thy, without in the least knowing
the cause. The sounds came from some distance back of him. He dismounted
and ran along the road, unable to see his sister, and guided only by her
voice, which appeared to proceed from a bed of tall weeds by the
wayside.

"I'm here, Hu," she gasped.

"Where in thunder?" He parted the weeds at the edge of the road and
peered in. There on her back lay Theodora, with her bicycle on top of
her.

"I lost my pedals and couldn't stop till I ran into these weeds," she
explained hysterically. "It was just as soft as a bed, and I went down,
down, down, and landed in about six inches of water. Pull me out, Hu.
I'm drowned."

With the help of his hand, she struggled out and stood beside him in the
road, with the water dripping from her short skirt. Just then, the
clouds parted, and the moon, slanting down through the trees, fell upon
her bedraggled figure. The brother and sister looked at each other in
silence for a moment. Then they burst into a shout of laughter. It was
the best tonic they could have had, and Theodora's courage rose even as
she laughed.

"I know where we are now," Hubert said, while he looked about him in the
growing light. "The good road is just ahead. It's as well 'tis, Ted, for
you'll have to ride like the dickens, to keep from taking cold."

"It's a warm night," she answered as blithely as she had spoken to her
father, that morning; "and I never take cold. Come on, then. It's only
six miles more, and I'm ready to spin."

As they turned in at the gate, the hands of the town clock marked ten
minutes after ten, and Theodora's spirits fell slightly. They found the
doctor and his wife playing cribbage. The doctor looked up with the
content born of that unwonted luxury, an evening quite to himself.

"Home so early?" he said, with a smile. "Have you had a good time? I've
really envied you, enjoying all this superb moonlight, when we old folks
had to stay indoors."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Come and ride with me this morning, Ted."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm busy."

"That's what you said, last Saturday, and week before. It's a fine
morning, and I do wish you'd come. I've a headache, and I want to ride
it off, if I can." Billy took off his cap, and brushed away his hair,
with a little weary gesture which went to Theodora's heart. She was not
discerning enough to discover that Billy's headache had developed under
the inspiration of the moment, so sure was he that