e dentist's tool in her sister's mouth. And yet Lois had not meant to
be unkind; the past as symbolized by Captain Wilson's cow sent her off
tangentially into the recent history of Captain Joshua's family, and she
demanded information as to the Wilsons' daughter Amanda, who ran away
and married an army officer she had met at Columbus, Ohio. As the
sisters had never liked Amanda Wilson, they were not pleased to be
obliged to confess that the marriage had been a satisfactory one in
every particular, and that Amanda's husband was now a colonel. The
barometer fell steadily and the gloom of the Arctic night deepened in
the faces of the trio.

"Anybody have any more eggnog?" asked Amzi guilelessly.

"I think," said Mrs. Fosdick furiously, "that we've all had enough of
that stuff."

This was the least bit pointed, as her husband was at that moment
filling a fourth glass for himself.

Mrs. Waterman renewed her attack, drawing nearer to the culprit.

"Of course, you realize, Lois, that after all that has happened, your
coming back here, particularly unannounced, creates a very delicate
situation. It can't be possible that you don't understand how it
complicates things--that as a matter of fact--"

"Oh, as a matter of fact it's a great bore to talk of it! I suppose I'm
the one that's likely to be most annoyed, but you needn't waste any
time being sorry for me. I didn't have to come; nobody asked me. You'll
not be in the least embarrassed by my coming. I don't look as though I
were in deep distress about anything, do I? Well, I'm not. So don't
prepare to weep over me. Tears are bad for the complexion and puckering
up your face makes wrinkles."

Fosdick snickered, an act of treachery on his part which brought his
wife to Mrs. Waterman's support. Fanny Fosdick was readier of speech
than Josephine, who was inclined to pomposity when she tried to be
impressive.

"You can't dodge the situation in any such way; you had no right to come
back. Your coming can only bring up the old scandal, that we have been
trying to live down. It's not a thing you can laugh off. A woman can't
do what you did in a town like this and come back expecting everybody to
smile over it."

"And Jack Holton has just been here; that was bad enough!" threw in Mrs.
Hastings. "And if you are still running after _him_--"

"Girls!" exploded Amzi, "you'd better cut all this out. You're not going
to help matters by fussing over what Lois did. I'm sure we're al