t a bit of it. He never had any
intention of marrying her. It was very difficult to get the actual story
out of my mother. She didn't know much, and she was reluctant to tell me
even that. But I found out at last that she, Gladys, had followed him.
Nobody knew where. He had given up his agency and started on a tour for
some patent tyre company. And she, at the lifting of his finger, had
gone after him."

Mr. Carville paused and looked towards a figure coming into view on the
path. It was Miss Fraenkel. I looked at my watch. It was twelve o'clock.

"Miss Fraenkel is coming up to lunch," I said to Bill. "Will you join
us, Mr. Carville?"

He stood up shaking his head and brushing the tobacco ash from his vest.

"I'll look in afterwards," he said, "but I told the wife I'd be back to
dinner."

"Where was she, all the time, Mr. Carville?" asked Bill.

He laughed and stepped down from the porch.

"I will tell you this afternoon," he said, and reached the sidewalk as
Miss Fraenkel crossed the street. He lifted his hat absently and passed
on, and she, pausing for a moment, gave him one of those swift and
searching glances with which her countrywomen are wont to appraise us.
She came on up to us.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" said Bill, "we've been expecting you."

"I've been getting signatures," she replied. "Is that him?"

"Yes. He's coming back after lunch."

"Did you tell him that I want to get his wife to join?"

We were silent. We had forgotten all about Miss Fraenkel's suffrage. She
scanned our faces with an eager look in her hazel eyes. I made an
effort.

"We thought," I said, "we thought that perhaps you would be able to
explain better than we could how----"

"Why, what have you been talking about, then?" she asked.

"We haven't been talking," I replied, looking at the little brass
pilgrim on the door. "We've been listening."

And then we went in to lunch.

CHAPTER IX

WE AWAIT DEVELOPMENTS

If it were necessary to epitomize our attitude towards Mr. Carville
during that lunch, it might perhaps be discovered in the word "doubt."
Without accusing him of intentional deception, he had certainly led us
to believe that he would explain to us the many points of interest which
his previous history had raised. We had felt quite sure that in the
course of the morning we should learn of his meeting with his wife and
the reasons which led them to make their home in the United States. We
expected to