ve seen him balancing that savings in Mt. Alban,"
thought Evan, smiling. Then puffing out a mouthful of smoke, he
murmured: "Bah! what do I care!"

From that moment he was jolly, to the point of humor. It was the mood
of mixed feelings, prominent among which is jealousy, where one waxes
jocose in spite of himself. Evan even rallied Frankie on certain
personal matters. She did not take it amiss; it rather relieved the
situation for her.

"Where's Bill, do you know, Evan?" asked Porter.

"No; his signature at Mt. Alban has been cancelled, but I don't know
what they did with him."

"Either resigned or gone to a city," Perry supposed.

"I think we had better go, Mr. Perry," said Frankie, turning away from
Lou's Christmas gifts.

"Why, what's your hurry--won't you stay for dinner?" asked Mrs. Nelson.

"Oh, no," said Frankie, "thank you. Mother has invited Mr. Perry up to
our place. He wasn't able to go home."

"How was that?" asked Nelson, poking his nose in the room.

"Work," said Perry, professionally.

"Ledger!" murmured Evan, smiling inwardly. Notwithstanding, he felt
more disgusted than amused--he scarcely knew at what.

"We'll see you again before we go, I hope," he said, addressing Frankie
and her escort as one.

"When do you go?" she whispered to him aside, while the Bonehead was
laughing at a joke he perpetrated on Lou. Frankie was beginning to
weaken. Evan felt it, and it made him harden his heart. Such is man's
disposition.

"Soon," he said, knowing it hurt.

She gazed into his unsmiling eyes a moment, then turned to Lou and
Perry without speaking.

When she was gone, and Perry, Mrs. Nelson looked disconcertingly at her
son. He mentally searched for something to hide his uneasiness and
divert their minds from Frankie----

"Did you hear me say I must go soon, mother?"

"Yes, how soon, Evan?"

"To-night!"

Mrs. Nelson's dinner was luxurious, but to the whole family it tasted
flat. Our Banker must leave early Christmas night. His Banfield
friends had wished him "A Merry Christmas."

And he left without saying good-bye to Someone.

CHAPTER VIII.

_A SPORT GONE TO SEED._

The manager at Banfield sighed in relief when Evan entered the office.
An afternoon rush was on.

"Can you take this over, Nelson?" he asked, edging away from a cackling
woman-customer.

Without a word the teller threw his overcoat on a stool and entered the
cage with his hat on. Before the wicket