“I hope so,” he said.
“Surely you do not mean that, Mr. Coles,” I said. “You do not want to embarrass the poor girl to death.”
“She did not act embarrassed,” he said.
“Oh, Mr. Coles, I am afraid you are a fibber,” I said, but I just loved the way he stood up for Kate. I like a man to be chivalrous to the entire feminine sex, no matter who they are, but of course I liked it specially in this case on account of Kate being my dearest girlfriend and chum.
The drive from the “Thumb” to the Lake Hotel took over two hours, and Mr. Coles was silent a good deal of the way. I did not mind, in fact, I was glad he was, for I felt in a silent mood myself. Sometimes just being together is enough, without words to spoil it. “Silence is golden and often speaks plainer than words.” Two or three times the party in the third seat turned round and tried to start a conversation, but we both discouraged them, though Mr. Coles answered whatever questions they asked pleasantly and I smiled at the little boy. One of my strongest instincts is my love for children, and I would of tried to win his little heart had there not been even stronger feelings tugging at my own.
As we approached the Lake Hotel we caught sight of the most wonderful sight of all and different than anything I have ever seen. It was the mountain across the lake, called the “Sleeping Giant” because it is shaped like a man’s head asleep.
It was Mr. Garrett who called our attention to it and called to us to look at it from the front seat.
“Oh, how simply heavenly,” I exclaimed, and without realizing it my hand reached out to Mr. Coles’s and grasped it tight. When I realized what I had done I nearly died of embarrassment and I am afraid I blushed furiously.
“Mr. Coles,” I said when I could recover command of my voice, “I hope you will pardon me. I am different than other girls and when I am deeply moved my feelings often gets the best of me and I do things unconsciously that I would never think of doing was I not moved right out of myself and when I realize what I have done I nearly die of embarrassment. But I hope you will not think any the worse of me.”
“Not a bit, Miss Emerson,” was his reply and he gave me the nicest smile.
But my face simply burned and I had not entirely recovered myself when the coach stopped at the Lake Hotel. My only comfort was that we had been on the back seat when it happened where none of the others could see us, and also that it had been Mr. Coles instead of a man of less character and less of a gentleman.
As soon as we reached the hotel Kate and myself hurried to our room to tidy up as the ride had been dusty.
“Kate,” I said to her when we were alone, “I hope you had a good enough time this afternoon to make up for this morning.”
“Well, girlie,” was her reply, “if you ask me, it was about fifty fifty. But what do you mean?”
“You know all right, Kate,” I said. “I could see you were simply dying on that back seat with those two boys this morning.”
“If that was dying I hope to die,” said Kate, and I saw she intended to laugh it off so I let the subject drop.
After supper tonight Mr. Coles and Mr. Lester and Mr. Garrett all disappeared somewhere, and I suppose Mr. Coles was forced into a card game or something though I know he would of given anything to get out of it. Kate and myself sat in the lobby for a little while and then I suggested coming here to the room as I wanted to do my writing, but Kate said she was not ready to come just then.
“But what are you going to do?” I asked her.
“I am going for a walk,” was her reply. “I am going over to see the Sleeping Giant. I think it is about time he woke up.”
Of course she was joking but imagine a girl like Kate going out for a walk alone after dark. I do believe she is getting sentimental. Poor old Kate.
Thursday, August 31: Diary, I wish I was like some girls who have a heart of stone and no matter how many wounds they inflict on others they are able to smile and forget it, but I am not one of those kind and I never wound a fellow creature without feeling the hurt perhaps keener than they do themselves.
Kate and myself were the last ones of our party to be ready for the start from the Lake Hotel this morning. When I came out on the porch our coach was waiting for us. Mr. Garrett was in the front seat with Mr. Lester, and his “maiden aunts” in the second seat, and the man and wife and boy in the third seat, and Mr. Coles all alone in the back seat. It was easy to see that Mr. Coles had asked Mr. Lester to make this arrangement so that he and myself could be in the back seat alone and Kate would ride up with Mr. Garrett and the driver. But instead of me getting up beside Mr. Coles, what did I do but climb up in the driver’s seat beside Mr. Garrett and leave Kate to sit with Mr. Coles. I did not dare look round at Mr. Coles to see how he took it, but I can imagine.
“Well,” I said to myself, “it will only be for a few hours till we get to the ‘Canyon Hotel,’ and it will show Mr. Coles that
