It was with a light heart that Gertrude hurried to the ferry, crossed to the New Jersey side, and took the express train for Lakewood. She did not dream of the trick that had been practiced upon her, and anticipated only a good engagement and a delightful ride on the cars.
For a long while she sat by the window, drinking in the swiftly moving panorama as the train flew by station after station, and farms, and woods. But few stops were made, and she had the entire seat to herself. She would have been very much surprised had she known that Homer Bulson was watching her, yet such was the case.
The man had seen her get on board, and now occupied a seat in the smoker. His face wore a smile of triumph, for he felt that the girl was already in his power.
It was just noon when the train pulled into the elegant little station at Lakewood, and Gertrude alighted. Hotel stages were everywhere, and so were cabs and cabmen.
At last she found a newsboy who directed her where to go. She thought he looked at her rather queerly when he found out where the place was, but he said nothing, and she asked no further questions. Soon she was hurrying down the country road leading toward Sarah Higgins' place.
As she moved along she had to confess to herself that the surroundings were hardly what she had anticipated. The road was little more than a bypath, and was by no means well kept.
"Perhaps this is a short cut to something better," she thought. "That newsboy didn't want me to walk any further than necessary. But I must say I see no mansions anywhere around—only the plainest kind of farmhouses."
At last she reached the spot the boy had mentioned. In a clump of pines was a dilapidated cottage, half stone and half wood, with a dooryard in front choked with weeds.
"There surely is some mistake," said the girl to herself. "This can't be the house. I'll go in and find out where Mrs. Broaderick's home really is."
She passed through the open gateway and made her way up the rough garden path. The door was closed to the cottage, and so were all the windows. She knocked loudly.