er brain must
burst from the confusion of thought. She must do something to relieve
her strained feelings. There was plenty to be done, and she at once
began to fold some clothes which had been left over from the previous
day's washing, and which she had not had time to iron. Her fingers
moved rapidly, keeping pace with her thoughts.

She had been engaged at this work but a short time when she heard a
step at the door. Then there was the sound of some one lifting the
latch. Could it be Ben coming? she asked herself. What would she do?
What could she say to him? As she stood there hesitating, the door
slowly opened, and instead of Ben, Jean Benton stood before her. Nell
breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her, though the expression upon
the girl's face startled her.

"Oh, Jean!" she exclaimed, "how you did frighten me! Come and sit
down, for you look tired."

Jean made no reply but stood there with her eyes fixed upon Nell's
face. They were wild eyes, and they caused Nell to tremble. Was Jean
mad? she wondered, and what would she do with her? What did she want,
anyway?

"Won't you sit down?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

Jean took a step or two forward, and so fierce was her look that Nell
shrank back.

"Jean, Jean, what's the matter?" she demanded. "Why do you look at me
that way?"

Jean suddenly lifted her right hand, and pointed her forefinger at the
trembling woman before her.

"You stole him from me," she hissed. "You took him away when I needed
him most. Ah, that is what you have done, and you needn't try to deny
it."

For an instant Nell was unable to comprehend the meaning of Jean's
words. Then the truth flashed upon her mind. The girl was mad with
jealousy. She imagined that she had stolen Ben from her.

"Jean, Jean, listen to me," she pleaded. "I haven't taken Ben from
you, if that is what you mean. He came to me of his own accord, and I
have refused to have anything more to do with him."

"You lie!" the half-crazed woman cried. "I saw you together to-night,
talking by the tree and by the house. His arm was around you. I saw
it all, and you needn't deny it."

"Listen to me," Nell ordered, now much annoyed. "Won't you believe me?
I tell you I have not taken him from you. He was with me to-night for
the last time. I told him to go and never to come back again. Why do
you blame me? Ben is the one to blame. If he has deserted you, why
don't you go to him?