She tilted the pail lovingly and hugged a little more tightly the fiddle in her arm. Whatever happened, she had Milly, her little family, and the comforting music. Jinnie could never be quite alone with these. As the train slowed up, the conductor jumped down.
It seemed to Virginia like a dream as she walked toward the steps at the end of the car. As she was about to lift her foot to climb up, she heard a voice say: "Let me help you, child. Here, I'll take the pail."
Virginia looked upward into the face of a man,--the same face she had seen in the station a few moments before,--and around the handsome mouth was a smile of reassuring kindliness.
She surrendered the pail with a burning blush, and felt, with a strange new thrill, a firm hand upon her arm. The next thing she knew she was in a seat, with the pail on the floor and the fiddle lying beside her.
She gazed around wonderingly. There was no one in sight but the tall man who, across the aisle, was arranging his overcoat on the back of the seat. Jinnie looked at him with interest--he had been so kind to her--and noted his thick, blond hair, which had been cropped close to a massive head. She admired him, too. Suddenly he looked up, and the girl felt a clutch at her heart. Just why that happened she could not tell. Again came the charming smile, the parted lips showing a set of dazzling white teeth.
Jinnie smiled back, responsively. The man came over.
"May I sit beside you?" he asked.
Jinnie moved the fiddle invitingly and huddled herself into the corner. When the man started to move the pail, Jinnie stayed him.
"Oh, don't, please," she protested. "It's only Milly and----"
"Milly and what?" quizzically came the question.
"Her kitties--see?"
She drew aside the towel and exposed the sleeping family.
A broad smile lit up the man's face.
"Oh, cats! I see! Where're you taking them?"
"To Bellaire."
"Ah, Bellaire; that's where I'm going. We'll have a nice ride together, almost two hours."
"I'm glad." Jinnie leaned back, sighing contentedly.
In those few minutes she had grown to have great faith in this stranger, the third of the puzzling trio that had come into her life that night. First her father, then the man with Molly the Merry, and now this brilliant new friend, who quite took away her breath as she peeped up at him. His smile seemed to be ever ready. It warmed her and made her glow with friendliness. She liked, too, the deep tones in his voice and the sight of his strong hands as they gestured during his speeches.