"Dead sure. You may bet your bottom dollar on that. We can tie up every
road in this state within twenty-four hours after the order goes out--"

Arousing herself with a start, Corinna opened the door and went out. She
could not have helped hearing what Gershom had said; and after all this
was nothing more than a repetition of the plain facts that Vetch had
already confided to her. But why, she wondered, did they persist in
holding their conferences at the top of their voices?

In a few minutes Patty came down, wearing a sailor hat which made her
look more than ever like an attractive boy; and they descended the steps
together, and strolled past the fountain of the white heron to the gate
in front of the house. Turning to the left as they entered the Square,
they walked slowly down the wide brick pavement, which trailed by the
library and a larger fountain, to the dingy business street beyond the
iron fence at the foot of the hill. As they went by, a woman, who was
feeding the squirrels from one of the benches, lifted her face to stare
at them curiously, and something vaguely familiar in her features caused
Corinna to pause and glance back. Where had she seen her before? And how
ill, how hopelessly stricken, the haggard face looked under the thick
mass of badly dyed hair. The next minute she remembered that the woman
had lodged for a week or two above the old print shop, and that only
yesterday Stephen had asked about her. Poor creature, what a life she
must have had to have wrecked her so utterly.

In the golden-green light of afternoon the Square was looking peaceful
and lovely. For the hour a magic veil had dropped over the nakedness of
its outlines, and the bare buildings and bare walks were touched with
the glamour of spring. Soft, pale shadows of waving branches moved back
and forth, like the ghosts of dreams, over the grassy hill and the brick
pavements.

Turning to the girl beside her, Corinna looked thoughtfully at the fresh
young face above the white collar which framed the lovely line of the
throat. Under the brim of the sailor hat Patty's eyes were dewy with
happiness.

"Are you happy, Patty?"

"Oh, yes," rejoined Patty fervently, "so much happier than I ever was in
my life!"

"I am glad," said the older woman tenderly. Then taking the girl's hand
in hers she added earnestly: "But, my dear, we must be careful, you and
I, not to let our happiness depend too much upon one thing. We must
scatter it as m