“Why not?”
“Because Betty said not to.”
Babe shrugged her shoulders with a fine assumption of indifference. “It can’t be that she’s engaged, after what you’ve said; so I don’t care much about knowing.”
“Wait till you see it.”
Babe was too proud to ask any more questions, but she lay awake for hours trying to guess what It could be. Meanwhile Betty Wales was dreaming wild dreams, at the climax of which the dashing Coach and Four ran over Jim Watson.
CHAPTER XVIII
MONTANA MARIE DISAPPEARS
Mr. Morton answered Betty’s telegram with another:
“Coach and Six not a bit too big for my notions. Thursday O. K. for me. Young Watson to plan improvements. Depend on you to keep him docile.”
Madeline, being inspired by the evident largeness of Mr. Morton’s notions, retired at once to the Tally-ho loft to meditate on delightful possibilities, and to sketch posters and a hanging sign for the Coach and Six. But presently her eye happened to fall upon Thomas, the door-boy, and in a moment the posters for the Coach and Six were forgotten, and Madeline was off in hot pursuit of green broadcloth.
“Take off your coat so I can use it for a pattern,” she ordered the bewildered Thomas on her return. “No, I suppose you can’t do without a coat very well. Sprint home and get another suit that fits you. Tell your mother I won’t hurt it. Hurry now.”