int of giving in, going out,
acknowledging our marriage and taking the consequences."

Mrs. De Peyster, face buried in the shadow, thrilled with a sudden
rush of hope. If Jack and Mary should leave the house, then half her
danger would be ended!

"But, you see, since that news yesterday about mother being so sick
in Europe," Jack continued solicitously, "I feel that, in her weakened
condition, the news of our marriage might be a very severe shock for
her. So for her sake we're going to keep the thing secret for a while
yet, and stick it out here."

Mrs. De Peyster could hardly keep back a groan.

"So, now," Jack again propounded, "what the dickens are the five of us
going to do?"

Mr. Pyecroft rubbed his wide mouth for a meditative moment. Then he
smiled upon Matilda.

"It seems to me, sister dear, that we'll have to put it up to you."

"Up to me?" cried Matilda.

"Yes, Matilda. You belong here; you can come and go as a matter of
course. You have a sister visiting you; also a brother, but as I have
requested, the less said about his being here the better. But you can
go out and openly order provisions for yourself and our sister. And
you can give a good large order for nourishing canned goods, casually
mentioning that you are laying in a supply so that you will not have
to bother again soon with staples. That, with what Judge Harvey and
William can smuggle in, should keep us provided for."

Mr. Pyecroft's suggestion was approved by the majority. As an addendum
to his proposal Matilda was ordered to answer the bell whenever rung;
if she did not, with the knowledge abroad that she was in the house,
a dangerous suspicion might be aroused. But she should be careful when
she went to the door, very careful.

Matilda was driven forth to make the purchases; Mr. Pyecroft, under
Jack's guidance, went below to forage for the anaesthetic of immediate
crumbs; and Mary, tender-heartedly, remained behind to relieve the
tedium of and give comfort to the invalid. She straightened up the
room a bit; urged the patient to eat, to no avail; then went out of
the room for a minute, and reappeared with a book.

"I'm going to read to you, Angelica," she announced, in a loud yet
nursey voice. "I suppose your taste in books is about the same as
your sister's. Here's a story I found in Matilda's room. It's called
'Wormwood.' I'm sure you'll like it."

So placed that she could get all of the dim light that slanted through
the tiny s