quest for a few words from the
president of our Scarford Chapter. He heard it all, but, when it was
over, he could not have repeated a sentence of all those which had
reached his ears.

No, Captain Dan was not happy at this, the most successful "open
meeting" ever held by the Trumet Chapter of the Guild of Ladies of
Honor. He was thinking, and thinking hard. Aunt Lavinia's will had
changed their position in life, so Serena had said. She had said other
things, also, and he was beginning, dimly, to realize what they might
mean.

CHAPTER IV

"SCARFORD!" screamed the brakeman, throwing open the car door.
"Scarford!"

Mrs. Dott, umbrella in hand, was already in the aisle. Captain Dan,
standing between the seats, was struggling to get the suitcase down from
the rack above. It was a brand-new suitcase. Serena had declared that
their other, the one which had accompanied them on various trips to
Boston during the past eight years, was altogether too shabby. She had
insisted on buying another, and, the stock in the store not being
good enough, had selected this herself from the catalog of a Boston
manufacturer. Her umbrella, silk with a silver handle, was new also. So
was her hat, her gown and her shoes. So, too, was the captain's hat, and
his suit and light overcoat. There was a general air of newness about
the Dotts, so apparent, particularly on Daniel's part, that various
passengers had nudged each other, winked, and whispered surmises
concerning recent marriage and a honeymoon trip.

The suitcase, the buckle of which had caught in the meshes of the rack,
giving way, came down unexpectedly and with a thump on the seat. The
captain hurriedly lifted it. A stifled laugh from the occupants of
adjacent seats reached Serena's ears.

"What is it?" she demanded impatiently. "Aren't you coming? Do hurry."

"I--I'm comin'," stammered her husband, thrusting his fist into the new
hat which, as it lay on the seat, had received the weight of the falling
suitcase. "I'm comin'. Go ahead! I'll be right along."

He pounded the battered "derby" into more or less presentable shape,
clapped it on his head, and, suitcase in hand, followed his wife.

Through the crowd on the platform they passed, through the waiting room
and out to the sidewalk. There Captain Dan put down the case, gave the
maltreated hat a brush with his sleeve, and looked about him.

"Lively place, ain't it, Serena?" he observed. "Whew! that valise is
heavy. Wel