culiarly interested in
Ted's queer allusion to Mildred now.

"Well?" she inquired.

"Mildred's getting in rather bad," he said shortly.

"Getting--what do you mean, Ted?" she asked, looking at him in a
startled way.

"People are talking about her," he said.

"People are--?" she began, but stopped, looking at him all the while in
that startled way.

"Talking about her," he repeated. "I guess it's been going on for some
time--though I didn't hear about it until a little while ago."

"About what, Ted?" Her voice faltered and it seemed to make him suddenly
conscious of what he was saying, to whom he spoke.

"Why,"--he faltered now too, "Mildred's acting sort of silly--that's
all. I don't know--a flirtation, or something, with Billy Archer. You
don't know him; he came here a few years ago on some construction work.
He's an engineer. He is a fascinating fellow, all right," he added.

Ruth pushed back her chair into deeper shadow. "And--?" she suggested
faintly.

"He's married," briefly replied Ted.

She did not speak for what seemed a long time. Ted was beginning to
fidget. Then, "How old is Mildred, Ted?" Ruth asked in a very quiet
voice.

"About twenty, I guess; she's a couple of years younger than I am."

"And this man?--how old is he?" That she asked a little sharply.

"Oh, I don't know; he's in the older crowd; somewhere in the thirties, I
should say."

"Well--" But she abruptly checked what she had sharply begun to say, and
pushed her chair still further back into shadow. When Ted stole a timid
glance at her a minute later he saw that she seemed to be holding her
hands tight together.

"And doesn't Mildred's mother--?" It seemed impossible for her to finish
anything, to say it out.

He shook his head. "Guess not. It's funny--but you know a person's
folks--"

There was another silence; then Ted began to whistle softly and was
looking over the railing as if interested in something down on the lawn.

"And you say people are really--talking about Mildred, Ted?" Ruth
finally asked, speaking with apparent effort.

He nodded. "Some people are snubbing her. You know this town is long on
that," he threw in with a short laugh. "I saw Mrs. Brewer--remember
her?--she used to be Dorothy Hanlay--out and out snub Mildred at a party
the other night. She came up to her after she'd been dancing with
Billy--Lord knows how many times she'd danced with him that night--and
Mrs. Brewer simply cut her. I saw it mysel