“Now, Lily, you know that’s nonsense!” protested Ethel. “If the old lieutenant is going to find us, she knows what train we’re on, and all about us. We simply couldn’t hide from her! No, let’s take the bus—we can go to a movie anywhere. And maybe, if you really want to, there would be time to take us for tea afterward.”
The girls all chimed in approvingly at Ethel’s suggestions, and inquired for the nearest bus.
The experience of seeing a city in this ordinary way was a novel one for most of them. Perched high up in the air, amid a crowd of noisy people, they listened with great amusement to the remarks of their fellow passengers, and the cut-and-dried descriptions and ancient jokes of the guide. They hardly opened their mouths during the ride, and when they did volunteer an observation to one of their comrades, it was in a whisper. It required most of their efforts to keep themselves from laughing out loud.
They stopped at one of the big hotels near the station, and, as it was only four o’clock, they looked forward to a delightful hour in the tea-room. They were entering the lobby when Alice suddenly grasped Daisy’s arm.
“Look! look! Daisy! Could that be Olive?” she whispered, breathlessly. “See—over there—by the elevator!”
Daisy’s eyes followed the direction indicated by her companion. The young woman was about her sister’s age, and she had dark hair; but in no other way did she resemble Olive. The girl shook her head sadly.
“Well, I’m going to keep right on watching,” said Alice, as the girls entered the dining-room. “There, let’s ask the waiter to let us sit over there by the window—then we can see everybody who comes into the room.”
When they were finally established at one of the larger tables to the side, Florence expressed herself frankly in regard to Alice’s attitude.
“Alice,” she said, “I think you’re really silly for a grown-up girl. Daisy said herself that there isn’t a chance that her sister could be out West, and yet you continually keep looking for her, and talking about her, till Daisy can never hope to get her mind away from the thing for a minute.”
Alice flushed painfully at Florence’s severe criticism. She was very sorry for Daisy, and was only trying to help her solve the mystery. It seemed cruel of Florence to intimate that she was only making it harder for the girl.