s afternoon. They say, son, she is beautiful."

"From what point of the compass does the lovely paragon come?" asked
Sterling with a smile.

"She has just graduated from some college in the North. Her father and
mother went to be with her in the closing exercises and will bring her
home today."

The subject of this conversation was Dorothy Page, whose palatial home
was next door to the home of the Sterlings. The two families had become
friends as well as neighbors.

"Come over this evening, Sterling, and help me to celebrate the arrival
of the family," called out Roland Page from his porch.

Sterling agreed.

At half past eight o'clock, as he entered the library of the Page home,
he looked upon what seemed to him the most beautiful girl his
imagination had ever pictured. He knew in a moment that he was a
captive. As he walked down the front steps after his visit he felt sure
that an epoch in his life had occurred.

"A splendid young fellow!" remarked Mr. Page after Sterling had left.
"Although he is only twenty-nine years of age, he has in his own right a
cool two million-dollar fortune. He inherited it from his father and he
himself is one of the most progressive business men in the state and
seems bent on using his fortune for the good of society."

"He was very quiet," remarked Dorothy.

Mr. Page's statements concerning Sterling were very true. He might have
added that Sterling was an elder in the Presbyterian church and was one
of its most devoted members.

Sterling found his mother in the sitting-room on his return home that
night.

"Well, son," she said, "how do you like your new neighbor?"

"Mother, don't ask me to describe her," he replied; and then for half an
hour he continued talking about her. Before retiring he said:

"Mother, how is it that I have never been told about Miss Page before?"

"Well, son, I have known very little myself. The Pages, you know, have
lived here less than a year and Dorothy has never been here before. A
few days before Mrs. Page left to bring Dorothy home she told me a good
many things about her."

"How long was Miss Page at the college?"

"Three years. The Pages were born in Virginia, but when Dorothy was six
years old the father, because of failing health, purchased a large
ranch in the West and he moved his family there and became very
prosperous."

"She is a child, therefore, of the South and West," said Sterling.

"Yes, she has Southern blood and Western