"You mustn't say such things!" objected her sister.
"Well, neither must she, then. Oh, Estelle! Wouldn't it be great if you should prove to be the daughter of a millionaire!"
"Too great, my dear. Don't let's think about it. But I feel better for having unburdened some of my troubles on you. And if you will still be as nice to me as you always have been——"
"Why shouldn't we be?" asked Ruth.
"Oh, I don't know, but I thought——"
"Silly!" cried Alice, as she threw her arms about the strange girl and kissed her.
Suddenly, from a distant hill, came a dull, booming sound, that, low as it was, seemed to make the very ground tremble.
"What's that?" cried Alice.
"Thunder," suggested Ruth.
"It sounded more like an explosion," asserted Estelle.