ing up or letting alone. While it is
legitimate and safe, in so far as I can see, I have on the other hand
interests which claim a large share of my time, and this undertaking
would be an additional demand.

"Therefore," his gaze traveled the length of the table and back to where
Toomey sat, "I have concluded to determine the matter by a somewhat
unique means. I shall leave the decision to my daughter here. Prouty,
one may say, is her home. She has grown up among you. Many of you, no
doubt, she numbers among her friends. At any rate, she has the final
say. I have informed her of my intention, but I have no more notion than
yourselves what her answer will be, and," he added, "I have quite as
much curiosity."

Blank surprise was followed by the exchange of startled, inquiring
looks. Abram Pantin was perhaps the only one who did not find some
grounds for uneasiness.

The swift transition from relief to their former state of suspense was
marked, and their feelings found an outlet in a sudden nervous movement
of hands and feet. The town had given her rather a hard deal in some
ways, all were ready to admit that, but had she felt it? Did she
entertain resentment because of it? She looked so young, so feminine, so
exquisitely soft that, somehow, they thought not.

Toomey's sallow skin had taken on a saffron shade, and Mrs. Toomey sat
with her thin hands clenched in her lap, a strained smile fixed on her
face, waiting for--she knew not what.

Turning in his chair, Prentiss laid his hand upon the back of Kate's,
and his keen worldly eyes shone with the peculiar satisfaction which
human nature finds in its own flesh and blood when it reflects credit
upon themselves. Immeasurable pride was in his face as he looked at her.

The miracle of clothes and an altered frame of mind had done wonders for
Kate. The austere expression, the tense lines which came from
responsibility and unhappiness had been smoothed out, while much of the
tan of her years in the open air had vanished in a few weeks in the
moist climate of the east. She looked not more than twenty-two or three
in the soft glow of the shaded lights, and of the awkward self-conscious
girl whom they remembered on that night in this same dining room, there
was not a trace.

She had the quiet assurance of authority, the poise of self-reliance and
reserve force, but there was not a shade of triumph in her face, at the
power with which her father had vested her.

There seeme