nd was here this morning in a white heat of
passion over it, and I believe apoplexy or hydrophobia is imminent for
the old lady. The fact of Mrs. Thorne's being still a married woman
gives the affair a queer look to squeamish mortals, and the Cumberland
women are the quintessence of conservative old-fogyism; they might be
fresh from the South Carolina woods for all the advancement they can
boast. It's wicked, and I'm ashamed of myself, but whenever I think of
Ethel Thorne trying conclusions with those strait-laced Cumberlands,
I'm filled with unholy mirth." Then followed belated apologies for
this careless handling of a family matter, and copious explanations.
Mrs. Vincent was a wordy woman, fond of writing and apt to be diffuse
when not pressed for time.

Thorne returned the letter to his cousin, and announced his intention
of returning to New York immediately.

"By using dispatch I can catch the boat at Wintergreen this afternoon,"
he said. "I wish you'd tell your mother, Norma, only your mother,
please; it will be time enough to acquaint the others when the whole
affair is out. And, Norma, I can trust you, I know; keep the matter
quiet here as long as possible. These people are strangers; they know
nothing. I don't want to be in every body's mouth--a nine days'
wonder, _here_ as well as in New York. It will be bad enough there.
Promise me to keep it quiet, Norma."

Thorne had reasons for the request. He had ascertained, beyond all
doubt, that no hint of his story had as yet reached Pocahontas. He was
surprised at first, for he thought all women gossiped, and the affair
had never been a secret. He did not conceive for a moment, that the
fact of his divorce would be a permanent stumbling block in the way of
his happiness, but he realized something of the conservatism of her
surroundings, and the old world influences and prejudices amid which
she had been reared. She would be shocked and startled at first; she
would have to grow accustomed to the idea, then reconciled to it. He
recognized at a glance the immense advantage it would be to him to tell
his story himself, and, in his own way, to enlist her sympathy and to
arouse her indignation and her partisanship.

The explanation of the girl's ignorance is simple and natural. The
intercourse between the two families was cordial and frequent, but
there were reservations--tracts of territory which were never trenched
on. There was about the Masons a certa