It was the girl who appeared first, greeting Allen with frank cordiality.

“Eleanor will be ready in a moment,” she said.  “Isn’t this the greatest coincidence?” she continued.  “Yesterday at this time I had no idea you were within a thousand miles, and now it seems as if we might almost be back in Pittsburgh again, living the same childish life and playing the same games.”

“It was certainly a dandy coincidence for me,” Allen agreed, “but I don’t quite follow you back to the kid games we played.”

“Why, Allen!” Alice reproached him, “have you forgotten the motor rides you and I took with wash-tubs, turned upside down, for seats, and the remnant of your express-wagon for a steering-wheel?  My! how fast we used to go!”

“That’s so!” he admitted.  “I’d forgotten all about it.  You used to look great sitting on that tub.”

“Freckles and all?”

“I didn’t remember the freckles, either, until you spoke of them.  You were a little corker, even then.”

“Even then?” Alice repeated, without intending to.

“No one has told you that you’ve gone backward in looks, has he?” Allen laughed, looking straight into her face.  Then he continued:  “There’s one other game we played, which I haven’t forgotten:  Do you remember how we used to keep house together?  You were Mrs. Allen Sanford then, and we had everything fixed up—­”

Alice sobered.  “I—­I think I have forgotten that one,” she said.  “Isn’t it ridiculous what games children do play?”

“But the motor-car game has come true,” he insisted, “and you’ll look just as good to me sitting in the real car, as you used to on top of that tub.  And as for the other—­”

“How long Eleanor is taking!” she interrupted; “I’ll run and find her.”  With which she disappeared, returning almost immediately, accompanied by Mrs. Gorham.

“I shan’t be asked again, if I keep you waiting so long, shall I?” Eleanor apologized.

“The appointed time always arrives at the same moment that Mrs. Gorham does,” Allen replied.

“So!” Eleanor was frankly surprised by the boy’s gallantry.  “If this is a sample, I must agree with your father that diplomacy is your natural field.  It would be a pity to waste that in a business office.”

“Don’t you join the opposition, Mrs. Gorham,” he said, seriously.  “I’m going to have a hard enough time with the pater as it is.  Now, if you’re ready, shall we start?  It isn’t going to be the most sociable arrangement in the world, with me driving the car, but we’ll go slowly, which will give us a chance to visit.”

With Fort Meyer as the objective point, Allen took the road through Rock Creek Park to Chevy Chase, feeling attracted, perhaps unconsciously, because it was there he had renewed this acquaintance which promised to end the ennui he had experienced during the weeks he had spent in Washington.  Slowing his speed down to a point requiring the least attention, he was able to converse with his guests.  Alice had said little since they left the hotel, but at last she found an opportunity to free her mind.