The small plotter breathed freer when they were gone. She knew she had a little duel to fight with her conservative husband, and she preferred to fight it without seconds. Her premonition became a reality as soon as he reached her. "How is this?" he began; "did you know Fred had changed his plans?" She shook her head. "He didn't take me into his confidence." "Well, what did he say for himself?" "About changing his mind? Nothing." "He didn't? that's pretty cool! What does he mean by running us off up here on a wild-goose chase?" "How should I know, when he didn't tell me?" "Well, I'll just go and find out," Burton declared, with growing displeasure. But his wife detained him. "Sit down and think about it for a few minutes, first," she said, coolly. "You are angry now, and you mustn't forget that he's with Miss Vennor." "By Jove! that is the very thing I'm not forgetting. I believe you were more than half-right in your guess, yesterday; but we mustn't let them make fools of themselves--anyway, not while we are responsible." "I don't quite _savez_ the responsibility," retorted the little lady, flippantly. "But what do you imagine?" "I don't imagine--I know. He found out, somehow, that she was going with us, and just dropped things and ran for it." "Do you think he did that?" "Of course he did. And if we're not careful the odium of the whole thing will fall on us." "Well, what are you going to do about it?" "I don't know. I suppose we ought to go back from Golden and take Miss Vennor along with us." "Wouldn't that be assuming a great deal? You would hardly want to tell the President that you had brought his daughter back because you were afraid she might do something rash." "Oh, pshaw!" said Burton, who was rather out of his element in trying to pick his way among the social ploughshares. "But that is what you will have to tell him, if we go back," she insisted, with delicious effrontery. Burton thought about it for a moment, and ended by accepting the fact merely because it was thrust upon him. "I couldn't very well do that, you know," he objected, and she nearly laughed in his face because he had fallen so readily into her small trap; "but if we don't break it off, what shall we do?" "Do? why, nothing at all! Mr. Vennor asks us to take his daughter with us on a little pleasure-trip, and he doesn't tell us to bring her back instanter if we happen to find Fred on the train." Burton was silenced, but he was very far from being convinced, and he gave up the return project reluctantly, promising himself that he should have a very uncomfortable day of it. In the meantime, the two young people in the observation-car were making hard work of it. A good many undiscussable happenings had intervened between their parting and their meeting, and these interfered sadly with the march of a casual conversation. As usually befalls, it was the young woman who first rose superior to the embarrassments.