a nod as she paused.

"I live all alone," she went on, and John wondered who then customarily
received her flow of conversation; "and all this sudden business is a
great disturbance to me. I've laid awake over the matter, and prayed
over it, and here I am, not knowing yet what I'm going to do."

She fell silent. She could not tell this stranger that it was the
ne'er-do-well character of her only brother which caused her panic at
the mere hint of taking the responsibility of his daughter, many years
motherless and the companion of his wholly slipshod methods of life. In
years past Calvin Trent had been wont to say it was like pouring water
into a sieve to endeavor to help Sam Lacey.

While Miss Martha was indulging in a resume of the dismal situation her
companion took a folded memorandum from an inside pocket and scanned
it.

* * * * *

"Girl at Hotel Frisbie.

"Name Sylvia Lacey.

"Age nineteen.

"Her mother, my sister, dead for ten years.

"Her father, recently deceased, an alleged artist, a rolling stone
and a scapegrace all his life.

"Be present at interview between Miss Martha Lacey and the girl.

"Let Miss Martha take the lead."

* * * * *

There were a few further instructions, but Miss Lacey here broke in
upon the reading.

"I'm going to ask you to do one more gallant thing for me, Sir Walter."

"I'm ready."

"Put me on the right car for Hotel Frisbie. The Boston street-cars are
a hopeless muddle to me,--always were and always will be."

"I'll escort you to the hotel."

"Oh, that's too kind!" exclaimed Miss Martha. "I'm not quite _non
compos_. I can get out all right. It's the getting _in_ that's the
puzzle."

"But I have to go there myself. Judge Trent thought you might need a
lieutenant. He has sent me to help you."

The color rushed to Miss Martha's face. Calvin was thinking of her,
after all. Her eyes glistened with sudden hope.

"What is he willing to do?" she demanded.

"Nothing--that is, very little," responded Dunham hastily. "You, I
suppose, are acquainted with this young lady?"

"Indeed I'm not!" Miss Martha repudiated the charge with energy. "And
I'm not nearly as well able to help her as Calvin is. So he sent you.
He has a conscience about it, after all. I don't suppose he'd consent
to her living with him?"

"Not for one moment," returned Dunham quickly.