f in Ted's hands and let him personally
conduct my afternoon."

Blue eyes met blue eyes at that and flashed happy fire. Lucky Ted!

"Oh, jolly!" exclaimed that delighted youth. "Will you play basket-ball
in the attic?"

"Of course I will. Just the thing for a rainy day."

"Bowls?"

"Yes, indeed."

"Take a cross-country tramp?" His eyes were sparkling.

Roberta glanced out of the window. The rain was dashing hard against the
pane. "If you won't go through the West Wood marshes," she stipulated.

"Sure I won't. They'd be pretty wet even for me on a day like this. Is
there anything you'd specially like to do yourself?" he bethought
himself at this stage to inquire.

Roberta shrugged her shoulders. "Of course it seems tame to propose
settling down by the living-room fire and popping corn, after we get
back and have got into our dry clothes," said she, "but--"

Ted grinned. "That's the stuff," he acknowledged. "I knew you'd think of
the right thing to end up the lark with." He looked across at Richard
with a proud and happy face. "Didn't I tell you she was a peach of a
sister?" he challenged his guest.

Richard nodded. "You certainly did," he said. "And I see no occasion to
question the statement."

His eyes met Roberta's. Never in his life had the thought of a
cross-country walk in the rain so appealed to him. At the moment he
would have given his eagerly planned trip to the Far East for the chance
to march by her side to-day, even though the course should lie through
the marshes of West Wood, unquestionably the wettest place in the
country on that particular wet afternoon. But nobody would think of
inviting him to go--of course not. And while Roberta and Ted were
dashing along country lanes--he could imagine how her cheeks would look,
stung with rain, drops clinging to those bewildering lashes of hers--he
himself would be looking up references in dry and dusty State Supreme
Court records, and making notes with a fountain pen--a fountain
pen--symbol of the student. What abominable luck!

Roberta was laughing as his eyes met hers. The gay curve of her lips
recalled to him one of the things Ted had said about her, concerning a
certain boyish quality in her makeup, and he was strongly tempted to
tell her of it. But he resisted.

"I can see you two are great chums," said he. "I envy you both your
afternoon, clear through to the corn-popping."

"If you are still at work when we reach that stage we will--send y