There was no chance for Harry to reply, for the young lady had reached the little shelter and stood waiting for them. She was an extremely pretty young lady, with a great mass of dark hair held together in the back by a huge bow, and she had a very snub nose and a way of puckering her brows into a kind of whimsical frown. A number of rebellious locks hung about her forehead, shaken loose by the habit she had of giving all her adjectives a racking emphasis, thus causing her head to be in a state of almost continual agitation. She wore a white sailor blouse, with blue trimming and a blue anchor worked in front. Also a blue braided cord with a tiny round mirror on the end, used in capturing and confining the loose locks after a particularly emphatic tirade. The other extremity of Miss Antoinette was on the whole more demure and reposeful, her small feet being encased in bewitching little pumps, which were hardly worth while at all since they were almost completely obscured by enormous silk bows.
It took Gordon about one minute to forget his anxiety to keep secret the object of their wanderings, and presently Miss Antoinette was apprised of their intention of ascending Bulwagga that very day. She said it was all wonderful.
“And it was so clever,” she went on, “your knowing that I was autoing. They were friends of mine over in Vermont, and have such a lovely place. Mr. Danforth—he’s just, oh, so generous and such a dear! It was his son, Roger, that I was with that evening, and oh, he’s so dreadfully unlucky!”
“I should call him lucky,” said Harry.
“Oh, no, you wouldn’t. Something happens every time he goes out. Now what are you looking that way for? You’re deducing this very minute—you know you are!”
Harry clasped his hands behind his head, settled far back on the seat, and looked serious and thoughtful. Gordon cast his eyes heavenward as if buried in deep calculation.
“There must be some cause for this bad luck, Kid,” said Harry. “What do you make of it? He understands autos perfectly, I suppose, Miss Crosby?”
“Oh, yes, he has two.”
“Interested in mechanical matters, then?”
“Oh, very much.”