"Well, I'm damned!" grinned her father; and he turned back on his way to Boston. Isabelle ran through the woods singing, whistling, praying. "Good Lord, I thank thee," she said, repeatedly. "You can rely on me not to lie again." Flushed and relieved from doom, happy as a cricket, she appeared at the school. She was greeted with howls of rage from the girls. "Isabelle, you pig! To carry him off without letting us see him." "How did he look? Is he handsomer than ever?" they chorused. But Isabelle escaped their catechism. She had been saved once, and she dared not tamper with fate again. At every thought of Wally, speeding back to Boston, she drew a deep sigh of relief. As they were all seated at supper Mr. Benjamin asked: "Didst thou have a pleasant day with thy father, little girl?" Ten pairs of envious eyes were upon her. "Perfect," she sighed. "Sorry we could not keep him overnight." The maid entered to speak to Mrs. Benjamin, whereupon she rose and left the table. Isabelle was enlarging upon the delights of her holiday when her tongue suddenly clave to the roof of her mouth. She heard a voice saying: "Engine wouldn't work--tire punctured." She prayed violently for a fatal stroke of lightning or paralysis, but in vain. Mrs. Benjamin entered, followed by an irritated dapper little man. "Adam, my dear, we have a guest. This is Isabelle's father." A gasp went round the table--audible, visible. Never in his life had Wally Bryce made such a sensation. He stared at these girls who turned such strange looks upon him. As for Isabelle, at the moment she would not have hesitated at patricide, but that being out of the question, she burst into peal after peal of hysterical laughter. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin were perfectly aghast at the behaviour of the school, and Wally remarked irritably,-- "Shut up, Isabelle; shut up!" CHAPTER FIFTEEN That supper proved to be a most difficult meal! Usually when there were guests, the girls talked and behaved very prettily, but on this occasion they sat like silent, accusing ghosts, eating in unbroken stillness. Mrs. Benjamin tried to lead them into conversation, but in vain. There were cross currents of feeling which she could not understand or cope with. Isabelle babbled on, with intermittent fits of hysterical laughter. Whenever she spoke, black looks were concentrated upon her; when Wally spoke, they were transferred to him. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin did their best, but they were relieved when the ordeal was over and the girls went off to the study room. Isabelle was excused, because of her guest. She was glad of every moment that postponed her hour of reckoning. Wally could be disposed of, but the girls must be met. The Benjamins had duties to attend to, so Wally and his daughter were left alone for a quarter of an hour, in the library. "Look here!" he burst out at her. "What's the matter with those kids?" "Matter?"--innocently.