“I had lighted the alcohol lamp,” she declared, “but I am positive that did not explode.  The flash came from behind us—­the other end of the room.  Then the door would not open—­oh how dreadful that was!”

For a moment Tavia covered her eyes, then she resumed: 

“I heard Dorothy’s voice and that seemed to keep me from falling in the smoke.  At last the door opened and that’s all I know.”

“Now, you just rest here,” the doctor advised, “while Mr. French and I do some outside investigating.”

Then it was that the important clew was discovered, for at the very door of the little room, where the fire had raged, was found a piece of glass with a label!

Gasoline!

“She was right,” declared the lawyer, taking possession of the tell-tale piece of bottle, the railroad men would have been so glad to have seen first, “this tells the story.  A bottle of gasoline exploded.”

Looking carefully over the damaged room the lawyer made some entries in his note book and, with the doctor, approached Lily’s mother.  The woman positively refused to make known her name, and even the railroad men had not succeeded in learning who she was.

“That my baby is safe,” she declared, “is all I ask.  People saw the girl coax her off, but even this I am entirely willing to overlook, and I will positively make no claims against the company.”

The doctor saw the child was not in the least injured, and also was convinced there was no danger of shock to the little nervous system, as the tot looked upon the whole occurrence as “good fun,” so the professional men withdrew their offer to serve either the woman or her child.

CHAPTER XXI

AT AUNT WINNIE’S

Dorothy had fastened Tavia’s hair up under her hat, so that the one long and uninjured side covered the burnt ends and hid the damage.  She looked like a pretty boy, Dorothy told her, and the red line about her neck was not noticeable at all, for around the scar Dorothy had pinned her own white silk handkerchief.  Except for a few tell-tale spots of “scorch” marking the back of her new dress, from her appearance Tavia might never have been suspected of being the heroine of a railroad accident.

“Oh, there is Aunt Winnie!” exclaimed Dorothy as the train stopped, and she looked out of the window near the door.

A depot wagon was drawn up to the platform, and in it sat a stylishly dressed woman.

If Tavia had felt “alarmed at the style” as she afterward told Dorothy, the moment Mrs. White grasped her hand in welcoming her to Birchland all nervousness left her, for Mrs. White had an unmistakable way of greeting her guests—­she really was glad to see them.  Dorothy climbed up beside her aunt, while Tavia took the spare seat at front, and it seemed to her the world had suddenly fallen from its level, everything was beneath her.  She had risen physically, mentally and socially from her former self—­the first ride on a box seat was an inspiration to the country girl, and Tavia felt its influence keenly.