mightn't, Calvin Trent! You're saying the most awful things!"
exclaimed Miss Lacey.

"Well, you'll be up there in a few days," remarked the judge, rising.
"I just wanted to assure you that Sylvia is doing well, and that you
can be perfectly tranquil about her; so good-by, Martha. I hope you
will have a satisfactory summer."

"We shall see you at Hawk Island, of course," returned Miss Lacey, as
they shook hands. "Edna always counts on it, you know."

"It will perhaps do quite as well if I send Dunham. He is accustomed to
representing me."

"Oh, is he coming to the Tide Mill?" asked Miss Martha in pleasant
surprise.

"There's no telling. I suppose he'll have to take a vacation somewhere.
Young men are so unreasonable nowadays. Imagine me at his age kiting
off to the seashore."

"Why, I'm sure," returned Miss Martha with some consciousness, "we used
to enjoy those drives to Swampscott very much."

"Another incarnation. That was another incarnation," responded the
lawyer quickly, passing into the hall where he pounced eagerly upon the
hat from which he had endured such ruthless separation. Saying good-by
once more, he departed.

Miss Lacey watched him disappear into the star-lit, fragrant night.

"If _I'd_ married him," she murmured, "he wouldn't wear a coat after it
was shiny at the seams."

Her heart was beating a little faster than usual, and her cheeks were
warm as she closed the door.

CHAPTER XV

A FLITTING

On an orthodox June morning, rare and radiant, but verging on a heat
which increased Miss Lacey's appreciation of her happy destiny, she
turned the key of her house.

Her carpets were rolled up, and her curtains rolled down; her thin,
worn, solid silver was packed in a neighboring attic. Nothing portable
of any value was left for a marauding hand, and, moreover, the
neighbors on both sides always willingly kept an eye on Miss Martha's
interests. They rejoiced generously in that summer work of hers, which
she assured them was just play. One summer, several years ago, it had
been generally known among Miss Lacey's friends that she had been
ailing for some time. Judge Trent was abroad that season, and he made a
suggestion to Thinkright, which resulted in an invitation to Miss
Martha to visit the Mill Farm. It was then that she made the
acquaintance of Edna Derwent, who, when the girl came to need a
companion in her playhouse, remembered the smart, stirring woman who
had been so happy in t