he girl sobbed. "I had feelin's----"

"So have I, Jan-an. So have I."

They stood in the dark for a moment and then, because there was
nothing more to say--Northrup went to meet Kathryn Morris.

He went in at one of the end doors, not the middle one, and so
disturbed Kathryn's stage setting. He opened and closed the door so
quietly, walked over to the fire so rapidly, that to rise and carry
out her programme was out of the question, so Kathryn remained on the
hearth and Northrup dropped into the chair beside her.

"Well, little girl," he said--people always lowered their voices when
speaking to Kathryn--"what is it?"

Northrup was braced for bad news. Of course Manly had given his
address to Kathryn--it was something beyond the realm of letters and
telegrams that had occurred; Kathryn had been sent! That Manly was not
prime mover in this matter could not occur to Northrup.

"Is it Mother?" he whispered.

Kathryn nodded and her easy tears fell.

"Dead?" The word cut like a knife and Kathryn shivered. For the first
she doubted herself; felt like a bungler.

"Oh! no, Brace; Brace, do not look like that--really--really--listen
to me."

Northrup breathed heavily.

"An accident?" he demanded. A hard note rang in his words. This turn
of affairs was rather more than Kathryn had arranged for. It was like
finding herself on the professional stage when she had bargained for
an amateur performance.

She ran to cover, abandoning all her well-laid plans. She knew the
advantage of being the first in a new situation, so she hurried
there.

"Brace dear, I--you know I have been bearing it all alone and I dared
_not_ take any further responsibility even to--to shield you, dearest,
and your work."

By some dark magic Northrup felt himself a selfish brute; a deserter
of duty.

"Kathryn," he said, and his eyes fell, "please tell me. I suppose I
have been unforgivable, but--well, there's nothing to say!" Northrup
bowed his head to take whatever blow might fall.

"I may be all wrong, dear. You know, when one is alone, is the
confidante of another, one as precious as your mother is to you and
me, it unnerves one--I did not know what to do. It may not be
anything--but how could I know?"

"You went to Manly?" Northrup asked this with a sense of relief while
at the same time Kathryn had risen to a plane so high that he felt
humbled before her. He was still dazed and in the dark, but all was
not lost!

While he had been fo