re written, Peter studied the wall again for a
time. Studied it till long after the hour when he should have lunched.
The wall had three cracks in it which approximated to an outline of
Italy, but though Peter gazed at this particular wall a good many hours
in the next few weeks, he did not discover this interesting fact till
long after this time of wall-gazing.

In the early morning and after dinner, in spite of the summer heat, he
took long walks. During the day he sat in his office doing nothing, with
the exception of an occasional letter to his mother, and one or two to
Watts in respect to the coming wedding. Two visits to the tailor's, and
another to Tiffany's, which resulted in a pearl pin rather out of
proportion to his purse, were almost the sole variations of this
routine. It was really a relief to this terrible inactivity, when he
found himself actually at the Shrubberies, the afternoon before the
wedding.

Peter was rather surprised at the ease with which he went through the
next twenty-four hours. It is true that the house was too full, and each
person too busy, to trouble the silent groomsman with attention, so he
might have done pretty much what he wished, without being noticed. He
arrived late, thus having no chance for greetings till after a hurried
dressing for dinner, when they were made in the presence of the whole
party, who had waited his coming to go to the meal. He went through the
ordeal well, even that with Miss Pierce, actually showing less
embarrassment than she did. What was more astonishing, he calmly offered
his arm to the bridesmaid who fell to his lot, and, after seating her,
chatted without thinking that he was talking. Indeed, he hardly heeded
what he did say, but spoke mechanically, as a kind of refuge from
thought and feeling.

"I didn't find him a bit so," the girl said to Miss Pierce, later in the
evening, with an indefiniteness which, if not merely feminine, must
presuppose a previous conversation. "He isn't exactly talkative, but he
is perfectly easy to get on with. I tried him on New York, and found he
had gone into a good many odd places and can tell about them. He
describes things very well, so that one sees them."

"It must be your tact, then, Miss Leroy," said Mrs. Pierce, "for we
could get nothing out of him before."

"No? I had nothing to do with it, and, between ourselves, I think he
disapproved of me. If Helen hadn't told me about him, I should have been
very cool t