y sat opposite to each other, gazing out of their respective windows,
or making an affectation of reading the magazines which lay littered
about the seat; but the end was always the same, their eyes met in
irrepressible smiles, and they began to talk once more.

Real life was so much more interesting than romance!

"I feel so very Lucille-y!" Mollie declared "Travelling on pleasure,
with a tea-basket coming to meet me! It was an inspiration of yours to
order it, Ruth! I shall be grateful to you to the end of my life!
Let's talk about what we shall do to-night... Let's guess who will be
there, and what they will be like. The lady chaperon, now! Should you
think that the presence of a chaperon implied that there would be young
men in the party? I hope there are."

"So do I," assented Ruth frankly. "But I fancy that they are more
likely to be old. Some nieces and nephews of Aunt Edna's, about
mother's age, perhaps--middle-aged couples, with caps and spectacles.
How will you feel if we are the only young people there?"

"I refuse to imagine anything so ghastly! The couples may have
children, mayn't they? I imagine a charming girl who has no sisters,
and who will adopt us as her dearest friends, and ask us to stay with
her. I rather think she will be dark, and wear eyeglasses, and have a
brother who is musical, and has a tenor voice. Then there will be
another man--Sir Somebody or other, who has a big estate in the county.
He will be very superior at first, and take no notice of us, but in the
end he will be conquered by our modest charms and become a devoted
admirer. Perhaps there may be some couples, but they will be young and
festive, and the chaperon will be a dear old thing with side-ringlets,
who will let us do as we like, and take our part with the old man. That
sounds about the right thing, doesn't it?"

Ruth smiled happily.

"Ah, well! whoever we meet, I am going to enjoy myself. A change, a
change--that's what I wanted. Everything will be different, and there's
a world of refreshment in that alone. How thankful I am that Uncle
Bernard asked us both, Mollie! It's half the fun to talk things over
together."

She lay back in her corner, and gazed out of the window once more,
smiling dreamily as a whirl of thoughts flew through her mind. What
would have happened before she travelled once more past these flying
landmarks? What new friendships would be formed--what experiences
undergone--what