ered her eyes with her hand a moment. Then she went on:

"I never saw or knew of it till this day. If I had--" Just at this
point, they were all startled by a loud knock, coming from the direction
of the front door. So unexpected was the sound that they could only
stare at each other inquiringly without stirring. In a moment it came
again,--a thumping of the old knocker on the front inner door.

"I guess I'd better go," said Joyce. "Some one may have seen the little
boarded-up door open-- _Did_ you leave it open?" she asked, turning to
Mrs. Collingwood.

"I think I did. I was too hurried and nervous, when I came in, to think
of it."

"That's it, then. Some one has seen it open, and has stopped to inquire
if everything is all right." She hurried away to the front door, and,
after an effort, succeeded in pulling it open. A man--a complete
stranger to her--stood outside. They regarded each other with mutual
surprise.

"Pardon me!" he said. "But perhaps you can inform me--is any one living
in this house at present?"

"Why, no!" replied Joyce, rather confusedly. "That is--no, the house is
empty, except just--just to-day!"

"Oh! er--I see! The fact is," the stranger went on, "I was passing
here and noticed this outer door open, which seemed a little queer. I
used to know the people who lived here--very well indeed--and I have
been wondering whether the house was still in their possession. It
seemed to be untenanted." At his mention of knowing the family, Joyce
looked him over with considerably more interest. He was tall, straight
and robust, though rather verging on the elderly. His iron-gray hair was
crisply curly, and his dark eyes twinkled out from under bushy gray
brows. His smile was captivating. Joyce decided at once that she liked
him.

"Oh! did you know the family, the--the--"

"Collingwoods!" he supplemented, with his twinkling smile. "Yes, I knew
them--quite intimately. Might I, perhaps, if it would not be intruding,
come in just a moment to look once more at the old place? That is," he
added hastily, seeing her hesitate, "only if it would be entirely
convenient! I do not know, of course, why the house is open. Perhaps
people are--are about to purchase it."

Joyce was, for a moment, tongue-tied with perplexity. She hated to
refuse the simple wish of this pleasant stranger, yet how was she to
comply with it, considering the presence of Mrs. Collingwood, and the
almost unexplainable position of herself an