ding on the low swells.

He hurried forward, his feet splashing in water, too intent to turn
aside. Wherever a lamp burned steadily he knew a roof still remained,
and his heart grew lighter. He came at last to the object of his search.
It was only a small hut, but it was to him most sacred. He knocked
timidly at the door.

"Who's there?" was the quick and startled reply.

"It's Bailey. I'm here to see how you came through the storm."

"Oh, Mr. Bailey!" replied Estelle. She opened the door. "Come in. We're
all right, but wet. Don't step in the pans."

As he entered, with eyes a little dazzled by the candle, Carrie, wrapped
in a shawl, rose from the bed. "Oh, I'm glad to see a man! Wasn't it
terrible?" Pans were set about the room to catch the dripping water. The
little shanty, usually so orderly and cheerful, looked dishevelled and
desolate.

Estelle laughed and said, "I tried to save the chickens, and I nearly
blew away myself."

Her cheeks were flushed, and her wet hair streamed down her back. She
was barefooted, a fact which she tried to conceal by leaning forward a
little.

"It was very good of you to come over," she went on, more soberly, in
the pause which followed. "We were scared; no use denying that, but we
were too busy to dwell upon it. The wind took the tarred paper off the
roof and let the rain through everywhere. It was the most exciting
experience of our lives."

She was more breathless and girlish than she had ever been in his
presence, and he grew correspondingly secure. A subtle charm came from
her streaming hair and her uncorseted and graceful figure. He offered
assistance, but she sturdily replied:

"Oh no, thank you. There's nothing to do till morning, anyway. We kept
the bed dry, and so we can sleep." She smiled on him with something
happy hidden in the tones of her voice. She was embarrassed, but not
afraid. She trusted him perfectly, and he was exalted by that trust.

"Well, I'll be over in the morning and see how badly damaged you are. I
couldn't go to bed till I knew you were all right."

"Thank you. You're very kind."

He went out with a feeling that Carrie was trying hard not to laugh at
him. He was sure he heard a smothered giggle as he went down the slope.
He glowed with admiration for Estelle, so frank, so womanly. They
seemed to have drawn closer to each other in that fifteen minutes' talk
than in all the preceding months. In the joy of this deepening
friendship he splashe