it the little fellow's peculiar needs, and
his eyes seemed to have grown larger in the process. Under his arm he
carried a box containing more underwear.

Next they drove to a barber's where Pete's hair was properly cut; then
to a hat store and he was fitted to a hat.

When they came out, Ben regarded his work whimsically. The boy was not a
bad-looking boy. He liked the direct manner of the dwarf's grateful,
almost reverent, gaze up into his own merry eyes. There was nothing
shifty there.

When they reentered the roadster, Ben spoke to him before he started the
car.

"Do you know why I have done all this, Pete?"

The boy shook his head. "Because you came down out of the sky?" he
questioned.

"No, it is just because you took care of Miss Melody; because you put
those letters underneath her door."

Pete's face crimsoned with happiness. "I helped her--I--I helped her get
away," he said.

"Yes, and she will never forget it, and neither will I."

"You--you--asked me if I loved her," said Pete, his mind returning to
the day of the motor-cycle visit.

"Yes, and you did, didn't you?"

"Yes, and--and when she was gone up to--to heaven, I wanted to die till
I--I remembered that she--she wanted to go."

"Yes, wanted to go just as much as you did, and more. Now _that_ life is
all over, Pete. Just as much gone as those old clothes of yours that we
left to be burned. You've been a faithful, brave boy, and Miss Melody
and I are going to look after you henceforth."

Pete couldn't speak. Ben saw him bite his lip to control himself. The
roadster started and moving slowly out of the town sped again along a
country road.

CHAPTER XIII

The Goddess

On the same day Geraldine and Miss Upton were patronizing the department
stores in the city and getting such clothing as was absolutely necessary
for the girl. Geraldine's purchases were rigidly simple.

"I think you're downright stingy, child," commented Miss Upton when the
girl had overruled certain suggestions Miss Mehitable had made with the
fear of Ben Barry before her eyes.

"No, indeed. Don't you see how it's counting up?" rejoined Geraldine
earnestly. "All these things on your bill, and no telling how soon I can
pay for them."

Miss Upton noticed how the salesgirls appreciated the beauty they had to
deal with, and she was in sympathy with their efforts to dress Geraldine
as she deserved.

There were some shops into which the girl refused to enter, and