A few minutes later, with Miss Wall at her side, she was speeding to the distant suburb where the little church was located.
“We are going to find a priest,” she said simply. “Oh, you mustn’t ask me any questions! Mrs. Hawley-Crowles doesn’t like to have me talk about certain things, and so I can’t tell you.”
Miss Wall glanced at her in wonder. But the happy, smiling countenance disarmed suspicion.
“Now tell me,” Carmen went on, “tell me about yourself. I’m a missionary, you know,” she added, thinking of Father Waite.
“A missionary! Well, are you trying to convert the society world?”
“Yes, by Christianity––not by what the missionaries are now teaching in the name of Christianity. I’ll tell you all about it some day. Now tell me, why are you unhappy? Why is your life pitched in such a minor key? Perhaps, together, we can change it to a major.”
Miss Wall could not help joining in the merry laugh. Then her face grew serious. “I am unhappy,” she said, “because I have arrived nowhere.”
Carmen looked at her inquiringly. “Well,” she said, “that shows you are on the wrong track, doesn’t it?”
“I’m tired of life––tired of everything, everybody!” Miss Wall sank back into the cushions with her lips pursed and her brow wrinkled.
“No, you are not tired of life,” said Carmen quietly; “for you do not know what life is.”