e
fixed plans of others. Engagements she forgot, ignored, or cancelled at
the last minute; dinner guests, arriving at her lovely home, never
dreamed how often the consternation of utter surprise was hidden under
the hilarious greetings of hostess and host. Dressmakers and dentists
charged Susanna mercilessly for forgotten appointments; but an adoring
circle of friends had formed a sort of silent conspiracy to save her
from herself, and socially she suffered much less than she deserved.

"But some day you'll get an awful jolt; you'll get the lesson of your
life, Sue," Jim used to say, and Susanna always answered meekly:

"Oh, Jim, I know it!"

"My mother used to have a nursery rhyme about me," she told Jim on one
occasion. "It was one of those 'A is for Amiable Annie' things, you
know; 'K is for Kind little Katie, whose weight is one hundred and
eighty'--you've heard them, of course? Well, 'S was for Shiftless
Susanna.' I know the next line was, 'But such was the charm of her
manner'--but I've forgotten the rest. Whether mother made that up for
my especial benefit or not, I don't know."

"Well, you have the charm all right," Jim was obliged to confess, for
Susanna had an undeniable genius for adjustment and placation. Nobody
was angry long at Susanna, perhaps because so many other people were
always ready to step in gladly and fill any gaps in her programme. She
was too popular to be snubbed. And her excuses were always so
reasonable!

"You know I simply lose my mind at the telephone," she would plead. "I
accept anything then--it never occurs to me that we may have
engagements!" Or, "Well, the Jacksons said Thursday," she would
brilliantly elucidate, "and Mrs. Oliver said the twentieth, and it
never OCCURRED to me that it was the same day!"

And she was always willing--this was the maddening part of Susanna!--to
own herself entirely in the wrong, and always ended any conversation on
the subject with a cheerful: "But anyway, I'm improving, you admit
that, don't you, Jim? I'm not nearly as bad as I used to be!"

She said now very seriously: "Jim, darling, you may depend upon me. I
realize what this means, and I am perfectly delighted to have the
chance. At eleven to-day, 'one if by land, and two if by sea,' I'll be
at your office. Trust me!"

"I do, dearest," Jim said. And he went down the drive a little later,
under the blazing glory of the maples with great content in his heart.
Susanna, going about her pretty