wn affairs and
he is the sort of man who would never think of marking a letter
'personal.'"

Billikins trotted into the room, his doll in his mouth, and, laying
his burden down in mid-floor, as if to make easier the concentration
of his faculties upon the duty of investigating this stranger,
advanced with signs of ready friendship. Brand responded to his
overtures, but the dog, after a preliminary smell or two, broke into
a sudden howl and trembled as if with fear. Reproved by Henrietta,
he hastened back to his babykins, with which he rushed to a place
of safety beneath her chair. There she heard him giving vent to his
emotions in subdued whining and growling and in much worrying and
tearing of the rag-doll.

Brand rose to go, but lingered beside his chair and made conversation,
as though loath to take his leave; and Henrietta, catching a glimpse
of Isabella passing through the hall, called her in.

Whenever Isabella entered a room it was like the advent of a merry
little breeze. For all the look and manner of her suggested buoyant
spirits and gaiety of heart, from the lurking twinkle in her blue eye
to her light quick step. Daintiness and prettiness characterized her
attire, which she carried gracefully, to the accompaniment of a soft,
faint rustle. With pleasure Henrietta watched her employer's face
brighten and clear as he talked with her sister. The agitation faded
from his manner and presently she was aware that the impression she
had had of struggle and appeal, which had begun to tense her own
nerves, had disappeared.

"I don't wonder," she thought. "Bella is so light-hearted and so
merry, and so pretty and sweet, too, that she could charm away
anybody's dumps. I wish I had some of her gift that way--I'm always
so serious."

Brand suggested that they should take a spin with him in his
automobile. "The day is so fine," he pleaded, as they hesitated a
little before answering. "You don't know how splendid it is! And the
roads are good down through the island." He glanced from one to the
other and Henrietta saw in his brown eyes a look of eager wistfulness.

"It would be lovely and a great treat for us," she said. "You've no
idea, Mr. Brand, what a temptation it is. But we don't like to leave
mother alone, for she's never very well."

"Oh, is that all?" he exclaimed. "Then bring her along! It would do
her a lot of good. Wrap her up well and I'll carry her out to the
auto."

He begged Isabella not to desert