t's right. How thoughtless of me!" said Ray contritely.

As he finished reading Mr. Steell looked puzzled. Looking toward Helen
he asked:

"Did you know that your husband had a twin brother?"

"I only knew it recently--just before he sailed. He did not know it
himself."

"How did he find it out?"

"His old nurse told him. I was present."

"Did the nurse know the brother was in South Africa?"

"No--she had no idea of it. I'm sure of that. It's one of those
wonderful coincidences one some-times hears of."

The lawyer shook his head. Thoughtfully he said:

"It's certainly strange--one of the strangest things I ever heard of."

"Kenneth will be able to tell us more about it when he comes," said Ray.

"Yes--no doubt," asserted her sister quickly.

The lawyer remained thoughtful for a moment. Then, lightly he said:

"We ought to give Kenneth a rousing welcome home. After such
experiences as he has had he richly deserves it."

Eagerly Helen caught at the suggestion.

"By all means!" she cried. "Suppose we give a dinner, followed by a
dance."

"Oh, lovely!" said Ray.

"The night following his arrival," went on Helen enthusiastically.
"We'll make it quite an affair and invite everyone we know--the
Parkers, the Galloways, the Fentons, everybody----"

"Don't forget me!" interrupted Steell.

"Oh, you, of course!" Roguishly she added: "Aren't you one of the
family?"

He looked at her and smiled. In an undertone which Ray, too busy
looking at the paper, did not hear, he added:

"Not yet, but I hope to be."

"The sooner the better, Wilbur," she said earnestly. With a
significant glance at her sister she added, "Don't let her keep you
waiting too long."

Every hour brought nearer the happy day when they would see Kenneth
again. A cablegram from England reported that the _Zanzibar_ had
reached Southampton. Closely following this came a brief message from
Kenneth himself, stating that he was on the point of sailing for New
York on the _Adriatic_. In five more days he would be in New York.

Expectation now reached fever heat, the excitement being communicated
to everyone in the house. Every time the front door bell rang there
was a rush downstairs in the hope that it might be another message.

Ray, bubbling over with excitement, was almost as eager as her sister.

"Won't it be jolly to go down to the dock and meet him?"

Helen shook her head.

"I won't go to meet him. I prefer to be he