the business world of Carter, Rand
& Seagraves, to which Pendleton himself belonged; on the other side
was her own private, personal world. Now that barrier was down.
Without realizing at the time the significance of his request,--a
request so honestly and smilingly made that it took her off her
guard,--she had allowed him, for a period of a couple of hours, to
enter that personal world. By her side he had explored with her the
familiar paths in the park which until then had been all her own. He
had made himself a part of them. Never again could she follow them
without, in a sense, having him with her.

She realized this because when, at five o'clock, she had told him to
leave her at the foot of the Elevated, she had watched him out of
sight, and then, instead of going home as she intended, she had turned
and gone back to the park. She had a vague notion that she must put
her life back upon its normal basis before returning to her room. If
only for a few moments, she must go over the old paths alone.

It was impossible. Everywhere she turned, it was to recall some
careless phrase or gesture or expression of his--to react to them
again exactly as when he had been with her. And this man had nothing
whatever to do with the office of Carter, Rand & Seagraves. She could
not force him back there; he insisted upon remaining on the personal
side of the barrier.

It was curious how quickly she accepted the situation after her first
startled surprise. After all, if she was going to retain her interest
in him in any way, it was as necessary to help him outside the office
as within. One opportunity had been offered her that very afternoon in
making him understand that it was perfectly possible to enjoy a
half-holiday without spending all the money in his pocket.

His attitude toward money puzzled her. In one way he seemed to
place too much value upon it, and in another way not enough. He
overemphasized the importance of a ten-thousand-dollar salary,
making that the one goal of his business efforts, and then calmly
proposed squandering dollar bills on confectionery and what not as
an incident to as simple an amusement as a walk in the park. He
neither knew how little a dollar was worth, nor how much. She herself
had learned out of hard experience, and if she could only make him
understand--well, that at least furnished her with some sort of
excuse for allowing this new relationship to continue.

For all any one knows, there m