o tell
him, I shan't write. He'll have to trust me, too."

"So he will. Fur's that goes, it's a good thing for men folks to learn
to trust us women. If Labe, my husband, hadn't trusted me all these
years, he'd have done some worryin', I cal'late. All right, Gertie, I'm
with you till the last plank sinks. But," with a chuckle, "I'm kind of
sorry for your pa. The medicine may cure us all in the end, but it'll be
a hard dose for him to take, won't it?"

CHAPTER IX

Captain Dan's foundations were slipping from beneath him. His daughter's
return had seemed to him like the first ray of sunshine breaking through
the clouds and presaging the end of the storm. Now, it began to look as
if the real storm was but beginning. Gertrude was apparently contracting
the society and Chapter disease. Gertrude, upon whose good sense and
diplomacy he had banked so heavily, was rapidly losing that sense. So
far from influencing her mother to give up the "crazy notions" which
were, Daniel firmly believed, wrecking their home and happiness, she was
actually encouraging and abetting these notions.

The young lady was certainly spending a great deal of time with her
mother and her mother's friends. When Mrs. Black and Mrs. Lake called
for consultations concerning Chapter affairs, Gertrude took part in
these consultations. Daniel, peeping into the library, saw the four
heads together over the table, and heard his daughter's voice suggesting
this and that. Invitations to various social functions came, and it was
Gertrude who urged acceptance of these invitations. Captain Dan's pleas
for quiet evenings together at home went for nought.

"You needn't go, Daddy," said Gertrude. "Mother and I know you don't
care for such things. She and I can go without you."

"Go without me? The idea! Look pretty, wouldn't it, to have you two
chasin' around nights all by yourself, without a man to look after you!"

"Oh, Cousin Percy will go with us. He is always obliging that way.
Cousin Percy will go, I am sure."

The captain was equally sure. Cousin Percy was altogether too willing
to go anywhere, at any time, provided Miss Dott went also. This very
obvious fact did not add to Daniel's peace of mind. Rather than have his
family escorted by its newest member, he resolved to sacrifice his own
inclinations and go himself.

Miss Canby--the blonde young woman who played the piano at the Black
home on the night of the dinner--issued invitations for an "