“Look!” said Florence, excitedly.
“What is that?” asked Madeline.
“Link Stevens and the automobile!”
“Oh no! Why, it’s only a few minutes since he telephoned saying the party had just arrived.”
“Take a look with the glasses,” said Florence.
One glance through the powerful binoculars convinced Madeline that Florence was right. And another glance at Stillwell told her that he was speechless with delight. She remembered a little conversation she had had with Link Stevens a short while previous.
“Stevens, I hope the car is in good shape,” she had said. “Now, Miss Hammond, she’s as right as the best-trained hoss I ever rode,” he had replied.
“The valley road is perfect,” she had gone on, musingly. “I never saw such a beautiful road, even in France. No fences, no ditches, no rocks, no vehicles. Just a lonely road on the desert.”
“Shore, it’s lonely,” Stevens had answered, with slowly brightening eyes. “An’ safe, Miss Hammond.”
“My sister used to like fast riding. If I remember correctly, all of my guests were a little afflicted with the speed mania. It is a common disease with New-Yorkers. I hope, Stevens, that you will not give them reason to think we are altogether steeped in the slow, dreamy manana languor of the Southwest.”