And she had gone off alone and stayed nearly two hours, so that they
were almost caught in the dark on the way home. It was the most
selfish thing Kate had ever heard of--until Marion perpetrated worse
selfishness which paled the incident.

More than that, Marion was always making little, sneering remarks
about the professor, and doing little things to annoy him. Kate could
not see how any one could do that, kind as Douglas was, and courteous.
And there were times when Marion seemed actually to be trying to
interest Fred; other times she purposely irritated him, as though she
were deliberately amusing herself with him. All this was not taking
into account Marion's penurious habit of charging Kate for every
facial massage and every manicure she gave her. When Kate looked ahead
to the long winter they must spend together in that cabin, she was
tempted to feel as though she, for one, would be paying an exorbitant
price for her timber claim.

With all that tucked away in the back of her mind, Kate still
believed--or at least she successfully pretended to believe--that she
liked Marion personally as much as she ever had liked her. She did not
see why any one must be absolutely blind to the faults of a friend.
She merely recognized Marion's faults. But if she ever criticised, she
condoned the criticism by saying that it was for Marion's own best
interests.

Just now, while she cleared away the litter of Fred's dinner, she
meditated upon the proper manner of dealing with Marion's latest
defection. Should she warn the professor to say nothing to Fred? It
might turn Fred against Marion to know what she had done; Fred was so
queer and old-fashioned about women. Still, he would be sure to hear
of it somehow, and it might be best to tell him herself, as tactfully
as possible, because she knew so well just how best to approach Fred.
She told Fred and was amazed at the result.

"Well, what of it?" Fred demanded with brotherly bluntness. "It takes
a woman, by thunder, to knife her friends in the back. What are you
trying to build up anyway? Take it from me, old girl, you want to cut
out this picking away at Marion behind her back--or to her face,
either, for that matter. You two women are going to see a good deal
of each other between now and spring, and you'll be ready to claw each
other's eyes out if you don't shut them to a lot you don't like."

"Well, upon my word! I was merely telling you of Marion's adventure.
I'm not sayi