_ CHAPTER X. WHIRLED THROUGH THE NIGHT
Mile after mile, the long train rumbled on over shining rails that fell away behind and merged in the far-distant sky-line. The first rays of the morning sun struck on the brilliant metal and gathered up the dazzled sunbeams to scatter them broadcast over hills and fields and flying houses. Now and then the hoarse whistle of the engine broke the early morning quiet, only to be flung back on itself by wood and cave and mountainside in a scornful shout of mockery.
And still the girls slept on in the dreamless, heavy sleep of tired girlhood. Of course, not one of the three had had the least intention of doing anything so commonplace as going to sleep; in fact, the very idea had been vaguely irritating. Had they not looked forward to this very thing for months--at least, so it seemed to them--and it was almost impossible for them to have patience with the idiocy of any one who could calmly suggest slumber at such a time. And Phil--for it was at him that this Parthian shot had been aimed--had evinced remarkable self-control, in that he had refused to argue, but had continued to smile in an aggravatingly superior manner, which had said more plainly than words: "You think you mean it, no doubt, but I, who am wise, know what simpletons you are."
Of course, Phil was right, as they had known in their hearts he would be, in spite of all their resolution, and it was not until the sun struck through the little window and dashed upon Lucile's sleeping face in a golden shower that she stirred impatiently and brushed her hand across her eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, in dressing gown and cap, she pushed aside the curtain into the aisle and crept out, meaning to steal a march on the others. She let the curtain fall with a little gasp of astonishment, for as she looked, two other curtains moved stealthily, animated by unseen hands, and two heads popped simultaneously into the aisle. Jessie and Evelyn looked at each other, then at Lucile, vacantly at first, and then, as the truth dawned upon them, they began to laugh.
"Oh," gasped Lucile, "I thought I was the only one awake, and here you two come along and spoil my well-laid plans."
"The well-laid plans of mice and men
Aft gang agley,"
quoted Jessie.
"Stop spouting poetry before breakfast," commanded Evelyn. "You might wait until I get strength to bear it."
"There she goes! First thing in the morning, too," said Jessie, despairingly.
Lucile laughed, and, taking each disputant by an arm, hurried them along the aisle.
"May I ask our destination?" queried Jessie, with the utmost politeness.
"Certainly," Lucile agreed, cheerfully, and then, as no further explanation seemed forthcoming, Jessie added, with an air of indefinite patience, "Well?"
"Go ahead, ask all the questions you like," said Lucile, with a twinkle in her eye. "I'm not going to answer them, though," and, with a little laugh, she pushed her before her into a little room at the farther end of the car.
"A-ha, a mirror!" cried Jessie. "Lucile, I forgive all."
"Thanks," replied Lucile, laconically. "Even at that, you needn't take up the whole mirror, you know."
"Oh, you can look on both sides," said Jessie, serenely.
The girls laughed.
"The only wonder is that we showed almost human intelligence in bringing our combs along," Lucile remarked, after a moment.
"Not at all," observed Jessie, grandly. "We only followed a very obvious line of reasoning."
"A very which?" asked Evelyn, turning round with her comb poised in mid-air. "If you must talk, kindly speak United States, Jessie."
Jessie turned upon her friend a look in which was more of pity than of anger.
"It is evident," she remarked sadly, "that there is one among us who has never grasped the opportunity for learning afforded by our present-day civilization----"
"Jessie, darling," broke in Lucile, sweetly, "if you don't come down from your soap box pretty soon, I'm afraid we'll have to resort to force. Much as we would hate to," she added, apologetically.
Evelyn threw up her hands in desperation.
"You're just as bad as Jessie, Lucy," she accused. "I'm going in and see if I can't find peace. The boys ought to be up by this time," she added, slyly.
The girls laughed as the door slammed behind her, and Lucile exclaimed, with a little flourish of her comb, "Come on, Jess; I'm ready for the fray." And, with arms about each other, girl fashion, they followed Evelyn into the aisle.
How could they know on that morning, when their hearts were full and their heads light with the heady wine of Spring, that before three months had sped, they would feel the strands of the mighty web of nations tighten about them; that they would see the beginning of the greatest war the world has ever known? Perhaps it was just as well that they were not gifted with prophecy, for the grim shadow of war that hung menacingly over all Europe would have darkened this bright morning and would have tinted all the hills and countryside with the grayish hue of impending disaster.
As it was, there was no cloud to darken the horizon of their exuberant happiness and they gave full rein to their high spirits.
As Evelyn had said, the boys were up when they returned, and they were not the only ones, for the train seemed suddenly to have come to life. Voices called merrily to each other from different points in the car, and everywhere was the stir and bustle of awakened and refreshed humanity.
As Lucile and Jessie made their way through the car, they encountered several women, apparently bound for the dressing-room.
"It's good we got there early," said Lucile. "If we hadn't, we never would have gotten a chance at the mirror."
"You're just right," laughed Jessie. "There wasn't room enough for three of us, let alone a half a dozen."
A moment later they joined a group of their own folks at the other end of the car. They flung a merry greeting.
"Well, well, girls," observed Mr. Payton, catching sight of the girls out of the corner of his eye, "we thought you were lost."
"I didn't think so," said Phil. "Evelyn said you might be in there half an hour if you had good luck, so we didn't expect you so soon."
The girls threw a reproachful look at the traitress, who made a defiant little mouth at them.
"Well, I had to get even with you some way," she cried.
Just then Jack, who had been trapped into a discussion with some of the men and had been anxiously watching for a chance to escape, suddenly finding it, excused himself and joined the young folks.
"What's the row?" he asked casually.
"Nothing, save that we have a traitress in our midst," declaimed Jessie, dramatically.
"How exciting!" drawled her cousin. Then, turning to Lucile, he inquired, lightly:
"Did you get any sleep last night, or were the bumps too much for you?"
"The bumps didn't worry me at all," she confessed, as she smiled whimsically. "In fact, I didn't know there were any."
"How about something to eat?"
It was Mr. Payton who voiced the welcome suggestion, and there was a prompt shout of approval from all hands.
"You have said it, Dad," commended Phil. "If we start now, we'll get there before the crowd."
So off went the merry company to the dining-car, where the tempting odors made them more ravenous than before, if such a thing were possible, and Phil kept on ordering until it seemed as though the rest of the passengers would have to go on short commons.
The early morning passed quickly and it was no time at all before Jack announced to Lucile--for he was never very far from her side--that they would reach New York within the next hour.
Then, as Jack had said, at exactly five minutes of nine--the authority for the time being Phil's beloved chronometer, which he declared, and devoutly believed as well, varied hardly a second during the year--the train glided smoothly into the station and they reached--New York!
The girls stood with shining eyes and breath that came and went quickly through parted lips. Then, as the porter shouted in stentorian tones, "New Yawk--all out!" they moved half dazedly through the crowd and out on the great platform, where the din half fascinated, half frightened them.
"Stick close together, everybody," Mr. Payton directed. "It wouldn't be any joke if we got separated!"
Lucile had faced many situations and never turned a hair, but now the roar of the great metropolis, the rumble of the hand-cars on the platform as the heavy baggage was carted to and from the trains, the shrieking of engine whistles, the hoarse cries of the train-hands, all combined in such a menacing roar that for a moment she had a wild desire to run and hide somewhere, anywhere to get away from the thunderous din.
It was only for a second, however, for, as Jack slipped a reassuring arm through hers, she looked up at him with her old, confident smile.
"I'll see that you don't get lost or run over," he said, comfortingly, with that air of protection that all men, even very young ones like Jack, love to assume toward girls and women, especially pretty ones.
And it must be noted that from that instant Jack Turnbull rose forty good points in Lucile's estimation. It gave her a feeling of grateful security to be piloted through the crowd in this masterly fashion. Soon they had covered the length of the platform and had reached the curb, which was lined with cabs and taxis.
"Here, pile in, all of you," Mr. Payton commanded, as he looked around to see if they were all there. "I guess you five young people can manage to squeeze into one car. Come, Nellie," to his wife, "you get right in here," and he proceeded, with the other men, to help the ladies into the two waiting cabs.
"Pretty close quarters," said Jack, as he slipped into the square inch of space between Jessie and Evelyn. "I suppose I might have walked," he was adding, doubtfully, when Lucile broke in with a decided, "Indeed, you shouldn't have thought of such a thing! What difference does it make if we are a little crowded?"
"That's all very well for you, Lucy; you're not having the breath squeezed out of you," Jessie began, when Phil interrupted, mischievously:
"Why don't you change places? Lucy doesn't mind and you do, Jess."
"You have it!" exclaimed Jack, enthusiastically. "The first minute I saw you, I said to myself, 'That fellow has brains.' Come on Jess; vacate," and he slipped his arm about his cousin, gently lifting her from the seat.
"Go ahead, Lucy," urged Evelyn from her corner.
So, with a great deal of merriment, the exchange was made, much to the satisfaction of everyone concerned.
The rest of the journey through the traffic-laden streets to the hotel was so vivid a panorama of shifting scenes that, to the unaccustomed eyes of the girls, it seemed like one confused blur.
"Oh, are we there already?" Lucile exclaimed, regretfully, as the taxi stopped abruptly before the great white pile of the Hotel McAlpin. "The ride has seemed so short!"
"I wish you were going to stay in New York," Jack whispered, as he helped her to alight. "We'd get my car and whiz all around this old city until you'd know it better than Burleigh."
"Oh, if I only could!" she cried, her eyes alight with the very thought. "Wouldn't it be fun?"
"You just bet it would," he agreed, with a warmth that brought even a brighter color to her face.
An instant later they were joined by the others and they passed through the imposing entrance.
In the hotel office the girls drew close together, and Lucile said, in a voice scarcely above a whisper, "So this is New York!"
"Do you like it as much as you thought you would?" asked Phil, overhearing.
The girls turned wonder-filled eyes upon him.
"Oh, much more!" they chorused, with a vehemence that left no room for doubt. _