"The precious lambs," she said. "The precious little lambs! They kissed me, too, bless 'em!" and she put her hand up gently to her face.
Meanwhile the train that was to carry the North Bend party back home had thundered into the station, and all the passengers who had been stranded in the place overnight were crowding on board.
As Billie was being hurried up the steps, she suddenly paused and looked back at her father.
"Where's the trunk?" she asked nervously.
"In the baggage car," Mr. Bradley assured her. "We'll get it safely to North Bend—unless we have another wreck."
As soon as he had made the speech he regretted it. Billie's face went white and Laura and Violet looked back at him with startled eyes, then went on more slowly into the car.
The luggage had been stowed away in the racks overhead and the girls were removing their hats when the train moved slowly from the station.
"You know, I'm terribly afraid," Violet confided in a whisper to Billie. "I—I won't feel safe for a minute until we reach North Bend."
Billie looked a little uncertain herself, but suddenly there floated across her vision a shabby, odd, little trunk, filled to the brim with old coins and postage stamps. Then she laughed.
"After this morning," she said, "I'm not afraid of anything. The luck's all on our side!"