en stronger than before the voice said, "Yes, Neal, it is I--I
have come back!"

"Oh, Jeanette--Jeanette," he cried.

But she stopped him with, "We must not talk any more--now, don't you
know--but I had to tell you that I had come back, Neal." And then she
said, "Good night." So there they stood, the only two people in the
universe, reunited lovers, each with the voice of the other sounding
in his ears. For Mr. Dolan was right. There are only two people in the
world, and for these two lovers earth and the stars and the systems of
suns that make up this universe were only background for the play of
their happiness.

As Neal Ward came back to John Barclay from the telephone, the young
man's face was burning with joy.

"Who was it?" asked Barclay.

The youth smiled bashfully as he said, "Well, it was Jeanette--she
was calling up another number and I cut in."

"What did she say?" asked her father.

"Oh, nothing--in particular," replied Neal.

Barclay looked up quickly, caught the young man's abashed smile, and
asked, "Does she know you're here?"

"No, she thinks I'm at the office."

Barclay rose from his chair, and limped across the room, calling back
as he mounted the stair, "Wait a minute."

It was more than a minute that Neal Ward stood by the fire waiting.

And now, gentle people, observe the leader of the orchestra fumbling
with his music. There is a faint stir among the musicians under the
footlights. And you, too, are getting restless; you are feeling for
your hat instinctively, and you for your hat-pins, and you for your
rubbers, while Neal Ward stands there waiting, and the great clock
ticks in the long silence. There is a rustle on the stairs, at the
right, and do you see that foot peeping down, that skirt, that slender
girlish figure coming down, that young face tear-stained, happy,
laughing and sobbing, with the arms outstretched as she nears the last
turn of the stairs? And the lover--he has started toward her. The
orchestra leader is standing up. And the youth, with God's holiest
glory in his face, has almost reached her. And there for an instant
stand Neal and Jeanette mingling tears in their kisses, for the
curtain, the miserable, unemotional, awkward curtain--it has stuck
and so they must stand apart, hand in hand, devouring each other's
faces a moment, and then as the curtain falls we see four feet close
together again, and then--and then the world comes in upon us, and we
smile and sigh an