Louise was an amused yet observant listener. She began thus early to
gain what these good people themselves would call a "slant" upon their
characters and their outlook on life.

Aside from her interest in her fellow-travelers, there were other things
to engage the girl's attention. New places always appealed to her more
than unfamiliar human beings; perhaps because she had seen so many of the
latter in all quarters of the globe and found so little variety in their
characters. There were good people and bad people everywhere, Louise had
found. Greedy, generous, morose, and laughing; faithful and treacherous,
the quick and the stupid; those likable at first meeting as well as those
utterly impossible. Of whatever nation and color they might be, she had
learned that under their skins they were all just human beings.

But Nature--ah! she was ever changing. This girl who had seen so much of
the world had never seen anything quite like the bits of scene she
observed from the narrow window of the car. Not beautiful, perhaps, but
suggestive and provocative of genre pictures which would remain in her
memory long afterward. There were woods and fields, cranberry bogs and
sand dunes, between the hamlets; and always through the open window the
salt tang of the air delighted her. She was almost prepared to say she
was glad she had ventured when she left the train at Paulmouth and saw
her trunks put off upon the platform.

A teetering stage, with a rack behind for light baggage, drawn by a pair
of lean horses, waited beside the station. The stage had been freshened
for the season with a thin coat of yellow paint. The word "_Cardhaven_"
was painted in bright blue letters on the doors of this ancient coach.

"No, ma'am! I can't possibly take your trunks," the driver said,