ected,"
Ellen Blackburne announced herself at the door of her mother's bedroom.

Mrs. Blackburne was propped up in bed, reading Young's "Night Thoughts."

"Of course, I'm not frightened!" she reassured her daughter. "I'm only
surprised. That's what makes my hands tremble."

"I was in hopes you'd have gone to sleep," said Ellen, "and I could slip
in without giving you a start. I stopped the taxi at the corner on
purpose."

"I'm delighted to have you back. But why did you bring the pearls home
to string? Now you'll be sitting up the whole blessed night!"

"Don't you worry!" Ellen soothed her. "I'm not going to sit up. I'm
going to bed. Shall I leave the door open between the rooms while I
undress, or shall I just kiss you good-night now, and let you rest in
peace?"

The little woman had sat down on the edge of the bed, but as she spoke,
she stood up. It struck the older woman that, for some reason, she was
in a hurry to get away.

"There's something you don't want to tell me, isn't there, dear?" her
mother quietly observed.

"Well, you have the most wonderful intuition!" Ellen praised her parent.
"I believe you could see through a wall. It's only that I didn't want to
wake you up and make you nervous, so you would have a bad night."

"I shall have a better night if I don't need to rack my brain thinking
over what might have happened."

"Oh, all right!" sighed Ellen, and sat down again. "You're a grand
safety valve, you know, Mums, because I can talk to you, and be sure
that whatever I say will be locked up in your strong box. I meant to
write all this down in my notebook, with initials instead of names; but
the diary can't give advice. You can. Only--you're certain we hadn't
best wait till to-morrow?"

"I shouldn't close my eyes!" said Mrs. Blackburne. "But I can say this
to begin with: You did the right thing. You always do."

"This is different from anything that ever came into my experience,"
Ellen answered.

"I told you before I started, I thought I was in for an exciting job. It
wasn't only that Mr. Sands is a sort of celebrity, and everyone has been
talking of Mrs. Sands as a beauty. It was the man himself gave me a kind
of thrilled feeling the minute I saw him. Mums, Roger Sands is the sort
I could fall in love with, if I was the falling-in-love type. He's
strong and silent. He isn't a bit a woman's man. I don't know how to
describe him, exactly. He made me feel as if I longed to do something
for h