hen he
heard a few notes on the piano, and once he opened the door to listen to
the elder Miss Peach's rendering of a song he knew, for Mollie Peach had
a sweet, limpid soprano voice which no amount of chatter and noisy
laughter could destroy.

When, however, the young man from Sandhurst started to shout a comic
song, Owen shut the door hastily and wished the boy at Jericho.

He began to think the visitors would never go. At first he had hoped
that their departure would set Toni free to help him after all; but when
the clock in the hall chimed the half hour after ten, and still the
music and laughter continued, he knew it was useless to expect any aid
to-night.

At eleven the party broke up. The bicycles were brought round, and the
four went gaily out of the front door to light lamps and see to
suspiciously slack tyres.

Owen had charged Toni with polite messages to the two girls; and they,
being somewhat in awe of a real live writer, were not sorry to avoid a
meeting with their host; but Toni seemed so loth to part with them that
she detained them all on the steps, chattering eagerly while the stars
winked down out of the clearing sky and the owls hooted in melancholy
fashion from the tops of the tall trees behind the house.

Finally the last farewells were said, the last appointments made; and
Toni, yawning, turned to Andrews and bade him lock up safely.

She was still yawning when she came into the library a moment later; and
in the lamplight Owen caught a glimpse of her little red mouth gaping
behind her hand as she came up to the table.

"How sleepy I am!" Indeed her eyes were bright, like those of a sleepy
child. "Aren't you coming, Owen? It's ever so late."

"Why didn't you pack your friends off a little earlier then?"

"Oh, I didn't want them to go." She yawned childishly once more.
"Owen"--suddenly a thought struck her--"you're not cross, are you? You
didn't mind me having them here? You know, I thought it was going to be
a storm----"

"Of course I didn't mind," he said, disarmed by her sudden appeal. "It
was my fault for turning up unexpectedly. But now, Toni, supposing you
run away to bed? I really must finish this work, and it's getting late."

She agreed, docilely, and kissing him lightly, ran away to bed as she
was commanded, falling asleep as soon as she was safely there.

But Owen sat late in the library--sat, indeed, till the short summer
night began to recede with stealthy, sliding footst