Part 30 (1/2)

”But my heart bleeds for that poor girl,” she continued. ”I wish I had the power to help her. Has the child no spirit that she permits herself to be forced into this unhappy marriage?”

”Would you really like to help Evelyn Stone if you had a chance, Cousin Helen?” asked Billie suddenly.

”I only wish I had the chance, dear,” exclaimed the other charitably.

Billie gave the merest blink of a wink to Nancy and increased the Comet's speed to forty miles an hour.

It was long before seven o'clock, therefore, when they drew up at the Ogden railroad station. Only a few people were about at that early hour, but framed in the doorway of the waiting room stood a slender, girlish figure, dressed in gray, a gray veil wrapped closely around her hat and face.

Billie drew a deep breath.

”Cousin Helen, you've got the chance to help Evelyn Stone,” she said, getting over the confusion as quickly as possible. ”I asked her the other night to run away with us in the Comet, and she has accepted. Here she is.”

There was not time for the astonished lady to reply; for the girl in gray, seeing the red car, rushed out, carrying her suitcase with her.

In another instant, she and her luggage were installed on the front seat with Nancy and a new Motor Maid was added to the Comet.

”Dear Miss Campbell,” she said leaning back and taking the older woman's hand, ”I can't tell you how happy I am. You are the kindest, the nicest, the best-” she continued incoherently, her voice choking with emotion.

”If I had had anyone else to go to-but I have no one except my father's sister, and she is not in sympathy with me. I thought of going somewhere by train, but where? The other time when I ran away I had decided to teach school, but it was very difficult to get a position, and when I found you knew Daniel and Billie asked me, I couldn't resist it. You will forgive me, won't you?”

Miss Campbell was not proof against the charms of the beautiful girl, and melted at once into her old delightful and agreeable self.

”My dear,” she said, pressing the girl's hand, ”it is a pleasure to add you to our party. I confess I'm afraid of your father, but I trust he has no idea you have run away with us.”

”No, no, he hasn't. You see I left last night before he came up to his room. He thought I was asleep. I am certain he thinks I've gone East, because I bought a ticket to Chicago and took the midnight train. He has no way to know that I left the train at Ogden and he has no legal grounds for stopping me anyway, unless he trumps up something as he did before when I went off with the horse.”

”He'd be quite capable of trumping up anything he could think of,”

thought Miss Campbell, but she said nothing and they did not allude to the subject again that day.

Evelyn Stone, free from the thraldom of her father and her unhappy engagement, was like a bird out of a cage. She was so happy that it was impossible to be sad in her presence. Although indirectly she had been the cause of their disgraceful departure from Salt Lake City, they were obliged to admit that she was a great addition to the party in their present strained state of nerves. When she finally unwound the long gray veil and disclosed her lovely face glowing with color, the Motor Maids and Miss Campbell felt that they would be willing to take almost any risk to do her a service.

The whole thing was like a strange dream at any rate. She was a beautiful princess flying from her old ogre of a father through country of surpa.s.sing loveliness; for nothing can exceed the beauty of the scenery around Ogden. However, they did not pause until they had left the country of the ogre well behind them and had pa.s.sed into the state of Nevada. The Comet covered one hundred and five miles that day and they slept that night at a small country hotel well on the other side of the border.

The next morning on the way to breakfast, Evelyn bought a newspaper at the desk.

”I knew I would find something,” she said. ”Listen to this: 'The wedding of Miss Evelyn Stone, only daughter of John James Stone of Salt Lake City, to Ebenezer Stone, bank president and owner of gold mines, has been postponed on account of the serious illness of the young woman. The ceremony was to have taken place to-day at twelve o'clock in the Annex of the Tabernacle. John James Stone has been called East on important business. His daughter is with her aunt at their country place, Granite Hills.'”

”Thank heavens, he's going East,” observed Miss Campbell, ”since we are going West.”

Evelyn continued to search the paper anxiously.

”Poor Danny, I'm afraid there's no news about him,” she said at last with a sigh.

”At least he'll be glad to know that the marriage didn't take place,”

suggested Elinor.

Once more Evelyn gave her radiant smile.

”To think that if it hadn't been for all of you-”