"The _meeting_ can't be any better," spoke a quiet-faced woman, with a
decided voice, "that is simply impossible."

Marion laughed softly.

"Hear the lunatics!" she said, bending to give Flossy the benefit of her
words. "They are just infatuated; they think this is the original Garden
of Eden, with that wretched Eve left out. If she were here I would choke
her with a relish." This last in a muttered undertone, too low for even
Flossy, and with a darkening face.

Meantime the boat rounded the point, the plank was laid, and the feet of
the eager passengers touched the shores of Chautauqua. Some detention
about tickets, arising from a misunderstanding of terms, made our girls
lose sight and sound of the rest of the boat-load, and when they passed
within the railing they found themselves suddenly and strangely alone. A
few lights glimmered in the trees, enough to point the way, and from the
cottages near at hand streams of light shot out into the darkness; but
no sound of footsteps, no sight of human being appeared

"Over the river, on the hill,
Another village lieth still,"

quoted Marion, gravely. Then:

"I say, Flossy, what does it all mean? Are we among a party of witches,
do you suppose? Where could those congenial spirits so suddenly have
conveyed themselves away, I wonder? The road isn't broad, but it most
decidedly isn't straight. Only behold that long, long, _long_ array of
damp and empty seats! Where are the faithful now, do you suppose?"