Lord."

Anita Lawton shivered slightly, and raised a trembling, protesting
hand.

"Please," she said, softly, "I know--I heard you say that at St.
James' two days ago. I try to believe, to think, that in some
inscrutable way, God meant it for the best when he took my father so
ruthlessly from me, with no premonition, no sign of warning. It is
hard, Dr. Franklin. I cannot coordinate my thoughts just yet. You must
give me a little time."

The minister bent his short body still lower before her.

"My dear child, do you remember, also, a later prayer in the same
service?"--unconsciously he assumed the full rich, rounded, pulpit
tones, which were habitual with him. "'Lord, Thou hast been our refuge
from one generation to another; before the mountains were brought
forth or ever the earth and world were made--'"

A low knocking upon the door interrupted him, and the butler
appeared.

"Mr. Rockamore and Mr. Mallowe," Anita Lawton read aloud from the
cards he presented. "Oh, I can't see them now. Tell them, Wilkes, that
my minister is with me, and they must forgive me for denying myself to
them."

The butler retired, and the Rev. Dr. Franklin, at the mention of two
of the most prominent and influential men in the city since the death
of Lawton, turned bulging, inquiring eyes upon the girl.

"My dear child, is it wise for you to refuse to see two of your
father's best friends? You will need their help, their kindness--a
woman alone in the world, no matter how exalted her position, needs
friends. Mr. Mallowe is not one of my parishioners, but I understand
that as president of the Street Railways, he was closely associated
with your dear father in many affairs of finance. Mr. Rockamore I know
to be a man of almost unlimited power in the world in which Mr. Lawton
moved. Should you not see them? Remember that you are under my
protection in every way, of course, but since our Heavenly Father has
seen fit to take unto Himself your dear one, I feel that it would be
advisable for you to place yourself under the temporal guidance of
those whom he trusted, at any rate for the time being."

"Oh, I feel that they were my father's friends, but not mine. Since
mother and my little sister and brother were lost at sea, so many
years ago, I have learned to depend wholly upon my father, who was
more comrade than parent. Then, as you know, I met Ramon--Mr.
Hamilton, and of course I trust him as implicitly as I must trust you.
But alth