his sterling qualities. He was a man of whom any woman
might well be proud. He could not but make a good husband. Next to
Kenneth and her baby no one was dearer to her than Ray and, since their
mother died, she had felt a certain sense of responsibility. To see
her well and happily married was the one secret wish of her life.

But overshadowing these preoccupations at present were those other new
anxieties which preyed upon her sensitive mind with all the force of an
obsession. Was there any part of her husband's life that he had hidden
from her? Was he really as loyal as she had always fondly and blindly
believed; had his ambition led him to take grave financial risks that
might one day jeopardize their comfort and happiness, the very future
of their child?

Ray rose to put away the tea table, and she found herself sitting alone
with the lawyer. There was a moment's silence, and then, as if
thinking out aloud what was on her mind, she said:

"Thank God, he's safe; I had the most fearful premonitions----"

The lawyer laughed.

"Don't put your trust in premonitions--things happen or they don't
happen. It's absurd to believe that misfortunes are all prepared
beforehand."

"Then you are not a fatalist?"

"Decidedly not. I hope I have too much intelligence to believe in
anything so foolish."

"Do you believe in a Supreme Being who has the same power to suddenly
snuff us out of existence as he had to create us?"

"I neither believe nor disbelieve. Frankly, I do not know. What
people call God, Jehovah, Nature, according to my reasoning, is an
astounding energy, a marvellous chemical process, created and
controlled by some unknown, stupendous first cause, the origin of which
man may never understand. How should he? He has not time. We are
rushed into the world without preparation. We are ignorant, helpless,
blind. Gradually, by dint of much physical labor and mental toil, we
succeed in ferreting out a few facts regarding ourselves and the
physical laws that govern us. We are just on the verge of discovering
more--we are just beginning to understand and enjoy life--when suddenly
we find ourselves growing old and decrepit. Our physical and mental
powers fail us, and the same force that benevolently created us now
mercilessly destroys us, and we are hurled, willy-nilly, back into
eternity whence we came. Rather absurd, isn't it?"

Intensely interested Helen looked up. Eagerly she exclaimed:

"You