ddenly."

"Is there anything the matter with the name?"

"Oh, no; Richard is quite musical in its way. But I am always thinking
of the humpbacked king. If I called you anything it would be Dick."

"Richard was not humpbacked. Moreover, he was a valiant king, greatly
maligned by Mr. Shakespeare."

"I see that I shall not dare argue with you on the subject; but we can
not banish on so short a notice the early impressions of childhood.
Richard Third has always been a bugaboo to my mind. Some day, perhaps,
I'll get over it."

"Make it Dick, as a compromise."

"Some day, when I have known you a little longer. Has John ever told
you about Mr. McQuade?"

"McQuade?" Warrington realized that he had been floating on a pleasant
sea. He came upon the hidden shore rather soundly. "McQuade?" he
repeated.

"Yes. He had the audacity to propose to mother shortly after father's
death. Think of it! John wrote to him very definitely that his
presence in the house would no longer be welcomed or tolerated. Father
had some slight business transactions with Mr. McQuade, and he came up
to the house frequently. He continued these visits after father's
death. We treated him decently, but we simply could not make him feel
welcome. The third time he called he proposed.

"Mother left the room without even replying. He understood. A few
minutes afterward we heard the door slam. John wrote him the next
morning. Did you ever hear of anything to equal the cold-bloodedness
of it?"

Warrington looked at her in absolute amazement.

"Well, of all the nerve! Why the deuce didn't John punch his head?"
savagely.

"Mr. McQuade is not a gentleman; John is," simply. "But Mr. McQuade
hasn't forgotten; not he. He pays no attention to any of us; but that
is no sign that he does not think a good deal. However, we do not
worry. There is no possible chance for him to retaliate; at least John
declares there isn't. But sometimes I grow afraid when I think it all
over. To his mind I can see that he considers himself badly affronted;
and from what I know of his history, he never lets an affront pass
without striking back in some manner."

"Don't you worry your head about McQuade. What do you think? He is so
anxious to get me out of the political arena that he has sent a man
down to New York to look into my past. Isn't that droll?"

Patty stooped again to the fishing-tackle.

"Such men as McQuade can invent. I should be very careful, if I were
you. Your