unday--then you saw him after I did. Did he seem well? Was he all
right?"

"Yes, except that he looked anxious and disturbed."

"Oh, I knew there was something wrong! Why didn't he come to me and
tell me all about it! I would have comforted him! I'd have done
anything for him--I'd have gone at once and been married, whatever
father might say, if he had wanted me to!"

"I don't think it could have been anything very serious, dear, nothing
more than just a temporary depression of spirits, because--well, you
know what a merry little piece my sister is and how she jokes and
laughs and says nonsensical things until you can't help being cheered
up and laughing, too. She seemed to amuse Mr. Brand and he was very
kind and took us all for a ride in his auto. And, oh, Mildred, you
should have seen how lovely he was with my poor, frail mother! He
insisted that she must go, that it would do her good, and he carried
her in his arms out to the auto and back, and was as tender and
careful with her as a son could have been!"

"How like him!" the girl beamed. "He is so good and kind! Harry, there
isn't another man like him in this whole world! It would kill me to
lose him!"

"We had a delightful ride and Mr. Brand seemed to enjoy Bella's merry
talk. She sat with him, and when we came back and he returned to the
city he was looking quite himself again."

"Oh!" said Mildred, drawing back and looking at Henrietta with
narrowing eyes. She was too absorbed in her own intense emotions to
perceive the embarrassment which suddenly gripped her companion.
Henrietta, wildly groping about in her own mind for something to say
which would relieve the momentary strain, chanced upon what her
employer had said about Hugh Gordon and her own subsequent suspicions,
which had been made sharper by the charges in the morning newspapers.

"Mildred, dear!" she exclaimed. "Has Mr. Brand ever said anything to
you about a man called Hugh Gordon?"

"Hugh Gordon!" The girl straightened up, her color rising and her eyes
flashing with indignation. "Why, he's that dreadful creature who is
responsible for all that horrid mess in the papers this morning, isn't
he?"

"The committee's report says that he gave them their first information
and told them how to get the rest of it."

"Horrid creature! I know it's all a mess of lies! No, I never heard of
him before. Why do you ask? Do you know anything about him? Did Felix
ever speak of him to you?"

"Only once--