, no!" she said. "I shall never be able to say
O.K. to what you term your romance of the dots and dashes, Cyn. In fact,
I have made up my mind that there are some people born to go through
life missing both its best and its worst, and that I am one!"

"Pray, do not say that!" urged Cyn, too disturbed to bring her easy
philosophy to bear on the situation. "Of all things, do not get morbid."

"But it is the truth!" persisted Nattie. "Even my name, for instance,
proves it! I was christened Nathalie, a very fine poetic name. But, in
all my life no one ever called me by it! I was always mediocre Nattie!"

"And _I_ have curtailed you down to Nat!" said Cyn, with whimsical
remorse. "But what a tangle we are in! First it was the man of musk and
bear's grease, who came between you! Then, when he was explained away,
came blundering I! Why did you not lock me out of sight somewhere? I
would have done it myself had I known--" ironically-- "what an
extremely fascinating and dangerous person I was!"

At this Nattie could not help smiling.

"Is was not your fault; it was Fate!" she said, her smile becoming a
sigh, that Cyn echoed, for she thought of Jo. But yet unconvinced, she
said,

"Fate! No; it cannot be! I think better of Clem than to believe he, too,
has made a mistake, like Quimby, and fallen in love with the wrong
woman!" then starting up, she exclaimed, tragically, "Who? ah! who
shall cut the Gordian knot and bring about a crisis that shall cause
this 'wired love' to terminate in 'O. K.'?"

As if invoked by Cyn's words, there came a sneeze from outside, and Miss
Kling pushed open the door unceremoniously.

"I wish to have some conversation with you, Miss Rogers," she said in a
tone of severity.

"Some other time, if you please," Nattie replied, impatiently, for her
talk with Cyn had unnerved her; "just now I am engaged."

Miss Kling drew herself up and said, with even more austerity,

"There is no time like the present, and since Miss Archer is here, it
may not be amiss for her to hear what I have to say."

Nattie frowned, but Cyn, not unwilling to be diverted even by Miss Kling
from the topic that was so annoying her, said,

"Very well. We are listening, Miss Kling."

"Miss Rogers," proceeded Miss Kling solemnly, after a preparatory
sneeze, "I know _all_."

The emphasis on the last word was truly tremendous, and Nattie started
astonished, while Cyn looked up with awakened curiosity.

"May I inquire what yo