"This is a bad night for ladies to be abroad!"—[page 393.]
Then turning again to Cora, who had flung herself in a chair and sat gazing from one to the other in sullen silence, she said, with a smile on her lips: "You should not work against your own interests, Mrs. Arthur. Had you succeeded in escaping on the midnight express, who, think you, would have been summoned to meet you on your arrival in the city?"
"Doubtless an officer," replied the woman, doggedly. "I might have known you for a sleuth hound who would guard every avenue."
"Thanks; you do me honor. I should not have summoned an officer, however; there is some one else waiting anxiously to welcome you there."
"Indeed," sarcastically; "who?"
"Old Verage."
Cora started up in her chair. "For God's sake, what are you?"
"A witch," said the girl, demurely. "I am as old as the world, and can fly through the air on a broomstick, so don't think to escape me again, step-mamma. I trust you will enjoy your brief repose, for it will soon be morning, and if I don't see your fair face at the breakfast table, I shall not be content."