cle speaks from Sioux Falls or Athens?"

"Well, _I_ care!" said Charlotte.

"It's _not_ Sioux Falls," said the Judge.

"Go on, Joe," said Sophy.

"I'll write to him. He's a very able lawyer--upon ... er ... these
questions...."

"Thank you, dear Joe," said Sophy softly.

The Judge replied mechanically: "Not at all." He was fingering the
paper-weight again. He looked uncomfortable ... with a new sort of
discomfort. He cleared his throat. Regarding Sophy with doubt in his
worried eyes, he said:

"Er ... Sophy ... er ... in case ... what about the question of
alimony?"

Like lightning, she replied as he had feared she would:

"Not a penny ... not a cent of alimony, Joe!"

"But in such a case, the Court...."

"I wouldn't accept it."

"Perhaps, dear...." began Charlotte, in a "sense-of-duty" tone. Though
she considered her sister unwise, yet she sympathised ardently with this
unwisdom.

"No--never!" Sophy said again.

The Judge looked more and more uncomfortable. The snowstorm in the
paper-weight became a blizzard. At last he jumped into the midst of
things, with all the jerky suddenness of a man who has at last
determined to break through the ice-skim on his morning tub.

"Sophy," he blurted, "I must tell you--there was a settlement ... at the
time of your marriage with Mr. Loring...."

(He had "Mistered" Loring punctiliously ever since Sophy's disclosure.)

"A settlement?" said Sophy blankly.

"Just so. Yes. A-rrrm!... I ... er ... am responsible for the ... er ...
arrangement ... a marriage settlement, you know.... It gives you ten
thousand a year, in your own right."

"Gives _me_...? Ten thousand...? My own right?" stammered Sophy. "Oh,
you must be mistaken, Joe!" she added, colouring deeply.

Then the Judge explained unhappily. He had stood _in loco parentis_....
The future was always uncertain.... He should have felt himself culpable
towards her, _et cetera, et cetera_. And fearing that she might raise
objections against her own interests, he had accepted a
power-of-attorney to administer the property for her. This was the
reason of her ignorance on the subject.

Sophy stood transfixed. Then she took it in. She went up to him, put her
arm about his neck, and kissed his harassed face. "You're a dear, kind,
_real_ brother," she murmured; "but you're a lawyer, too--so you can
just arrange to unsettle that settlement."

"Now, Sophy ... now, Sophy...." he pleaded. "There's nothing undignified
.