Well, I had gone as far as I meant to. I was not realy in love with
anyone, although I liked Carter Brooks, and would posibly have loved him
with all the depth of my Nature if Sis had not kept an eye on me most of
the time. However---Jane seemed to be expecting somthing, and I tried to think of some
way to satisfy her and not make any trouble. And then I thought of the
Suitcase. So I locked the door and made her promise not to tell, and got
the whole thing out of the Toy Closet.
"Wha--what is it?" asked Jane.
I said nothing, but opened it all up. The Flask was gone, but the
rest was there, and Carter's box too. Jane leaned down and lifted the
trowsers and poked around somewhat. Then she straitened and said: "You have run away and got married, Bab."
"Jane!"
She looked at me peircingly.
"Don't lie to me," she said accusingly. "Or else what are you doing with
a man's whole Outfit, including his dirty coller? Bab, I just can't bare
it."
Well, I saw that I had gone to far, and was about to tell Jane the truth
when I heard the sowing Woman in the hall. I had all I could do to get
the things put away, and with Jane looking like death I had to stand
there and be fitted for one of Sis's chiffon frocks, with the low neck
filled in with net.
"You must remember, Miss Bab," said the human Pin cushon, "that you are
still a very young girl, and not out yet."
Jane got up off the bed suddenly.
"I--I guess I'll go, Bab," she said. "I don't feel very well."
As she went out she stopped in the Doorway and crossed her Heart,
meaning that she would die before she would tell anything. But I was
not comfortable. It is not a pleasant thought that your best friend
considers you married and gone beyond recall, when in truth you are not,
or even thinking about it, except in idle moments.
The seen now changes. Life is nothing but such changes. No sooner do
we alight on one Branch, and begin to sip the honey from it, but we
are taken up and carried elsewhere, perhaps to the Mountains or to the
Sea-shore, and there left to make new friends and find new methods of
Enjoyment.
The flight--or journey--was in itself an anxious time. For on my
otherwise clear conscience rested the weight of that strange Suitcase.
Fortunately Hannah was so busy that I was left to pack my belongings
myself, and thus for a time my gilty secret was safe. I put my things in
on top of the masculine articles, not daring to leave any of them in the
closet, owing to house-cleaning, which is always done before our return
in the fall.