Part 3 (1/2)

_All_ the streets lead to the Capitol!”

”And you didn't know which street you came up?” asked Kit.

”That's it. So I walked down all those streets, up and down and up and down. Why I've seen that building from every angle. It was terrible!”

”Why didn't you just take a taxi to the hotel?” asked the practical s.h.i.+rley.

”Oh, I'm not so dumb. I thought of that!” exclaimed Joy with a toss of her head. ”But the taxi man laughed at me. I didn't know the name of the hotel or the name of the street, and I'd already told him I didn't have any money.”

”You poor little kid,” soothed Bet.

”He finally went away and I saw him make a sign to another taxi driver as much as to say I was crazy. Then I got frightened for fear they'd speak to me and laugh some more, so I ran away.”

”And did you go down all those streets again?” asked s.h.i.+rley.

”No, I was tired of that. I'd been on all of them, I guess. Then I remembered the train at the station, and I walked there.”

”Oh Joy! All that long way? You could have taken a taxi there,” said Enid.

”No, I couldn't! I didn't have any money and I wasn't going to be laughed at any more. I couldn't be sure that Sam was there to pay for me.”

”Well, it's over now, and we'd better go sight-seeing. We've wasted half the morning,” exclaimed Bet sharply.

”I don't want to go sight-seeing!” said Joy decidedly.

”Don't be a spoil-sport, Joy. We're not angry at you or anything. But we do want to see Was.h.i.+ngton.” Bet's voice was raised to a point where angry words were apt to come. At a signal from Kit, she quieted down however.

Kit turned to Joy. ”You wouldn't want to leave this city without seeing everything--the Congressional Library and the Capitol......”

”_Please_ don't take me to the Capitol! I think I'll scream if I ever lay eyes on that dome again! I've seen it a million times to-day, and that's plenty.”

”All right, you can sit in the car while we take a look at it,” laughed s.h.i.+rley, patting the still half frightened girl.

Still Joy shook her head. ”I can't go!” she finally exclaimed. ”The breakfast at the hotel is over and I'm so hungry I'm weak.”

”You poor little girl!” spoke up the Judge with a twinkle in his eyes.

”Enid, you take her down the block to that restaurant and get her a good breakfast. She'll be ready for anything when she gets back.”

”Not the Capitol, Judge! I draw the line at that.” She laughed like the old Joy once more.

Half an hour later Joy returned and announced that even the sight of the Capitol would not prevent her from accompanying them.

For the rest of the stay in the city she had to put up with a good deal of teasing, and the Judge noticed that she did not allow the girls to get out of sight for a moment.

Joy had learned her lesson.

”We're just like tourists,” sighed Bet when the day was almost over.

”We've rushed around from one thing to another. I don't like it. My eyes ache from looking at so many pictures. Imagine two galleries in one afternoon, besides the White House and the Capitol. That's too much sight-seeing! I'll be glad when we go.”

But the trip down the river to Mount Vernon the next day was enjoyed by all the girls, and when they caught sight of the old mansion, Bet cried, ”Why, it looks something like Merriweather Manor.”