eant
losing mother it would have been a perfect year."

After a long pause, he dropped out, incredulously:

"Without me?"

She felt her hands grow suddenly cold with fear of the battle.

"Yes," she nodded, "without you."

As he looked at her she was again as dazzling to him as a beautiful
stranger; and as strange.

He said somewhat stiffly: "That's not exactly what a man expects to
hear when he comes back after a long time."

"I'm sorry."

"You've changed somehow. What's the matter?"

"I've grown young again. That's all, isn't it?"

"I don't know if that's all."

"Let's talk of something else," she said gaily; "tell me more about
yourself. I've had no details yet, and I'm longing for them. You're
keeping the job, are you? And just what good things does keeping it
mean?"

"A fur coat for Marie," he said with a hint of reproachful pathos.

"How lovely! But what will it mean to you was what I'm asking?"

"The salary is five hundred, as you know." And guardedly, for he knew
many men who deemed it well to be careful over telling their wives
these things, he added: "With any luck the commission's more than the
salary."

He left it vague, like that, for safety.

"I do congratulate you, Osborn."

"Our ship's really in, at last, you see, old girl."

"My poor income fades into the background behind yours!"

"Well, yours isn't so bad for a woman!"

"So I've found. I've had clothes, and gone about, and begun to think
and read and see good plays again, all on the strength of it."

She opened a bank-book. "This is all the accounting for the two
hundred you arranged to be paid in to me. You'll see I've used it
legitimately--none of it's gone on frippery. And I've paid George's
schooling myself this last six months, and Ann's wages, as I hadn't
your permission for either. So you'll see there's even a balance left
to your credit."

"Why make a song about my 'permission'? You've always been a free
agent, haven't you?"

"Won't you just run your eye over this, now you're taking hold of the
family bank account again?"

To satisfy her he took the book and skimmed over figures rapidly.

"You've been a good girl."

"So glad you think so."

Osborn smoked on quietly, but his thoughts were turbulent. She was
giving him strange qualms, and he could not quite understand her
direction. That something worked in her head he guessed, but,
unwilling to hear of it, he asked no questions. It was very
comfortable by th