They had been seated in the train for perhaps an hour when Mrs. Sheldon said with a troubled look:
"I almost wish I had asked Nelson to come with us. He is so dependable where Daisy is concerned, and it doesn't seem quite fair to him to run away without a word. He is so—so—loyal and patient."
"H'm!" mused Mary Dunlap. "Was there—any way you could have asked him? Would Daisy have resented your telling him?"
"I suppose she would. No, I don't suppose there was," said the perplexed mother reversing the order of the questions, "but somehow it seems all wrong not to have him along when we are in trouble."
"Well," said Mary Dunlap thoughtfully, "if the Lord needs him, He'll know how to send him. Don't you fret."
Fortunately both women were dead with sleep, and were able to get some real refreshing rest in their chairs while the miles raced along beneath the wheels, and Daisy drew nearer to New York.
What would Daisy do when she got to New York? Her mother could not keep the question out of her mind, and yet she could not answer it. Oh, what awful experience might she not have if she went to that office and met her old lover! A creature as hardened as he would perhaps think nothing of spiriting her away somewhere, so that her mother might never see her again. If she came early alone to his office and found him by himself, he might tell her any lie, and in her present state of mind, she would believe it.
On the other hand, what if that Mrs. Oliver or her daughters should happen to be there when Daisy arrived, and she should say something to her lover which showed what her relation had been to him, would she and Daisy ever be able to live after such humiliation?
The poor mother could not fathom the answer to her painful thoughts and could only pray over and over again in her heart,—
"Oh Father, keep her, keep my child from falling."