“You’ll like it, when you are used to it,” she said comfortingly. “You don’t have them at home, you know.”
127“No,” growled Frieda, choking on a spoonful. “And I’m glad we don’t. Sundaes aren’t so bad, but the name is foolish! I do not wonder Miss Lyndesay lives most of the time in Europe!”
The fifth day matters came to a climax. Karl had come over from Cambridge to spend Sunday. Hannah and he seemed to be on the best of terms. They talked English faster than Frieda could understand, and they seemed to have an endless stock of jokes that had no meaning for her. Suddenly, after sitting with a brow like a thunder-cloud for a while, listening to them and declining to join in the fun, she started up and ran up stairs with a swift pounding gait that recalled to Hannah the way she used to tear madly off to school in the morning, fearful of being late.
Karl and Hannah, left behind, looked solemnly at each other. Karl whistled.
“Die Kleine is irritated about something,” he remarked.
“I don’t wonder,” said Hannah sympathizingly. “I always remember when it’s too late to do any differently. She felt left out, I suppose, and you know you do use a terrible amount of slang, nowadays. I’m awfully ashamed of us, Karl!”
Karl pondered a moment. Then he said: “I’ll fix it up all right. Here, you take this note up to Frieda. Just shove it under the door, if she won’t let you in.”
128He wrote a few lines on a card and gave it to Hannah, who promptly ran away up stairs with it. Then Karl went into the study and telephoned a garage.
In a few minutes, Frieda, shy and somewhat red-eyed, came down stairs. Hannah was nowhere to be seen, and Mrs. Eldred was out for the afternoon. At the door was a snorting automobile, with seats for just two.
“I knew Hannah would forgive us if we ran away by our two selves,” said Karl in German, meeting Frieda in the hall, and conducting her out to the machine. “She knows enough about being in a foreign country to understand that sometimes you want to be with your very own people. There! I’ll have this thing running like a charm in about a minute. Sure you’re not afraid to go out alone with me? I’ve learned a good deal about this kind of thing lately. It’s one of the courses I’m taking at Harvard. Here we go!” And there they went, speeding down the street at a rate that made a policeman, half asleep on the corner, look about him with a start. Frieda’s eyes shone, and she began to feel better.