to give Trudy's
own sentiments, they would soon be able to carry the whole show in
their grip and use the baggage cars to bring back the profits!

CHAPTER V

Gaylord's sudden marriage and departure for New York caused no small
comment. In the Faithful family Mary and Luke stood against Mrs.
Faithful, who declared with meaning emphasis that some girls had more
sense than others and it was better to marry and make a mistake the
first time than to remain an old maid. With Trudy's style and high
spirits she was going to carry Gaylord into the front ranks without
any effort. Luke described the event by saying that a bad pair of
disturbers had teamed for life, and relied upon Mary to take up the
burden of the proof.

"Don't mourn so, mother. I'm a happy old maid," she insisted when the
comments grew too numerous for her peace of mind. "Trudy was not the
sort to blush unseen, and it's a relief not to have to cover up her
mistakes at the office. Everything will be serene once more. As for
Gay's future--I suppose he is likely to bring home anything from a
mousetrap to a diamond tiara. I don't pretend to understand his
ways."

"Of course it isn't like Mrs. O'Valley's wedding," her mother resumed,
with a resonant sniffle. "You have been so used to hearing about her
ways that poor little Trudy seems cheap. Perhaps your mother and
brother and the little home seem so, too. But we can't all be Gorgeous
Girls, and I think Trudy was right to take Gaylord when he had the
money for a ring and a license."

"He had more than that," Mary ruminated. "People don't walk to New
York."

"Did he win it on a horse race?" Luke had an eye to the future.

"Maybe his father's friends helped him," Mrs. Faithful added.

"Can't prove anything by me." Mary shook her head.

Neither Trudy nor Gaylord knew that all Beatrice's bills were sent to
Mary to discount, and Mary, not without a certain shrewdness, had her
own ideas on the matter. But it amused more than it annoyed her. Gay
might as well have a few hundred to spend in getting a wife and
caretaker as tradesmen whose weakness it was to swell their profits
beyond all respectability.

"I wonder where they will live." Mrs. Faithful found the subject
entirely too fascinating to let alone.

"Not here," her daughter assured her. "And if you'd only say yes I
could get such a sunny, pretty flat where the work would be worlds
easier."

"Leave my home? Never! It would be like uprooting an