not to be allayed. It required every excuse his wounded dignity could
muster to bolster up his pride and make out for himself the plausible
case that had previously comforted him and lulled his conscience to
rest. It was now more impossible than ever for him to make any
confession, he decided; for having denied in his father's presence
O'Malley's acquaintance it would be ridiculous to acknowledge that he
had known the truck driver all along. Of course he could not do that.
Whatever he might have said or done at the time, it was entirely too
late to go back on his conduct now. One event had followed on the heels
of another until to slip out a single stone of the structure he had
built up would topple over the whole house.

If he had spoken in the beginning that would have been quite simple. All
he could do now was to let bygones be bygones and in the pleasure of
to-day forget the mistakes of yesterday. Consoled by this reflection he
managed to recapture such a degree of his self-esteem that by the time
he rejoined the family he was once more holding his head in the air and
smiling with his wonted lightness of heart.

"We shall get you to Northampton now, daughter, without more delay, I
hope," Mrs. Tolman affirmed when the car was again skimming along. "We
may be a bit behind schedule; nevertheless a late arrival by motor will
be pleasanter than to have made the trip by train."

"I should say so!" was the fervent ejaculation.

"Come, come!" interrupted Mr. Tolman. "I shall not sit back and allow
you two people to cry down the railroads. They are not perfect, I will
admit, and unquestionably trains do not always go at the hours we wish
they did; a touring car is, perhaps, a more comfortable and luxurious
method of travel, especially in summer. But just as it is an improvement
over the train, so the train was a mighty advance over the stagecoach of
olden days."

"Oh, I don't know, Dad," Stephen mused. "I am not so sure that I should
not have liked stagecoaches better. Think what jolly sport it must have
been to drive all over the country!"

"In fine weather, yes--that is, if the roads had been as excellent as
they are now; but you must remember that in the old coaching days
road-building had not reached its present perfection. Traveling by
stage over a rough highway in a conveyance that had few springs was not
so comfortable an undertaking as it is sometimes pictured. Furthermore
you must not forget that it was also p