Page:Betty Gordon in Washington.djvu/130

120 went into several of the large shops with Mrs. Littell, and then, because it had begun to rain and did not promise pleasant weather for driving, they went to a moving picture show.

"Had a full day?" asked Mr. Littell at dinner that night. "Libbie, what did you see?"

Libbie's answer provoked a gust of laughter. She was so essentially a matter-of-fact little personage in appearance and manner that when she opened her red mouth and announced, "A bride and groom!" the effect was startling.

That started Bobby, and she told the story of the lost John, told it as her father would have, for neither Bobby nor Mr. Littell were at all inclined toward sentimentality.

"Well, Betty," Mr. Littell beckoned to her afterward when they were all in the pleasant living-room across the hall, "think you're going to like Washington, even if it is overrun with brides and grooms?"

"It's lovely," Betty assured him fervently. "We've had the most perfect day. And, Mr. Littell, what do you think—I've found out something important already."

She had told him about Bob that morning, and he was interested at once when she narrated what the bride and groom had told her of old Lockwood Hale.

"Why, I know where his shop is. Everybody