ome upon
me." It was the lawyer's voice that broke now.

Gloria raised her head and wiped her drenched face. To hear the words
her uncle spoke was a relief to her. Still the fact remained. All she
had thought to do toward righting a wrong of somebody's must be done to
right a wrong that lay at her own door.

She tried to stand up bravely under it, this girl who had been sheltered
and petted and cared for, but it was a hard task. And then there was
the shock to all the dreams she had had of playing Lady Bountiful to
another. For a few days she struggled and kept up, but a cold she had
taken on the last day of her travel, aggravated by excitement, settled
into a downright ailment. Very tenderly they coaxed her to stay within
the blankets and among the soft pillows for the first few days, and then
she stayed without coaxing. The District Nurse was at her side, and
another was placed as substitute on her district.

The weeks went by, and gradually the white face took on a tinge of
color. Still more weeks went by and the pillows were forsaken for the
chair, and gradually Gloria crept back to the life waiting for her.
Uncle Em and she had had little snatches of talks.

"It shall be straightened; it shall be made beautiful, this crooked way
of ours!" her guardian assured her.

And Gloria had answered with a smile. In the olden days it would have
been a laugh, but Gloria must wait for strength to laugh.

It was on a clear early September morning that Uncle Em and Aunt Em took
Gloria on her first drive. The small figure of the District Nurse sat
beside Aunt Em on the back seat. Gloria sat with Uncle Em.

"Which way?" Uncle Em awaited orders. He did not look at Gloria, but
Gloria looked at him. Her eyes were shining.

"As if you didn't know!" she cried. "As if I hadn't been holding my
breath to go to the New Street!" But at the corner, as they were about
to turn, she caught at the reins. "No, let's leave that for the dessert,
the New Street. I'd rather, after all. We'll go to Dinney's House
first, Uncle Em."

[Illustration: "OH, UNCLE EM, NEW EVERYTHING."]

Uncle Em nodded gravely. "So much the better," he said. "Gives 'em time
to lay a few more bricks on New Street."

The radiance of the day seemed to have entered into Gloria. Her laugh
ran on in a little silver stream, and people plodding up and down the
sidewalks turned and laughed in sheer sympathy.

"It feels so good to get back!" Gloria cried. "As if I had be