Billie and Mary followed with the berries, which they presently left in the kitchen where Mrs. Lupo was working. "I bought these from a mountain girl, Mrs. Lupo," said Billie. The woman went on working without looking up. Billie repeated what she had said. There was still no answer, and the girls went out of the kitchen somewhat disconcerted. "She's a queer, shy creature," said Billie, and thought no more about it. CHAPTER IV. TABLE TOP. Miss Campbell was quite willing to trust her brood with Ben Austen. "He was always reliable," she remarked. "When he was a baby, his mother could depend on him not to cry at the wrong time, although, of course, he was only human." On the whole, she was relieved that her cousin had asked Ben to make them a visit. Mr. Lupo was all very well and had guided their walking parties up the trails, or, seated beside Billie in the "Comet," had pointed out good roads for motoring; but Miss Campbell did not consider him as entirely to be trusted, because, as you probably recall, she never liked mixed bloods nor mixed colors, either. Some days after their arrival, when they had quite recovered from that unconquerable disposition to sleep, which always attacks lowlanders visiting the mountains, Billie proposed that they take a walking trip across a tableland which separated their mountain from the one behind, and finally scale the peak beyond, where the view, it was said, was magnificent. "Let's go to-day while the spirit moves us and it's so delightfully cool," she suggested at breakfast. "But Mr. Lupo isn't here," objected Miss Campbell. "He's gone to the village." "We know the way, don't we, Ben? Mr. Lupo showed us the trail yesterday. Most of it goes through the woods. It's only two miles across 'Table Top' and then we get to the other mountain. I'm wild to go. I'm beginning to feel shut in, and I want to see what's on the other side of this Chinese wall." "More Chinese walls," observed Ben gravely. "Mr. Lupo is such a restraining influence," put in Nancy. "When he's along, we have no real conversation." "He is a kind of a wet blanket," observed Percy. "You never know whether he has heard you or not. You generally have a feeling he has, but that your remarks are too trivial for comment." "All of which means," said Miss Campbell, "that you want to go off for the day without a guide." "Please, Cousin Helen," pleaded Billie. "Dear Miss Campbell, won't you let us?" cried the other Motor Maids. "Not because that feather-top Percy is with you, but because Ben is here, I suppose I might as well consent," said Miss Campbell. "Old Ben is just as much of a feather-top as I am, Miss Campbell," protested Percy. "He deceives people because he looks like an Indian. I've got a serious mind underneath all this curl and color." "I don't believe it," answered Miss Campbell. "But I wouldn't have you changed, my boy. I like you as you are."