nd the suppressed excitement came nearer to
the surface though her voice remained indifferent.

He said "Yes" shortly and volunteered nothing. His face had not relaxed.

"What a sad face she has," Amy murmured.

"Think so?" He reached over and picked up a twig and flipped a piece of
it off his finger. "Oh, I don't know. I call it cold rather than sad."

"Oh, well, of course," cried Amy, "_your_ sympathies are all on the
other side!"

He did not reply. He would try to say as little as possible.

"I must say," she resumed excitedly, then drew herself back. "Mrs. Blair
was telling me the whole story this afternoon," she said quietly, but
with challenge.

The blood came to his face. He cleared his throat and impatiently threw
away the twig he had been playing with. "Well, Edith didn't lose much
time, did she?" he said coldly; then added with a rather hard laugh:
"That was the reason for the long ride, I suppose."

"I don't know that it is so remarkable," Amy began with quivering
dignity, "that she should tell me something of the affairs of the town."
After an instant she added, "I am a stranger here."

He caught the different note and turned quickly to her. "Dearest,
there's nothing about the 'affairs of the town' I won't tell you." He
put his arm around the back of the seat, the hand resting on her
shoulder. "And I must say I don't think you're much of a stranger here.
Look at the friends you've made already. I never saw anything like it."

"Mrs. Blair does seem to like me," she answered with composure. Then
added: "Mrs. Williams was very nice to me too."

His hand on her shoulder drew away a little and he snapped his fingers.
Then the hand went back to her shoulder. "Well, that's very nice," he
said quietly.

"She's coming to see me. I'm sure I found her anything but cold and
hard!"

"I don't think that a woman--" he began hotly, but checked himself.

But all the feeling that had been alive there just beneath Amy's cool
exterior flamed through. "Well, how you can stand up for a woman who did
what _that_ woman did--!"

Her cheeks were flaming now, her nostrils quivered. "I guess you're the
only person in town that does stand up for her! But of course you're
right--and the rest of them--" She broke off with a tumultuous little
laugh and abruptly got up and went into the house.

He sat there for a time alone, sick at heart. He told himself he had
bungled the whole thing. Why hadn't he told Amy all about Ru