--it's
wonderful news, and I hardly know how to break it to you."

"The best way," remarked Josie, much interested, "is to let it out in a
gush. 'Wonderful' stuff never causes anyone to faint."

"Alora," said Mary Louise solemnly, "your father is here."

"Where?"

"He is just outside, in the corridor."

"Why doesn't he come in?" asked the Colonel.

"He needn't have worried about me," said Alora, in sullen tone, "but I
suppose it was the danger of losing his money that----"

"No," interrupted Mary Louise; "you mistake me. Jason Jones, the great
artist--a splendid, cultured man and----"

A sharp rap at the door made her pause. Answering the Colonel's summons
a bellboy entered.

"For Mr. Conant, sir," he said, offering a telegram.

The lawyer tore open the envelope as the boy went out and after a
glance at it exclaimed in shocked surprise: "Great heavens!"

Then he passed the message to Colonel Hathaway, who in turn read it and
passed it to Josie O'Gorman. Blank silence followed, while Mary Louise
and Alora eyed the others expectantly.

_"Who_ did you say is outside in the corridor?" demanded Josie in a
puzzled tone.

"Alora's father," replied Mary Louise.

"Jason Jones?"

"Jason Jones," repeated Mary Louise gravely.

"Well, then, listen to this telegram. It was sent to Mr. Peter Conant
from Dorfield and says: 'Jason Jones killed by falling from an
aeroplane at ten o'clock this morning. Notify his daughter.'"

Alora drew a quick breath and clasped her hands over her heart.
Uncongenial as the two had been, Jason Jones was her father--her only
remaining parent--and the suddenness of his death shocked and horrified
the girl. Indeed, all present were horrified, yet Mary Louise seemed to
bear the news more composedly than the others--as if it were a minor
incident in a great drama. She slipped an arm around her girl friend's
waist and said soothingly:

"Never mind, dear. It is dreadful, I know. What an awful way to die!
And yet--and yet, Alora--it may be all for the best."

Josie slid down from the table. Her active brain was the first to catch
a glimmering of what Mary Louise meant.

"Shall I call that man in?" she asked excitedly, "the man whom you say
is Alora's father?"

"No," answered Mary Louise. "Let me go for him, please. I--I must tell
him this strange news myself. Try to quiet yourself, Alora, and--and be
prepared. I'm going to introduce to you--Jason Jones."

She uttered the last sentence