l it still
looked, how perfect a setting for its young
mistress. So at least they were able to keep
their handsome home.

To the young man Betty Ashton now
appeared more beautiful than his former
impression of her. For on the day of their
original meeting she had worn a fur coat
and a cap covering her hair and a portion
of her face. But now the three Camp
Fire candles were once more burning,
forming a kind of shining background for the
girl's figure. Her hair was a deep red
brown, with bronze tones, the colors in the
autumn woods. There was no longer any
sign of pallor or weariness in her cheeks,
for pleasure and excitement had
reawakened the old Betty.

"Do sit down," she urged again. "I
want to hear all about you."

Then, coming to his senses, Anthony
managed to drag two comfortable chairs
before the blaze.

"There isn't anything much to tell,"
he began shyly. "Only after you gave me
that money I just started walking farther
and farther away from Woodford. Why,
it seemed to me that I didn't ever want to
stop, for that would give me a chance to
realize what I had done. And I didn't
stop, either, until I was too dead tired to
go on. But by that time I had come to
another town and it must have been pretty
late, because the main street was empty.
I was passing along close to the wall of a
building when I saw that an office door had
been left open. It was pretty cold, so I
peeped in. The room was dark and there
was nobody about, so creeping inside I
lay down on the floor and went to sleep." The
boy stopped, but his listener was leaning
forward with her hands clasped and her
lips parted with eagerness.

[Illustration: "There isn't anything much to tell"]

"Do go on and tell me every detail. It
sounds just like a story," she entreated.

"When I woke up it was daylight and
I found that I had landed in a dusty,
untidy place, littered with old books and
papers," he continued. "A small stove in
the corner was choked up with ashes. I
can't tell exactly why, but the first thing
I did that morning was to scrape out those
ashes, and then I found some sticks and
coals and built a fresh fire." Anthony
flashed a glance at Betty out of his shy,
almost frightened blue eyes. "I guess I
was feeling kind of well disposed toward
fires just then, camp fires anyhow. Then
I was thinking that I would like to pay for
my night's lodging in some way. I fell to
brushing out the room, so that when th