l unless
cousins asked her to their establishment. Some day Miss Lunk would
find herself in a home with other no longer useful old people and here
she would stay with her few keepsakes, of which the world knew nothing
and cared less, the cousins dropping in at intervals to impress upon
her how carefree and fortunate she was!

In conclusion Trudy had decided not to accept the third choice of the
modern business woman, which, she decided, was Mary Faithful's
fate--to give your heart to a man who never had thought of you and
never would think of you as other than a reliable and agreeable
machine; as someone--should Florida and a certain Gorgeous Girl named
Beatrice Constantine beckon--who would say:

"Yes, Mr. O'Valley, I understand what to do. I arranged the New
Haven sale this morning. You were at the jewellery store to see
about Miss Constantine's ring. So I long-distanced Martin & Newman
and put it through. If the ring is sent in your absence I know what
you have ordered and can return it if it does not comply with
instructions--platinum set with diamonds, three large stones of a
carat each and the twenty smaller stones surrounding them. And a
king's-blue velvet case with her initials in platinum. And you want me
to discharge Dundee and divide up his work. Yes, I gave the janitor
the gold piece for finding your pet cane. I'll wire you every day."

And Steve O'Valley had swung jauntily out of the office, secure in his
secretary's ability to meet any crisis, to have to work alone in the
almost garish office apparently quite content that she was not going
to Florida, too. Trudy's imagination pictured there a someone
petulant, spoiled, and altogether irresistible in the laciest of white
frocks and a leghorn hat with pink streamers, at whose feet Steve
O'Valley offered some surprise gift worth months of Mary Faithful's
salary while he said: "I ran away from work to play with you, Gorgeous
Girl! See how you demoralize me? Even your father frowned when I said
I was coming. How are you, darling? I don't give a hang if I make poor
Miss Faithful run the shop for a year as long as you want me to play
with you."

Having the advantage of studying Mary Faithful's position both from
the business and family aspects Trudy had long ago decided that she
was not going to be like her. In no way did she envy Mary's position.

Since her dreamer of a father had died and left dependent upon her her
four-year-old brother and a mother whos