The ride thither on the lovely lake was almost enough to excuse them for their folly.  But the question what to do with themselves afterward was one that burdened them during all that long summer afternoon.  They went to the Mayville House and took a walk on the piazza, and the boarders looked at them in curiosity, and wondered if it were really a pleasanter walk than the green fields over at Chautauqua.

They ordered dinner and ate it at the general table with great relish, Ruth rejoicing over this return to civilized life.  One episode of the table must be noted.  Opposite them sat a gentleman who, either from something in their appearance, or more probably from the reasonable conclusion that all the strangers who had gathered at the quiet little village were in some way associated with the great gathering, addressed them as being part of that great whole.

“You people are going to reap a fine harvest, pecuniarily, to-morrow; but how about the fourth commandment?  You Christians lay great stress on that document whenever a Sunday reading-room or something of that sort is being contemplated, don’t you?”

The remark was addressed to both of them, but Ruth was too much occupied with the strangeness of the thought that she was again being counted among “Christian people” to make any answer.  Not so Marion.  Her eyes danced with merriment, but she answered with great gravity: 

“We believe in keeping holy the Sabbath day, of course.  What has that to do with Chautauqua.  Haven’t you consulted the programme and read:  ’No admission at the gates or docks’?”

The gentleman smiled incredulously.

“I have read it,” he said, significantly, “and doubtless many believe it implicitly.  I hope their faith won’t be shaken by hearing the returns from tickets counted over in the evening.”

There was a genuine flush of feeling on Marion’s face now.

“Do you mean to say,” she asked, haughtily, “that you have no faith in the published statement that the gates will be closed, or do you mean that the association have changed their minds?  Because if you have heard the latter, I can assure you it is a mistake, as I heard the matter discussed by those in authority this very morning; and they determined to adhere rigidly to the rules.”

“I have no doubt they will, so far as lies in their power,” the gentleman said, with an attempt at courtesy in his manner.  “But the trouble is, the thing is absurd on the face of it.  If I hold a ticket for an entertainment, which the Association have sold to me, it is none of their business on what day I present it, provided the entertainment is in progress.  They have no right to keep me out, and they are swindling me out of so much money if they do it.”