iend or foe expressive of the
grief and heart-felt sorrow the occasion demanded. Holker Morris sent a
wreath of roses with a special letter to her, expressing his confidence
in and respect for the man he had brought up from a boy. A committee was
present from the Society of Architects to which Garry belonged; half
a dozen of his old friends from the Magnolia were present, Biffy among
them; the village Council and the Board of Church Trustees came in a
body, and even McGowan felt it incumbent upon him to stand up during the
service and assume the air of one who had been especially bereft. Nor
were the notices in the country and city papers wanting in respect. "One
of our most distinguished citizens--a man who has reached the topmost
round of the ladder," etc., etc., one editorial began.

It was only when the funeral was over, and she was once more at home,
that she expressed the slightest concern. Then she laid her hand in
Peter's and threw back her heavy crepe veil: "You have saved me from
disgrace, Mr. Grayson," she said, in a low, monotonous voice, "and my
little boy as well. I try to think that Garry must have been out of his
mind when he took the money. He would not listen to me, and he would not
tell me the truth. Jack is going to pay it back to-morrow, and nobody
will ever know that my husband did wrong; but I couldn't let you go
away without thanking you for having saved us. My stepfather wouldn't
help--nobody would help but you. I don't know why you did it. It seems
so strange. I had given up all hope when Jack came back last night."

Peter sat perfectly still, his hand on her wrist, where he had placed
it to show by a kindly touch his sympathy for her. Not knowing what her
lips would tell, he had begun to pat the back of her black glove when
she started to speak, as one would quiet a child who pours out its
troubles, but he stopped in amazement as she proceeded. He had not
loaned her a dollar, nor had Jack, as he knew, succeeded in getting a
penny, unless by a miracle he had met some one on the train who had come
to his rescue.

What did the poor woman mean? Disgrace! Trouble! Garry taking money, and
Jack paying it back on Monday! The horror of her husband's sudden
death had undoubtedly turned her mind, distorting some simple business
transaction into a crime, or she would not be thanking him for something
that he had never done. This talk of Jack's could only have been a ruse
to keep up her spirits and give