id not take Lois long to do her shopping, and she was just leaving
the store when she met Mrs. Dingle face to face. Had she seen her
sooner she would have made a desperate effort to escape her. But there
was nothing for her to do now but to submit with the best grace
possible.

"Oh, isn't it lovely to see you, dear," Mrs. Dingle effusively cried,
as she gave her a peck-like kiss upon the right cheek. "We have been
talking so much about you lately. Sammie is fairly crazy to see you,
and you must be prepared for a visit from him as soon as he learns you
are in town. I am so thankful that I have such a dutiful son. He is
quite a comfort to me, and I am sure any woman would be proud to have
him for a husband. There are so many bad men these days that we
appreciate a good one when we find him. We knew that you would come
back to the city."

"What made you think that?" Lois enquired as Mrs. Dingle paused an
instant for breath.

"To get away from that horrid country place, of course, where that
terrible murder was committed. I hope they have that villain securely
locked up."

"What villain?" Lois asked.

"Why the one who killed that poor old man for his money."

"No, he is not locked up yet."

"But I heard that he is. Surely he hasn't escaped!" and Mrs. Dingle
held up her well-gloved hands.

"No, he isn't in prison yet," Lois calmly replied. "But there is an
innocent man there, though, I am sorry to say."

"Do you mean that uncouth fellow Sammie was telling me about?"

"I am not referring to any uncouth fellow, Mrs. Dingle, but merely to
Mr. Jasper Randall, a gentleman and a friend of mine."

"Oh, I didn't know that," and Mrs. Dingle looked her surprise as well
as her embarrassment. "All I know is what Sammie told me."

"What did Sammie tell you?" Lois voice was sharp as she asked the
question.

"I can't remember all. But he said that he was brought up on a farm,
had to work his way through college, and that sort of thing, you know.
As he is not of our set, of course I did not pay much attention to what
Sammie told me."

Lois was both angry and disgusted at this woman. Oh, how she longed to
tell her something that she would not soon forget. How she was tempted
to place Jasper and Sammie side by side and compare them; the one an
insignificant, brainless, useless, overdressed nincompoop; the other a
strong, self-reliant, masterful man, fighting against fate with face to
the front and head erect