ght of a sonnet in his left breast-pocket, beginning, "To one who sat
'neath rustling poplar-tree," and smiled.

"Well, now," said Mr. Denner, "it is pleasant to see you at home again,
Gifford. It must be a pleasure to your aunts."

"It is a great pleasure to me," the young man replied. "I only wish that
I could carry them back to Lockhaven with me."

"What, both of them?" Mr. Denner asked, in an alarmed way.

"Oh, of course," answered the other; "they couldn't be separated. Why,
you cannot think of one of them without thinking of the other!"

Mr. Denner sighed. "Just so, just so. I have observed that."

"But I'm afraid," Gifford went on, "they wouldn't be quite happy there.
There's no church, you know,--I mean no Episcopal Church,--and then it
isn't like Ashurst. Except Helen and Mr. Ward, there are only working
people, though, for that matter, Ward works harder than anybody else.
Yes, they would miss Ashurst too much."

"You really think they would miss--us?" said Mr. Denner eagerly.

"Yes," responded Gifford slowly. He was beginning to look at the bunch of
violets again, and his aunts did not seem so interesting.

"Well, now," Mr. Denner said, "I am sure I am glad to hear you say that,
very glad. We--ah--should miss them, I assure you."

Gifford reached out and plucked up the violets by the roots, to save them
from Mr. Denner's drab gaiter, and planted them deep in a crevice of the
steps.

"Ah--Gifford," said the lawyer, after he had waited a reasonable time for
an answer, "a--a friend of mine is in some perplexity concerning an
attachment; he wished my advice."

Gifford began to look interested.

"Foreclosure?"

"You--ah, you do not exactly catch my meaning," answered the little
gentleman nervously. "I refer--he referred to an affair of--of the
affections. Of course you are too young to really understand these
things from a--a romantic point of view, as it were, but being a lawyer,
your--a--legal training--would make you consider such a matter
intelligently, and I might like your advice."

"Oh!" said Gifford, seeming to grasp the situation. "Yes; I had one case
of that kind in Lockhaven. Jury gave damages to my client; seems they
had been engaged twelve years when she jilted him. I detest those
breach-of-promise suits; they"--

Mr. Denner bounded from his seat. "My dear boy, my dear sir," he gasped,
"not at all, not at all! You do not apprehend me, Gifford. My friend is
in love, sir; he wished my