friend.

It was noteworthy that dear Abigail seemed to have no interests of any
character that were not passionately indorsed by her faithful
Mercedes.

Pondering this matter, Sally found time to wonder that Mercedes had
not been deemed a sufficiently vigilant protector for the poor rich
widow; it was her notion that Mercedes missed few bets.

A circumstance which Sally herself had overlooked turned out to be the
tacit understanding on which the game had been made up; and when, at
the conclusion of the third rubber, Mr. Trego summed up the score,
then calmly presented her with a twenty-dollar bill and some loose
silver--Mercedes with stoic countenance performing the same painful
operation on her own purse in favour of dear Abigail--the girl was
overcome with consternation.

"But--no!" she protested, and blushed. "We weren't playing for money,
surely!"

"Of course we were!" Miss Pride snapped, with the more spirit since
Sally's stupidity supplied an unexpected outlet. "I never could see
the amusement in playing cards without a trifling stake--though
I always do say five cents a point is too much for a friendly game."

"It's our custom," Mrs. Gosnold smiled serenely. "You haven't
conscientious scruples about playing for money, I hope?"

"Oh, no; but"--Sally couldn't, simply couldn't confess her penniless
condition before Miss Pride and Mr. Trego--"but I didn't understand."

"That's all right," Trego insisted. "You won it fairly, and it wasn't
all beginners' luck, either. It was good playing; some of your
inferences were as sound as any I ever noticed."

"It really doesn't seem right," Sally demurred.

None the less she could not well refuse the money.

"I must have my revenge!" Miss Pride announced briskly, that
expression being sanctioned by convention. "To-night, dear Abigail? Or
would you like another rubber now?"

Mrs. Gosnold shook her head and laughed. "No, thank you; I've had
enough for one afternoon, and I'm sleepy besides." She thrust back her
chair and rose. "If you haven't tried the view from the terrace, Miss
Manwaring, I'm sure you'll find it worth while. And let your
ill-gotten gains rest lightly on your conscience; put them in the
war-chest against the rainy day that's sure to dawn for even the best
players. I myself play a rather conservative game, you'll find, but
there are times when for days on end I can't seem to get a hand
much better than a yarborough."

"Do you," Sally faltered, ti