t of
his daughter Ruth. For once in her life her well-bred composure forsook
her, and her look could be called nothing less than an absolute stare.

Of the four, Flossy only had succeeded. The way of it was this:

Having become a realist, in the most emphatic sense of that word, to
have promised to bring some one with her to meeting if she possibly
could, meant to her just that, and nothing less than that. Of course,
such an understanding of a promise made it impossible to stop with the
asking of one person, or two, or three, provided her invitations met
with only refusals.

She had started out as confident of success as Eurie; she felt nearly
certain of Col. Baker; not because he was any more likely of his own
will to choose the prayer-meeting than he had been all his life thus
far, but because he was growing every day more anxious to give pleasure
to Flossy.

Having some dim sense of this in her heart, Flossy reasoned that it
would be right to put this power of hers to the good use of winning him
to the meeting, for who could tell what words from God's Spirit might
reach him while there? So she asked him to go.

To her surprise, and to Col. Baker's real annoyance, he was obliged to
refuse her. He was more than willing to go, even to a prayer-meeting,
if thereby he could take one step forward toward the place in her life
that he desired to fill. Therefore his regrets were profuse and sincere.

It was club night, and, most unluckily, they were to meet with him, and
he was to provide the entertainment. Under almost any other
circumstances he could have been excused. Had he even had the remotest
idea that Flossy would have liked his company that evening, he could
have made arrangements for a change of evening for the club; that is,
had he known of it earlier. But, as it was, she would see how impossible
it would be for him to get away. Quick-witted Flossy took him at his
word.

"Would he remember, then," she asked, with her most winning smile, "that
of all places where she could possibly like to see him regularly, the
Wednesday evening prayer-meeting at the First Church was the place."

What a bitter pill an evening prayer-meeting would be to Col. Baker! But
he did not tell her so. He was even growing to think that he could do
that, for a while at least.

From him Flossy turned to her brother; but it was club night to him,
too, and while he had not the excuse that the entertainer of the club
certainly had, it s