their daughters' safety. And now Phil interested
him--this new Phil in city clothes. The antics of Phil, the tomboy of
Main Street, had frequently aroused his indignation; Phil, a debutante
in an evening gown that he pronounced a creation of the gods, was worthy
of serious attention. She was, he averred, Hermione, Rosalind, Portia,
Beatrice, combined in one perfect flower of womanhood.

"You are adorable, Phil," he sighed, when the music ceased, leaving them
at the end of the living-room. "A star danced and you were born."

"That is very sweet, Lawr_i_nce," said Phil; "but here comes my next
partner. You mustn't stand in the way of the young men."

The very lightest laughing emphasis on "young" made a stab of this. He
posed in a window and watched her, with his gloomiest Hamlet-like air,
until his wife, noting this familiar symptom, interrupted his
meditations and commissioned him to convoy a lady with an ear-trumpet to
the dining-room.

The party was going merrily; there was no doubt of its complete success.
Some of the older folk remarked upon the fact that Phil had danced with
Charles Holton; and he danced well. There was a grace in the Holtons,
and Charles was endowed with the family friendliness. He made a point of
speaking to every one and of dancing with the wall-flowers. It was noted
presently that he saw Mrs. King to her carriage, and was otherwise
regardful of the old folks.

Phil had wondered whether Fred Holton would come. She had hoped he would
when she asked him at her uncle's farm, and the formal invitation had
been dispatched to R.F.D. 7 as promised.

It was ten o'clock when Fred appeared. Phil saw him over her partner's
shoulder talking to Amzi in the hall door, and as she swept by him in
the dance she caught his eye. Fred had come late out of sheer timidity,
but he had arrived at a moment when the gayety was at its height.

His diffidence had been marked even in his college days, and he was
unused to gatherings of this kind. The proximity of so many gay,
laughing people was a real distress to him. And if the other members of
his family were able to overlook Jack Holton's great sin, Fred was
acutely conscious of it now that Phil had dawned on his horizon. He had
no sooner entered the house than he regretted his temerity in coming;
and he had come merely to see Phil--that was the whole of it. Nor did
the thought of this now contribute to his comfort. His glimpses of her
as she danced up and down t