The day was hot and dusty, and the roads more sandy than they had supposed possible, so that it was a very limp and demoralized Theodora who landed, three hours later, on her aunt's piazza. Theodora was always destructive to her toilets, and in some mysterious manner she had parted with all of her starch and most of her neatness, in the course of the last nineteen miles. Once inside the cool, dark house, with a glass of lemonade in her hand, however, Theodora forgot the discomforts of the road. "How goes it with you, Ted?" Hubert asked, late that afternoon. "Shall we ride, or take the train?" She pointed up at the clear sky, broken only by a few fleecy masses of cloud on the western horizon. "Think what that moon will be, and then ask me to take the train if you dare." "Aren't you tired?" "Not a bit. Don't you think we can do it, Hu?" He laughed at her spirit. "All right. Don't blame me, though, if you are dead, to-morrow." She tossed her head proudly. "I don't die so easily; but, if you 're tired, we'll take the cars." They had planned to start for home at six; but callers delayed the supper, and, when they finally mounted, the moon was standing out in the eastern sky, like a thick, white vapor. There was a chorus of good-byes, a clashing of two bells, and the twins started off upon their homeward ride. For the first hour, it seemed to Theodora that she had never ridden more easily. The fatigue of the morning had worn away, leaving only the exhilaration; and, like most riders, she came to her best strength late in the day. Slowly the twilight fell about them, and, as the golden light of the sunset died away in the west, the silver lustre of the full moon brightened the eastern sky. Theodora's gown was damp with the falling dew, as they rolled quietly on between fields pale with sleepy daisies and nodding buttercups. One by one, the cows in the pastures stopped grazing and lay down to rest; while, above their heads, the birds drowsily exchanged sweet good-nights. Then the last glow faded from the west, and the world fell asleep. "I don't half like those clouds, Ted," Hubert said suddenly. "If they come up much faster, they'll play the mischief with us before we get home." "Oh, they won't do any harm," Theodora said easily. "It will be light enough to ride to-night, even if it is cloudy." "But we have that long stretch of woods, you know." "I forgot that." Theodora spoke lower, and involuntarily glanced over her shoulder. "How far is it?" "Five miles. That won't take us long, and we're almost there now." "Yes; but it's hilly and no track to speak of. Hurry, Hu! Let's ride faster and get through it before that cloud gets over the moon. I wish we had lanterns."