e most difficult
things in the world to define and one of the easiest to see--a
possession that is at once tangible and intangible. And Betty
possessed the gift in a remarkable degree.

Therefore she did not look unattractive to the eyes of the young man
who was now staring at her in astonishment, fear and delight, from her
own open doorway, which Dr. Barton, on leaving the room, had neglected
to close.

"I am sorry. Oh, I am so glad!"

Anthony Graham murmured. "I was passing your room; I didn't mean to
intrude. But nothing matters now you are well again and looking like
yourself. It's so wonderful, so splendid, so----" And the young man,
who was ordinarily quiet and reserved, fairly stammered with the rush
of his own words.

Betty walked shyly toward him with her eyes still filled with tears.

"Oh, I am dreadful to look at, but I must not complain," she answered
wistfully. "A Camp Fire girl ought to have learned some lessons in
bravery and endurance. Please let's don't talk about me. I want to
thank you, for if it had not been for you, I might have--I can't bear
to think even now what might have happened to me."

"Then don't," the young man returned brusquely, but Betty did not this
time misunderstand his manner. "I did not do anything. I ought to
have gotten to you sooner. I have been hating myself ever since for
the time I took to reach you. After all you had done for me in the
past!"

The next moment the girl put her hand into the boy's hard,
work-roughened one. "Ask Nan to tell the others for me. And remember
that no matter what has happened or may happen in the future, I shall
always feel myself in your debt, not you in mine."

CHAPTER XV

SECRETS

It was sundown. The big Ashton house, although so filled with people,
was oddly quiet. Betty Ashton slipped out of her own room into the
hall and hurried along the empty corridor. Once only she stopped and
smiled, partly from amusement and partly from satisfaction. Herr
Crippen's door was half open and so was Miss McMurtry's and the
Professor was playing on his violin. Such sentimental love ditties!
The air throbbed with German love songs.

And Betty had a mischievous desire to stick her head into Miss
McMurtry's room and see if she was engaged in some maiden-like
occupation, such as marking school papers or reading the _Woodford
Gazette_. Or was she sitting, as she should be, with her hands idly
folded in her lap and her heart