The game of hide and seek had terminated disastrously for Jane, and her system of signals, useful to deceive as well as reveal had betrayed her. It was clearly to be seen that further dissimulation would be futile, so she raised her head slowly, the color gone from her cheeks.
“Yes, it was I,” she said with admirable coolness. “Meeting Mr. Gallatin here the other night reminded me of it. That was one of the things I came to tell Mrs. Pennington this morning. But I don’t suppose there’s any reason why you shouldn’t know it, too, Nina. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Gallatin I know I should have died. You see, I had slipped and wrenched my ankle and, of course, couldn’t move——”
“It must have been terrible!” put in Nellie Pennington in dire distress. “You poor child!”
“I haven’t spoken of it,” Jane went on hurriedly, “because there wasn’t any reason why I should. But now, of course, that this story is going the rounds, it’s just as well that people knew. It wasn’t necessary to tell Mr. Gallatin my name up there, and until he met me in New York he did not know who I was. That, of course, is why the whole thing has seemed so mysterious.” She paused and smiled rather obtrusively at her companions. “It’s really a very trivial matter to make such a fuss about, isn’t it?”
“Absurd!” said Mrs. Pennington, with enthusiasm. “I wouldn’t worry about it in the least.”
“It does sound rather romantic, though,” laughed Jane uneasily, “but it wasn’t a bit. We nearly starved and poor Mr. Gallatin was almost dead with fatigue—when they found us.”
“Who found you?” asked Miss Jaffray.
“The guides, of course.”
“Oh!” said Nina.
Nellie Pennington put down her embroidery and rose. This wouldn’t do.