will you praise or condemn the fish course--at the
table, I mean; praise it highly, or condemn it heartily."

"Well, I cannot see your object in making such a request, Dexie," said her
mother in surprise, "but I will not be indifferent, if that is what you
mean."

The next morning, when Mr. Sherwood was drawing on his gloves to go to his
office, Dexie followed him out to the hall, and as she brushed a few specks
from his coat, asked:

"If you see Mr. Plaisted this morning, will you send or bring him up to
dinner; but don't say that I told you to ask him?"

"Well, what's in the wind now? I thought you did not care for Mr.
Plaisted's society," regarding her intently.

"An invitation to dinner does not mean that I have changed my opinion of
him, does it? He has been quite unbearable, so I'm going to 'heap coals of
fire on his head.'"

The roguish gleam in her eyes, and the smile she could not conceal, made
her father think that there was more in the invitation than he understood,
and he surmised that the "coals of fire" were not absolutely figurative.

"All right! I'll see that he gets the invitation. What shall I order for
dinner?"

"Nothing, papa; I have everything ready for our expected guest, so don't
let him disappoint me."

"Hum-m! there's something up, sure enough; though I can't see through it
yet," he said to himself as he walked thoughtfully away.

"So far, so good," said Dexie, _sotto voce_. "How I wish I could have seen
Shadrach when he opened his valentine this morning!"

Dexie would have felt satisfied that her shaft had struck home had she seen
Plaisted when he had "taken in" the contents of his valentine.

He had stepped into the office to mail Gussie's valentine, and was much
surprised when a beautiful envelope was placed in his hands. It held
something very sweet and delicate, no doubt, and as he turned aside he
pressed it to his lips.

Observing the name of Shadrach, he felt sure it must have come from Gussie;
no one else knew his second name, so she must have sent this sweet
love-token. It was hardly fair to write out his name in full; but, of
course, it was only done to make known the identity of the sender. He
thrust it into his pocket and hastened to his hotel, where in the privacy
of his own room he could enjoy it without interruption. The loving words he
expected to find were certainly there, yet as he read them a dark frown
gathered on his brow:

"Dear Danuel Shadrach! thy valen