Aunt Libby could not hide a tear when Dorothy put her arms about the
wrinkled neck, but when Major Dale helped his daughter to step upon the
train platform he was smiling; glad to have her go it seemed. Joe told
Johnnie afterwards that was the way soldiers always act when they face
trouble.

Mrs. Travers was really glad to have Tavia go, and she did not deny it.
It was such a chance for her, she told Aunt Libby, as they went home
from the depot, and Tavia, she declared, was a girl who always made the
most of her chances.

As the train flew along, or Dalton flew away, as it seemed from the car
windows, both girls indulged in a very creditable sentiment--a streak of
homesickness.

"It will be fun, of course," remarked Tavia, "but it's creepy to leave
them all."

Passengers about them soon attracted their attention sufficiently to
make the journey interesting. Tavia had such a way of seeing things to
make Dorothy laugh, that little of interest escaped her.

Old ladies with black silk bags were her especial prey, and these she
never failed to analyze--according to her own special method.

Women with babies also afforded no end of amusement to Tavia, and when
she found a regular nursery cooking outfit in the "end room" of the car
she could scarcely be restrained.