hy not Monty Brewster, Babs?" he
demanded.

"Mr. Brewster is not coming," she responded, calmly.

"Going to be out of town?"

"I'm sure I do not know," stiffly.

"What's this?"

"He has not been asked, father." Miss Drew was not in good humor.

"Not asked?" said the Colonel in amazement. "It's ridiculous, Babs,
send him an invitation at once."

"This is my dance, father, and I don't want to ask Mr. Brewster."

The Colonel sank back in his chair and struggled to overcome his anger.
He knew that Barbara had inherited his willfulness, and had long since
discovered that it was best to treat her with tact.

"I thought you and he were--" but the Colonel's supply of tact was
exhausted.

"We were"--in a moment of absent mindedness. "But it's all over," said
Barbara.

"Why, child, there wouldn't have been a cotillon if it hadn't been
for--" but the Colonel remembered his promise to Monty and checked
himself just in time. "I--I mean there will not be any party, if
Montgomery Brewster is not asked. That is all I care to say on the
subject," and he stamped out of the room.

Barbara wept copiously after her father had gone, but she realized that
his will was law and that Monty must be invited. "I will send an
invitation," she said to herself, "but if Mr. Brewster comes after he
has read it, I shall be surprised."

Montgomery, however, did not receive the note in the spirit in which it
had been sent. He only saw in it a ray of hope that Barbara was
relenting and was jubilant at the prospect of a reconciliation. The
next Sunday he sought an interview with Miss Drew, but she received him
with icy reserve. If he had thought to punish her by staying away, it
was evident that she felt equally responsible for a great deal of
misery on his part. Both had been more or less unhappy, and both were
resentfully obstinate. Brewster felt hurt and insulted, while she felt
that he had imposed upon her disgracefully. He was now ready to cry
quits and it surprised him to find her obdurate. If he had expected to
dictate the terms of peace he was woefully disappointed when she
treated his advances with cool contempt.

"Barbara, you know I care very much for you," he was pleading, fairly
on the road to submission. "I am sure you are not quite indifferent to
me. This foolish misunderstanding must really be as disagreeable to you
as it is to me."

"Indeed," she replied, lifting her brows disdainfully. "You are
assuming a good deal, Mr.