didn't pay close attention. As soon as Billy started off I went to
Maria's.

She was all alone, for Tom was lunching with some one at the hotel. When
we were at the table I told her about Lorraine, and if ever any one was
excited and really listened this time it was sister Maria. She pushed
back her chair, and spoke right out before she thought, I guess.
"Charles Edward's wife crying over another man's picture!" she said.
"Well, I like that! But I'm not surprised. I always said no good would
come of THAT match!"

Then she stopped and made herself quiet down, but I could see how hard
it was, and she added: "So THAT was the matter with Charles Edward when
I met him this morning rushing along the street like a cyclone."

I got dreadfully worried then and begged her to go to Lorraine at once,
for I saw things were even more terrible than I had thought. But Maria
said: "Certainly not! I must consult with father and mother first. This
is something that affects us all. After I have seen them I will go to
Lorraine's." Then she told me not to worry about it, and not to speak
of it to any one else. I didn't, either, except to Billy and Aunt
Elizabeth; and when I told Aunt Elizabeth the man's name I thought she
would go up into the air like one of Billy's skyrockets. But that part
does not belong here, and I'm afraid if I stop to talk about it I'll
forget about Billy and the letter.

After luncheon Maria put her hat on and went straight to our house to
see mother, and I went back to school. When I got home I asked, the
first thing, if Billy had delivered the letter from Harry Goward, and
for the next fifteen minutes you would have thought every one in our
house had gone crazy. That wretched boy had not delivered it at all!
They had not even seen him, and they didn't know anything about the
letter. After they had let me get enough breath to tell just how I had
met Harry and exactly what he had said and done, mother rushed off to
telephone to father, and Aunt Elizabeth came down-stairs with a wild,
eager face, and Grandma Evarts actually shook me when she found I didn't
even know whom the letter was for. I hadn't looked, because I had been
so excited. Finally, after everybody had talked at once for a while.
Grandma Evans told me mamma had said Billy could go fishing that
afternoon, because the weather was so hot and she thought he looked pale
and overworked. The idea of Billy Talbert being overworked! I could have
told mamma som