young people and ordered the party home, and as the dance was
growing somewhat noisy and the gentlemen were smoking as they danced,
the invited guests made their bows to Mr. Paul and went out into cold,
silent streets, followed by the thanks and compliments of seven
bare-headed and swaying committee-men.

The next week Lester went on the road with his comic opera company; the
Grahame Wests sailed to England, Letty Chamberlain and the other "Gee
Gees," as Travers called the Gayety Girls, departed for Chicago, and
Travers and Van Bibber were left alone.

* * * * *

The annual ball was a month in the past, when Van Bibber found Travers
at breakfast at their club, and dropped into a chair beside him with a
sigh of weariness and indecision.

"What's the trouble? Have some breakfast?" said Travers, cheerfully.

"Thank you, no," said Van Bibber, gazing at his friend doubtfully; "I
want to ask you what you think of this. Do you remember that girl at
that servants' ball?"

"Which girl?--Tall girl with red hair--did fancy dance? Yes--why?"

"Well, I've been thinking about her lately," said Van Bibber, "and what
they said of her dancing. It seems to me that if it's as good as they
thought it was, the girl ought to be told of it and encouraged. They
evidently meant what they said. It wasn't as though they were talking
about her to her relatives and had to say something pleasant. Lester
thought she could make a hundred dollars a week if she had had six
lessons. Well, six lessons wouldn't cost much, not more than ten dollars
at the most, and a hundred a week for an original outlay of ten is a
good investment."

Travers nodded his head in assent, and whacked an egg viciously with his
spoon. "What's your scheme?" he said. "Is your idea to help the lady for
her own sake--sort of a philanthropic snap--or as a speculation? We
might make it pay as a speculation. You see nobody knows about her
except you and me. We might form her into a sort of stock company and
teach her to dance, and secure her engagements and then take our
commission out of her salary. Is that what you were thinking of doing?"

"No, that was not my idea," said Van Bibber, smiling. "I hadn't any
plan. I just thought I'd go down to that hotel and tell her that in the
opinion of the four people best qualified to know what good dancing is,
she is a good dancer, and then leave the rest to her. She must have some
friends or relations wh