Laura Dent Crane

“ The broad windows of the Thurston girls' berth burst in, sending a shower of glass over them. Both received bruises as well as slight cuts from the broken glass that had showered over them, though Barbara had borne the brunt of the shock, managing to keep her own body between Mollie and danger.
"Are we killed? Are we killed?" moaned Mollie.
"No. We are all right," soothed Bab with a confidence that she did not feel. "Quick! Get on your clothes if you can find them. Here, put this on. Don't try to dress completely, but just throw about you whatever you can find." ”

“ Stuart left them to go down to the brokers' rooms to consult with some of his friends.
It was a mad, wild scene that the little country girls gazed upon. It was like nothing they ever had seen before.
"Goodness me, they are fighting!" cried Barbara in alarm.
Men were dashing about here and there. Hats were smashed, paper was being torn by nervous hands and hurled into the air, to fall like miniature snow flurries over the heads of the traders. Shouts and yells, hoarse calls were heard from all parts of the floor. One man threw up a hand with the fingers spread wide apart. ”

“ I am rated as a cold, heartless man. But, my dear Miss Thurston, I have at least one virtue—gratitude. If ever you are in need of assistance in any way do not hesitate to call upon me," he said, extending a hand to Barbara as he rose rather unsteadily to his feet. Bab mechanically dropped the card into her bag without looking at it, closing and dropping the bag on the floor beside her before accepting the hand. The touch of the cold fingers of the man's hand sent a feeling of dislike through her. It recalled to her mind more vividly than ever the conversation she had overheard in the sleeper. ”

“ Stuart, who stood near the fireplace.
"Am I intruding?" asked Bab.
"Intruding, my dear? You could not do that. But how beautiful you are to-night."
"Don't. Please don't," protested Bab with well-feigned displeasure. "You will make me a vain little creature. Ruth has just said the same thing to me. At this rate I fear I shall begin to believe something of the sort myself very soon."
"No," answered Mr. Stuart, gazing at her approvingly. "You are far too sensible a young woman to have your head turned so easily as that. Tell me about your good mother. How is she?" ”

“ The "Automobile Girls" confessed their ignorance of the game. Olive explained that each girl was to gaze into the fire then describe what forms or figures appeared to grow out of the flames or coals.
"I see a red automobile," cried Mollie, almost as soon as she had fixed her gaze on the fire. "And, oh, look at the man driving it! He is all in red, wears a pointed beard and has a cloven foot. Isn't he a frightful looking creature?"
"Your imagination needs no encouragement," declared Olive. "Let us hope that the gentleman with the cloven foot may drive his car up the chimney flue and fly away. ”

“ Stuart eyed her keenly.
"Was the excitement too much for you, my dear?" he asked.
"I—I think so," replied Bab. Then as the thought of that face and its dreadful expression recurred to her mind, she trembled more violently than before. Mr. Stuart linked his arm in hers and led her away, followed by the others of the party.
"It really is no place for young girls," said Mr. Stuart. "I should not have brought you here. Girls, we will take the car and go home at once. Barbara had better lie down for a while before luncheon. She is completely unnerved." ”

“ Ruth made a wry face.
"We will explore for the treasure if we have to stay in the house all the time," said Bab. "A day like this makes one feel mysterious."
"And creepy," added Mollie. "Why, good morning, Tommy. How are you to-day?" she smiled, as Master Thomas Presby took his place at the breakfast table. Tommy grunted out some unintelligible reply. For some reason he was not in the best of humor that morning.
In the meantime Olive was trying to think up some entertainment that would amuse the girls on a stormy day.
"I have it," she cried. "How would you girls like an attic party?" ”

“ Maul me, do anything you want to punish me. I won't squeal, but don't peach to father."
"Girls, what shall we do with him?" asked Bab.
"I move we make him sit down on the rug and eat marshmallows," suggested Ruth.
"The very idea," agreed Mollie.
"But we want them ourselves," objected Grace.
"I have another box," admitted Olive. "Your father sent two boxes, though I did not intend to tell you about the second one just yet."
It was agreed that Tom's punishment should be a sweet one. Tom grinned broadly.
"Those things are for girls. I can swallow a boxful without winking an eyelid," he declared. ”

“ For a long time after Barbara had left Ruth Stuart's room, she lay in her own bedroom on a lounge staring straight up at the ceiling. Mollie was asleep, her golden head barely visible above the tops of the covers. "If I could only do something for these good friends," murmured Bab. "But what can a girl do? I wonder how much money it would take to save them? It would take a lot, I know."
After a time Barbara got up to get her handkerchief. She had dropped hers in Ruth's room. On the dresser lay Barbara's hand bag, the one she had carried with her on her way from Kingsbridge. ”

“ Presby nodded solemnly. "By the way, Ruth, the chauffeur will drive your car out in the morning. I heard all about that last drive of yours from the people of Brightwaters. I expect my little girl will break her neck and at the same time her dad's heart one of these days."
"I am not afraid for the first, but I shouldn't like to be responsible for the latter," answered Ruth soberly.
"To-night we won't think of serious subjects. We are to make it a real holiday, eh, Richard?"
"That is our plan. We want the 'Automobile Girls' to enjoy themselves. It makes us happy to see them so happy. ”

“ The cover was off almost before the words had left Olive's lips.
"Marshmallows!" cried the girls in chorus. "Oh, isn't that simply glorious?"
"And such a lot of them, too," added Grace Carter.
"Five pounds," Olive informed them. "We are about to sit down to a marshmallow toast. Eat all you wish, but for goodness sake do not make yourselves sick."
"She means you, Mollie," teased Ruth.
"The coat doesn't fit me, however," retorted Mollie. "But I do love marshmallows. Do we toast them over the flames of the candles?" ”

“ Barbara was hurrying into such of her clothing as she was able to find. The intense darkness of the car made any systematic effort to dress impossible.
"Grace! Oh, Grace!"
Still no answer. Bab observed by the light that now filtered through the broken windows of section number thirteen on the opposite side of the aisle, that that section was empty. The car itself appeared to be empty. At least the cries had died out, though outside the car there was a great uproar. Barbara climbed into the upper berth occupied by Grace Carter, who lay silent, unheeding Barbara's voice. ”

“ How'd you find out?"
"You told me," answered Bab, now with a merry twinkle in her eyes. "I guessed it first, then you admitted it just now."
"That was a mean trick. Nobody but a girl would take such a mean advantage of a fellow."
"Nobody but a mischievous boy would intentionally cause an automobile smash-up and endanger [102] the lives of five girls, including his sister," rebuked Barbara. "What do you think I ought to do with you?"
"You aren't going to tell the governor? Oh, don't say you are. I'll do anything for you! Say, I like you better than all the rest, Bab. Honest and true I do. ”

“ She fairly dragged Mollie from the berth into the aisle that was now tilted at an angle.
"Hurry! Get to the upper end of the car as fast as you can. The other passengers are out I do believe."
"Oh, I can't! Help me, Bab."
"Help yourself. I must look after Grace."
"Grace!" groaned Mollie, a sudden and new fit of trembling seizing upon her until her legs threatened to collapse under her.
Barbara gave her a violent push.
"Climb up the aisle. Support yourself by the seats. You will be able to get through all right. I'll follow you just as soon as I can find Grace. ”

“ My idea is that we go to the attic and rummage. There are old chests and trunks up there, together with all sorts of odds and ends, as is usual with a family garret."
The girls beamed on her.
"That will be perfectly splendid," cried Mollie. "Remember, Bab, how we used to rummage in our garret on rainy days?"
"It will be a great fun," answered Bab. [124]
"As we fear we may have to leave the old place," continued Olive, "we wish to overhaul everything up there, burning such stuff as we have no use for, saving anything that may be of use in the future. You girls can help me clear out the place." ”

“ Bab's heart sank. Was what she had done—and it had been hard for a girl to do—in vain?
"Why does Mr. Nathan Bonner hate you?"
"Nathan Bonner started, a green boy, as a clerk in my office. I thought him worthy and helped him, but finally found it necessary to dismiss him."
"Yes, he's crooked," said Barbara. Mr. Stuart started and looked at the girl in amazement; so she settled back and told him the story of the trip to Chicago in detail. "He mentioned your name, Mr. Stuart. He also said that because I had saved his life, he would assist me if I ever needed aid. To-day he refused." ”

“ Girls, you needn't worry about your appearance. Neither father nor mother will notice it. They are well used to the ways of healthy girls. As for Tom, well he doesn't figure at all. He wouldn't know whether our faces were clean or grimy. Come right in. Are they in the library, Aunt Sallie?"
"Yes, dear."
"Not one step will I go until I have made myself more beautiful," declared Ruth.
"I don't think that would be possible," said Bab in a tone calculated for Ruth's ears alone. ”

“ I'm so glad!" cried Bab.
"Ruth," said Barbara, after the girls had reached the outskirts of the city, "do you think there really is a hidden treasure and if we could find it your father——"
"I haven't much faith in the treasure, and if one should come to light, it would be Mr. Presby's and not father's."
"Mr. Presby would use it to help himself, and that would draw your father out, too."
"Bab, you ought to be on the Exchange; you'd make a good trader," laughed Ruth. [205] Then she went on: "No, Bab, I'm afraid we'll lose all we have. I don't care for myself. ”

“ Just at this moment Olive Presby, had hurried across the room. There was deep sympathy in her face as she extended a hand to the embarrassed Barbara.
"Don't mind it at all, dear. It is a thing that occurs to all of us frequently. Polished floors are such a nuisance," said Olive. [61]
The other girls had been introduced to Mrs. Presby in the meantime. It was now Bab's turn, but instead of being first, as Olive had intended, she was last. ”

“ Presby, it was decided that daddy must go into the city early this morning to see that Mr. Thompson whom you girls met at the wreck of the car on your journey to Chicago. I don't know what it is all about, but I suspect it is money," concluded Ruth with a trace of bitterness in her tone. "When I think how happy you girls are in your little home without wealth, I sometimes wish I had never known luxury. ”

“ I wish father did not, either," she added with a touch of bitterness. "Bulls and bears are mere men. The bulls are those who try to force up the prices of wheat and other things, while the bears are the ones who seek to keep the prices down. [52] I—I never have been able to make up my mind which of them is the most undesirable."
"I am sure Mr. Stuart isn't a bear," muttered Mollie.
"Indeed he is not," laughed Ruth, once more restored to good nature.
Instead of taking Mr. A. Bubble, the girls walked down from Mr. Stuart's office to the big, gloomy building that housed the Board of Trade. ”

“ I'll show you everything I know about the old place. You aren't going to squeal on a fellow, are you?"
"No, Tom, I'm not," answered Bab, laughing heartily. "Nor am I going to ask you to show me the exit from the secret passage. If I can't find it out for myself, I don't want to know."
Tommy regarded her admiringly.
"Say, you're a good sport, aren't you? I'll show you anyhow, for that."
About this time the setter dog, General, attracted the attention of the girls by diving into a hole in the base of a great tree that stood some little distance from the house. Nothing but his tail was visible. ”

“ The girls did. Mollie suggested that perhaps if they remained there long enough they might possibly meet the ghost of the old chief.
"What would you do if we should?" questioned Ruth whimsically.
"I'd run," answered Mollie promptly.
"I rather think the rest of us would not be slow in following you," agreed Ruth.
"I should think the Presbys would feel spooky all the time with so many queer things about them," observed Grace. "There's mystery all over the old house, and there are goodness knows how many dead Indians and things on the outside."
"Only girls are afraid," spoke up Tommy. ”

“ Bob Stevens never had had such a ride as that, even on a railroad train, but he declined to give in to his inclination to warn her to slow down. If a young woman had the nerve to drive a car at that speed he surely should have sufficient pluck to ride behind her.
Tommy had tightened his grip on the cushion. His body was swaying from side to side, now and then humping up into the air as the wheels passed over a hummock.
"I shall go on as long as the rims hold," flung back Ruth in acknowledgment of his warning about the tires. ”

“ Olive gave him a smile of approval.
"You shall have some more marshmallows for that," declared Ruth.
A pained look appeared on the boy's face.
"I don't want any marshmallows," he growled. "No more girls' food for me."
The "Automobile Girls" giggled. Mr. and Mrs. Presby paid no attention to this conversation. They were not in possession of the secret. The girls were eager for the attic party. There is always an element of mystery in an old family garret. This was especially so at Treasureholme. Everything about the old place savored of mystery. ”

“ Stuart, [47] "do you feel equal to beginning your sight-seeing to-day?"
"We do," chorused the girls.
"I have so planned my affairs as to have this day free for you. Mr. A. Bubble also is at your disposal. He has had a thorough going over at the hands of his man this morning, and I think you will find him in fine condition."
"Olive Presby is coming to see you this morning, you know," reminded Miss Sallie.
Ruth's face clouded again. Bab's eyes glowed, for she wished to see Olive even more than to explore Chicago. ”

“ All the girls were very kind to him, but there was a mischievous twinkle in their eyes that Tommy was not astute enough to read.
"I've Got the Spook," Shouted Bab Triumphantly.
After a time the marshmallows began to take [121] on a bitter taste. He did not appear to be eating them with the same relish as before.
"That stuff's no good for men," he jeered.
"Have another, Tommy," answered Bab, thrusting a blue flame into the boy's face.
"You needn't burn a fellow up," he rebuked, then swallowed the marshmallow with a gulp.
"Here, Tommy, is a nice, large one," added Mollie. ”

“ She is all upset. Can't we make our escape?"
"I am all right now," protested Barbara. "However, the company probably came to see Ruth instead of the rest of us."
"You are wrong," smiled Aunt Sallie.
"Who is it?" questioned Ruth.
"Cousin Richard, Cousin Jane and Tom Presby. You don't mind them."
"Oh, no indeed," laughed Ruth. "Come on, girls, let's go upstairs and get rid of our wraps, and remove some of this Chicago smoke from our faces. If I look as dirty as I feel I must be a sight."
"Father and mother here? You don't mean it?" exclaimed Olive in surprise. "I wonder why they have come in. ”