d really think his mother would like
somebody; somebody young and--and pleasant, you know."

"Well," returned Charlotte, breaking open a biscuit, "I suppose havin'
got rid of her husband she thinks she'll let well enough alone. She's
the happiest-lookin' woman in town. Why not? She's got the most money
and no man to bother her."

"Why, Charlotte Whipp, you don't know what you're sayin'. Ben's father
was a fine man. For years after he died Mrs. Barry couldn't hardly
smile. Yes"--Miss Upton's thoughtful manner returned--"Ben's away so
much I should think she'd like to have somebody, say a nice young girl
with her. Of course, to folks with motors Keefe ain't much more'n a
suburb to the city now, and Mrs. Barry, with her three months in town
and three months to the port and six months here, has a full, pleasant
life, and I s'pose that fine son fills it. Wasn't she fortunate to get
him out o' the war safe? You'd ought to 'a' seen him in his Naval
Aviation uniform, Charlotte. He looked like a prince; but he could 'a'
bitten a board nail because he never got to go across the water. I
s'pose his mother's average patriotic, but I guess she thanked Heaven he
couldn't go. She didn't dare say anything like that before him, though.
It was a terrible disappointment. Oh, Charlotte"--Miss Upton bent a
wistful smile on her table-mate--"I can't help thinkin' what a
wonderful home the Barry house would be for some needy girl--a lady, you
know."

"H'm!" Charlotte's twisted mouth contracted further as she gave a dry
little sniff. "She'd probably fall in love with Ben, and he wouldn't
give a snap for her, so she'd be miserable anyway."

Miss Mehitable shook her head. "If all your probablys came true,
Charlotte, what a world this would be."

"What a world it _is_!" retorted the other. "Have some more tea"--then
as Miss Mehitable demurred--"Yes, have some. It'll do you good and maybe
brighten up your wits so's you can remember somethin' that's happened to
you to-day."

Miss Upton cudgeled her brain for the small occurrences of her shopping
and managed to recall a few items; but she was not in her usual form and
Charlotte received her offerings with scornful sniffs and silence.

Miss Upton's dreams that night were troubled and the sermon next morning
fell on deaf ears. Ben and his mother were both in the Barry pew near
the memorial window to his father. She could not resist the drawing
which made her head turn periodically to make certa