She looked back toward the hotel, but Nancy was not yet in sight, so she seated herself upon the grass, and began to arrange the flowers in a fine bouquet.
She was trying to mix the white blossoms and pink buds so as to show the beauty of each, when a carriage passed, and before she looked up a shrill little voice shouted:
"Dorothy! Dorothy! We're over at the farmhouse just beyond the Merlington. Aunt Matilda wouldn't let pa take us to a hotel. She doesn't approve of hotels. Aunt Matilda says,—"
She was looking back to shout at Dorothy, and doubtless would have given even more particulars, but a firm hand had hastily forced her to turn around, and sit down.
Nancy ran along the path a few moments later, and her eyes were dancing.
"Did you see Arabella?" she asked. "Did you?"
"Yes, just a few moments ago, and she turned around in the carriage and screamed to me," said Dorothy.
"I can guess what she said," laughed Nancy, "because she screamed at me. She told me she was staying at a farmhouse, and said that her Aunt Matilda didn't approve of hotels."
"That is just what she said," said Dorothy, "and she would have said more but some one, I think it was her Aunt Matilda, pulled her back into the carriage."
"Why, that's just the way it was when I saw her. I ran out on to the piazza, and down the steps, and the carriage rolled by, and she twisted round to shout. There was this difference, though," said Nancy. "You were out here alone, and no one would know if you laughed, but when I ran out, our piazza was full of people, and when Arabella shouted, you'd ought to have seen them look.