ir of pointed-toed, high-heeled boots that
perforce made walking--even round the block--a torturing task. But
Mrs. Star was a brave woman, and walking a matter of conscience, so
she tottered along beside her nephew, occasionally laying a hand on
his arm when a bit of icy pavement made her footing more than usually
uncertain.

"How I hate the late winter in New York!" she exclaimed, when a few
minutes later they were seated in her sleigh on their way to the park.
"Here we are at the threshold of February, when any self-respecting
climate would be making for spring, and we must count on two months
more of solid discomfort. Ah, well, this year I do not mean to face
it. I have had the yacht put in commission, and she sails next week
for the Mediterranean, where I shall overtake her by one of the German
boats, and do a little cruising along the African coast. Come with me,
Stephen," she said, coaxingly. "Let this silly school-teaching go. You
are a rich man--why under the sun do you want to work? If you are
holding on to Harmouth on account of that pretty Mrs. Ponsonby, it
can't do you much good when she is in New York. Besides," she added,
quite as an afterthought, "it is bad morality, and you ought to be
ashamed of yourself."

He was about to turn and rend her for what he considered an
unpardonable meddling with his affairs, when he saw her eyes fixed on
him with tenderest affection and his anger melted.

"Dear Stevie," she said, "be good-natured and bear an old woman
company--you know you are as dear as my own sons."

She used to call him Stevie when he was a lonely little boy, and she
made her house his home; when all he knew of family life was supplied
by that good-natured, worldly household--the name touched a chord of
memory that softened his irritation.

"I wish I could, Aunt Adelaide," he answered, "but I have managed to
tie myself to my work in a way you cannot understand. You will have to
take Bob as a companion."

Bob was her only unmarried child, wedded only to his clubs and amateur
soldiering, and even less available than Stephen for a cruise.

"Bob!" she said, contemptuously. "He never voluntarily went to a
foreign country except Cuba, and I don't believe he knows on which
side of the Mediterranean Africa lies! I shall find some one who will
be glad to go with me--perhaps your charming friend, Mrs. Ponsonby,
might go. She looks as if she would be a pleasant traveling
companion."

French's heart tigh