nd
make the day a feast."

He was standing before the dying fire, surrounded by its genial light,
as his guests withdrew. Near him, just touched by the firelight, were
the crumbs of their supper and the stately old bottle which had given
its bouquet to the room. Old Herbert, moving out of the shadow
noiselessly and pleasantly, bowed them out, and as the vision faded one
of the guests, at least, pictured the four friends on the sun porch
readjusting themselves, after their fitful fever, to the gentle life of
their home.

VIII

The following Thursday night Tom called at the Whitmans' to rehearse the
lecture. Nancy's cousin Bob had arranged to have two rooms reserved for
them during the Friday noon hour at the Mills, and they had agreed that
the best way to prepare for the ordeal was to study their notes and get
their material in final shape and then have a dress rehearsal on
Thursday night. "After a while," Nancy had said, "when we work into the
harness, we probably won't need to have one, but I don't think we can be
too careful of this first lecture." This had been precisely Tom's
opinion also.

Tom had never seen Henry so amiable. In fact he seemed hard put to it to
keep from unrestrained merriment, and Tom, who found the affair more
alarming as it progressed, would have preferred avoiding him altogether.
He knew that Henry was calling him callow, a lightweight, charges
well-nigh proved by his present undertaking, and to save himself from
rout he had to remember that Henry was a heavy Grave man and that his
own participation was only a question of common courtesy to a lady,
anyway. Nancy had set her heart upon the thing, and he would be a very
indifferent friend to stand idly by and not lift a finger to help.

"I believe," said Henry, "that we are to sit in the drawing-room. Nancy
will stand in the far end of the library."

"I see," replied Tom vaguely.

"She feels that having the conditions rather trying tonight will help
her tomorrow. Accordingly, she's going to speak first, and she wants me
to excuse her for not being here when you arrived. By coming in formally
and beginning her address without speaking to us, she hopes to get some
of the feeling of the way it will be tomorrow." And with a somewhat
hysterical noise he went to the stairway. "All right, Nancy."

In a minute Nancy appeared on the stairs and, walking stiffly across
into the library, she climbed upon a footstool at the far end. In front