high treason to let any one else in."

Mrs. Brown met him at the door; and she looked so good and motherly,
and there was such a peculiar wistful look in her eyes, that he put his
arm around her in a sudden impulse and kissed her. It made her lips
tremble, and she was obliged to wipe her glasses before she could see
him clearly. Supper was on the table for him, and she made him sit
right down.

"How that beard changes you, Bradley! I would hardly have known you.
What will Nettie think?"

"How is Nettie?"

"Haven't you heard from her lately?"

"Not for some weeks."

"Then I suppose the neighborhood gossip is true." He looked at her
inquiringly, and she went on, studying his face carefully, "They say
she's soured on you, and is sweet on her father's new book-keeper."

Bradley took refuge in silence, as usual. His face became thoughtful,
and his eyes fell.

"I've hoped it was true, Bradley, because she was no wife for you.
You'd outgrown her, and she'd be a drag about your neck. I see her out
riding a good deal with this young fellow; he's just her sort, so I
guess she isn't heart-broken over your absence."

There was a certain shock in all this. He recurred to his last evening
with her, when in her paroxysm of agony she had thrown herself at his
feet. Much as he had desired such an outcome, it puzzled him to find
her in love with some one else. It was not at all like books.

"Well, Mrs. Brown, what do you think of my junior partner?" said the
Judge, coming in and looking down on Bradley with a fatherly pride.

"I suppose, Mr. Brown, you refer to our adopted son."

Bradley dressed for church the next day with a new sort of
embarrassment. He felt very conscious of his beard and of his
tailor-made clothes, for he knew everybody would observe any change in
him. He knew he would be the object of greater attention than the
service; but he determined to go, and have the whole matter over at
once.

The windows were open, and the sound of the bell came in mingled with
the scent of the sunlit flowers, the soft rustle of the maple leaves,
and the sound of the insects in the grass. His heart turned toward Miss
Wilbur now whenever any keen enjoyment came to him; instinctively
turned to her, with the wish that she might share his pleasure with
him. He sat by the open window, dreaming, until the last bell sounded
through the heavy leaf-scented air.

"Won't you go to church with me, Judge?" he said, going out.

The Ju