are a first-class old brick! I'll lend a hand for one, and
do my best to back up Charlie, for he's the finest fellow I know, and
shan't go to the devil like poor Randal if I can help it."

Murmurs of applause from the others seemed to express a general assent
to this vigorous statement, and, giving the hand a grateful shake, Mac
retreated to the door, anxious to be off now that he had freed his mind
with such unusual impetuosity.

"Count on me for anything I can do in return for this, Van. I'm sorry
to be such a marplot, but you can take it out in quizzing me after I'm
gone. I'm fair game, and Steve can set you going."

With that, Mac departed as abruptly as he had come, feeling that he
had "made a mess" of it, but comforting himself with the thought that
perhaps he had secured help for Charlie at his own expense and thinking
with a droll smile as he went back to his mother: "My romance begins by
looking after other girls' lovers instead of finding a sweetheart for
myself, but I can't tell Rose, so she won't laugh at me."

Chapter 13 BOTH SIDES

Steve's engagement made a great stir in the family a pleasant one this
time, for nobody objected, everything seemed felicitous, and the course
of true love ran very smoothly for the young couple, who promised to
remove the only obstacle to their union by growing old and wise as soon
as possible. If he had not been so genuinely happy, the little lover's
airs would have been unbearable, for he patronized all mankind in
general, his brother and elder cousins in particular.

"Now, that is the way to manage matters," he declared, standing before
the fire in Aunt Clara's billiard room a day or two after the ball, with
his hands behind his back. "No nonsense, no delay, no domestic rows or
tragic separations. Just choose with taste and judgment, make yourself
agreeable through thick and thin, and when it is perfectly evident that
the dear creature adores the ground you walk on, say the word like a
man, and there you are."

"All very easy to do that with a girl like Kitty, who has no confounded
notions to spoil her and trip you up every time you don't exactly toe
the mark," muttered Charlie, knocking the balls about as if it were
a relief to hit something, for he was in a gloriously bad humor that
evening, because time hung heavy on his hands since he had forsworn the
company he could not keep without danger to himself.

"You should humor those little notions, for all women