pt as
a jumping-off place. Vona found a sort of furtive uneasiness in the way
he glanced out of the window and fingered his vest-pocket equipment. And
he trod to and fro with the air of a man stepping on hot bricks.

"But you have said you are doing so well in your new business, father!"
Vona's straightforward gaze was disconcerting.

Mr. Harnden kept on with his patrol. "Confound it. I've got to get into
towns where there's more dirt if I'm going to sell any more nursery
stock!"

"Oh, is that it? But I happened to go up in the attic and I found your
sample books thrown behind a trunk, and I was afraid--"

"Afraid of what?" he demanded, with childish temper.

"Afraid you were giving up what seems to be a sure thing. The other
ventures have been such uncertainties!" she returned, her business
woman's composure unaffected by his reproachful stare.

"The books were all smutched up--too many dirty fingers afoul of them.
I shall get new ones--providing I stay in that line." He was not
convincing. "We'll see--we'll see! I've got to be moving. These are busy
times for me."

"But you don't say when you're coming back, Joe!" quavered his wife.

"Why should I begin to set dates now, when I never have in past times?"

"Oh, I suppose it's because we've got so used to having you at home,"
she confessed.

"I'm leaving matters in better shape than I ever did before," said Mr.
Harnden, pompously. "I have been worried about my home in the past when
I have had to be absent on my business. We have Tasper in the house now.
And he will not only guard and protect, but he will pay as he goes. I
may not go far or stay long. Just let it stand that way. Tell inquiring
friends that. I'll keep you posted. You know what my business is; it
takes me here--it takes me there." He gave his wife a peck of a kiss and
patted Vona's shoulder when he passed her. He picked up a valise in the
hallway.

The girl followed him. "Father, always when you have been away, mother
and I have felt perfectly comfortable and safe here in our home. If Mr.
Britt hasn't the sense or the good taste to go somewhere else to board,
won't you suggest to him that he'd better do so?"

"Nothing of the sort, Vona!" declared Harnden. "That contractor has
brought a lot of strangers here to work on Britt's house, seeing that
the men of this town are biting off their noses to spite their faces!
I wouldn't take a minute's peace, knowing that my home is unprotected,
unless I