, and +take me home as soon as you can? I don't think it is worth while for me +even to refuse your offer. But please remember that my affection is +something that mere money cannot buy." Harriet's tone was so scornful +that the young man winced. He could think of nothing to reply, and turned +his car around in shame-faced silence. + +Harriet too was very quiet. She would have liked to tell her companion +what she truly thought of him, how coarse and ill-bred he was, but she +set her lips and remained silent. She did not wish to make an enemy of +Charlie Meyers. After that day's experience, she would simply drop him +from her list of acquaintances and have nothing more to do with him. + +Stupid though he was, the discomfited young man felt Harriet's silent +contempt. He wanted to apologize to her, to explain, to say a thousand +things. But he was too dense to know just what he should say. It was +better for him that he did wait to make his apology until a later day, +when Harriet's anger had in a measure cooled and she was even more +miserable and confused than she was at that time. + +"I am awfully sorry, Harriet," Charlie Meyers stumbled over his words as +he helped her out of his machine. "You know I didn't exactly mean to +refuse your request. I'll be awfully glad to--" + +But Harriet's curt good-bye checked his apologetic speech, and he turned +and drove swiftly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"GRANT NO FAVORS!" + + +"Mrs. Wilson's tea is at four o'clock, girls, remember," Harriet +announced a day or so later, looking up from the note she was writing. +"Are you actually going sight-seeing again to-day before the reception? +Truly, I never imagined such energy!" + +"Oh, come, Harriet Hamlin, don't be sarcastic," Ruth rejoined. "If you +had not lived so long in Washington you would be just as much interested +in everything as the 'Automobile Girls' are. But Bab and I are the only +ones to go sight-seeing to-day. Mollie isn't feeling well, and Grace is +staying to console her. We shall be back in plenty of time. Why don't you +lie down for a while! You look so tired." + +"Oh, I am all right," Harriet answered gently. "Good-bye, children. Be +good and remember you have promised not to be late." + +Ruth and Bab were highly anxious for a walk and talk together, and they +had a special enterprise on hand for this afternoon. Bab had received a +mysterious summons from her newspaper friend, Marjorie Moore. The note +had asked Bab to bring Ruth, and to come to the Visitors' Gallery in the +Senate Chamber at an appointed time. Marjorie Moore chose this strange +meeting place because she had a "special story" of the Senate to write +for her paper and was obliged to be in the gallery. + +Barbara was not particularly surprised at the request. She knew that +Marjorie Moore had been wishing to make her a confidant ever since the +reception at the White House. And she knew that the girl could not come +to Mr. Hamlin's house because of Harriet's hostile attitude toward her. + +So Bab confided the whole story to Ruth, and feeling much mystified and +excited, the two girls set out for the Capitol. + +During the long walk Barbara thought of her own secret, which she longed +to confide to Ruth, but she dared not tell Ruth of the borrowed money for +fear Ruth would at once insist on paying her debt. The money had to be +paid, of course, and Bab hoped to pay it back at an early date, but she +had not yet come to the point where she could bear to ask Ruth for it. + +When Ruth and Bab finally reached the Capitol building, and made their +way to the Visitors' Gallery in the Senate Chamber, Marjorie Moore was +not there. She had failed to keep her appointment. + +"I am not so very sorry Miss Moore has not come," Barbara remarked to +Ruth. "She seems to be such a mysterious kind of person, always +suggesting something and never really telling you what it is." + +Ruth laughed. "The 'Automobile Girls' hate mysteries, don't they, Bab? +But goodness knows, we are always being involved in them!" + +The two visitors sat down to listen to the speeches of United States +Senators. There was some excitement in the Chamber, Bab decided, but +neither she nor Ruth could exactly understand what was going on. +Both girls listened and watched the proceedings below them with +such intensity that they forgot all about Marjorie Moore and her +strange request. + +A few moments later she dropped down into the vacant seat next to +Barbara. She looked more hurried and agitated than ever. Her hat was on +one side, and her coat collar was half doubled under. She was a little +paler from her trying experience of a few nights before, and an ugly +bruise showed over her temple. But she made no reference to her accident. + +"I am sorry I am late," she whispered. "But come back here in the far +corner of the gallery with me. I want to talk with you just half a +minute. I am so busy I can't stay with you any longer. I just felt I must +see you, Miss Thurston, before you go to tea with Mrs. Wilson this +afternoon." + +"Tea with Mrs. Wilson!" Bab ejaculated. "How did you know we were going +to Mrs. Wilson's tea? And has that anything to do with your message to +me?" Barbara did not speak in her usual friendly tones. She was getting +decidedly cross. It seemed to her that she had been under some one's +supervision ever since her arrival in Washington. + +"Yes, it has, Miss Thurston," the newspaper girl replied quickly. "I want +to ask you something. Promise me you will grant no one a favor, no matter +who asks it of you to-day?" + +Barbara flushed. "Why how absurd, Miss Moore. I really cannot make you +any such promise. It is too foolish." + +"Foolish or not, you must promise me," Marjorie Moore insisted. Then she +turned earnestly to Ruth. "I know you have a great deal of influence with +your friend. If she will not agree to what I ask her, won't you make her +promise you this: She is not to consent to do a favor for any one this +afternoon, no matter how simple the favor seems to be. Do you +understand?" + +Ruth looked at Marjorie Moore blankly, but something in the newspaper +girl's earnest expression arrested her attention. + +"I don't see why you won't make Miss Moore the promise she begs of you, +Bab," Ruth argued. "It seems a simple thing she has asked you. And I +don't think it is very nice of you, dear, to refuse her, even though her +request does seem a little absurd to you." + +"But won't you tell me why you ask me to be so exceedingly +unaccommodating, Miss Moore?" Bab retorted. + +Marjorie Moore shook her head. "That's just the trouble. Again I can't +tell you why I ask this of you. But I want to assure you of one thing. It +would mean a great deal more to me, personally, to have you agree to do +the favor that may or may not be asked of you this afternoon. I am the +only outside person in Washington who knows of a certain game that is to +be played. It would mean a big scoop for my paper and a lot of money for +me if I would just let things drift. But I like you too well to hold my +tongue, though I am not going to tell you anything more. And I certainly +won't beg you to do what I ask of you. Of course you may do just as you +please. Good-bye; I am too busy to talk any more to-day." Before Barbara +could make up her mind what to answer, the newspaper woman hurried away. + +Ruth looked decidedly worried after Marjorie Moore's departure. But +Barbara was still incredulous and a little bored at being kept so +completely in the dark. + +"Look here, Bab," Ruth advised, as the two girls walked slowly home +together, "you did not promise Miss Moore to do what she asked of you. +But you must promise me. Oh, I know it seems absurd! And I am not exactly +blaming you for refusing to make that promise to Miss Moore. But, Bab, we +cannot always judge the importance of little things. So I, at least, +shall be much happier at this particular tea if you will promise me not +to do a single thing that any one asks you to do." + +Both girls laughed gayly at Ruth's request. + +"Won't I be an agreeable guest, Ruth?" Bab mimicked. "If any one asks +me to sit down, I must say, 'No; I insist on standing up. Because I +have promised my friend Miss Stuart not to do a single thing I am +requested to do all afternoon.' I wish I did not have to go to Mrs. +Wilson's tea to-day." + +"You need not joke, Bab," Ruth persisted. "And you need not pretend you +would have to behave so foolishly. I only ask you to promise me what you +would not agree to, when Marjorie Moore asked it of you: 'Don't do any +favor for any one, no matter who asks it of you this afternoon!'" + +Bab gave up. "All right, Ruth, dear; I promise," she conceded. "You know +very well that I can't refuse you anything, though I do think you and +Miss Moore are asking me to be ridiculous. I do hereby solemnly swear to +be, for the rest of this day, the most unaccommodating young person in +the whole world. But beware, Ruth Stuart! The boomerang may return and +strike you. Don't dare request me to do you a favor until after the bells +chime midnight, when I shall be released from my present idiotic vow." + +Mrs. Wilson's afternoon teas were not like any others in Washington. They +were not crowded affairs, where no one had a chance to talk, but small +companies of guests especially selected by Mrs. Wilson for their +congeniality. So Mrs. Wilson was regarded as one of the most popular +hostesses at the Capital and distinguished people came to her +entertainments who could not be persuaded to go anywhere else. + +Harriet and the four "Automobile Girls" were delighted to see a number of +service uniforms when they entered the charming French drawing-room of +their hostess, which was decorated in old rose draperies against ivory +tinted walls. + +Lieutenant Elmer Wilson's friends, young Army and Navy officers, were out +in full force. They were among the most agreeable young men in Washington +society. Lieutenant Elmer at once attached himself to Mollie; and his +attentions might have turned the head of that young woman if she had not +been feeling unusually sobered by her recent experience with debt. + +Barbara soon recognized the two young men who had helped her carry +Marjorie Moore from the lawn to the White House veranda. But neither one +of them referred to the incident while there were other people +surrounding them. Finally an opportunity came to one of the two men to +speak to Barbara. He leaned over and whispered softly: "How is the young +woman we rescued the other night? I almost thought she had been killed. +We have been sworn to secrecy. But one of my friends has an idea that he +saw the man who may have attacked Miss Moore. He was out on a porch +before the rest of us joined him, and he swears he saw two figures at +some distance across the lawn." + +Bab shuddered. "I was on the lawn. Perhaps he saw me." + +"No," her companion argued, unconvinced. "My friend is sure he saw two +men; one of them was rather heavily built--" + +Peter Dillon's approach cut short the conversation and the young Army +officer turned away, as Peter joined Bab. + +Barbara hardly turned around to greet the newcomer. She did not like +Peter Dillon and she was very anxious to hear what her previous companion +had to say. So Bab only gave Mr. Dillon her haughtiest bow. Peter did not +appear discouraged; he stood for a moment smiling at Bab good humoredly, +the boyish look shining in his near-sighted dark blue eyes. + +Barbara was forced to speak to him. "How do you do, Mr. Dillon?" she +asked at last. + +"Very well indeed," replied the young man cheerfully. "Did you arrive +home safely the other day?" + +Barbara colored hotly. She felt certain now that despite her promise of +secrecy Mrs. Wilson had betrayed her confidence and told Peter Dillon +about the borrowed money. Why she had done so was a mystery and why he +had lied to Bab in saying Mrs. Wilson was out was also a problem Bab +could not solve. + +While all this was passing through her mind Peter stood regarding her +with a quizzical smile. Then he said smoothly: "Miss Thurston, will you +do me a favor?" + +Bab flashed a peculiar glance at him. "No," she replied abruptly. + +The young man looked surprised. "I am sorry," he declared. "I was only +going to ask you to go in the other room to look at a picture with me." + +A little later in the afternoon, Harriet managed to get the four +"Automobile Girls" together. "Mrs. Wilson wishes us to stay to dinner +with her," Harriet explained. "She has asked eight or ten other +people and Father has telephoned that he will come in after dinner to +take us home." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BAB REFUSES TO GRANT A FAVOR + + +The dinner party was delightful. The "Automobile Girls" had not had such +a good time since their arrival in Washington. Mrs. Wilson was a charming +hostess. She was particularly gracious to Bab, and the young girl decided +to forget the disquieting suspicions she had harbored against this +fascinating woman and enjoy herself. + +It was almost ten o'clock. Mr. Hamlin had not yet arrived at Mrs. +Wilson's. Bab was sitting in one corner of the drawing-room talking gayly +with a young Annapolis graduate, who was telling her all about his first +cruise, when Elmer Wilson interrupted them. + +"I am terribly sorry to break into your conversation like this, Miss +Thurston," he apologized. "But Mother wishes to have a little talk with +you in the library before you leave here. I am sure I don't know what she +wishes to see you about; she told me to give you her message and ask no +questions. May I show you the way to her!" + +Bab's gay laughter died on her lips. She rose at once and signified her +willingness to accompany Elmer to the library, but both young men +noticed that her face had grown grave and she seemed almost embarrassed. + +Elmer Wilson wondered why Miss Thurston had taken his mother's simple +message so seriously. He was almost as embarrassed as Bab appeared to be. + +When Barbara entered the room where she had received the envelope +from Peter Dillon the room was but dimly lighted. Two rose-colored +shades covered the low lamps, and great bunches of pink roses +ornamented the mantel. + +Mrs. Wilson wore a black and white chiffon gown over white silk and had a +little band of black velvet about her throat from which hung a small +diamond star. Her beautiful white hair looked like a silver crown on her +head. She was leaning back in her chair with closed eyes when Bab entered +the room, and she did not open them at once. She let the young girl stand +and look at her, expecting her unusual beauty to influence Bab, as it had +many other older people. Mrs. Wilson looked tired and in a softened mood. +Her head rested against a pile of dark silken cushions. Her hands were +folded, in her lap. + +She opened her dark eyes finally and smiled at Barbara. "Come here, +Barbara," she commanded, pointing to a chair opposite her. + +Bab looked at her beautiful hostess timidly, but her brown eyes were +honest and clear. "You sent for me?" Bab queried, sitting down very stiff +and straight among the soft cushions. + +"Of course I did," Mrs. Wilson smiled. "And I should have done so +before, only you and I have both been too busy. I am so glad you came to +my tea to-day." Mrs. Wilson reached out her slender white hand and took +hold of Barbara's firm brown one. "I want to make you a very humble +apology," she continued. "I am very sorry that I was obliged to be away +the other day when you called. I left the envelope with Mr. Dillon. I +received your note yesterday, so I know that it was delivered into your +hands. I did not return until after seven o'clock the other night, so it +was just as well you didn't wait for me. I knew I could trust Mr. Dillon +to give it to you." + +The girl made no reply. She did not dare raise her eyes to the other +woman's face for fear Mrs. Wilson would divine from their expression that +Bab knew she had lied. At the same time a thrill of consternation swept +over her. What had been Mrs. Wilson's object in lending her the money? +Bab was now sure that the loan had not been made disinterestedly. But +what had Peter Dillon to do with it? It looked very much as though Mrs. +Wilson and the attache were playing a game, and were seeking to draw her +into it. She resolved at that moment that she would write to her mother +for the money, or ask Ruth for it. She would do anything rather than +remain in Mrs. Wilson's debt. There was something about the intent way in +which her hostess looked at her that aroused fresh suspicion in her mind. +Bab braced herself to hear what she knew instinctively was to follow. + +"I am so glad I was able to help you," Mrs. Wilson purred, continuing to +watch the young girl intently. "I know that you meant what you said when +you declared that you hoped to some day be able to do some favor for me. +I did not think then that I should ever wish to take you at your word, +but strange as it may seem, you are the very person I have been looking +for to help me with a joke that I wish to play upon Mr. Hamlin. You know, +Mr. Hamlin is a very methodical man. Well, I wagered him a dozen pairs of +gloves, the other day, that he would misplace one of his beloved papers. +And I hope to win the wager. What I wish you to do is to secure a certain +paper from his desk and give it to me. He will never know how I obtained +it. Of course I shall return it to him in a day or so, after he +acknowledges his defeat and pays his wager." + +Barbara shook her head. "I don't think I can take any part in any such +joke, Mrs. Wilson," she said, looking appealingly at her hostess. "You +don't really mean that you wish me to take one of Mr. Hamlin's papers +without his knowledge, and then give the paper to you?" + +"Certainly, child, I do mean just that thing," Mrs. Wilson said, laughing +lightly. "You need not take my request so seriously. Mr. Hamlin will +appreciate the joke more than any one else when I have explained it to +him. Won't you keep your word and grant me this favor?" + +"I can't do what you ask, Mrs. Wilson," Bab said slowly. "I'm awfully +sorry, but it wouldn't be honorable." + +Mrs. Wilson turned away her head, so that Barbara could not see the +expression of her face. "Very well, Miss Thurston," she said sharply. +"Don't trouble about it, if you think you will be committing one of the +cardinal sins in doing me this favor. But don't you think you are rather +ungrateful? You were perfectly willing to accept my offer the other day +when you were in need of money to pay your sister's debt, but now you are +in no hurry to cancel your obligation. I consider you an extremely +disobliging young woman." + +Barbara sat silent and ashamed. Yet she made no effort to propitiate her +angry hostess. + +The butler came to the library door to announce the arrival of +Mr. Hamlin. + +Barbara rose quickly. "I am so sorry not to be able to do you the favor +you asked of me, Mrs. Wilson," she said in a low tone. + +Mrs. Wilson did not reply. Then in a flash Barbara Thurston remembered +something! It was the promise Marjorie Moore had asked of her, and which +Ruth Stuart had insisted upon her making. Without recalling that promise +at the time, Bab had still kept her word. She had been asked to do some +one a favor--and she had refused. But of course Marjorie Moore must have +had some other thing in mind when she made her curious demand. Now that +Barbara thought again of her vow, she determined to be wary for the rest +of the evening and to keep as far away from Peter Dillon as possible. + +"I am going to play chaperon at your house in the near future, Harriet," +Mrs. Wilson announced, as her guests were saying good night. "Your father +says he is to be out of town on business and that I may look after you." + +"We shall be delighted to have you, Mrs. Wilson," Harriet returned +politely, though she wondered why her father had suddenly requested Mrs. +Wilson to act as chaperon. Harriet had often stayed at home alone with +only their faithful old servants to look after her, when her father went +away for a short time. And now that she had the four "Automobile Girls" +as her guests, she did not feel in need of a chaperon. + +Peter Dillon had not spoken to Bab again during the evening, but had +studiously avoided her, and Bab was exceedingly glad that he had kept his +distance. But as she put on her coat to go home, she heard the rustle of +a small piece of paper. + +Barbara glanced down at it, of course, and found that some one had pinned +a folded square of paper to the inner lining of her coat. + +She blushed furiously, for fear one of the other guests would discover +what had happened. Bab hated sentimentality and secrecy more than +anything in the world. Inside the folded square of paper she found the +tiny faded rose-bud, Peter Dillon had placed in his pocket that day when +he had picked the two buds in the old Washington garden at Mt. Vernon. + +On the way downstairs, Barbara still kept the flower in her hand. But +when she found Peter's eyes were upon her she deliberately crushed the +little rose-bud, then defiantly tossed it away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BARBABA'S UNEXPECTED GOOD LUCK + + +It was the second day after Mrs. Wilson's dinner when Barbara made up her +mind to tell Ruth of her debt to Mrs. Wilson and to ask her friend to +lend her the money to relieve her of her obligation. Bab could endure the +situation no longer. She simply determined to tell Ruth everything, +except the part that poor Mollie had played in the original difficulty. +She meant to explain to Ruth that she had needed fifty dollars, that she +had intended going to a pawn shop to secure the money, her interview with +Mrs. Wilson and her acceptance of the loan offered by the beautiful +woman. She would not tell Ruth, however, why she had suddenly required +this sum of money. Now, Bab knew Ruth would ask her no questions and +would grant her request without a moment's hesitation or loss of faith. +The sympathy between Ruth and Barbara was very deep and real. + +It was one thing for Barbara Thurston to decide to appeal to Ruth's +ever-ready generosity, but another thing actually to make her demand. + +The two girls lay on Ruth's bed, resting. They had been to a dance at the +British Embassy the night before. Mollie and Grace were together in the +next room and Harriet was alone. + +"Barbara!" exclaimed Ruth suddenly. "If you could have one wish, that +would surely be granted, what would you wish?" + +"I would like to have some money in a hurry," flashed through Bab's mind, +but she was ashamed to make such a speech to Ruth, so she said rather +soberly. "I have so many wishes its hard to single out one." + +"Well what are some of them?" persisted Ruth. "Do you wish to be rich, or +famous, or to write a great book or a play?" + +"Oh, yes; I wish all those things, Ruth," Bab agreed. "But you were not +thinking of such big things. What little private wish of your own did you +have in your mind? Please don't wish for things that will take you far +away from me," Bab entreated. + +Ruth's blue eyes were misty when she replied: "Oh, no, Bab! I was just +going to wish that something would happen so that you and I need never be +separated again. I love you just as though you were my sister, and I am +so lonely at home without you and Mollie. Yet, as soon as our visit to +Harriet is over, you must go back to school in Kingsbridge and I have to +go home to Chicago. Who knows when we shall see each other again? I don't +suppose that our motor trips can go on happening forever." + +Bab pressed Ruth's hand silently, her own thoughts flying toward the +future, when she would perhaps be working her way through college, and +teaching school later on, and Ruth would be in society, a beauty and a +belle in her Western home. + +"Why don't you say something, Bab?" queried Ruth, feeling slightly +offended at Bab's silence. "Can't you say you wish the same thing that I +do, and that you believe our motor trips will last forever?" + +A knock at the door interrupted Bab's answer. When she went to open +it a maid handed her three letters. Two of them were for Ruth and one +for Barbara. + +Ruth opened her letters quickly. The handwriting on one of them was her +Aunt Sallie's. The other was from Ruth's father. + +The postmark on Bab's letter was unfamiliar, however, so she did not +trouble to open it, until she heard what Ruth had to say. + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" Ruth ejaculated. "See here, Bab, Aunt Sallie writes +us that she cannot come on to Washington. She has rheumatism, or +something, in her shoulder and does not want to make the long trip. She +says I had better come home in a week or ten days, and that Father will +probably come for me. Of course, Aunt Sallie sends love and kisses all +around to her 'Automobile Girls.' She ends by declaring I must bring you +home with me." + +Bab gave a deep sigh. "I do wish Miss Sallie had been here with us," +she murmured. + +Ruth looked reflective. "Have you any special reason for needing Aunt +Sallie, Bab? I have an idea you have something on your mind. Won't I do +for your confidant!" + +"Yes, you will, Ruth!" Bab said slowly, turning her face to hide her +painful embarrassment. "Ruth will you--" + +Bab had picked up her own letter. More to gain time than for any other +reason, she opened it idly. A piece of paper fluttered out on the bed, +which Ruth picked up. + +"Why, Bab!" she cried. "Look! Here is a check for fifty dollars! And +there is some strange name on it that I never heard of before." + +But Ruth could not speak again, for Bab had thrown her arms about her and +was embracing her excitedly. + +"Oh, Ruth, I am so glad, I am so glad!" Bab exclaimed, half laughing, +half crying. "Just think of it--fifty dollars! And just now of all times. +I never dreamed of such luck coming to me. It is just too wonderful!" + +"Barbara Thurston, will you be quiet and tell me what has happened to +you?" Ruth insisted. "You haven't lost your wits, have you, child?" + +"No, I have found them," Bab declared. "More wits than I ever dreamed I +had. Now, Ruth, don't be cross with me because I never confided this to +you before. But I have not told a single person until to-day, not even +Mother or Mollie. Months before I came to Washington, just before school +commenced, I saw a notice in a newspaper, saying that a prize would be +given for a short story written by a schoolgirl between the ages of +sixteen and eighteen. So, up in the little attic at Laurel Cottage, I +wrote a story. I worked on it for days and days, and then I sent it off +to the publisher. I was ashamed to tell any one that I had written it, +and never dreamed I should hear of it again. But now I have won the prize +of fifty dollars," + +Bab stood up on the bed waving her check in one hand and, holding +the skirt of her blue kimono in the other, executed a few jubilant +dance steps. + +"Oh, Barbara, I am so proud!" Ruth rejoined, looking fully as happy as +Bab. "Just think how clever you are! The fame of being an author is more +desirable than the money. I must tell Mollie and Grace all about it." + +[Illustration: "Oh, Ruth, I Am So Glad!"] + +But Mollie and Grace had been attracted by the excitement in the next +room, and now rushed in to hear the news. + +Mollie's eyes filled with tears as she embraced her sister. She knew how +Bab's fifty dollars must be used, and why her sister was so delighted +with her success. + +"What are you going to do with the fifty dollars, Bab?" Grace inquired. +"I suppose you will put it away for your college money." + +Bab did not reply. She was already longing for a little time to herself, +a pen, and ink and note paper. + +Harriet came in now with a message: + +"Children," she said, "it is time to dress for dinner. I have just had a +telephone call from Father. He is going out of town to-night, but Mrs. +Wilson is to stay with us. Father is not going until after dinner, and +Mrs. Wilson and Elmer and Peter Dillon will be here to dine with us. So +we shall have rather a jolly party. You girls had better dress." + +Harriet's was at once informed of Bab's good luck, and in offering +Barbara her congratulations she forgot to tell the rest of her story. + +Harriet had asked her father to come home half an hour before his guests +arrived. She had almost persuaded herself to make a full confession of +her fault. But the tangle of circumstance was not to be so easily +unraveled. + +Before Bab went down to dinner she slipped over to her desk and indorsed +the check, put it in an envelope, and hid the envelope inside her dress. +Her heart was lighter than it had been in weeks, for she believed her own +and Mollie's share in the Washington trouble was over. + +Mr. William Hamlin was late to dinner and his guests were compelled to +hurry through the meal on his account, as he wished to catch a special +train out of the city. But they had a gay dinner party nevertheless and +Harriet did not know whether she was sorry or glad that her confession +had been delayed. + +After Mr. Hamlin had said good-bye to his visitors Harriet followed her +father out into the hall. She thought if she told him of her fault just +before he went away his anger would have time to cool before he could +have opportunity to do more than reproach her for her extravagance. + +"Father," Harriet whispered timidly, "can't you wait a few minutes +longer? I told you there was something I had to tell you." + +Mr. Hamlin shook his head impatiently. "No, Harriet, this is not the time +nor the place for confidences. I am in far too much of a hurry. If you +want to ask me for money I positively haven't any to give you. Now run +on back to your guests." + +Harriet turned slowly away, and so Mr. Hamlin lost his chance to set +matters straight. + +Just before he went out the door, he called back to his daughter: + +"Oh, Harriet, I have left the key to my strong box on my study table. +Don't forget to put it away for me; it is most important that you do so, +for I really have not time to turn back." + +During the entire evening Peter Dillon devoted himself exclusively to +Harriet, and Bab was vastly relieved that he did not approach her. She +decided that he fully understood that she did not consider the pledge of +the faded rose-bud, binding. Mrs. Wilson had apparently forgotten Bab's +refusal of her request. She was as cordial to Barbara as she was to +Harriet, or to any of the "Automobile Girls." + +It was after midnight when Mrs. Wilson told Elmer and Peter that they +must both go home. Bab's envelope was still tucked inside her dress. She +had had no chance so far to give it to Mrs. Wilson. After Peter and Elmer +had gone, however, and the girls trooped upstairs to bed, laughing and +chatting gayly, Bab found a chance to slip the troublesome envelope into +Mrs. Wilson's hand. With a whispered, "In the envelope is a check for the +money I borrowed. I thank you so much for your kindness," Bab ran down +the hall to her own room, feeling more at ease in her mind than she had +since Mollie's confession. + +As for Harriet, she was so fully occupied with her guests that her +father's command to secure the key of his strong box, which he had left +on his study table, slipped from her mind and she retired without giving +the matter a second thought. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE WHITE VEIL + + +Long after every one had retired Ruth Stuart lay wide awake. Try as she +might, sleep refused to visit her eyelids. At last, after she had counted +innumerable sheep and was wider awake than ever, she resolved to go and +waken Bab. Ruth moved about in the dark carefully, in order not to arouse +Grace, with whom she roomed, found her dressing-gown and slippers, and +tip-toed softly into Barbara's room. She knew that Barbara would not +resent being awakened even at that unseasonable hour. + +"Barbara, are you awake?" she whispered, coming up to Bab's bed and +laying a gentle hand on her friend's face. "I want to talk with you +and I am so thirsty. Won't you come downstairs with me to get a drink +of water?" + +Bab turned over sleepily and yawned: "Isn't there always some water in +the hall, Ruth? I am so tired I can't wake up," she declared. + +But Ruth gave her another shake. Barbara crawled slowly out of bed, while +Ruth found her bedroom slippers and wrapped her in her warm bathrobe. +Then both girls stole softly out into the dark hall. + +At the head of the stairs there was a broad landing. On this landing, +just under a stained glass window, there was a leather couch and a table, +which always held a pitcher of drinking water. On the window ledge the +servants were required to keep a candle, so that anyone who wished to do +so might find his way downstairs at night, without difficulty. + +The two girls made their way slowly to this spot, and Bab felt along the +sill for the candle. It was not in its accustomed place. + +"I can't find the candle, Ruth," Bab whispered. "But you know where to +find the water. Just fumble until you get hold of the pitcher." + +"Won't you have a glass of water?" Ruth invited, pushing the tumbler +under Bab's very nose. Then the two girls began to giggle softly. + +"No, thank you," Bab answered decidedly. "Come, thirsty maiden! Who took +me from my nice warm bed? Ruth Stuart! Let's go back upstairs and get to +sleep again in a hurry." + +But for answer, Ruth drew Barbara down on the old leather couch in the +complete darkness and put her arms about her. + +"Don't go back to bed, Bab. I'm not a bit sleepy. That's why I dragged +you out of bed. I couldn't go to sleep and I just had to have company. Be +a nice Bab and let's sit here and exchange conversation." + +"All right," Bab replied amiably, snuggling up closer to her friend. +"Dear me, isn't it cold and dark and quiet out here!" + +Ruth gave a faint shiver. Then both girls sat absolutely still without +speaking or moving--they had heard an unmistakable sound in the hall +below them. The noise was so slight it could hardly be called a sound. +Yet even this slight movement did not belong to the night and the silence +of the sleeping household. + +The sound was repeated. Then a stillness followed, more absolute +than before. + +"Is it a burglar, Bab?" Ruth breathed. + +Barbara's hand pressure meant they must listen and wait. "It may be +possible," Bab thought, "that a dog or cat has somehow gotten into the +house downstairs." + +At this, the girls left the sofa and, going over to the banister, peered +cautiously down into the darkness. + +This time the two girls saw a light that shone like a flame in the +darkness below. Quietly there floated into their line of vision something +white, ethereal--perchance a spirit from another world. It vanished and +the blackness was again unbroken. The figure had seemed strangely tall. +It appeared to swim along, rather than to walk, draperies as fine as mist +hanging about it. + +"What on earth was that, Barbara?" Ruth queried, more curious than +frightened by the apparition. "If I believed in spirits I might think we +had just seen the ghost of Harriet's mother. Harriet's old black Mammy +has always said that Aunt Hattie comes back at night to guard Harriet, if +she is in any special trouble or danger." + +"I suppose we had better go downstairs and find out what we have seen," +whispered more matter-of-fact Bab. "Mr. Hamlin is not here. I don't think +there is any sense in our arousing the family until we know something +more. I should not like to frighten Mrs. Wilson and Harriet for nothing." + +The two girls slipped downstairs without making a sound. Everything on +the lower floor seemed dark and quiet. Ruth and Bab both began to think +they had been haunted by a dream. They were on their way upstairs again, +when Ruth suddenly turned and glanced behind her. + +"Bab," she whispered, clutching at Barbara's bathrobe until that young +woman nearly tumbled backwards down the steps, "there is a light in +Uncle's study! I suppose it is Harriet who is down there." + +It flashed across Bab's mind to wonder, oddly, if Harriet's visit to her +father's study at night could have anything to do with her debt to her +dressmaker of five hundred dollars! For Mollie had reported to her sister +that Harriet was feeling desperate over her unpleasant situation. + +"If it is Harriet downstairs I don't think we ought to go down," Bab +objected. "We would frighten her if we walked in on her so unexpectedly." + +"Harriet ought not to be alone downstairs," Ruth insisted. "Uncle would +not like it. I am going to peep in on her, and then make her come on +upstairs to bed." + +Ruth led the way, with Bab at her heels. But it occurred to Barbara that +the midnight visitor to Mr. Hamlin's study might be some one other than +his daughter. Bab did not know whether Mr. Hamlin kept any money in his +strong box in the study. She and Ruth were both unarmed, and might be +approaching an unknown danger. Quick as a flash Bab arranged a little +scheme of defense. + +There were two old-fashioned square stools placed on opposite sides of +the hall. Without a word to Ruth, who was intent on her errand, Bab drew +out these two stools and placed them side by side in the immediate centre +of the hall. Any one who tried to escape from the study would stumble +over these stools and at once alarm the household. Of course, if Bab and +Ruth found Harriet in her father's study Bab could warn them of her trap. + +"What shall we do, Bab?" Ruth asked when Barbara joined her. "The light +is still shining in the study. But I do not want to knock on the door; it +would frighten Harriet. And it would terrify her even more if we walked +right into the study out of this darkness. But we can't wait out here all +night. I am catching cold." + +Barbara did not reply. They were in a difficult situation. Suppose +Harriet were in the study? They did not wish to frighten her. In case the +veiled figure was not Harriet any speech of theirs would give their +presence away. + +"I think we had better open the door quickly and rush in," Ruth now +decided. "Then Harriet can see at once who we are." + +Without waiting for further consultation with Bab, Ruth flung wide the +study door. + +In the same instant the light in the room went out like a flash. + +"Harriet, is that you?" Ruth faltered. There was no answer, save some +one's quick breathing. Ruth and Bab could both perceive that an +absolutely white figure was crouched in a corner of the room in the dark. + +Bab moved cautiously toward the spot where she knew an electric light +swung just above Mr. Hamlin's desk. But it was so dark that she had to +move her hand gropingly above her head, for a moment, in order to locate +the light. + +The veiled being in the corner must have guessed her motive. Like a +zephyr it floated past the two girls. So light and swift was its movement +that Bab's hand was arrested in its design. Surely a ghost, not a human +creature, had passed by them. + +The next sound that Ruth and Bab heard was not ghostlike. It was very +human. First came a crash, then a cry of terror and surprise. + +At the same moment Bab found the light she sought, turned it on, and Ruth +rushed out into the hall. + +There on the floor Ruth discovered a jumble of stools and white +draperies. And, shaking with the shock of her fall and forced +laughter, was--not Harriet, but her guest, Mrs. Wilson! She had a long +white chiffon veil over her head, a filmy shawl over her shoulders, +and a white gown. With her white hair she made a very satisfactory +picture of a ghost. + +"My dear Mrs. Wilson!" cried Ruth, in horrified tones, "What has happened +to you? Were you walking in your sleep! Do let me help you up. I did not +know these stools were out here where you could stumble over them." + +Bab stood gravely looking on at the scene without expressing such +marked surprise. + +Mrs. Wilson gave one curious, malignant glance at Bab, then she smiled: + +"Help me up, children. I am fairly caught in my crime." + +Bab took hold of Mrs. Wilson by one arm, Ruth grasped her by the other, +and they both struggled to lift her. Mrs. Wilson gave a slight groan as +she got fairly on her feet. Her right hand clutched Bab for added +support. In falling over the stools Mrs. Wilson had given her knee a +severe wrench. + +At the moment she staggered, Barbara saw a large, oblong envelope fall to +the floor from under Mrs. Wilson's soft white draperies. + +"What is the trouble?" called Harriet, Mollie and Grace, poking their +three sleepy heads over the banisters. + +At this interruption Bab stooped down and quickly caught up the envelope, +while Mrs. Wilson's attention was distracted by the three girls who were +rapidly descending the steps. + +"Mrs. Wilson came downstairs for something," Ruth explained in her quiet, +well-bred fashion. "Bab and I heard a noise and, as we did not recognize +her, we followed her. We frightened Mrs. Wilson so that she stumbled over +these stools out in the hall. I am afraid she is a little hurt. I think +you had better call the servants, Harriet." + +Ruth did not, for an instant, let the surprise she felt at Mrs. Wilson's +extraordinary conduct appear in her voice. + +"No, don't call any of the servants to-night, Harriet," Mrs. Wilson +demurred. "I am all right now. I owe you children an apology for my +conduct to-night and also an explanation. But I think I can explain +everything much more satisfactorily if we wait until morning. I think +Miss Thurston already understands my escapade. I have taken her into my +confidence." + +Mrs. Wilson directed at Barbara a glance so compelling that it was +almost hypnotic. + +Bab did not return her look or make any answer. + +A little while later Barbara disappeared. She went back alone to Mr. +Hamlin's study. On top of his desk she discovered a box about a foot and +a half long. It had been opened and a key was lying beside it on the +desk. Barbara could see that there was no money in the box, only a +collection of papers. Bab returned the long envelope, which she had found +at Mrs. Wilson's feet in the hall to its place, turned the key in the +lock of the box, and then carried the key upstairs, intending to hand it +over to Harriet. But Bab did not know whether or not she ought to explain +to Harriet how she had come by the key. + +Harriet was in the room with Mrs. Wilson, seeing her guest to bed for the +second time, when Barbara went upstairs. Bab had no desire to face Mrs. +Wilson again that night. The distrust of the woman that was deepening in +the girl's mind was too great to conceal. + +"Come into my room in the morning before breakfast, Harriet, dear," Mrs. +Wilson entreated, as she kissed her young hostess good night. "I know you +will forgive my foolishness, when I have had a little talk with you. It +is too late now for explanations." + +It was between two and three o'clock in the morning before the household +of the Assistant Secretary of State again settled itself to sleep. Under +her pillow Barbara Thurston had the key to Mr. William Hamlin's strong +box, in which valuable state papers were sometimes temporarily placed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TANGLED WEB OF CIRCUMSTANCE + + +Harriet Hamlin spent half an hour in the room with Mrs. Wilson before she +came down to the breakfast table the next morning. + +"It is all right, girls," she announced promptly, as soon as the maid +left the room. "Mrs. Wilson is going to have her breakfast in bed. She is +a little upset by the happenings of last night. But she has explained +everything to me. For some time, Mrs. Wilson has been trying to play a +joke on Father, and last night she made another attempt. I promised her +none of us would mention to him what had occurred. Will you give me your +word, all of you, not to tell?" + +"Certainly, Harriet," Ruth agreed seriously. The other three "Automobile +Girls" quietly nodded their heads. + +"I don't know that I quite approve of Mrs. Wilson's method of practical +joking," Harriet went on. "She frightened all of us. But then, if no one +had discovered her, no harm would have been done." + +Mollie and Grace gazed at Harriet, without trying to conceal their +surprise, but Ruth and Bab only looked steadfastly at their plates. + +"Father is so strict and good all the time, I just wish somebody would +play a trick on him," Harriet went on angrily. She was annoyed at the +attitude of the "Automobile Girls," and she was still smarting under the +hurt of her father's speech the night before. As long as her father had +refused her money before she had even asked him for it, Harriet had +decided that it would be worse than useless to appeal to him again. She +was now waiting for disaster to break over her head. + +"Mrs. Wilson rather blames you, Barbara," Harriet continued. "She says +she did not succeed in her joke, after all, because you came down +stairs at the wrong time and foiled the whole thing. She could not find +the silly old paper she needed. But do please be quiet as mice about +the whole affair. Don't mention it before the servants. Father will be +home to-night. Will you girls mind excusing me for the day, and finding +some way of amusing yourselves? I have promised Mrs. Wilson to go home +with her." + +"Of course we can get along, Harriet," Grace replied. "I hope you will +have a good time." + +Bab made no answer to Harriet's report of Mrs. Wilson's attitude toward +her. But she was convinced that Mrs. Wilson knew she had discovered the +stolen paper and returned it to its rightful place. + +The "Automobile Girls" did not see Harriet again that morning. + +At noon a message was sent upstairs. Mr. William Hamlin had returned and +wished to see his daughter at once. When he learned that Harriet was not +at home, he immediately sent for Ruth. + +"Ruth, I have come home sooner than I had planned," he declared, "And I +wish to have a talk with you. Now, please keep your self-control. Girls +and women have such a fashion of flying into a rage at the first word one +says, that it is perfectly impossible to have any reasonable conversation +with them. I wish to talk with you quite quietly and calmly." + +"Very well, Uncle," Ruth replied, meekly enough, though she was far from +feeling meek. She could readily understand why Harriet had found it +impossible to make a confidant of her father. + +"I am glad you are so sensible, Ruth," Mr. Hamlin went on. "For I have +reason to believe that your friend, Barbara Thurston, has proved herself +an undesirable guest, since her arrival in Washington, which I very much +deplore. She is dishonorable, for she has secretly entered my study and +been seen handling my papers, and she has contracted a debt; for I saw +the check by means of which she returned the borrowed money to Mrs. +Wilson. I cannot understand how you and your father have managed to be so +deceived by the young woman." + +"Stop, Uncle William," Ruth interrupted hotly. "I cannot, of course, tell +you that the things which you say are untrue. But at least I have the +right to say that I positively know you are wrong. I shall ask Barbara to +come down to your study, at once, to deny these charges. Then we shall go +home immediately." + +"There, Ruth, I expected it," Mr. Hamlin answered testily. "Just as I +said. You have gone off the handle at once. Of course your young friend +may have some plausible explanation for her actions. But I will not be +guilty of making any accusations against a guest in my own house under +any circumstances. I have only mentioned these facts to you because I +feel that it is my positive duty to warn you against this girl, whom you +have chosen for your most intimate friend. It is impossible that I have +been deceived in regard to her. I have positive proof of what I say, and +I sadly fear she is a very headstrong and misguided girl." + +Ruth was already crying from anger, which made it hard for her to answer +her uncle's speech. "You certainly don't object to my telling Barbara of +your accusations, Uncle William?" Ruth demanded. "I think it is only +fair to her." + +"Not while she is in my house. You are to tell her nothing," Mr. Hamlin +ordered. "When Miss Thurston leaves you may tell her whatever you wish. +But I will not have a scene with her while she is staying here." + +Mr. Hamlin was a cold, selfish and arrogant man. He well deserved the +blow to his pride that he was to receive later. + +Ruth controlled herself in order to think deeply and quietly. Her father +was wise in his trust in her. Ruth had excellent judgment and good +sense. She was not particularly impressed by her uncle's command. She +felt that she had a perfect right to tell her friend of what she had +been accused. Yet would it be a good idea? Barbara would be +heart-broken, and nothing would induce her to remain in Mr. Hamlin's +house another hour after she learned his opinion of her. Ruth knew it +would not be well for Bab to rush off home in sudden anger, leaving a +false impression behind her. Barbara must stay in Mr. Hamlin's house +until he himself apologized to her. + +Ruth did not dare to go back upstairs to the other girls immediately +after her interview with her uncle. She knew her friends would recognize +at once, from her red eyes and her excitement, that something was the +matter. Yet Ruth longed for a confidant, and she meant to unburden +herself to Grace as soon as she had the opportunity. To go upstairs now +would reveal everything to Mollie and Barbara as well. + +Ruth seized her coat and hat from a closet in the hall and rushed out +into the street. She began walking as rapidly as she could, to let the +fresh air cool the tumult of feeling that was surging within her. Ruth +must have walked a mile before she determined what to do. Before she +returned to Mr. Hamlin's house, she found a telegraph office and went +into it. She sent a telegram to her father in Chicago, which read: + +"Come to Washington as soon as possible. Bab wrongly suspected. She is +still in ignorance, but we need you. + +"Ruth Stuart." + +Little did Ruth yet dream why these toils were being wound about +unhappy Barbara. Mollie's one act of weakness had involved her sister in +a number of actions that did look wrong to an outsider. Yet the +explanation of them was so simple, if Bab had only known it were best for +her to tell the whole story! But Barbara was trying to shield Mollie, and +Mollie did not dream that Bab would suffer any consequences from her +foolish deed. So Bab's peculiar proceedings since her arrival in +Washington had indeed played well into the hands of her enemies. Mr. +Hamlin's mind had been poisoned against her. She had been seen to do +several underhanded things, one following directly after the other. If a +big game were being attempted, the reputation of Barbara Thurston was of +little account. Besides Bab had already blocked several of the players in +the game. Revenge could very well enter into the present scheme of +things, and a girl who had no one to defend her might prove a useful +tool. As a last resort she could be made a scapegoat. + +In the meanwhile, Barbara was blissfully unconscious of any trouble, and +went singing cheerily about her room that morning. Since the delivery of +her check to Mrs. Wilson it seemed to her that the skies were blue again. +During the rest of her stay in Washington Bab meant just to enjoy the +beautiful sights of the wonderful city and not to trouble about the +disagreeable people. She did intend to ask Harriet to take her to see the +cunning little Chinese girl, Wee Tu, before she went home, but she had no +other very definite desires. + +As for Mrs. Wilson? Barbara had just wisely decided that the woman +belonged to a curious type, which she did not understand and wished to +keep away from. Bab did not admire Mrs. Wilson's methods of playing +jokes. On the other hand it was none of Barbara Thurston's business. So +long as she had put the paper back in Mr. Hamlin's strong box no harm had +been done. + +Barbara still had in her possession the key to that strong box. She had +neglected to give it to Harriet, because Harriet had left home so soon +after breakfast. And now that very terrifying person, Mr. William +Hamlin, had returned home, and Barbara Thurston still had the key in her +possession. Even Ruth had gone out. What should she do? She decided to +keep the key until Harriet came back in the afternoon. Then Harriet could +make some sort of explanation to her father. Barbara simply did not have +the courage to tell Mr. Hamlin that she had discovered Mrs. Wilson +tampering with his papers, and that it was she who had found the stolen +paper and locked it up again. + +However, fate was certainly against Bab at the present time. A +servant knocked at the door of the next room, where Grace and Mollie +were reading. + +"Please," the maid said, "Mr. Hamlin wants to know if Miss Harriet +left a key with you? It is a most important key, and Mr. Hamlin needs +it at once." + +Grace and Mollie both shook their heads. No; Harriet had mentioned no +such key to them. + +Barbara was waiting in the next room with the door open. She knew her +turn would come next. + +"Do you know anything of the key, Miss Barbara?" Harriet's maid inquired. + +Of course Bab blushed. She always did at the wrong time. + +"Yes, I have the key, Mary," she replied. "Wait a minute, I will get +it for you." + +"Do the young ladies know anything of my key?" Mr. William Hamlin's +impatient voice was heard just outside Barbara's door. + +Innocently the maid opened it. "Wait a minute, Mr. Hamlin, please. Miss +Thurston says she has the key. She is getting it for you now." + +And Barbara had to come to the door herself to present the key to this +dreadful old "Bluebeard." + +"I presume my daughter left my key in your charge," Mr. Hamlin +asked coldly. + +"No," she declared almost under her breath, hoping her stern host would +either not hear her, or at least not heed her. "Harriet did not leave +it with me." + +"Then kindly tell me how my key came into your possession?" Mr. Hamlin +inquired, in chilling, even tones. Bab shivered. + +"I found it," Bab answered lamely, having it in mind to tell the whole +strange story of last night's experience. But she was too frightened by +Mr. Hamlin's manner and by the fear that she would be regarded as a +telltale by Harriet. If Mr. Hamlin's own daughter had not considered her +guest's actions unusual, it was not exactly Bab's place to report them. +So she remained silent, and her host also turned away in silence. + +Harriet did not come home until just before dinner time. She told the +"Automobile Girls" she had spent a delightful day, but her behavior was +unusual. She looked frightened, though at the same time happier than she +had seemed since the hour she had received the first threatening letter +from her dressmaker. + +Peter Dillon had walked home with Harriet. Barbara, who happened to be +standing at the front window, saw them stop to talk for a moment at the +door before Peter said good-bye. Peter was making himself very charming +to Harriet. He was talking to her in his half laughing, half earnest +fashion in the very manner that had seemed so attractive to Bab, too, +at first. But it was a manner she had learned later on to distrust and +even to fear. + +When Harriet parted from Peter Dillon she nodded her head emphatically +and apparently made him a promise, and Barbara saw Peter look back at her +with a peculiar smile as she ascended the steps. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HARRIET IN DANGER + + +Harriet Hamlin was restless and nervous all the next day. Even Mr. +Hamlin, noticing his daughter's nervous manner at luncheon, suggested +that she take her friends out to pay some calls. So Bab put forth her +plea that she wished to make another visit to the home of the Chinese +minister. As the girls had not yet paid their luncheon call at the +embassy Harriet agreed to take them to see Wee Tu. Before she left the +house Harriet called up her dressmaker and had a long confidential talk +with her over the telephone. She seemed in better spirits afterwards. + +The Chinese minister's wife, Lady Tu, was receiving. As there were no men +in the drawing-room, her daughter, Wee Tu, sat among the young girls as +quiet and demure as a picture on a fan. + +Bab managed to persuade the little girl into a corner to have a quiet +chat with her. But Miss Wee Tu was difficult to draw out. Across the +room, Harriet Hamlin chanced to mention the name of Peter Dillon. At +once the little Chinese girl's expression changed. The change was very +slight. Hardly a shade of emotion crossed her unexpressive, Oriental +face, but curious Barbara was watching for that very change. She +remembered the young girl had been affected by Peter's appearance during +their former visit. + +"Do you like Mr. Dillon?" inquired Bab. She had no excuse for her +question except her own wilful curiosity. + +But Wee Tu was not to be caught napping. + +"Lige?" she answered, with a soft rising inflection that made the "k" in +"like" sound as "g." "I do not know what Americans mean by the +word--'Lige.' You 'lige' so many people. A Chinese girl 'liges' only a +few--her parents, her relatives; sometimes she 'liges' her husband, but +not always." + +"Don't like your husband!" exclaimed Bab in surprise. "Why, what do +you mean?" + +The little Chinese maiden was confused both by the American word and the +American idea. + +"The Chinese girl has respect for her husband; she does what he tells her +to do, but she does not all the time 'lige' him, because her father has +chosen him for her husband. I shall marry a prince, when I go back to +China, but he is 'verra' old." + +"Oh, I see!" Bab rejoined. "You thought I meant 'love' when I said +'like.' It is quite different to love a person." Bab smiled wisely. "To +love is to like a great deal." + +"Then I love this Mr. Peter Dillon," said the Chinese girl sweetly. + +Bab gasped in shocked surprise. + +"It is most improper that I say so, is it not?" smiled Miss Wee Tu. "But +so many things that American girls do seem improper to Chinese ladies. +And I do like this Mr. Peter very much. He comes always to our house. He +is 'verra' intimate with my father. He talks to him a long, long time and +they have Chinese secrets together. Then he talks with me so that I can +understand him. Many people will not trouble with a Chinese girl, who is +only fifteen, even if her father is a minister." + +Barbara was overwhelmed with Wee Tu's confidence, but she knew she +deserved it as a punishment for her curiosity. The strangest thing was +that the young Chinese girl spoke in a low, even voice, without the least +change of expression in her long, almond eyes. Any one watching her would +have thought she was talking of the weather. + +"I go back to China when my father's time in the United States is over +and then I get married. It makes no difference. But while I am in your +country I play I am free, like an American girl, and I do what I like +inside my own head." + +"It's very wrong," Barbara argued hastily. "It is much better to trust to +your parents." + +"Yes?" answered Wee Tu quietly. Bab was vexed that Peter Dillon's +careless Irish manners had also charmed this little Oriental maiden. But +Bab was wise enough to understand that Wee Tu's interest was only that of +a child who was grateful to the young man for his kindness. + +Barbara rose to join her friends, who were at this moment saying good-bye +to their hostess. + +"It is the Chinese custom," Lady Tu remarked graciously, "to make little +presents to our guests. Will not Mr. Hamlin's daughter and her four +friends receive these poor offerings?" + +A servant handed the girls five beautiful, carved tortoise shell boxes, +containing exquisite sets of combs for their hair, the half dozen or more +that Chinese women wear. + +"I felt ashamed of my wind-blown hair when Lady Tu presented us with +these combs," Grace exclaimed, just before the little party reached home. +They had paid a dozen more calls since their visit to the Chinese +Embassy. "I suppose Chinese women are shocked at the way American girls +wear their hair." + +"Yes, but we can't take three hours to fix ours," laughed Mollie, running +up the steps of the Hamlin house. In the front hall Mollie spied an +immense box of roses. They were for Harriet. Harriet picked up the box +languidly and started upstairs. She had talked very little during the +afternoon, and had seemed unlike herself. + +"Aren't you going to open your flowers, Harriet?" Mollie pleaded. "I am +crazy to see them." + +"I'll open them if it pleases you, Mollie," Harriet returned gently. The +great box was crowded with long-stemmed American beauties and violets. + +"Have some posies, girls?" Harriet said generously, holding out her arms +filled with flowers. For a long time afterwards the "Automobile Girls" +remembered how beautiful Harriet looked as she stood there, her face very +pale, her black hair and hat outlined against the dark oak woodwork with +the great bunch of American beauties in her arms. + +"Of course we don't want your posies, Lady Harriet," Mollie answered +affectionately. "Here is the note to tell you who sent them to you." But +Harriet went on to her room without showing enough interest in her gift +to open the letter. + +After dinner Harriet complained of a headache, and went immediately to +her room. The "Automobile Girls" were going out to a theater party, which +was being given in their honor by their old friends, Mrs. Post and Hugh. +Harriet sent word she would have to be excused. When Ruth put her head +into Harriet's room to say good-bye, just before she started for the +theater, she thought she heard her cousin crying. + +"Harriet, dear, do let me stay with you," Ruth pleaded. "I am afraid you +are feeling worse than you will let us know." + +But Harriet insisted that she desired only to be left alone. Feeling +strangely unhappy about her cousin, Ruth, at last joined the +theater party. + +Mr. Hamlin did not leave the house immediately after dinner, although he +had an engagement to spend the evening at the home of Mrs. Wilson. She +had asked him, only that morning, to come. Mr. Hamlin was also troubled +about his daughter. He had not been so unobservant that he had not seen +the change in her. She was less animated, less talkative. Mr. Hamlin +feared Harriet was not well. Though he was stern and unsympathetic with +Harriet, he was genuinely frightened if she were in the least ill. + +So it was with unusual gentleness that he tapped lightly on +Harriet's door. + +"I am all right, Mary, thank you," Harriet replied, believing her maid +to be outside. "Go to bed whenever you please. I shall fall asleep +after a while." + +Mr. Hamlin cleared his throat and Harriet started nervously. Why was her +father standing outside her door? Had he learned of her bill to her +dressmaker? + +"I do not wish to disturb you, Harriet," Mr. Hamlin began awkwardly. "I +only desired to know if I could do anything for you." + +"No, Father," poor Harriet replied wearily. As Mr. Hamlin turned away, +she sprang up and started to run after him. At her own door she stopped. +She heard her father's stern voice giving an order to a servant, and her +sudden resolution died within her. A few moments later the front door +closed behind him and her opportunity had passed. + +An hour afterwards, when the house was quiet and the servants nowhere +about, Harriet Hamlin slipped cautiously downstairs. She was gone only a +few minutes. But when she came back to her own room, she opened a private +drawer in her bureau and hid something in it. Harriet then threw herself +on her bed and lay for a long time with her eyes wide open, staring +straight ahead of her. + +Just before midnight, when she heard the gay voices of her friends +returning from the theater, and when Ruth tripped softly to her bedroom, +Harriet lay with closed eyes, apparently fast asleep. + +The next morning Harriet was really ill. Her hand trembled so while she +poured the breakfast coffee that she spilled some of it on the +tablecloth. When Mr. Hamlin spoke to her sharply she burst into tears and +left the room, leaving her father ashamed of himself, and the "Automobile +Girls" so embarrassed that they ate the rest of their breakfast in +painful silence. Ruth did dart one indignant glance at her uncle, which +Mr. Hamlin saw, but did not in his heart resent. + +Harriet was willing, that morning, to have Ruth come into her darkened +bedroom and sit by her bed. For Harriet's wakeful night had left her +slightly feverish. + +"I don't want to disturb you, Harriet," Bab apologized, coming softly to +the door. "But some one has just telephoned for you. The person at the +telephone has a message for you, but whoever it is refuses to give his +name. What shall I do!" + +Harriet sat up in bed, quickly, a hunted expression on her beautiful +face. "Tell Mr. Peter Dillon that I will keep my word," Harriet answered +angrily. "He is not to worry about me again." + +"Is that your message?" Bab queried wonderingly. "It was not Mr. +Dillon's voice." + +Harriet laughed hysterically. "Of course not!" she returned. "Oh, I know +you girls are wondering why I am behaving so strangely. And I am +breaking my word to tell you. But I must tell some one. I don't care +what Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon say, I know I can trust you. I have +decided to help Mrs. Wilson and Peter play their silly joke on Father +and the State Department! Oh, you needn't look so horrified, girls. It +is only a joke. The papers are about some Chinese business. I have them +hid in my bureau drawer." + +Harriet nodded toward her dressing-table, while Ruth and Bab stood +looking at each other, speechless with horror, the same idea growing in +their minds. + +"When Father comes to look for his stupid papers he'll find them gone, +and, of course, will think he has misplaced them," Harriet continued. "He +will be dreadfully worried for a little while; then Mrs. Wilson will +return the papers to me and I will slip them back in their old place, and +Father will never know what has happened. Mrs. Wilson and Peter have +vowed they will never betray me, and I have promised not to betray them. +If I were to be caught, I suppose Father would never forgive me. But I'll +take good care that he doesn't find out about it." + +"Harriet, do please give up this foolish plan!" Ruth entreated earnestly. +"I know you are doing something wrong. Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Dillon both +know that Uncle William's papers are too valuable to be played with. Why, +they belong to the United States Government, not to him! Harriet, I +implore you, do not touch your father's papers!" + +Harriet shook her head obstinately. She was absolutely adamant. Ruth +pleaded, scolded, in vain. Bab did not say a word nor enter a protest. +She was too frightened. All of a sudden a veil had been rent asunder. Now +she believed she understood what Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson had planned +from the beginning. They were spies in the service of some higher power. +The papers that Harriet thought were to be used for a joke on her father +were really to be sold! Was not some state secret to be betrayed? Ever +since Bab's arrival in Washington it had looked as though Peter Dillon +and Mrs. Wilson had been working toward this very end. Having failed with +her they had turned their attention to poor Harriet. But Mrs. Wilson and +Peter Dillon must be only hired tools! Shrewdly Barbara Thurston recalled +her recent conversation with innocent Wee Tu: "Mr. Dillon and my father, +they have Chinese secrets together." Could a certain distinguished and +wisely silent Oriental gentleman be responsible for the thrilling drama +about to be enacted? Bab was never to know positively, and she wisely +kept her suspicion to herself. + +"I do wish, Ruth, you and Bab would go away and leave me alone," Harriet +protested. "I shall be well enough to get up for luncheon, if you will +let me take a nap. I don't see any harm in playing this joke on Father. +At any rate, I have quite made up my mind to go through with my part in +it and I won't give up my plan. You can tell Father if you choose, of +course. I cannot prevent that. I know I was foolish to have confided in +you. But, unless you are despicable tale bearers, the papers in my bureau +drawer will go out of this house in a few hours! I don't see any harm in +their disappearing for a little while. Father will have them back in a +few days. Please go!" + +Yet with all Harriet's air of bravado, however, there was one point in +her story which she did not mention. In return for her delivery of +certain of her father's state papers Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon had +promised to advance to Harriet the five hundred dollars necessary to pay +her dressmaker. Harriet had agreed only to receive it as a loan. And she +tried to comfort herself with the idea that her friends were only doing +her a kindness in exchange for the favor she was to do for them. Still, +the thought of the money worried Harriet. But how else was she to be +saved from the weight of her stern father's displeasure? + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FOILED! + + +At Harriet's request Bab and Ruth went silently out of her room, their +faces white and frightened. + +"Ruth, is there any place where we can be alone?" Barbara whispered +faintly. "I must talk with you." + +Ruth nodded, and the two friends found their way into the library, +turning the key in the lock. Then they stood facing each other, +speechless, for a moment, from the very intensity of their feelings. + +"Ruth, you must do something," Bab entreated. "The papers that Mrs. +Wilson and Mr. Dillon are making Harriet get for them they do not intend +to use for a joke. Oh, Ruth, they are no doubt important state papers! +Harriet may be betraying her country and ruining her father by placing +these papers in their hands." + +"I think, too, that Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon are spies," Ruth +returned more quietly. "And, of course, we must do something to prevent +their getting their hands on the papers." + +"But what can we do?" Barbara demanded sharply. "We cannot tell Mr. +Hamlin of Harriet's deed. It would be too cruel of us. Nor can we +confront Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon with the accusation. They would +only laugh at us, and declare that we were mad to have imagined any such +thing. Then, again, we would be betraying Harriet's confidence. We do not +know just what state papers Harriet is to give to them, but they must be +very, very valuable. I suppose those dreadful people will have the papers +copied, sell our country's secret, and return the papers to Harriet when +all the mischief has been done. Ruth, I believe, now, that Mrs. Wilson +and Peter Dillon both meant to make me steal Mr. Hamlin's papers. Then +they would have declared I had sold them to some one. And Mr. Hamlin +would never have suspected his friends. Now, they think poor Harriet will +be too much afraid to betray them." + +Bab's voice trembled slightly. She realized how nearly she had been the +dupe of these two clever schemers. She felt that she and Ruth must save +Harriet at all events. + +"Mrs. Wilson tried to steal Mr. Hamlin's papers the night she masqueraded +as a ghost," Barbara continued. "I picked up the envelope she dropped on +the floor in the hall." + +"I know it, Barbara," Ruth answered in her self-controlled fashion, +which always had a calming effect on the more impetuous Bab. "I also +believe Mrs. Wilson meant to fix the guilt of the theft upon you. Uncle +William called me into his study the other day and asked me if I +considered you trustworthy. Of course I was awfully indignant and told +him just what I thought of him for being so suspicious. But I believe +Mrs. Wilson had tried to poison his mind against you. You must be on +your guard now, Bab, dear. If Harriet gives up these papers of Uncle's +the plotters may still try to use you as their scapegoat. When Uncle +finds his papers have disappeared Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Dillon will, of +course, appear to know nothing of them; but they will somehow try to +direct suspicion against you, trusting to Harriet's cowardice. Don't you +worry though, Bab, dear. You shall not suffer for Harriet's fault while +I am here." + +"Oh, I am not worrying about myself, Ruth," Bab answered. "It is +Harriet's part in the affair that troubles me. Do, please, go to Harriet +and talk to her again. Surely you can make her see the risk she is +running. Do you suppose it would do any good if I were to call on Mrs. +Wilson? I could just pretend I still thought she meant to play the joke +on Mr. Hamlin. You know she told me she intended to do so. I could beg +her to give it up without mentioning Harriet's name or letting Mrs. +Wilson guess that Harriet had confided in us." + +Ruth shook her head. "It would not do any good for you to go to Mrs. +Wilson, Bab. And, somehow, I am afraid for you. We do not know how much +further they intend to involve you in their plot." + +"Oh, they won't do me any harm, now," Barbara rejoined. "Anyhow, I am +willing to take the risk, if Harriet will not give in." + +"Just wait here, Bab, until I have been to see Harriet again," Ruth +entreated. "I will go down on my knees to her, if I can persuade her to +give up this wicked deed. Oh, why is she so determined to be so reckless +and so foolish?" + +Fifteen minutes afterwards Ruth came back from her second interview with +Harriet, looking utterly discouraged. "Harriet simply won't give up," +Ruth reported to Bab. "She is absolutely determined to go her own way, +and she is angry with me for interfering. Oh, Bab, what will happen? +Uncle is so proud! If his daughter is known to have given Mrs. Wilson and +Peter Dillon state papers, the report will be circulated that she stole +them, and Uncle William will be disgraced. Then, what will become of +Harriet? She does not intend to do wrong. But I simply can't make her +see this thing as we see it. So what can we do?" Unusually +self-contained, Ruth broke down, now, weeping on Bab's shoulder. The +thought of the dreadful disgrace to her uncle and her cousin was more +than she could face. + +"I am going to see Mrs. Wilson, Ruth," Bab declared. "You had better +stay here and do your best with Harriet. The papers are not to be +delivered until four this afternoon, when, I believe, Harriet is to meet +Peter Dillon. Of course it was he who telephoned Harriet, only he was +clever enough to disguise his voice. So we have until afternoon to work. +Don't worry yourself sick. We simply must save Harriet in some way. I +don't pretend that I see the way clearly yet, but I have faith that it +will come. I cannot do any harm by going to Mrs. Wilson, and I may do +some good." + +"I don't like you to go there alone, Bab," Ruth faltered. "But I don't +dare to leave Harriet by herself. She might find a way to give up the +papers while we were out, and then all would be lost!" + +When Bab rang the bell at the door of Mrs. Wilson's home she did not know +that her approach had been watched. She meant to be very careful during +her interview, for she realized that she and Ruth were endeavoring to +foil two brilliant and unscrupulous enemies. + +Mrs. Wilson and Peter were in the library, and through the window Mrs. +Wilson had watched Bab approaching the house. + +"Here comes that tiresome Thurston girl, whom you were going to use as +your tool, Peter," teased Mrs. Wilson. "She wasn't so easy to manage as +you thought, was she? Never mind; she will still be used as our +scapegoat. But I shall not see her this morning. What's the use?" + +"Let her come in, by all means, Mrs. Wilson," Peter Dillon urged. "I +shall hide so that she will not see me. What would fall in with our plans +better than to have this girl come here to-day! Who knows how this visit +may be made to count against her? Of course, if suspicion never points to +us we had best never mention the name of Barbara Thurston. But--if Mr. +Hamlin ever questions you, why not say Miss Thurston came here to-day and +betrayed the fact to you that she had stolen Mr. Hamlin's papers? We have +circumstantial evidence enough against her." + +Bab found Mrs. Wilson very much surprised to see her, and looking very +languid and bored. + +Straightforward Barbara rushed headlong into her request. + +"Really, Miss Thurston, don't you think you are rather impertinent?" +drawled her hostess, when Bab finished. "I don't see what business it is +of yours whether or not I wish to play a joke on my friend, Mr. Hamlin. +Don't try to get out of mischief by reporting to Mr. Hamlin the story of +my poor little joke. You can hardly save yourself by any such method. No +one will believe you. And I have an idea that you came to my house +to-day for a very different purpose than to persuade me to give up my +joke. What was it?" + +Bab was mystified. She had no idea how Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon had +planned to use her visit as evidence against her, so it was impossible +for her to understand Mrs. Wilson's insinuation. + +Barbara did not stay long. She saw Mrs. Wilson had no intention of being +persuaded from her design. Even though the woman was beginning to see +that Bab and Ruth were a little suspicious of her, she had no idea of +being frightened from her deep-laid scheme by two insignificant +schoolgirls. + +Barbara hurried to her car as fast as she could, anxious to get back to +Ruth and to devise some other move to checkmate the traitors. She even +hoped, against hope, that Harriet had been induced to change her mind and +that all would yet be well. But as Bab jumped aboard her car she saw +another girl, running down the street, waving something in the air and +evidently trying to induce Bab's street car to wait for her. Barbara +begged the conductor to hold the car for a moment, before she recognized +the figure, running toward them. But the next second she beheld the +ever-present newspaper girl, Marjorie Moore, tablet and pencil in hand, +completely out of breath and exhausted. Marjorie Moore could not speak +for some time after she had secured a seat next Bab in the car. + +"I have been watching Mrs. Wilson's house since eight o'clock this +morning," she finally gasped. "What on earth made you go in there?" + +"I can't tell you," Bab returned coldly. Not for anything in the world +would she have Marjorie Moore suspect what she and Ruth feared. + +Miss Moore gave a little, half amused, half sarcastic laugh. "You can't +tell? Oh, never mind, my dear. I know you are all right. You weren't +doing anything wrong. I expect you were trying to help set matters +straight. You don't need to tell me anything. I think I know all that is +necessary. Good-bye now. I must get off this car at the corner. Let me +tell you, however, not to worry, whatever happens. I am in possession of +all the facts, so there will be no trouble in proving them. But if +anything disagreeable happens to you," Marjorie Moore gave Bab a +reassuring smile, "telephone me, will you? My number is 1607, Union." + +Marjorie Moore rushed out of the street car as hurriedly as she had +entered it, before Bab could take in what she had said. + +Barbara puzzled all the rest of the way home. Could it be possible that +Marjorie Moore had discovered Mrs. Wilson's and Peter's plot? Could she +also have guessed Harriet's part in it? Bab shuddered, for she remembered +the newspaper girl's words to her on the night of their first meeting: +"If ever I have a chance to get even with Harriet Hamlin, won't I take my +revenge?" Did Marjorie Moore also suspect that an effort would be made to +draw Barbara into this whirlpool of disgrace? + +No one ate any luncheon at the home of the Assistant Secretary of State, +except Mollie and Grace. Fortunately Mr. Hamlin did not return home. Ruth +and Bab had decided not to tell the other two "Automobile Girls" of their +terrible uneasiness unless they actually needed the help of the younger +girls to save the situation. Ruth and Bab did not wish to prejudice +Mollie and Grace against Harriet if it were possible to spare her. But +Ruth had told Bab that, at four o'clock, Harriet was determined to +deliver the papers to Peter Dillon. + +At two o'clock, however, the two friends had found no way to influence +Harriet to give up her mad project. Indeed, Harriet scarcely spoke to +either of them, she was so bitterly angry at what she termed their +interference. + +At three o'clock, Ruth and Barbara grew desperate. For, at three, Harriet +Hamlin closed the door of her bedroom and commenced to dress for her +engagement. + +"Try once again, Ruth," Bab pleaded. "It is worse even than you know. I +believe Marjorie Moore suspects what Harriet is about to do. Suppose she +publishes the story in the morning papers. Tell Harriet I have a reason +for thinking she knows about the affair." + +Bab waited apprehensively for Ruth's return. It seemed to her that, for +the first time in their adventures, the "Automobile Girls" had met with +a situation that no amount of pluck or effort on their part could +control. This was the most important experience of their whole lives, +for their country was about to be betrayed! Once Barbara stamped her +foot in her impatience. How dared Harriet Hamlin be so willful, so +headstrong? Bab's face was white with anxiety and suspense. Her lips +twitched nervously. Then in a flash her whole expression changed. The +color came back to her cheeks, the light to her eyes. At the eleventh +hour the way had been made clear. + +Ruth had no such look when she returned to Barbara. She flung herself +despondently into a chair. "It's no use," she declared despairingly. +"Harriet must go her own way. We can do nothing with her!" + +"Yes, we can!" Bab whispered. She leaned over and murmured something in +Ruth's ear. + +Ruth sprang to her feet. "Barbara Thurston, you are perfectly wonderful!" +she cried. "Yes, I do know where it is. Go to my desk and take that blank +paper. It is just the right size. Fold it up in three parts. There, it +will do, now; give it to me. Now go and command Grace and Mollie, if they +love us, to call Harriet out of her room for a minute. We can explain to +them afterwards." + +Mollie and Grace feared Barbara had gone suddenly mad when she rushed in +upon them with her demand. But Mollie did manage to persuade Harriet to +go into the next room. As Harriet slipped out of her bedroom, her cousin, +Ruth Stuart, stole into it, hiding something she held in her hand. She +was alone in Harriet's room for not more than two minutes. + +At a quarter to four o'clock, Harriet Hamlin left her father's house +with a large envelope concealed inside her shopping bag. Opposition +had merely strengthened Harriet's original resolution. She was no +longer frightened. Ruth and Bab were absurd to have been so tragic over +a silly joke. + +At a little after four o'clock, in a quiet, out-of-the-way street in +Washington, Harriet turned over to Peter Dillon this envelope, which, as +she supposed, contained the much-coveted papers which she had extracted +from the private collection of the Assistant Secretary of State. + +Whatever the papers were, Peter Dillon took them carelessly with his +usual charming smile. But inwardly he was chanting a song of victory. He +and Mrs. Wilson would be many-thousands of dollars richer by this time +to-morrow. He glanced into the envelope with his near-sighted eyes. The +papers were folded up inside and all was well! Peter did not dare, before +Harriet, to be too interested in what the envelope contained. + +It would not have made him happier to have looked closer; the song of +victory would have died away on his lips. For, instead of certain secret +documents sent to the office of the Secretary of State, from +representatives of the United States Government in China, Harriet Hamlin +had turned over to Peter Dillon an official envelope, which contained +only folded sheets of blank paper! + +It had been Barbara's idea and Ruth had carried it out successfully. In +the moment when Harriet left her room in answer to Mollie's call, Ruth +had exchanged the valuable state papers for the worthless ones. Once +Harriet was safely out of the way, she and Bab carried the precious +documents downstairs and shut them up in Mr. Hamlin's desk. Both girls +hoped that all trouble was now averted, and that Mr. Hamlin would never +hear of Harriet's folly! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DISCOVERY + + +The members of the Hamlin household went early to their own rooms +that night. + +Ruth at once flung herself down on a couch without removing her clothing. +In a few minutes she was fast asleep, for she believed their difficulties +were over. Bab did not feel as secure. She was still thinking of the +speech the newspaper girl had made to her in the car. + +At ten o'clock the Assistant Secretary of State, who was sitting alone +in his study, heard a violent ringing of his telephone bell. He did +not know that, at this same instant, his daughter Harriet had crept +down to his study door intending to make a full confession of her +mistakes to him. + +Mr. Hamlin picked up the receiver. "'The Washington News?' Yes. You have +something important to say to me? Well, what is it?" Mr. Hamlin listened +quietly for a little while. Then Harriet heard him cry in a hoarse, +unnatural voice: "Impossible! The thing is preposterous! Where did you +ever get hold of such an absurd idea?" + +Harriet stopped to listen no longer. She never knew how she got back +upstairs to her room. She half staggered, half fell up the steps. +Suddenly she realized everything! She had been used as a tool by Mrs. +Wilson and Peter Dillon. Ruth and Barbara had been right. She had stolen +her father's state papers. A newspaper had gotten hold of the story and +already her father and she were disgraced. + +In the meantime, Mr. Hamlin continued to talk over the telephone, though +his hand shook so he was hardly able to hold the receiver. + +"You say you think it best to warn me that the story of the theft of my +papers will be published in the morning paper, that you know that private +state documents entrusted to me keeping have been sold to secret spies? +What evidence have you? I have missed no such papers. Wait a minute." Mr. +Hamlin went to his strong box. Sure enough, certain documents were +missing. Ruth and Bab had put the papers in the desk. "Have you an idea +who stole my papers?" Mr. Hamlin called back over the telephone wire, his +voice shaken with passion. + +Evidently the editor who was talking to Mr. Hamlin now lost his courage. +He did not dare to tell Mr. Hamlin that his own daughter was suspected of +having sold her father's papers. Mr. Hamlin repeated the editor's exact +words. "You say a young woman sold my papers? You are right; this is not +a matter to be discussed over the telephone. Send some one up from your +office to see me at once." + +Mr. Hamlin reeled over to his bell-rope and gave it a pull, so that the +noise of its ringing sounded like an alarm through the quiet house. + +A frightened servant answered the bell. + +"Tell Miss Thurston and my niece, Miss Stuart, to come to my study at +once," Mr. Hamlin ordered. The man-servant obeyed. + +"Ruth, dear, wake up," Bab entreated, giving her friend a shake. +"Something awful must have happened. Your uncle has sent for us. He must +have missed those papers." + +[Illustration: "What Have You Done With My Papers?"] + +Ruth and Bab, both of them looking unutterably miserable and shaken, +entered Mr. Hamlin's study. Their host did not speak as they first +approached him. When he did he turned on them such a haggard, wretched +face that they were filled with pity. But the instant Mr. Hamlin caught +sight of Barbara his expression changed. He took her by the arm, and, +before she could guess what was going to happen, he shook her violently. + +"What have you done with my state papers?" he demanded. "Tell me quickly. +Don't hesitate. There may yet be time to save us both. Oh, I should never +have let you stay in this house!" he groaned. "I suspected you of +mischief when I learned of your first visit to my office. But I did not +believe such treachery could be found in a young girl. Ruth, can't you +make your friend speak! If she will tell me to whom she sold my papers, I +will forgive her everything! But I must know where they are at once. I +can then force the newspaper to keep silence and force my enemies to +return me the documents, if there is only time!" + +Barbara dropped into a chair and covered her face with her hands. She did +not utter a word of reproach to Mr. Hamlin for his cruel suspicion of +her. She could not tell him that his daughter Harriet was the real thief. + +"Uncle," Ruth entreated, laying a quiet hand on Mr. Hamlin's arm, +"listen to me for a moment. Yes, you must listen! You are not disgraced; +you are not ruined. Look in your desk. Your papers are still there. Only +the old envelope is gone. I put the papers in this drawer only this +afternoon, because I did not know in what place you kept them. Some +papers were given away, a few hours ago, to two people, whom you believed +to be your friends, to Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon. But they were not +your state papers, they were only blank sheets." + +Mr. Hamlin looked into his drawer and saw the lost documents, then he +passed his hand over his forehead. "I don't understand," he muttered. "Do +you mean that, instead of the actual papers, you saved me by substituting +blank papers for these valuable ones? Then your friend did try to sell +her country's secrets, and you saved her and me. I shall never cease to +be grateful to you to the longest day I live. For your sake I will spare +your friend. But she must leave my house in the morning. I do not wish +ever to look upon her again." + +"Bab did not sell your papers, Uncle," Ruth protested passionately. "You +shall not make such accusations against her. It was she who saved you. I +did only what she told me to do. I did substitute the papers, but it was +Barbara who thought of it." + +"Then who, in Heaven's name, is guilty of this dreadful act?" Mr. +Hamlin cried. + +Neither Ruth nor Bab answered. Bab still sat with her face covered with +her hands, in order to hide her hot tears. She cried partly for poor +Harriet, and partly because of her sympathy for Mr. Hamlin. Ruth gazed at +her uncle, white, silent and trembling. + +"Who, Ruth? I demand to know!" Mr. Hamlin repeated. + +"I shall not tell you," Ruth returned, with a little gasp. + +"Send for my daughter, Harriet. She may know something," Mr. Hamlin +ejaculated. Then he rang for a servant. + +The two girls and the one man, who had grown old in the last few minutes, +waited in unbroken silence. The girls had a strong desire to scream, to +cry out, to warn Harriet. She must not let her father know of her foolish +deed while his anger was at its height. + +It seemed an eternity before the butler returned to Mr. Hamlin's study. + +"Miss Hamlin is not in her room," he reported respectfully. + +"Not in her room? Then look for her through the house," Mr. Hamlin +repeated more quietly. He had gained greater control of himself. But a +new fear was oppressing him, weighing him down. He would not give the +idea credence even in his own mind. + +Three--four--five minutes passed. Still Harriet did not appear. + +"Let me look for Harriet, Uncle," Ruth implored, unable to control +herself any longer. + +At this moment Mollie came innocently down the stairs. "Is Mr. Hamlin +looking for Harriet?" she inquired. "Harriet left the house ten minutes +ago. She had on her coat and her hat, but she would not stop to say +good-bye. I think her maid went with her. Mary had just a shawl thrown +over her head. I am sure they will be back in a few minutes. Harriet +must have gone out to post a letter. I thought she would have come back +before this." + +Imagine poor Mollie's horror and surprise when Mr. Hamlin dropped into +a chair at her news and groaned: "It was Harriet after all. It was _my +own child_!" + +"Uncle, rouse yourself!" Ruth implored him. "Harriet thought she was only +playing a harmless trick on you. She did not dream that the papers were +of any importance. Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon deceived her cruelly. You +must go and find out what has become of Harriet." Mr. Hamlin shook his +head drearily. + +"You must go!" insisted gentle Ruth, bursting into tears. "Harriet does +not even know that the papers she gave away were worthless. If she has +found out she has been duped she will be doubly desperate." + +At this instant the door bell rang loudly. No one in the study appeared +to hear it. Mollie had crept slowly back upstairs to Grace. Ruth, Mr. +Hamlin and Bab were too wretched to stir. + +A sound of hasty footsteps came down the hall, followed by a knock at +the study door. The door flew open of its own accord. Like a vision +straight from Heaven appeared the faces of Mr. Robert Stuart and his +sister, Miss Sallie! + +Ruth sprang into her father's arms with a cry of joy. And Bab, her eyes +still streaming with tears, was caught up in the comforting arms of +Miss Sallie. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS + + +"What does all this mean, William Hamlin?" Mr. Stuart inquired +without ceremony. + +With bowed head Mr. Hamlin told the whole story, not attempting to excuse +himself, for Mr. Hamlin was a just man, though a severe one. He declared +that he had been influenced to suspect Barbara ever since her arrival in +his home. His enemies had also made a dupe of him, but his punishment had +come upon him swiftly. He had just discovered that his own daughter had +tried to deliver into the hands of paid spies, state papers of the United +States Government. + +Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie looked extremely serious while Mr. Hamlin was +telling his story. But when Mr. Hamlin explained how Ruth and Bab had +exchanged the valuable political documents for folded sheets of blank +paper, Mr. Stuart burst into a loud laugh, and his expression changed as +though by a miracle. He patted his daughter's shoulder to express his +approval, while Miss Sallie kissed Bab with a sigh of relief. + +Mr. Stuart and his sister had both been extremely uneasy since the +arrival of Ruth's singular telegram, not knowing what troubled waters +might be surrounding their "Automobile Girls." Indeed Miss Sallie had +insisted on accompanying her brother to Washington, as she felt sure her +presence would help to set things right. + +Mr. Stuart's laugh cleared the sorrowful atmosphere of the study as +though by magic. Ruth and Barbara smiled through their tears. They were +now so sure that all would soon be well! + +"It seems to me, William, that all this is 'much ado about nothing,'" Mr. +Stuart declared. "Of course, I can see that the situation would have been +pretty serious if poor Harriet had been deceived into giving up the real +documents. But Bab and Ruth have saved the day! There is no harm done +now. You even know the names of the spies. There is only one thing for us +to consider at present, and that is--where is Harriet?" + +"Yes, Father," Ruth pleaded. "Do find Harriet." + +"The child was foolish, and she did wrong, of course," Mr. Stuart went +on. "But, as Ruth tells me Harriet did not know the real papers were +exchanged for false ones, she probably thinks she has disgraced you +and she is too frightened to come home. You must take steps to find +her at once, and to let her know you forgive her. It is a pity to lose +any time." + +Mr. Hamlin was silent. "I cannot forgive Harriet," he replied. "But, of +course, she must be brought home at once." + +"Nonsense!" Mr. Stuart continued. "Summon your servants and have some one +telephone to Harriet's friends. She has probably gone to one of them. +Tell the child that Sallie and I are here and wish to see her. But where +are my other 'Automobile Girls,' Mollie and Grace?" + +"Upstairs, Father," Ruth answered happily. "Come and see them. I want to +telephone for Harriet. I think she will come home for me." + +"Show your aunt and father to their rooms, Ruth," Mr. Hamlin begged. +"I must wait here until a messenger arrives from the newspaper, which +in some way has learned the story of our misfortune. And even they do +not know that the stolen papers were valueless. I must explain +matters to them." + +"A man of your influence can keep any mention of this affair out of the +newspapers," Mr. Stuart argued heartily. "So the storm will have blown +over by to-morrow. And I believe you will be able to punish the two +schemers who have tried to betray your daughter and disgrace my Barbara, +without having Harriet's name brought into this affair." + +For the first time, Mr. Hamlin lifted his head and nodded briefly. "Yes, +I can attend to them," he declared in the quiet fashion that showed him +to be a man of power. "It is best, for the sake of the country, that the +scandal be nipped in the bud. I alone know what was in these state papers +that Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon were hired to steal. So I alone know to +whom they would be valuable. There would be an international difficulty +if I should expose the real promoter of the theft. Peter Dillon shall be +dismissed from his Embassy. Mrs. Wilson will find it wiser to leave +Washington, and never to return here again. I will spare the woman as +much as I can for the sake of her son, Elmer, who is a fine fellow. Ruth, +dear, do telephone to Harriet's friends. Your father is right. We must +find my daughter at once." + +Miss Sallie, Mr. Stuart and Ruth started to leave the room. Bab rose to +follow them. + +"Miss Thurston, don't go for a minute," Mr. Hamlin said. "I wish to beg +your pardon. Will you forgive a most unhappy man? Of course I see, now, +that I had no right to suspect you without giving you a chance to defend +yourself. I can only say that I was deceived, as well as Harriet. The +whole plot is plain to me now. Harriet was to be terrified into not +betraying her own part in the theft, so she would never dare reveal the +names of Mrs. Wilson or Peter Dillon. I, with my mind poisoned against +you, would have sought blindly to fasten the crime on you. I regard my +office as Assistant Secretary of State as a sacred trust. If the papers +entrusted to my keeping had been delivered into the hands of the enemies +of my country, through my own daughter's folly, I should never have +lifted my head again, I cannot say--I have no words to express--what I +owe to you and Ruth. But how do you think a newspaper man could have +unearthed this plot? It seems incredible, when you consider how +stealthily Peter Dillon and Mrs. Wilson have worked. A man--" + +"I don't think a man did unearth it," Bab replied. Just then the bell +rang again. + +The next moment the door opened, and the butler announced: "Miss Marjorie +Moore!" The newspaper girl gave Bab a friendly smile; then she turned +coldly to Mr. William Hamlin. + +"Miss Moore!" Mr. Hamlin exclaimed in surprise and in anger. "I wish to +see a man from your newspaper. What I have to say cannot possibly +concern you." + +"I think it does, Mr. Hamlin," Miss Moore repeated calmly. "One of the +editors from my paper has come here with me. He is waiting in the hall. +But it was I who discovered the theft of your state documents. I have +been expecting mischief for some time. I am sorry for you, of +course--very sorry, but I have all the facts of the case, and as no one +else knows of it, it will be a great scoop for me in the morning." + +"Your newspaper will not publish the story at all, Miss Moore," Mr. +Hamlin rejoined, when he had recovered from his astonishment at Miss +Moore's appearance. "The stolen papers were not of the least value. Will +you explain to Miss Moore exactly what occurred, Miss Thurston?" Mr. +Hamlin concluded. + +When Bab told the story of how she and Ruth had made their lightning +substitution of the papers, Marjorie Moore gave a gasp of surprise. + +"Good for you, Miss Thurston!" she returned. "I knew you were clever, as +well as the right sort, the first time I saw you. So I had gotten hold of +the whole story of the theft except, the most important point--the +exchange of the papers. It spoils my story as sensational political news. +But," Miss Moore laughed, "it makes a perfectly great personal story, +because it has such a funny side to it: 'Foiled by the "Automobile +Girls"!' 'The Assistant Secretary of State's Daughter!'" Miss Moore +stopped, ashamed of her cruelty when she saw Mr. Hamlin's face. But he +did not speak. + +It was Bab who exclaimed: "Oh, Miss Moore, you are not going to betray +Harriet, are you? Poor Harriet thought it was all a joke. She did not +know the papers were valuable. It would be too cruel to spread this story +abroad. It might ruin Harriet's reputation." + +Marjorie Moore made no answer. + +"You heard Miss Thurston," Mr. Hamlin interposed. "Surely you will grant +our request." + +"Mr. Hamlin," Marjorie Moore protested, "I am dreadfully sorry for you. +I told you so, but I am going to have this story published in the +morning. It is too good to keep and I have worked dreadfully hard on it. +Indeed, I almost lost my life because of it. I knew it was Peter Dillon +who struck me down on the White House lawn the night of the reception. +But I said nothing because I knew that, if I made trouble, I would have +been put off the scent of the story somehow. I tried to see Miss +Thurston alone, that evening, to warn her that Mrs. Wilson and Peter +Dillon were going to try to fasten their crime on her. I am obliged to +be frank with you, Mr. Hamlin. I will stick to the facts as you have +told them to me, but a full account of the attempted theft will be +published in the morning's 'News.'" + +"Call the man who is with you, Miss Moore; I prefer to talk with him," +Mr. Hamlin commanded. "You do not seem to realize the gravity of what you +intend to do. It will be a mistake for your newspaper to make an enemy of +a man in my official position." + +Mr. Hamlin talked for some time to one of the editors of the Washington +"News." He entreated, threatened and finally made an appeal to him to +save his daughter and himself by not making the story public. + +"I am afraid we shall have to let the story go, Miss Moore," the editor +remarked regretfully. "It was a fine piece of news, but we don't wish to +make things too hard for Mr. Hamlin." The man turned to go. + +"Mr. Hughes," Marjorie Moore announced, speaking to her editor, "if you +do not intend to use this story, which I have worked on so long, in your +paper, I warn you, right now, that I shall simply sell it to some other +newspaper and take the consequences. All the papers will not be so +careful of Mr. Hamlin's feelings." + +"Oh, Miss Moore, you would not be so cruel!" Bab cried. + +Marjorie Moore turned suddenly on Barbara; "Why shouldn't I?" she +returned. "Both Harriet Hamlin and Peter Dillon have been hateful and +insolent to me ever since I have been making my living in Washington. I +told you I meant to get even with them some day. Well, this is my chance, +and I intend to take it. Good-bye; there is no reason for me to stay here +any longer." + +"Mr. Hamlin, if Miss Moore insists on selling her story on the outside, I +cannot see how we would benefit you by failing to print the story," the +editor added. + +"Very well," Mr. Hamlin returned coldly. But he sank back into his chair +and covered his face with his hands. Harriet's reputation was ruined, +for no one would believe she had not tried deliberately to sell her +father's honor. + +But Bab resolved to appeal once more to the newspaper girl. She ran to +Marjorie Moore and put her arm about the newspaper girl's waist to detain +her. She talked to her in her most winning fashion, with her brown eyes +glowing with feeling and her lips trembling with eagerness. + +The tears came to Marjorie Moore's eyes as she listened to Bab's pleading +for Harriet. But she still obstinately shook her head. + +Some one came running down the stairs and Ruth entered the study without +heeding the strangers in it. + +"Uncle!" she exclaimed in a terrified voice, "Harriet cannot be found! We +have telephoned everywhere for her. No one has seen her or knows anything +about her. What shall we do? It is midnight!" + +Mr. Hamlin followed Ruth quickly out of the room, forgetting every other +consideration in his fear for his daughter. He looked broken and old. Was +Harriet in some worse peril? + +As Marjorie Moore saw Mr. Hamlin go, she turned swiftly to Barbara and +kissed her. "It's all right, dear," she said. "You were right. Revenge is +too little and too mean. Mr. Hughes has said he will not publish the +story, and I shall not sell it anywhere else. Indeed, I promise that what +I know shall never be spoken of outside this room. Good night." Before +Barbara could thank her she was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SUSPENSE AND THE REWARD + + +All night long diligent search was made for Harriet Hamlin, but no word +was heard of her. The "Automobile Girls" telephoned her dearest friends. +Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Stuart tramped from one hotel to the other. None of +the Hamlin household closed their eyes that night. + +"It has been my fault, Robert," Mr. Hamlin admitted, as he and his +brother-in-law returned home in the gray dawn of the morning, hoping +vainly to hear that Harriet had returned. "My child has gotten into debt +and she has been afraid to confess her mistake to me. Her little friend, +Mollie, told me the story. Mollie believes that Mrs. Wilson and Peter +Dillon tempted Harriet by offering to lend her money. And so she agreed +to aid them in what she thought was their 'joke.' I have seen, lately, +that Harriet has been so worried she hardly knew what she was doing. Yet, +when my poor child tried to confess her fault to me, I would not let her +go on. My harshness and lack of sympathy have driven her to--I know not +what. Oh, Robert, what shall I do? She is the one joy of my life!" + +Mr. Stuart did not try to deny Mr. Hamlin's judgment of himself. He knew +Mr. Hamlin had been too severe with his daughter. If only Harriet could +be found she and her father would be closer friends after this +experience. Mr. Stuart realized fully what danger Harriet was in with +her unusual beauty, with no mother and with a father who did not +understand her. + +"Harriet has done very wrong," Mr. Hamlin added slowly. It was hard, +indeed, for a man of his nature to forgive. "But I shall not reproach her +when she comes back to me," he said quickly. The fear that Harriet might +never return to him at all struck a sudden chill to his soul. + +"The child has done wrong, William, I admit it," returned good-natured +Mr. Stuart. "She has been headstrong and foolish. But we have done worse +things in our day, remember." + +"I will remember," Mr. Hamlin answered drearily, as he shut himself up +in his room. + +Mr. Hamlin would not come down to breakfast. There was still no news of +Harriet. While dear, comfortable Aunt Sallie and the "Automobile Girls" +were seated around the table, making a pretense of eating, there came a +ring at the front door bell. + +Ruth jumped up and ran out into the hall. Then followed several moments +of awful suspense. Ruth came back slowly, not with Harriet, but with a +note in her hand. She opened it with shaking fingers, for she recognized +Harriet's handwriting in the address. + +The note read: "Dearest Ruth, I shall never come home again. I have +disgraced my father and myself. I would not listen to you and Bab, and +now I know the worst. Mrs. Wilson and Peter Dillon were villains and I +was only a foolish dupe. I spent the night in a boarding house with an +old friend of my mother's." Ruth stopped reading. Her voice sank so low +it was almost impossible to hear her. She had not noticed that her uncle +was standing just outside the door, listening, with white lips. + +"I don't know what else to do," Harriet's note continued, when Ruth had +strength to go on. "So early this morning I telegraphed to Charlie +Meyers. When you receive this note, I shall be married to him. Ask my +father to forgive me, for I shall never see him again. Your heart-broken +cousin, Harriet." + +"Absurd child!" Miss Sallie ejaculated, trying to hide her tears. But Mr. +Stuart stepped to Mr. Hamlin's side as he entered the room, looking +conscience-stricken and miserable. + +Poor Harriet was paying for her folly with a life-time of wretchedness. +She was to marry a man she did not love; and her friends were powerless +to save her. + +Mollie slipped quietly away from the table. No one tried to stop her. +Every one thought Mollie was overcome, because she had been especially +devoted to Harriet. + +"Won't you try to find Mr. Meyers, Uncle?" Ruth pleaded. "It may not be +too late to prevent Harriet's marriage. Oh, do try to find her. She does +not care for Charlie Meyers in the least. She is only marrying him +because she is so wretched she does not know what to do." + +Mr. Stuart was already getting into his coat and hat. Mr. Hamlin was not +far behind him. The two men were just going out the front door, when a +cry from Mollie interrupted them. The three girls rushed into the hall, +not knowing what Mollie's cry meant. But when they saw the little golden +haired girl, who sympathized the most deeply with Harriet in her trouble, +because of her own recent acquaintance with debt, the "Automobile Girls" +knew at once that all was well! + +"Oh, Mr. Hamlin! Oh, Mr. Stuart! Do wait until I get my breath," Mollie +begged. "Dear, darling Harriet is all right. She will come home if her +father will come for her. I telephoned to Mr. Meyers and he declares +Harriet is safe with his aunt. He says, of course, he is not such a cad +as to marry Harriet when she is so miserable and frightened. He went to +the boarding house for her, then took her to his aunt's home. Mr. Meyers +was on his way here to see Mr. Hamlin." + +Two hours later, Harriet was at home again and in bed, suffering from +nervous shock. But her father's forgiveness, his sympathy, his +reassuring words, and above all, the thought that by the ruse of Bab, she +had been mercifully saved from the deep disgrace that had shadowed her +life, soon restored her to her normal spirits. There was a speedy +investigation by the State Department--the result of which was that Mrs. +Wilson disappeared from Washington society. Her son Elmer reported that +his mother had grown tired of Washington and was living in New England. +As for Peter Dillon, his connection with the Russian Embassy was severed +at once. No one knew where he went. + + * * * * * + +"The President would like to see the 'Automobile Girls' at the White +House to-day at half past twelve o'clock," Mr. William Hamlin announced a +few mornings later, looking up from his paper to smile first at his +daughter and then at the group of happy faces about his breakfast table, +which included Miss Sallie Stuart and Mr. Robert Stuart. + +Harriet was looking very pale. She had been ill for two days after her +unhappy experience. + +"What on earth do you mean, Mr. Hamlin?" inquired Grace Carter anxiously, +turning to their host. + +The other girls smiled, thinking Mr. Hamlin was joking, he had been in +such different spirits since Harriet's return home. + +"I mean what I say," Mr. Hamlin returned gravely. "The President wishes +to see the 'Automobile Girls' in order to thank them for their service to +their country." Mr. Hamlin allowed an earnest note to creep into his +voice. "The story has not been made public. But I myself told the +President of my narrow escape from disgrace, and he desires personally to +thank the young girls who saved us. I told him that he might rely on your +respecting his invitation." + +"Oh, but we can't go, Mr. Hamlin," Mollie expostulated. "Grace and I had +nothing to do with saving the papers. It was only Ruth and Bab!" + +"It is most unusual to decline an invitation from the President, Mollie," +Mr. Hamlin continued. "Only a death in the family is regarded as a +reasonable excuse. Now the President most distinctly stated that he +desired a visit from the 'Automobile Girls'!" + +"United we stand, divided we fall!" Ruth announced. "Bab and I will not +stir a single step without Grace and Mollie." + +"There is one other person who ought to be included in this visit to the +President," Harriet added, shyly. + +"Whom do you mean, my child?" Mr. Hamlin queried. + +Harriet hung her proud little head. "I mean Marjorie Moore, Father. I +think she did as much as any one by keeping the story out of the papers +when it would have meant so much for her to have published it." + +"Good for Harriet!" Ruth murmured under her breath. + +"I did not neglect to tell the President of Miss Moore's part in the +affair, Daughter," Mr. Hamlin rejoined. "But I am glad you spoke of it. I +shall certainly see that she is included in the invitation." + +Promptly at twelve o'clock the "Automobile Girls" set out for the White +House in the care of their old and faithful friend, Mr. A. Bubble. On +the way there they picked up Marjorie Moore, who had now become their +staunch friend. + +The girls were greatly excited over their second visit to the White +House. It was, of course, very unlike their first, since to-day they were +to be the special guests of the President. On the evening of the +Presidential reception they had been merely included among several +hundred callers. + +Ruth sent in Mr. Hamlin's card with theirs, in order to explain whose +visitors they were. The five girls were immediately shown into a small +room, which the President used for seeing his friends when he desired a +greater privacy than was possible in the large state reception rooms. + +The girls sat waiting the appearance of the President, each one a little +more nervous than the other. + +"What shall we say, Bab?" Mollie whispered to her sister. + +"Goodness knows, child!" Bab just had time to answer, when a servant +bowed ceremoniously. A man entered the room quickly and walked from one +girl to the other, shaking hands with each one in turn. + +"I am very glad to meet you," he declared affably. "Mr. Hamlin tells me +you were able to do him a service, and through him to your country, which +it is also my privilege to serve. I thank you." The President bowed +ceremoniously. "It was a pretty trick you played on our enemies. Strategy +is sometimes better than war, and a woman's wits than a man's fists." +Then the President turned cordially to Marjorie Moore. + +"Miss Moore, it gives me pleasure to say a word of appreciation to you. +Your act in withholding this information from the public rather than to +sell it and make a personal gain by it, was a thoroughly patriotic act, +and I wish you to know that I value your service." + +"Thank you, Mr. President," replied Miss Moore, blushing deeply. + +The President's wife now entered the sitting-room with several other +guests and members of her family. When luncheon was announced, the +President of the United States offered his arm to Barbara Thurston. + +The "Automobile Girls" are not likely to forget their luncheon with the +President, his family and a few intimate friends. The girls were +frightened at first; but, being simple and natural, they soon ceased to +think of themselves. They were too much interested in what they saw and +heard around them. + +The President talked to Ruth, who sat on his left, about automobiles. He +was interested to hear of the travels of Mr. A. Bubble, and seemed to +know a great deal about motor cars. But, after a while, as the girls +heard him converse with three distinguished men who sat at his table, one +an engineer, the other a judge, and the third an artist, the "Automobile +Girls" decided wisely that the President knew almost everything that was +worth knowing. + + * * * * * + +"Children," said Mr. Stuart that night, when the girls could tell no +more of their day's experience, "it seems to me that it is about time +for you to be going home." Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie were in the Hamlin +drawing-room with the "Automobile Girls." Mr. Hamlin and Harriet had +gone for a short walk. It was now their custom to walk together each +evening after dinner, since it gave them a little opportunity for a +confidential talk. + +"You girls have had to-day the very happiest opportunity that falls to +the lot of any visitor in Washington," Mr. Stuart continued. "You have +had a private interview with the President and have been entertained by +him at the Executive Mansion. I have no doubt you have also seen all the +sights of Washington in the last few weeks. So homeward-bound must be our +next forward move!" + +"Oh, Father," cried Ruth regretfully, her face clouding as she looked +at her beloved automobile friends. How long before she should see +them again? + +The same thought clouded the bright faces of Mollie, Grace and Bab. + +"We have hardly seen you at all, Miss Sallie," Grace lamented, taking +Miss Sarah Stuart's plump, white hand in her own. "We have been the +centre of so much excitement ever since you arrived in Washington." + +"Must we go, Father?" Ruth entreated. + +"I am afraid we must, Daughter," Mr. Stuart answered, with a half +anxious and half cheerful twinkle in his eye. + +"Then it's Chicago for me!" sighed Ruth. + +"And Kingsbridge for the rest of us!" echoed the other three girls. + +"Ruth cannot very well travel home alone," Mr. Stuart remonstrated, +looking first at Barbara, then at Mollie and Grace, and winking solemnly +at Miss Sallie. + +"Don't tease the child, Robert," Miss Sallie remonstrated. + +"Aren't you and Aunt Sallie going home with me, Father?" Ruth queried, +too much surprised for further questioning. + +"No, Ruth," Mr. Stuart declared. "You seem to have concluded to return to +Chicago. But your Aunt Sallie and I are on our way to Kingsbridge, New +Jersey, to pay a visit to Mrs. Mollie Thurston at Laurel Cottage. Mrs. +Thurston wrote inviting us to visit her before we returned to the West. +But, of course, if you do not wish to go with us, Daughter--." + +Mr. Stuart had no chance to speak again. For the four girls surrounded +him, plying him with questions, with exclamations. They were all laughing +and talking at once. + +"It's too good to be true, Father!" cried Ruth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HOME AT LAUREL COTTAGE + + +Mrs. Thurston stood on the front porch of her little cottage, looking out +in the gathering dusk. Back of her the lights twinkled gayly. A big wood +fire crackled in the sitting-room and shone through the soft muslin +curtains. A small maid was busily setting the table for supper in the +dinning room, and there was a delicious smell of freshly baked rolls +coming through the kitchen door. On the table stood a great dish of +golden honey and a pitcher of rich milk. Mrs. Thurston had not forgotten, +in two years, the favorite supper of her friend, Robert Stuart. + +It was a cold night, but she could not wait indoors. She had gathered up +a warm woolen shawl of a delicate lavender shade, and wrapped it about +her head and shoulders, looking not unlike the gracious spirit of an +Autumn twilight as she lingered to welcome the travelers home. She was +thinking of all that had happened since the day that Bab had stopped +Ruth's runaway horses. She was recalling how much Mr. Stuart had done for +her little girls in the past two years. "He could not have been kinder +to Mollie and Barbara, if they had been his own daughters," thought +pretty Mrs. Thurston, with a blush. + +But did she not hear the ever-welcome sound of a friendly voice? Was not +Mr. Bubble calling to her out of the darkness? Surely enough his two +great shining eyes now appeared at the well-known turn in the road. A few +moments later Mrs. Thurston was being tempestuously embraced by the +"Automobile Girls." + +"Do let me speak to Miss Stuart, children," Mrs. Thurston entreated, +trying to extricate herself from four pairs of girlish arms. + +"Come in, Miss Stuart," she laughed. "I hope you are not tired from your +journey. I cannot tell you what pleasure it gives me to see you and Mr. +Stuart once more." + +Mr. Stuart gave Mrs. Thurston's hand a little longer pressure than +was absolutely necessary. Mrs. Thurston blushed and finally drew her +hand away. + +"Look after Mr. Stuart, dear," she said to Bab. "He is to have the guest +chamber upstairs. I want to show Miss Stuart to her room. I am sorry, +Ruth, our little home is too small to give you a room to yourself. You +will have to be happy with Mollie and Bab. Grace you are to stay to +supper with us. Your father will come for you after supper. I had to beg +awfully hard, but he finally consented to let you remain with us. Our +little reunion would not be complete without you." + +Mrs. Thurston took Miss Sallie into a charming room which she had lately +renovated for her guest. It was papered in Miss Stuart's favorite +lavender paper, had lavender curtains at the windows, and a bright wood +fire in the grate. + +"I hope you will be comfortable, Miss Stuart," said little Mrs. Thurston, +who stood slightly in awe of stately and elegant Miss Sallie. + +For answer Miss Sallie smiled and looked searchingly at Mrs. Thurston. + +"Is there any question you wish to ask me?" Mrs. Thurston inquired, +flushing slightly at Miss Stuart's peculiar expression. + +"Oh, no," smiled Miss Sallie. "Oh, no, I have no question to ask you!" + +It was seven o 'clock when the party sat down to supper, and after nine +when they finally rose. They stopped then only because Squire Carter +arrived and demanded his daughter, Grace, whom he had to carry off, as he +and her mother could bear to be parted from their child no longer. + +Miss Sallie asked to be excused, soon after supper, as she was tired +from her trip. "I think the 'Automobile Girls' had better go to bed, +too," she suggested. Then Miss Sallie flushed. For she was so accustomed +to telling her girls what they ought to do that she forgot it was no +longer her privilege to advise Bab and Mollie when they were in their +mother's house. + +Bab insisted on running out to their little stable to see if her beloved +horse, "Beauty," were safe and sound. And, of course, Ruth and Mollie +went with her. But not long afterwards, the three girls retired to their +room to talk until they fell asleep, too worn out for further +conversation. + +"I am not tired, Mrs. Thurston, are you?" Mr. Stuart asked. "If you don't +mind, won't you sit and talk to me for a little while before this cozy +open fire? We never have a chance to say much to each other before our +talkative daughters. How charming the little cottage looks to-night! It +is like a second home." + +Mrs. Thurston smiled happily. "It makes me very happy to have you and +Ruth feel so. I hope you will always feel at home here. I wish I could +do something in return for all the kindness you have shown to my two +little girls." + +Mr. Stuart did not reply at once. He seemed to be thinking so deeply that +Mrs. Thurston did not like to go on talking. + +"Mrs. Thurston," Mr. Stuart spoke slowly, "why would you not come to my +house in Chicago to make us a visit when I asked you, nearly a year ago?" + +Mrs. Thurston hesitated. "I told you my reasons then, Mr. Stuart. It was +quite impossible. But it has been so long I have almost forgotten why I +had to refuse." + +"It was after our trip in the private car with our friends, the fall +before, you remember, Mrs. Thurston. But I know why you would not come to +my home," Mr. Stuart answered, smiling. "You were willing to accept my +hospitality for your daughters, but you would not accept it for yourself. +Am I not right?" + +"Yes," Mrs. Thurston faltered. "I thought it would not be best." + +"I am sorry," Mr. Stuart said sadly. "Because I want to do a great deal +more than ask you to come to visit me in Chicago. I wish you to come to +live there as my wife." + +Mrs. Thurston's reply was so low it could hardly be heard. But Mr. Stuart +evidently understood it and found it satisfactory. + +A few moments later Mrs. Thurston murmured, "I don't believe that Ruth +and your sister Sallie will be pleased." + +"Ruth will be the happiest girl in the world!" Mr. Stuart retorted. "Poor +child, she has longed for sisters all her life. Now she is going to have +the two she loves best in the world. As for Sallie--." Here Mr. Stuart +hesitated. He thought Miss Sallie did not dream of his affection for the +little widow, and he was not at all sure how she would receive the news. +"As for Sallie," he continued stoutly, "I am sure Sallie wishes my +happiness more than anything else and she will be glad when she hears +that I can find it only through you." + +Mrs. Thurston shook her head. "I can only consent to our marriage," she +returned, "if my girls and yours are really happy in our choice and if +your sister is willing to give us her blessing." + + * * * * * + +"Oh, Aunt Sallie, dear, please are you awake?" Ruth cried at half-past +seven the next morning, tapping gently on Miss Stuart's door. + +Ruth had been awakened by her father at a little after six that morning +and carried off to his bedroom in her dressing-gown, to sit curled up on +her father's bed, while he made his confession to her. + +Ruth had listened silently at first with her head turned away. Once her +father thought she was crying. But when she turned toward him her eyes +were shining with happy tears. Ruth never thought of being jealous, or +that her adored father would love her any less. She only thought, first, +of his happiness and next of her own. + +Mr. Stuart would not let Ruth go until, with her arms about his neck and +her cheek pressed to his, she begged him to let her be the messenger to +Barbara, Mollie and Aunt Sallie. + +"You will be careful when you break the news to your aunt," Mr. Stuart +entreated. "I should have given her some warning in regard to my feelings +for Mrs. Thurston. I fear the news will be an entire surprise to her." + +Ruth wondered what she should say first. + +"Come in, dear," Miss Sallie answered placidly in reply to Ruth's knock. +Miss Stuart was sitting up in bed with a pale lavender silk dressing +sacque over her lace and muslin gown. + +"I suppose," Miss Sallie continued calmly, "that you have come to tell me +that your father is going to marry Mrs. Thurston." + +"Aunt Sallie," gasped Ruth, "are you a wizard?" + +"No," said Miss Stuart, "I am a woman. Why, child, I have seen this thing +coming ever since we first left Robert Stuart here in Kingsbridge when I +took you girls off to Newport. Are you pleased, child?" Miss Sallie +inquired, a little wistfully. + +"Gladder than anything, if you are, Aunt Sallie," Ruth replied. "But +Father told me to come to ask you how you felt. He says Mrs. Thurston +won't marry him unless we all consent." + +"Nonsense!" returned Miss Stuart in her accustomed fashion. "Of course I +am glad to have Robert happy. Mrs. Thurston is a dear little woman. +Only," dignified Miss Sallie choked with a tiny sob in her voice, "I +can't give you up, Ruth, dear." And Miss Stuart and her beloved niece +shed a few comfortable tears in each other's arms. + +"I never, never will care for any one as I do for you, Aunt Sallie," Ruth +protested. "And aren't you Chaperon Extraordinary and Ministering Angel +Plentipotentiary to the 'Automobile Girls'? The other girls care for you +almost as much as I do. I wonder if Mrs. Thurston has told Bab and +Mollie. Do you think they will be glad to have me for a sister?" + +"Fix my hair, Ruth, and don't be absurd," Miss Sallie rejoined, returning +to her former severe manner, which no longer alarmed any one of the +"Automobile Girls." "It is wonderful to me how I have learned to do +without a maid while I have been traveling about the world with you +children." + +The winter sunshine poured into the breakfast room of Laurel Cottage. +The canary sang rapturously in his golden cage. He rejoiced at the sound +of voices and the cheerful sounds in the house. + +Bab and Mollie were helping to set the breakfast table, when Ruth joined +them. Neither girl said anything except to ask Ruth why she had slipped +out of their room so early. + +Ruth's heart sank. After all, then, Barbara and Mollie were not +pleased. They did not care for her enough to be happy in this closer +bond between them. + +Mrs. Thurston kissed Ruth shyly, but she made no mention of anything +unusual. And when Mr. Stuart came in to breakfast he looked as +embarrassed and uncomfortable as a boy. There was a constraint over the +little party at breakfast that had not been there the night before. + +Unexpectedly the door opened. Into the room came Grace Carter with a big +bunch of white roses in her hand. "I just had to come early," she +declared simply. "I wanted to find out." Grace thrust the flowers upon +Mrs. Thurston. + +"Come here to me, Grace," Miss Sallie commanded. "You are a girl after my +own heart. Robert, Mrs. Thurston, I congratulate you and I wish you joy +with my whole heart." + +Barbara and Mollie gazed at each other in stupefied silence. What did +it all mean? + +Mrs. Thurston blushed like a girl over her roses. "Miss Stuart, I +never dreamed you could have heard so soon. I have not yet told +Barbara and Mollie." + +"Told us what?" Bab demanded in her emphatic fashion. Then Ruth's heart +was light again. + +But Bab did not wait to be answered. She suddenly guessed the truth. Now +she knew why Ruth's manner had changed so quickly a short time before. +She ran round the table, upsetting her chair in her rush. And before she +said a word either to her mother or to Mr. Stuart, she flung her arms +about Ruth and whispered: "Our wish has come true, Ruth, darling! We are +sisters as well as best friends." + +Then Bab congratulated her mother and Mr. Stuart in a much more +dignified fashion. + +"When is it to be, Father?" Ruth queried. + +Mr. Stuart looked at Mrs. Thurston. "In the spring," she faltered. + +"Then we will all go away together and have a happy summer, somewhere," +Mr. Stuart asserted, smiling on the faces of his dear ones. + +"We shall do no such thing, Robert Stuart," Miss Sallie interposed +firmly. "You shall have your honeymoon alone. I intend to take my +'Automobile Girls' some place where we have never been before. Will you +go with me, children?" + +"Yes," chorused the four girls. "Aunt Sallie and the 'Automobile +Girls' forever." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON*** + + +******* This file should be named 12559.txt or 12559.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/5/5/12559 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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