r, her taciturn husband,--and Good. But on the next train,
which was the last, the first two came. She greeted them as gaily as she
could, with studied carelessness inquiring if anyone had been left at
the station, and when they assured her that no one had, she abandoned
hope definitely.

"You have the darkest, lonesomest woods out here I ever saw," cried
Della. "I had all sorts of thrills. Every time I saw a man my heart came
up in my mouth!"

"That," said her husband cryptically, "is quite as usual."

But Judith heard him only vaguely. She had caught sight of a familiarly
angular figure striding briskly up the drive way, looming grotesquely
tall in the dusk. She did not follow the others as they went into the
house. She remained on the porch, a prey to conflicting emotions. It was
with some difficulty that she restrained the laugh which sprang to her
lips as Good came into the light from the hall. His hair had been
trimmed, his face was newly shaven, and his finger-nails, she noted, as
he held out his hand, were cleaner than she had ever seen them. That was
enough to amaze her. But when he flung back his long rain-coat, worn in
spite of the continued drought of days, and revealed evening dress--her
head swam. He was quite conscious of the effect he had made. Indeed,
though she made a strong effort, she could not possibly conceal it. But
it did not appear to displease him. He smiled like a child, and turned
around twice for her inspection.

"Some rags, eh?" he cried, smoothing out the wrinkles. "Sorry the coat
doesn't match, but it was the best I could get."

Almost tearfully she joined in his enthusiasm. She shut her eyes to the
antiquated cut of the garment, its unmistakable shininess at the elbows,
and what must have been apparent even to himself, the fact that it
fitted him only, as one might say, intermittently. But he was too
pleased to care, if he had noticed such trifles.

"That's really what I needed the money for," he explained. "I wanted to
bloom like a green bay tree before your friends. Pretty cute, eh?" He
turned around again, and catching sight of himself in the mirror, stood
preening like a peacock. "Makes me feel half dressed, though," he
admitted somewhat ruefully. "This open-work front ... I've been trying
to hook it together all the way out--but there aren't any hooks! First
time I ever wore one of these. Look at the buttons on the vest. Ever
seen anything glitter so? I tell you, Solomon in al