turnpike for going fifty miles an hour, but she jollied the policeman so
that he only swore to thirty, and we were let off with a reprimand. Good
thing she was at the wheel. If I'd been driving, I'd have been fined the
limit."

"You would have deserved it," I told him.

"I think the old judge knew her father; pretty big gun on the island,
you know. By the way, what's become of--of the Murillo young woman?"

I explained to him how she was occupied.

"The deuce! You could certainly have found something easier for her to
do, if you'd tried hard enough," he reproached me.

"I did all I could, and so did Frieda, but our hunt was in vain, on
account of the baby."

"Yes, there's that plagued infant," he said, reflectively.

"I'll be glad, if you can shed the light of your genius on the
situation, old man," I told him. "Among your enormous circle of
friends----"

"You go to the devil! I'm not going to have people saying that Gordon
McGrath is so interested in his model that he's trying to get rid of her
by placing her somewhere or other. No, old boy, if I should hear of
anything, I will let you know, but I'm not going to hunt for it. Do you
know, that woman's got a wonderful face. Did you ever see such a nose
and mouth? When she opens those big eyes of hers and looks at you and
speaks in that hoarse voice, it's quite pathetic. I--I think I'll take
her on again, for a short time."

"I'm afraid you won't," I replied. "I wouldn't advise her to lose steady
employment for the purpose of posing a couple of weeks for you."

"I suppose not. How do you like that Spanish omelette?"

Thus he cut short all reference to Frances, and, soon afterwards, we
parted on the Avenue.

* * * * *

During the next two months there was little worthy of being chronicled.
Frances, I think, grew a little thinner, but always asserted that she
was in the best of health. Baby Paul was rapidly accumulating weight,
and Frieda and I offered him a small baby carriage, which folded up most
cleverly and took little room in the shop or at home. It was on the
occasion of the completion of his fourth month that the presentation was
made by my dear old friend.

"There, my dear, is a gimcrack thing David insisted on buying. The man
at the store swore it couldn't possibly fold up suddenly with the baby
in it. And now what do you think of my having that old blue dress of
mine dyed black?"

The reply of Frances was a heart