oon. You must be ready, that's all. See what I mean?"

"Moral support, eh?" scoffed George.

"You are her brother."

"Right you are," said the other soberly. "I'll be on hand, Simmy, if I'm
needed. Tell Anne, will you? I'll stick it out for a few days if it will
help her."

"There is a lot of good in you, George," said Simmy, engagingly. "I don't
mind telling you that Lutie says the same thing about you. She has said to
me more than once that--"

"Oh, don't lie to me!" snarled young Tresslyn, but Simmy did not fail to
note the quickening of interest in his sullen eyes.

"More than once," he went on, following up the advantage, "she has
expressed the opinion that with half a chance you would have been more
than half a man."

"'Gad," said George, wonderingly, "I--I can almost believe you now. That's
just the way she would have put it. God knows, Simmy, you are not smart
enough to have said it out of your own head. She really thinks that, does
she?"

"We'll talk it over to-morrow," said the other, quite well pleased with
himself. Young Tresslyn was breathing heavily, as if his great lungs had
expanded beyond their normal capacity. "Move along now."

"If I thought--" began George, but Simmy had slammed the door and was
directing the chauffeur where to take his fare.

Half an hour later, Mrs. Fenwick's tables were deserted and the dance was
on. Simmy Dodge, awaiting the moment of dispersion, lost no time in
seeking Lutie. He had delayed his departure for Anne's home, and had been
chafing through a long half-hour in the lounge downstairs. She was dancing
with Percy Wintermill.

"Hello, Dodge," said that young man, halting abruptly and somewhat
aggressively when Simmy, without apology, clutched his arm as they swung
by; "thought you'd gone. What d'you come back for?"

"I haven't gone, so I couldn't come back," answered Simmy easily. "I want
a word or two with Mrs. Tresslyn, old boy, so beat it."

"Oh, I say, you've got a lot of cheek--"

"Come along, Mrs. Tresslyn; don't mind Percy. _This_ is important." With
Lutie at his side, he made his way through the crowd about the door and
led her, wondering and not a little disturbed, into one of the ante-rooms,
where he found a couple of chairs.

She listened to his account of the meeting with her former husband, her
eyes fixed steadily on his homely little face. There was alarm at first in
those merry eyes of hers, but his first words were reassuring. He
convinced