ped Della's arm and the two girls hardly spoke during the
remainder of Katharine's stay.

When weeks passed and no "bread and butter letter" came from Katharine
to thank Mrs. Morton and the family, the rudeness set the capstone to
her sins against hospitality.

"Any letter from Katharine?" became a daily question from Roger when he
came in from school and when he received a negative he sometimes opened
his lips as if to say something in condemnation.

"Take care," his mother warned him when this happened; "because a guest
makes mistakes is no reason that her host should copy them."

With the coming of the new year the younger people all settled down to
serious work. Not only Roger but James and Tom also were to graduate in
June, and all of them wanted to do themselves credit. James was going to
Harvard and later to the Harvard Medical School. Tom was booked for Yale
and then for business.

CHAPTER IX

VALENTINE'S DAY

It was the day after Lincoln's birthday, and Saturday. Edward Watkins
had come out for his weekly visit to Elisabeth and was sitting in Mrs.
Smith's living room surveying her and talking to Miss Merriam. Elisabeth
was walking with a fair degree of steadiness now, and made her way about
all the rooms of the house without assistance. She still preferred to
crawl upstairs and she could do that so fast that the person who was
supposed to watch her had to be faithful or she would disappear while an
eye lingered too long on the page of an interesting book or on the face
of a friend.

Downstairs Edward leaned forward from his chair in front of Gertrude and
picked up the ball from which she was knitting a soldier's scarf. He
paid out the yarn to her as she needed it.

"You're happy here, aren't you?" he asked softly.

"Happy! I should say so! Next to having your very own home I can't
imagine anything lovelier than this, with dear people and a pretty house
and a darling baby. It's beautiful."

"You'd hate to leave it, wouldn't you?"

"Leave it? Why should I leave it? I think they like me. I think they
want me to stay."

She looked at him piercingly, evidently disturbed at the suggestion.

"Want you to stay! I should think they would!" ejaculated the young
physician. "I was just wondering what inducement would make you leave
these dear people and this pretty house and this darling baby. If any
one should--"

"Hullo," cried Ethel Brown, entering at this instant. "Do you know where
Aunt Lou