ut I'll be as lonely."

"Why, Mr. Kendrick! You--lonely! I can't believe it!" Ruth almost forgot
to keep step in her surprise. "But--of course, just you and your
grandfather! Only--I've heard how popular--"

She paused, not venturing to tell him all she had heard of his gay and
fashionable friends and how they were always inviting and pursuing him.
"Are you always lonely at Christmas?" she ended.

"Always; though I've never realized what was the matter with me till
this year. Do you care about finishing this dance? Let's stop in this
nice corner and talk about it a minute."

It was the same corner, deserted now, where he had twice tried to keep
her elusive sister. Ruth was easier to manage, for she was genuinely
interested.

"Just this year," he explained, "I've found out why I've never cared for
Christmas. It's a beastly day to me. I spend it as I should Sunday--get
through with it somehow. At last I go out to dinner somewhere in the
evening, and so end the day."

"We all go to church on Christmas morning," Ruth told him. "That's a
lovely way to spend part of the morning, I think. It gives you the real
Christmas feeling. Don't you ever do it?"

He shook his head. "Never have; but I will to-morrow if you'll tell me
where you go."

"To St. Luke's. The service is so beautiful, and we all have been there
since we were old enough to go. I'm sure you'll like it. Wouldn't your
grandfather like to go with you?"

Richard stared at her. "Why, I shouldn't have thought of it. Possibly he
would. We never go anywhere together, to tell the truth."

"That's queer, when you're both so lonely. He must be lonely, too,
mustn't he?"

"I never thought about it," said the young man. "I suppose he is. He
never says so."

"You never say so either, do you?" suggested the girl naively.

The two looked at each other for a minute without speaking.

"Miss Ruth," said her companion at length, lowering his eyes to the
floor and speaking thoughtfully, "I believe, to tell the truth, I'm a
selfish beast. You've put a totally new idea into my head--more shame to
me that it should be new. It strikes me that I'll try a new way of
spending Christmas; I'll see to it that whoever is lonely grandfather
isn't--if I can keep him from it."

"You can!" cried Ruth, beaming at him. "He thinks the world of you;
anybody can see that. And you won't be lonely yourself!"

"Won't I? I'm not so sure of that--after to-night. But I admit it's
worth tryin