forward past the long rows of craning necks. Afterward he could
not remember the wedding party at all. The service for him was Sidney,
rather awed and very serious, beside the altar. It was Sidney who came
down the aisle to the triumphant strains of the wedding march, Sidney
with Max beside her!

On his right sat Harriet, having reached the first pinnacle of her
new career. The wedding gowns were successful. They were more than
that--they were triumphant. Sitting there, she cast comprehensive eyes
over the church, filled with potential brides.

To Harriet, then, that October afternoon was a future of endless lace
and chiffon, the joy of creation, triumph eclipsing triumph. But to
Anna, watching the ceremony with blurred eyes and ineffectual bluish
lips, was coming her hour. Sitting back in the pew, with her hands
folded over her prayer-book, she said a little prayer for her straight
young daughter, facing out from the altar with clear, unafraid eyes.

As Sidney and Max drew near the door, Joe Drummond, who had been
standing at the back of the church, turned quickly and went out. He
stumbled, rather, as if he could not see.

CHAPTER XIV

The supper at the White Springs Hotel had not been the last supper
Carlotta Harrison and Max Wilson had taken together. Carlotta had
selected for her vacation a small town within easy motoring distance of
the city, and two or three times during her two weeks off duty Wilson
had gone out to see her. He liked being with her. She stimulated him.
For once that he could see Sidney, he saw Carlotta twice.

She had kept the affair well in hand. She was playing for high stakes.
She knew quite well the kind of man with whom she was dealing--that he
would pay as little as possible. But she knew, too, that, let him want a
thing enough, he would pay any price for it, even marriage.

She was very skillful. The very ardor in her face was in her favor.
Behind her hot eyes lurked cold calculation. She would put the thing
through, and show those puling nurses, with their pious eyes and evening
prayers, a thing or two.

During that entire vacation he never saw her in anything more elaborate
than the simplest of white dresses modestly open at the throat, sleeves
rolled up to show her satiny arms. There were no other boarders at the
little farmhouse. She sat for hours in the summer evenings in the square
yard filled with apple trees that bordered the highway, carefully
posed over a book, but