come in here, and--but, what is wrong with you two?" She stopped and
looked inquiringly from one to the other.

"Well," began Hitt hesitatingly, "we were reflecting--"

"Reflecting? What? Good, or evil?" she demanded.

"We were just holding a wake, that's all," muttered Haynerd.

"Then wake up!" she cried, seizing his hand.

Hitt pushed out a chair for the girl, and bade her sit down. Then he
briefly related the events which had led to her being summoned. "And
now," he concluded, "the question is, does Wales know that you and Ned
saw Ames try to bribe him?"

"Why, of course he knows!" cried Carmen. "His wife told him."

"And who informed her?"

"I did--last Monday morning, early," answered the wondering girl.

"Didn't I tell you?" ejaculated Haynerd, turning upon Hitt and waving
his arms about. "What do you--"

"Hold your tongue, Ned!" interrupted Hitt. Then, to Carmen, "Why did
you tell her?"

"Why--to save her, and her husband, and babies! I told her because it
was right! You know it was right!"

"But, to save them, you have ruined Ned," pursued Hitt.

The girl turned to Haynerd, who sat doubled up in his chair, the
picture of despair. "I haven't ruined you, Ned." It was the first time
she had used this name in addressing him. "Things never happen, you
know. And if you have been pushed out of this business, it is because
it isn't fit for you, and because you've been awakened. You are for
higher, better things than the publishing of such a magazine as the
Social Era. I knew you just couldn't stay at this work. You have got
to go up--"

"Eh!" Haynerd had roused out of his torpor. "Go up? Yes, I've gone up,
nicely! And I was making ten thousand dollars a year out of it! It was
a bully proposition!" he blurted.

The girl smiled. "I wasn't speaking of money," she said.

"But I was!" retorted Haynerd. "When I talk, it's in dollars and
cents!"

"And that's why your talk is mostly nonsense," put in Hitt. "The
girl's right, I guess. You've stagnated here long enough, Ned. There's
no such thing as standing still. Progress is a divine demand. It's now
your move."

"But--good Lord! what am I to do?" wailed the man.

"You now have a grand opportunity," said Carmen, taking his hand.

"Opportunity!"

"Yes; every trial in this life is an opportunity to prove that there
is no evil," she said. "Listen; you have been trained as a publisher.
Very well, the world is waiting for the right kind of publications.