at
all!"

"Nine o'clock!"

Gloria laughed. "Call that late! Why, it might be ten, eleven, twelve!
Besides, I had to make up for my nightmares--auntie, I spent nearly all
night walking up Treeless Street. I couldn't get out; I thought I'd got
to stay there always. The little ragamuffins wouldn't any of them tell
me the way out, not even Dinney. I wouldn't have believed it of Dinney!"
Aunt Em's face smiled down at the girl among the tumbled pillows. "Poor
dear! You have so many troubles!" Aunt Em sympathized in gentle irony.

Gloria sat up straight. "You're making fun! Well, I don't suppose I
can complain. It isn't to be wondered at that you can't believe I'd be
troubled at other folks' troubles. Honest, auntie, I never was till
yesterday on that street!"

"Aren't you ever going to talk about anything else, Rosy-Posie?"

"Don't say 'Rosy,' or you'll set me off again! I won't mention it again
to-day if you'll promise to go down there with me some day, Aunt Em. If
you won't, I shall go with the District Nurse. I'm going into one of
those houses and see if it feels as bad as it looks."

"You can't go very soon, my dear, for we are going out West with Uncle
Walter to-night."

"Auntie!--honest?" Gloria was on her feet in a sudden access of energy.
Drowsiness and laziness were past things. The trips that she and Aunt Em
took occasionally with her guardian were her delight; it was always an
occasion of gratitude when a "case" called him away during the long
summer vacation.

"We decided last night, dear. You know how Uncle Walter loves to take us
along."

"Will it be a nice long case? Say yes!"

"Yes," smiled the elder woman, "three or four weeks, probably, and maybe
longer. You never can tell how long lawyers will be, threshing out
justice."

"Where? Where? Oh, I call this fine!" Gloria was pulling out the
contents of a bureau drawer. "Where are we going, auntie?"

"To Cheyenne. Gloria, what in the world are you up to?"

"Packing. Cheyenne! I'll dress in a jiffy, auntie, and when I've got my
trunk packed I'll pack you."

CHAPTER III.

Walter McAndrew, Attorney-at-Law, was in rather frequent demand in
distant places, when the services of an especially acute lawyer were
in demand. When these "cases," as Gloria termed them, called him to
locations worth visiting, Mr. McAndrews delighted in taking his wife
and ward with him. The evening preceding the packing-scene in Gloria's
bedroom, he and his good wife