n'! Serena!" he shouted. "Comin'!"

He hurried out. Mr. Hungerford, left alone, helped himself to a cigar
and strolled about the room. The pile of letters on the table caught his
attention. Idly he turned the envelopes over, examining the addresses.
All at once his interest became less casual; one of the written names
had caught his attention.

Five minutes later the postman rang the doorbell. Captain Dan ran
downstairs, entered the library, seized the letters from the table and
hastened to hand them to the carrier.

"Daddy!" called Gertrude from above, "did you post my letter?"

"Sure!" was the prompt answer. "Just gave it to the mail man. It's on
the road now."

Serena's "nerves" were in much better condition the following day,
and her spirits likewise. Gertrude, however, was still grave and
absent-minded and non-communicative. Toward Mr. Hungerford in particular
she was cool and distant, answering his chatty remarks and solicitous
inquiries concerning her health with monosyllables, and, on several
occasions, leaving the room when he entered it. This state of affairs
was even more marked on the second day after Mr. Doane's abrupt
departure, and still more so on the third. She seemed nervously
expectant when the postman brought the mail, and depressed when
each consignment contained no letter for her. On the fourth day this
depression was so marked that her father asked the cause.

"What ails you, Gertie?" he inquired. "You look as if you just come from
a funeral. What's wrong?"

Gertrude, who was standing by the window, looking out, answered without
turning her head.

"Nothing," she said shortly.

"Well, I'm glad of that. I thought you was troubled in your mind about
somethin'. Ain't frettin' about John, are you?"

His daughter looked at him now, and the look was a searching one.

"About--Why should I fret about him, pray?" she asked slowly.

"I don't know. I thought maybe his goin' away so sudden was a sort
of disappointment to you. 'Twas to the rest of us. Hey? Did you say
somethin'?"

"No."

"Oh, I thought you did. Well, you mustn't be disappointed, Gertie. You
see, business is business. John did what he thought was right and--"

"Daddy, do be still. I do not intend to trouble myself about--him. Don't
talk to me, please. I don't feel like talking."

Daniel talked no more, at that time, but he wondered, and determined to
ask Serena her opinion when the opportunity came.

It did not come immedia