ad driven through Brenton. Unfortunately an electric car
reached the corner just as they did. The gay little mare from the
livery-stable, which had been rather resentful of control all the
afternoon, bolted and ran. A heavy ice-cart barred the way. There was a
crash, and Bronson and Edith were both thrown out.

It was all over in a moment; but Edith had time to realize what was
about to happen, and again there flashed through her mind the conviction
of how wrongly she had behaved. What would mamma say?

It was significant that she thought of Mrs. Franklin then for the first
time as "mamma."

Bronson escaped with a few bruises, but Edith was very much hurt--just
how much the doctor could not tell. She was unconscious for several
hours.

Cynthia never forgot that night; her father away; her mother, with
tense, strained face, watching by the bedside; and, above all, the awful
stillness in Edith's room while they waited for her to open her eyes.
Perhaps she would never open them. What then? Beyond that Cynthia's
imagination refused to go.

She was sorry that she had been so cross with Edith about Bronson.
Suppose she never were able to speak to her sister again! Her last words
would have been angry ones. She would not remember that Edith had done
wrong to go; all that was forgotten in the vivid terror of the present
moment.

The tall clock in the hall struck twelve. It was midnight again, just as
it had been on New Year's Eve when she and Neal stood by the window and
looked out on the snow. The clock had struck and Neal had not promised.

Reminded of Neal, she put her hand in her pocket and drew out the
crumpled note. It had quite escaped her mind that she was to meet him
to-morrow. To-morrow? It was to-day! She was to see Neal to-day, and
bring him back to her mother. Poor mamma! And Cynthia looked lovingly at
the silent watcher by the bed.

Edith did not die. The doctor, who spent the night at Oakleigh, spoke
more hopefully in the morning. She was very seriously hurt, but he
thought that in time she would recover. She was conscious when he left.

The morning dawned fair, but by nine o'clock the sun was obscured. It
was one of those warm spring days when the clouds hang low and showers
are imminent. Mrs. Franklin was surprised when Cynthia told her that she
was going on the river.

"To-day, Cynthia? It looks like rain, and you must be tired, for you had
little sleep last night. Besides, your father may arrive a