dlady as if dumbfounded.

"What!" she cried, "did you tell Mr. Ricaby that your son--what did he
say?"

"I said that Harry loved you and would make you a good husband," replied
the mother proudly.

"How did you dispose of me in the matter?" smiled the girl.

Mrs. Parkes seemed embarrassed for an answer. Hesitatingly she answered:

"I said--that you--that you were not exactly opposed to the idea."

It was only with difficulty that Paula could keep her face straight.
Controlling herself, she said:

"Mrs. Parkes, you have said that a good, cheerful lie is sometimes very
comforting, but--in this case it's not only cheerless and
uncomfortable--it's also most embarrassing. As it happens, I'm very much
opposed to the idea."

The mother looked at her blankly. That her Harry was not a suitor any
girl would eagerly jump at had never entered her mind.

"You could learn to love him," she said testily.

Paula was getting rather weary of the subject. Impatiently she replied:

"But I don't want to learn to love him. Forgive me, Mrs. Parkes, if I
ask you not to refer to the subject again."

"The poor boy is eating his heart out," said Mrs. Parkes, wiping away a
solitary tear.

Just as she spoke the door opened and the object of the conversation put
his head in.

"Say, _mater_," he grinned, "do you know Mr. Chase has been waiting
downstairs half an hour?"

"Oh, my gracious!" cried the old lady, all flustered. "I quite
forgot--so he has! He wants to see you. He came while the doctor was
here. I told him to wait, and I'd--I--clean forgot--oh, dear! I'll tell
him to come up. Excuse me, dear, I'm all upside down to-day."

With more excuses the landlady bounced out of the room, leaving the two
together. Harry had been listening at the keyhole, and now he eyed Paula
sheepishly. There was an awkward silence. Finally he took courage, and
said:

"Miss Paula--I want you to forgive my mother's meddling with our
affairs. I promised you I would never speak of marriage again, and I
won't. But I can't get mother to--stop spreading the news. She has told
Mr. Ricaby, she has told Dr. Zacharie, and now she has just told Mr.
Chase that--that the matter between us is settled."

Paula gasped with mingled surprise and indignation.

"Mr. Chase! Oh! And Dr. Zacharie! Oh!"

"Don't be too hard on her, Miss Marsh," he said apologetically, "it's
the vanity of the mother, she thinks her son is good enough for any one,
just because he's her