It was Florrie who really made trouble. She had been whimpering every night at the idea of Marcia running away forever, and when she heard about the five dollars she was certain that this would speed up the parting. She went to Papa and begged him to let Marcia go to the Lesterville Prize Contest, because Marcia was sure to win, and maybe if she wasn’t allowed to go she might run away and get killed like Grandpa Willard. Papa flew off the handle at once, and said he wasn’t going to take any criticism on the way he was raising his family, no, sir, not even from the family itself. He said he and the children’s mother had gotten along without traipsing around the country speaking pieces, spending a fortune on white dresses, and so on, and carfare, and he guessed his children could do the same. He said that if he caught Marcia out of the house on the afternoon of the exercises he would give her the hiding of her life. Marcia went upstairs and sulked over this, but Florrie tried to appease her by saying Papa wasn’t really mean, he was just mad that he didn’t have money for the white outfits and carfare, and it made him madder that he didn’t dare ask his wife to buy them, so he had to take it out on somebody. Marcia told this to David Gross, who said if she wanted to run away right away he would help her. He said Destiny had sent Thorburne Putney to London Junction at this crucial moment in Marcia’s career, almost as if her dead mother had willed this to happen, and to allow anything to stand in her way was sacrilege. Marcia scarcely slept that night, planning and planning ways of escape, and when she did doze off she dreamed of Mama crossing the road with the burden tied to her back, and no matter how hard Marcia willed her to turn around and smile she could not make it happen until the last instant. Then her mother’s face blended into Bonnie Purdy’s face and Cousin Isobel’s and Mrs. Gross’s, until Marcia thought with consternation she had forgotten her mother’s face, and now it would never come back to her.

The day before the Lesterville Exercises, Marcia’s great inspiration came, approved by David Gross and Florrie, but a deadly secret from everyone else. The most important thing in the competition was, after all, reciting the piece and wearing the white dress before the three judges. There was no use hoping to get to the exercises after her father’s warning, but she would take the car to Lesterville early in the morning while Papa and his wife were at the Carson’s making preparations for Mr. Carson’s mother’s funeral. She was supposed to be in charge of Minelda during their absence, but Florrie thought she could manage her. Once in Lesterville she would make straight for one of the three judges’ addresses, wearing her white dress which was now hanging in Mrs. Gross’s bedroom; she would recite her piece, get the prize, and take the next car home before her absence would be noticed. Then with her prize money she would run away. Florrie’s awed doubt that she would ever dare do this strengthened Marcia’s courage. Next morning she wanted to confide in Lena, but fortunately they had a fight over a box of cactus candy Aunt Lois had sent from California, so they stopped speaking to each other. Marcia got into Fannie Gross’s made-over white dress, which still dipped quite a lot on one side in spite of all Mrs. Gross could do; the shoes stuffed with cotton didn’t wobble too much, and anyway they were white, which was the main thing. David kept a lookout for anyone who might tell on her until Marcia had gotten aboard the eight o’clock streetcar, five-dollar goldpiece in her hand.