“Oh, this mustn’t count as a lesson,” laughed Bowman. “You haven’t learned anything yet.”
But Janice thought she had. She had learned considerable about this very civil engineer, and what she had learned piqued her interest in him.
Perhaps his sister, too, would prove to be pleasant. A girl right from boarding school might stir the sluggish pool of Polktown society—bring modern ideas and new thoughts into the place.
There was still room for progress in Polktown along these lines, as Janice very well knew. She was interested in Frank Bowman; but much more so in the coming of his sister, Annette.
CHAPTER V
“THE WORLD’S RUN MAD!”
The approach to the old Day house was a triumph. Not only Aunt ’Mira and Uncle Jason, but most of the neighbors were out to see the homecoming of Janice’s new car.
Molly, the brindle cow, put her head over the corner of the pasture fence, caught sight of the car and its glistening brass work and dust-guard flashing in the sunlight, and immediately set out for the upper end of the pasture, tail up and head down.
The dogs barked a welcome; the sorrel ponies put their heads out of their stable windows and snorted disapproval; and the Day tabby cat, with its tail twice as big as usual, went up the poplar tree in fright as Frank turned the car into the lane.
“My goodness me!” gasped Aunt Almira, coming down the porch steps in her eagerness to view the car. “Ain’t that the han’somest thing you ever see? My soul and body, Janice! I am glad I spent my money for them ortermobile fixin’s, after all!”
Janice introduced Frank Bowman.