as she re-entered the
waiting-room, she saw the ticket agent standing in his office.

"What time is it?"

"Half-past two o'clock. I might as well have locked up as usual, for
after all, you did not stay here."

"Yes I did."

He eyed her suspiciously.

"I came back from supper, and brought a pitcher of cold tea, thinking
you might relish it, but you were not here. I waited nearly an hour;
then I went home."

"It was so hot, I walked about outside. What a frightful storm."

"Yes, perfectly awful. Were you exposed to the worst of it?"

"No, I was here."

He shook his head, smiled, and went into the next room, knowing that
when he returned to unlock his office she was not in the building, and
that he had seen her coming up the railway track. The bustle of
preparation soon began; the baggage wagons thundered up to the
platform, porters called to one another; passengers collected in the
waiting-room, carriages and omnibuses dashed about; then at 2:50 the
long train of north bound cars swept in. With her shawl and basket in
one hand, and the odorous bunches of chrysanthemums clasped in the
other, Beryl stepped upon the platform. She found a seat at an open
window, and made herself comfortable; placing her feet upon the basket
which contained the jewels that constituted her sole earthly fortune.
The bell rang, the train glided on, and as it passed the office door,
she saw the agent watching her, with a strangely suspicious expression.

The cars wound around a curve, and she sank back and shut her eyes,
rejoicing in the belief that her mission to "Elm Bluff," and its keen
humiliation, were forever ended.

CHAPTER IV.

"I concede that point. Your lover is amply endowed with brains, and
moreover has a vast amount of shrewdness, all that is requisite to
secure success and eminence in his profession; but to-day, it seems as
much a matter of astonishment to me--as it certainly was six months
ago, when first you told me of your engagement--that you, Leo Gordon,
could ever fancy just such a man as Lennox Dunbar."

"I am very sorry, Aunt Patty, that he finds no favor in your eyes, and
I think he is aware of the fact that he is not in your good graces. You
both look so vaguely uncomfortable when thrown into each other's
presence; but for my sake you must try to like Lennox."

Miss Gordon bent her pretty head over a square of ruby velvet, whereon
she was embroidering a wreath of pansies, and the delicate flush o