rs. Evans if
she would not like to subscribe one hundred dollars," said the one lady.

"So much?" asked the other in an uncertain voice, "I don't believe I
would if I were you."

"Why not?" asked the first lady.

"Haven't you heard," replied the second lady, with the air of imparting
a delicious secret, "that Mr. Evans is on the verge of financial ruin?"

"No," replied the second in a tone of lively interest, "I haven't. Who
told you so?"

"A great many people are saying so," continued the first. "Do you know
that they took their daughter out of the private school she had been
attending and sent her to public school this year? They must be hard up
if they can't pay school bills any more."

"It certainly looks like it," said the first lady.

"Possibly I had better not ask Mrs. Evans for any subscription at all.
It might embarrass her, poor thing." The voices trailed off and Mrs.
Evans was left feeling decidedly annoyed. She was the kind of woman who
rarely discussed other people's affairs, and likewise disliked having
her own discussed by other people. The thought that some folks might
misconstrue Gladys's entering the public school to mean that her father
was about to fail in business, first amused, and then irritated her.
Nothing like that could be farther from correct, but the thought came to
her that such rumors floating around might have some effect on Mr.
Evans's standing in the business world. She began to wonder if after all
it had not been a mistake to take Gladys out of Miss Russell's school in
the middle of her course.

Thinking cynical thoughts about the gossiping abilities of most people,
she drove up the long driveway and entered the house. The long hall with
its wide staircase and large, splendidly furnished rooms opening on
either side, struck her as being cold and gloomy. The polished chairs
and tables shone dully in the fast waning light of the December
afternoon, cheerless and unfriendly looking. The house suddenly seemed
to her to be less a home than a collection of furniture. For the moment
she almost hated the wealth which made it necessary to maintain this
vast and magnificent display. The women she had played cards with that
afternoon seemed shallow and artificial. Life was decidedly
uninteresting just then. She went upstairs and took off her wraps and
came down again, aimlessly. Gladys was nowhere in sight, which made the
house seem lonelier than ever, for with Gladys around there would