pillows.

"How's that?" she breathed faintly.

Controlling her impulse to smile, Aggie crossed to the dressing-table
with a business-like air and applied to Zoie's pink cheeks a third
coating of powder.

Zoie sat bolt upright and began to sneeze. "Aggie," she said, "I just
hate you when you act like that." But suddenly she was seized with a new
idea.

"I wonder," she mused as she looked across the room at the soft, pink
sofa bathed in firelight, "I wonder if I shouldn't look better on that
couch under those roses."

Aggie was very emphatic in her opinion to the contrary. "Certainly not!"
she said.

"Then," decided Zoie with a mischievous smile, "I'll get Alfred to carry
me to the couch. That way I can get my arms around his neck. And once
you get your arms around a man's neck, you can MANAGE him."

Aggie looked down at the small person with distinct disapproval. "Now,
don't you make too much fuss over Alfred," she continued. "YOU'RE the
one who's to do the forgiving. Don't forget that! What's more," she
reminded Zoie, "you're very, very weak." But before she had time to
instruct Zoie further there was a sharp, quick ring at the outer door.

The two women glanced at each other inquiringly. The next instant a
man's step was heard in the hallway.

"How is she, Mary?" demanded someone in a voice tense with anxiety.

"It's Alfred!" exclaimed Zoie.

"And we haven't any baby!" gasped Aggie.

"What shall I do?" cried Zoie.

"Lie down," commanded Aggie, and Zoie had barely time to fall back
limply on the pillows when the excited young husband burst into the
room.

CHAPTER XVI

When Alfred entered Zoie's bedroom he glanced about him in bewilderment.
It appeared that he was in an enchanted chamber. Through the dim rose
light he could barely perceive his young wife. She was lying white and
apparently lifeless on her pillows. He moved cautiously toward the bed,
but Aggie raised a warning finger. Afraid to speak, he grasped Aggie's
hand and searched her face for reassurance; she nodded toward Zoie,
whose eyes were closed. He tiptoed to the bedside, sank on his knees and
reverently kissed the small hand that hung limply across the side of the
bed.

To Alfred's intense surprise, his lips had barely touched Zoie's
fingertips when he felt his head seized in a frantic embrace. "Alfred,
Alfred!" cried Zoie in delight; then she smothered his face with kisses.
As she lifted her head to survey her astonished husban