ead his ruddy countenance as he turned away. But
something he could not keep out of his voice roused her curiosity, and
she made quick work of the dishes.

"Come in, come in!" invited Captain Rayburn, and Jeff rose from the
couch, where his nose had been buried among some of his uncle's
periodicals.

There were always books and magazines by the Score wherever Captain
Rayburn settled himself for any length of time.

The ex-soldier and the schoolboy eyed each other doubtfully for an
instant as Charlotte dropped into a chair. Her usually bright face was
still very sober, and her eyelashes swept her cheek as she waited.

Captain Rayburn nodded at Jeff. The boy stood on one foot, then on the
other, pushed his hands deep into his pockets, pulled them out again,
cleared his throat, laughed nervously, and strode suddenly across the
room to his sister. He thrust out his hand as he came to a halt before
her. "Congratulations to the distinguished decorator!" he cried, and
came to the end, temporarily, of his eloquence.

Charlotte looked up in amazement. Jeff seized her hand and pumped it up
and down. She glanced in bewilderment at her uncle, and met his smile of
encouragement.

"Mine, too," he said.

"What--" she began, and her voice stuck in her throat. Her heart began
to thump wildly. Then Jeff told it all in one burst:

"Uncle Ray found your stuff in the attic--thought it great--woke me up
and ground it out of me what you meant to do with it. He was sure, as I
was, it was fit to show, and you ought not to do it all over first. Got
a horse, drove into Chrystler's, saw Murdock. He would look at anything,
listened to the story about the baby, looked at the stuff. Face
changed--didn't it, Uncle Ray?--from politeness to interest, and all the
rest of it. Said the work had faults, of course--you expected that,
Fiddle--but it showed promise--'great promise,' that's just what he
said. He wants to see everything you do. He wants you to come and see
him. He thinks he can use at least two of your rooms, after you've made
them over. Oh, he was great! You've done it, Fiddle, you've done it!"

But he was not prepared for the way his sister took the good news. She
sat looking solemnly at him for a minute; then she jumped up, turned
toward Captain Rayburn with a face on fire with conflicting and
uncontrollable emotions, then whirled about and was out of the room like
a flash.

"Well, if I ever!" declared Jeff, in intense displeasure