now be seen the flutter of a
gown of white. The faint sound of voices might be heard. Mary Ellen,
conscientious marketer, was discussing joints and salads with her aunt.
And then Mary Ellen, deliberately tying the strings of her bonnet under
her chin, turned, answering her aunt's summons for replevin of a
forgotten fan. Then, slowly, calmly, the gown of white became more
distinct as she came nearer, her tall figure composing well with the
setting of this scene. For her patiently waited the judge and the
doctor and the driver.

"Good mawnin', Miss Beecham," said the driver as she passed, touching
his hat and infusing more stiffness to his spine.

"Good morning, sir," she replied pleasantly.

"Uh-ah, good mawnin', Miss Beecham, good mawnin'," said Judge Wilson;
and "Good mawnin'," said Dr. Gregg.

"Good morning, Judge Wilson," replied Mary Ellen, as she entered the
car.--"Good morning, Dr. Gregg." The gentlemen made way for her upon
the shady side of the car, and lifted their hats ceremoniously.

"L'il late this mawnin', Miss Beecham, seems like," said the judge,
with no trace of resentment in his tones.

Dr. Gregg upon this morning began his customary reproach also, but it
halted upon his tongue. "Miss Beecham," he said, "pardon me, allow
me--are you ill?"

For Mary Ellen, settling herself for her regular morning ride with her
regular companions, all at once went pale as she gazed out the window.
She scarcely heard the kind remark. She was looking at a man--a tall
man with a brown face, with broad shoulders, with a long, swinging,
steady stride. This man was coming up the side of the street, along
the path between the fence and the burdocks that lined the ditch. His
shoes were white with the limestone dust, but he seemed to care nothing
for his way of locomotion, but reached on, his head up, his eye
searching eagerly.

Not with equipage, not mounted as a Southern cavalier, not announced,
but in the most direct and swiftest way in his power had Edward
Franklin come. Strong, eager, masterful, scorning the blazing sun, his
reckless waste of energy marked him as a stranger in that place. He
stopped at the gateway for one moment, looking up the path, and then
turned swiftly toward the car as though called audibly.

As with a flash his face lighted, and he strode straight on toward a
woman whose heart was throbbing in a sudden tumultuous terror. She saw
him stoop at the car door, even as once before she