houseboat, and that the provisions
in the larder had not run so low. She wondered if the boy who attended
to their marketing, and carried things to and from the shore, would
come down to them in a heavy rain.

Miss Jenny Ann did not attempt to go to sleep. She put on her dressing
gown and lay down in her berth to think over their situation and decide
what had best be done.

The other girls were soon asleep. But in a little while Miss Jones
heard a faint sound. It came from their sitting room. Some one called
her name. It was Madge.

Miss Jenny Ann went softly in, to find Madge still lying on the sofa, a
little leather book clasped in her hands.

"I wish to tell you a story, Miss Jenny Ann," began Madge solemnly. "I
have never told it to any one else, but I have come to the place where
I feel that I ought to talk things over with some one I can trust. I
know of no one else, not even Phil, to whom I would rather tell it.
Would you like to hear it?"

"My dear, my dear," said Miss Jenny Ann tremulously, "I know of no one
else whose confidence I should so prize as yours. But are you sure that
you wish to tell me?"

Madge nodded. The hands of the two met in a strong, steady clasp, then
Madge began the story of her discovery in the attic of the secret
drawer and its contents, and of how the vow she had made that day had
been broken in what promised to be the hour of its fulfillment.

After she had finished she lay back on the couch, staring out the cabin
window. Knowing Madge as she did, the chaperon still sat beside her in
sympathetic silence. She recognized the nobility of Madge's sacrifice.
The girl's words: "He is an old man. I can not bring this humiliation
upon him. My father would not wish it," rang in her ears.

"I think you are right, Madge," Miss Jenny Ann said at last. "In fact,
I am sure you are. But it is very bitter for you."

"But don't you believe my father would wish me to keep his secret?"
asked Madge anxiously.

"Yes, I believe he would," responded the chaperon, after a brief
hesitation.

"And I shall do it," vowed Madge. "But some day, Miss Jenny Ann,
perhaps the man who is really to blame for all my father's suffering
will come to a realization of his own unworthiness and clear my
father's name. I can't believe that Father is dead. I always think of
him as being alive, and that some day I shall see him."

"I hope with all my heart that you will," said Miss Jenny Ann
fervently. "Now you mus