t thing, mother; he told me he would. He knows how much
depends on his staying here now, and he intends to do it."

"But in the end, Joe, after this scandal is lived down, can he--will
he--marry her? And if he marries her can they live together and be happy?
His way of life is so different. He can't content himself here, and she
can't fit in where he belongs. It all seems hopeless to me. Wouldn't it
be better for her to suffer for a little while now than to make a mistake
that may last a lifetime?"

"Mebbe it would, mother, but the decision is not ours. She's too strong
for us to control. She's of age, and if she comes to a full understanding
of the situation, she can decide the question a whole lot better than
either of us."

"That's true," she sighed. "In some ways she's bigger and stronger than
both of us. Sometimes I wish she were not so self-reliant."

"Well, that's the way life is, sometimes, and I reckon there's nothin'
left for you an' me but to draw closer together and try to fill up the
empty place she's going to leave between us."

XIV

THE SUMMONS

When Wayland caught the startled look on Berrie's face he knew that she
had learned from her father the contents of his telegram, and that she
would require an explanation.

"Are you going away?" she asked.

"Yes. At least, I must go down to Denver to see my father. I shall be
gone only over night."

"And will you tell him about our trip?" she pursued, with unflinching
directness. "And about--me?"

He gave her a chair, and took a seat himself before replying. "Yes, I
shall tell him all about it, and about you and your father and mother. He
shall know how kind you've all been to me."

He said this bravely, and at the moment he meant it; but as his father's
big, impassive face and cold, keen eyes came back to him his courage
sank, and in spite of his firm resolution some part of his secret anxiety
communicated itself to the girl, who asked many questions, with intent to
find out more particularly what kind of man the elder Norcross was.

Wayland's replies did not entirely reassure her. He admitted that his
father was harsh and domineering in character, and that he was ambitious
to have his son take up and carry forward his work. "He was willing
enough to have me go to college till he found I was specializing on wrong
lines. Then I had to fight in order to keep my place. He's glad I'm out
here, for he thinks I'm regaining my strength. But just