tree feet away."

"And you were listening to all we said?"

"Oh, I do not leesen. Eet ese my beesness to go out weeth you ven you
ask eet."

And then they followed him out.

"What a horrid place that was and we thought at first it was so nice,"
said one.

"In all our lives we can never have a dream half so frightful as that
was," said a third.

"One thing sure," said Mary, "this terrible experience has bound us
forever and forever together; and because of our common experience in
this awful adventure we must initiate Fanny into the mysteries of the
noble order of progressive girls, C. C. of C. C."

_CHAPTER XV_

A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE

Foreign theaters, mazes, labyrinths, panopticons, spectatoriums and
their ilk had no more charms for the girls, but with Uncle and Aunt they
spent the next day in the museums, casinos and panoramas of the city.
But wax figures and brain-muddling deceptions were still the value they
received for their money.

"I will be contented," said Aunt, "never to leave the farm again. I can
be happy there the rest of my born days in knowing that when I look at a
cow it is not a stuffed cow, that the calf by her side can move; that
the man on the barn floor with his pitchfork in the hay can really lift
it over into the manger for the cattle. This mornin' I see a lady
standin' on one of the stairs tryin' to tie her shoes. She was having a
time of it, I knew, so I says, says I, 'leddy, let me help you.' She
didn't say nothing, so I jest stooped down to help her. I pulled the
tongue of the shoe up and tapped the sides together over it, when a
perfect chill came over me, for I pressed the lady's ankle, and it felt
just like sawdust. Poor woman! I thought some terrible accident had cut
off her leg and she had a false one. I looked up into her face, and she
looked so pale like and deathly that I was awful scared, then I looked
more and more and I see she was dead, died maybe of heart disease while
she was a stooping over. O what a shock! I can not get over it to my
dying day. I nearly screamed but I knew I must not, so I just called to
the feller sitting at the table writing visiting cards to come there
quick; but he just set there stock still and never moved. I didn't want
to attract attention from the folks around so I just picked up a nail a
lying there and hit him square on the cheek but he never flinched. I
spoke then to the woman leaning over the railing laughing at the little
gir