l like the place?"

"I'm sure I shall, if it does not involve you too deeply, Jerry."

"Oh, no, we'll manage it easily."

All during dinner and most of the evening he talked about that house.
Jane forced herself to equal his enthusiasm, to put out of her mind the
thought that she and the child were adding another link to the ball and
chain around Jerry's ankle. She feared that they had mortgaged his
whole future, with an impossible rent, and yet she could not bear to
seem to criticise his decision, nor dampen his ardour. She spent a good
part of the night planning how she could come to the rescue with her own
work. She must find a market as soon as possible.

The few weeks that were left to them of the summer were very pleasant.
They had made some acquaintances in the colony, and joined in the more
informal summer festivities. Jerry painted and loafed, seemingly quite
contented. Jane marvelled at him sometimes, remembering the restless
spring days in town.

The Brendons were off on a cruise. Althea was not mentioned between
them. The Bryces motored out for lunch one fall day. They reported the
Cricket immured in a summer camp for girls.

"Our one idea is to keep her off of us," said Wally.

"She's not a bad kid, if she'd had any training," Jerry remarked.

"Thanks, Jerry, we'll discuss that with you ten years from now,"
retorted Mrs. Wally.

Jerry blushed at that. He never thought of the baby as having anything
to do with him--it was something belonging to Jane.

September grew cold and a trifle dreary.

"I'm glad we're going to town to-morrow. I hate the country when it's
got the blues," said Jerry.

"I'm so reluctant to leave that I haven't thought about the weather."

"I suppose it isn't a very pleasant prospect for you," he said,
uneasily, in the first reference he had made to the coming ordeal.

"I wasn't thinking of that, either. I was just remembering the summer in
this dear place. I've never been so happy anywhere."

"Haven't you, Jane? I'm glad. Sometimes I feel as if I had gotten you
into an awful scrape, in marrying me."

"You didn't get me in, I walked in."

"Eyes open, Jane? Did you know the kind of man I was?"

"Yes."

"You haven't regretted it?"

"No."

"Thank you."

"And you, Jerry?"

"I'm glad we did it, Jane."

"In spite of everything?"

"Yes. Now that I'm getting acquainted with you I realize what a crazy
thing it was for me to suppose I knew you."

"That was partly