to a young
girl standing near. "Do, dear. Mr. Call and I are going to decorate
the balustrade."

I selected a prominent position beside a huge earthen pot of flowering
geraniums. It was a low balustrade with a flat top, designed to sit
upon. I leaned back against the earthen jar and proceeded to appear
engrossed in tennis. Really, though, I was wondering if Breck would
see me after all, and what I should say if he did.

What I did say was conventional enough--simply, "Why, how do you do," to
his eager, "Hello, Miss Vars!" while I shook hands with him as he stood
beneath me on the ground.

"Saw you on Fifth Avenue a week ago," he went on, "hiking for some place
in a taxi. Lost you in the crowd at Forty-second. Thought you might be
rounding up here before long. So decided I'd run up and say howdy. Look
here, wait for me, will you? I've got only one hole more to play. Do.
Wait for me. I'll see that you get home all right."

Edith returned alone in the automobile that afternoon.

"I'll come along later," I explained mysteriously.

She hadn't seen Breck, thank heaven! She would have been sure to have
blundered into a dinner invitation, or some such form of effusion. But
she surmised that something unusual was in the air, and was watching for
me from behind lace curtains in the living-room when I returned two
hours later. She saw a foreign-made car whirl into the drive and stop
at the door. She saw me get out of it and run up the front steps. The
features of the man behind the big mahogany steering-wheel could be
discerned easily. When I opened the front door my sister-in-law was in
the vestibule. She grasped me by both my arms just above my elbows.

"Breck Sewall!" she ejaculated. "My dear! Breck Sewall again!"

The ecstasy of her voice, the enthusiasm of those hands of hers
grasping my arms soothed my hurt feelings of a week ago. I was led
tenderly--almost worshipfully--upstairs to my room.

"I believe he is as crazy as ever about you," Edith exclaimed, once
behind closed doors. "I honestly think"--she stopped abruptly--"What
if----" she began again, then excitedly kissed me. "You little wonder!"
she said. "There's no one in the whole family to match you. I'll wager
you could become a veritable gateway for us all to pass into New York
society if you wanted to. You're a marvel--you are! Tell me about it."
Her eyes sparkled as she gazed upon me. I realized in a flash just what
the splendid thing was that I might do