"You don't understand," said Mabel loftily. "One must do what seems right to one's own self. I am doing that, and I shall be rewarded. Come and see me sometimes, girls. I shall be very busy, but never too busy to receive my old Girl Scout friends."
She nodded, and struck into a quicker pace which carried her ahead of the two girls.
"Well, I think that is perfectly awful, don't you, Jane?" demanded little Estella, looking at the broad, retreating back.
"Simply dreadful!" murmured Jane, shocked and wondering.
"What do you suppose has got into Mabel? Do you suppose it is possible that her mother is actually letting her do it, or is she running away or something awful?"
"Oh, Jane, do you remember what the Captain told her to do at the last meeting? Oh, oh, what will the Captain say when she hears about this? She will feel awfully. Why, she never, never meant Mabel to actually leave her mother and go off and do dreadful things! I don't see how Mabel can bear it! And it will make our little Captain feel awfully!"
"Says she is going to live all alone, and work on the newspaper. Just like being an orphan. Get her own meals and everything. I couldn't stand it," said Jane.
They stared after the distant figure. They did not approve.
"But, of course," said Estella suddenly, "we must not be too hard on Mabel. You know she writes real poetry. Perhaps that is what ails her. We mustn't forget that."
"No," said Jane pityingly, "we mustn't forget that."