s were burning with shame. The next morning she was miserable in
fear lest he discover her weakness. He did not, though he marveled at
a new tenderness in her that had been born in the night.

The fourth day broke fair and Don found himself busy until noon
helping with the decorations of green and of wild flowers; for though
only a dozen or so neighbors had been asked, Mrs. Halliday was
thorough in whatever she undertook. Had she been expecting a hundred
she could have done no more in the way of preparation except perhaps
to increase the quantity of cake and ices.

Don himself had asked no one except old Barton, of Barton &
Saltonstall, and him he did not expect, although he had received no
reply to his invitation. What, then, was his surprise when toward the
middle of the forenoon, as he was going into the house with an armful
of pine boughs, he heard a voice behind him,--

"How do, Don?"

Turning, he saw Barton in a frock coat and a tall hat that he might
have worn last at Pendleton, Senior's, wedding.

"For Heaven's sake!" exclaimed Don, dropping his pine boughs on the
doorstep and rushing to meet him. "I call this mighty good of you."

"I could hardly do less for Pendleton's boy," answered Barton.

"Well, sir, you're mighty welcome. Come right in. Oh, Sally," he
called.

Sally came on the run, not knowing what had happened. She wore a
calico apron and had not found time to do her hair since morning. It
was not exactly the costume she would have chosen in which first to
meet Mr. Barton. Her cheeks showed it.

"Sally," said Don, "this is Mr. Barton--my father's lawyer. Mr.
Barton, this is Miss Winthrop."

Barton bowed low with old-fashioned courtesy. Then he allowed his keen
gray eyes to rest a moment upon hers.

"I am very glad to meet you," he said.

"Will you come in?" she asked. "I'm afraid the house is very much in
disorder just now, but I want you to meet my aunt."

Mrs. Halliday was scarcely more presentable than Miss Winthrop, but
the latter found a certain relief in that fact.

"I'm glad to know you," Mrs. Halliday greeted him cordially.

But what to do with him at just this time was a problem which would
have baffled her had he not solved it for himself.

"Please don't let me interrupt the preparations," he begged. "I should
not have ventured here--at just this time--except that I wanted to see
Don about a few legal matters."

"Mr. Barton," explained Don to Sally, "is the man who had the