. Her intense desire for solitude was apparent
even to his dull eye.

Burke sighed. In his humble way he was a gallant man, and it would have
been pleasant to exchange a few remarks with this visitor from another
sphere. Undoubtedly they would have found interests in common. This, it
will be remembered, was January, 1917, three months before America's
entry into the world war, and women able to drive motors were
comparatively rare. Any girl who could drive a car in a storm like this,
and through the drifts of country roads--Mr. Burke, having reluctantly
removed himself from the lady's presence, was now beside her car, and at
this point in his reflections he uttered an exclamation and his jaw
dropped.

"It's the lad's car!" he ejaculated slowly, and for a moment stood
staring at it. Then, still slowly, he nodded.

It was the lad's car, which, only a short time before, he himself had
put in perfect order for a swift run to New York. Now this girl had it,
but 'twas easy to see why. He had been wrong in his college-prank
theory. Here was something more serious and much more interesting. Here
was a love-affair. And, he handsomely conceded, it was going on between
a pair of mates the like of which wasn't often seen. In her way the girl
was as fine a looker as the boy, and that, Mr. Burke decided, was "going
some, for them both."

As his meditations continued he was cursorily glancing at the tires,
looking for the one that had sustained the blow-out. He was not greatly
surprised to find every tire perfect. There had been plenty of
mysteries in the lad's conduct, and this was merely another trifle to
add to the list. Undoubtedly the lady had her reasons for insisting on a
blow-out, and if she had, it was no affair of his. Also, the price for
changing that tire would be a dollar, and Mr. Burke was always willing
to pick up a dollar.

Whistling softly but sweetly, he removed a rear shoe, replaced it with
one of the "spares" on the car's rack, and solemnly retested the others.
The task, as Doris had expected, took him almost half an hour. When it
was completed he lounged back to the lady and assured her that the car
was again ready for service.

The lady hesitated. There was no sign of Laurie, and she dared not
leave. Yet on what pretext could she linger? With the manner of one who
has unlimited time at her disposal, she demanded her bill, a written
one, and paid it. Then, checking herself on a casual journey toward the
bi