ble. When she spoke, her words were clear and precise.

"Naturally, one would not say such a thing about any girl without the
utmost certainty," she purred. "Even then, there are circumstances
under which one ought to try and forget it. But, if it is a question
as to my veracity in the matter, I can only assure you that Miss
Wynton's mission to Switzerland on behalf of 'The Firefly' is a mere
blind for Mr. Spencer's extraordinary generosity. He is acting through
the paper, it is true. But some of you must have seen 'The Firefly.'
How could such a poor journal afford to pay a young lady one hundred
pounds and give her a return ticket by the Engadine express for four
silly articles on life in the High Alps? Why, it is ludicrous!"

"Pretty hot, I must admit," sniggered Georgie, thinking to make peace
with Beryl Wragg; but she seemed to find his humor not to her taste.

"It is the kind of arrangement from which one draws one's own
conclusions," said Mrs. Vavasour blandly.

"But, I say, does Bower know this?" asked Wragg, swinging his
eyeglasses nervously. Though he dearly loved these carpet battles, he
was chary of figuring in them, having been caught badly more than once
between the upper and nether millstones of opposing facts.

"You heard me tell him," was Millicent's confident answer. "If he
requires further information, I am here to give it to him. Indeed, I
have delayed my departure for that very reason. By the way, General,
do you know Switzerland well?"

"Every hotel in the country," he boasted proudly.

"I don't quite mean in that sense. Who are the authorities? For
instance, if I had a friend buried in the cemetery here, to whom
should I apply for identification of the grave?"

The General screwed up his features into a judicial frown.
"Well--er--I should go to the communal office in the village, if I
were you," said he.

Braving his mother's possible displeasure, George de Courcy Vavasour
asserted his manliness for Beryl's benefit.

"I know the right Johnny," he said. "Let me take you to him, Miss
Jaques--Eh, what?"

Millicent affected to consider the proposal. She saw that Mrs.
Vavasour was content. "It is very kind of you," she said, with her
most charming smile. "Have we time to go there before lunch?"

"Oh, loads."

"I am walking toward the village. May I come with you?" asked Beryl
Wragg.

"That will be too delightful," said Millicent.

Georgie, feeling the claws beneath the velvet of Miss