t
she was as right as possible, and had only suffered the loss of a few
garments.

A week later as I sat in my usual place, the wheeled chair by the
study fire, I heard a carriage stop at my door. It was ten o'clock of
a wild January night, furious with wind and snow. There were voices in
the hall below; surprised ejaculations from Lena, the housemaid; at
last a rap on my door, which swung inward to admit--Desire!

"Will you take me in, Uncle Ben?" {107} she inquired cheerfully. "It
is such a frightful night! The cabman won't try to get me to Aunt
Mary. He wanted to leave me at a hotel. But this was no farther--and I
wanted to talk with you, anyhow."

I said the appropriate things, consumed meanwhile with wonder as to
what this reappearance meant. Desire threw off her long wrap and her
furs, vibrated about the room a little, then settled, like every one
else, in the winged chair across the hearth, and smiled at me
tremulously.

"Uncle Ben, something has happened to me."

"I judge it is something important, Desire."

"A big thing," she said gravely. "So big I don't understand it. I can
only tell you how it is."

I waited quietly, but there was that {108} in her voice which made me
catch my breath.

She seemed to find it hard to begin.

"I hated Reno," she said at last, abruptly. "The streets were so full
of plump, self-satisfied blonde women, overdressed and underbred. The
town was overrun with types one did n't like. It was--horrid! But it
did n't concern me, so I stayed in the little house and wrote a great
many letters to Aunt Mary and--Arthur Markham, and read, and amused
myself as best I could. Then I lost my maids and moved to the hotel
until I could arrange matters.

"You heard about the fire? The hotel was a wooden building with two
wings, and my room was in the wing that burned. It was all very
exciting, but I got out with my valuables and most of my wardrobe tied
{109} up in a sheet, and they put the fire out.

"The rest of the building was unhurt, so the occupants opened their
doors to the people who had been burned out. The manager asked me if I
would accept the hospitality of a Mrs. Marshall, 'a very nice lady
from up North!' I said I would be thankful for shelter of any
description, so he took me to her door and introduced us."

Desire paused reflectively.

"I'd like to make it as clear as possible to you, Uncle Ben, if you
don't mind my talking a lot. This Mrs. Marshall was just a girl, a