er would come when Elnora would see him, but
at last she met his eye, then Margaret and Wesley had faint signs of
recognition in turn, but there was no softening of the girl's face and
no hint of a smile when she saw her mother.

Heartsick, Katharine Comstock tried to prove to herself that she was
justified in what she had done, but she could not. She tried to blame
Elnora for not saying that she was to lead a procession and sit on a
platform in the sight of hundreds of people; but that was impossible,
for she realized that she would have scoffed and not understood if she
had been told. Her heart pained until she suffered with every breath.

When at last the exercises were over she climbed into the carriage and
rode home without a word. She did not hear what Margaret and Billy were
saying. She scarcely heard Wesley, who drove behind, when he told her
that Elnora would not be home until Wednesday. Early the next morning
Mrs. Comstock was on her way to Onabasha. She was waiting when the
Brownlee store opened. She examined ready-made white dresses, but they
had only one of the right size, and it was marked forty dollars. Mrs.
Comstock did not hesitate over the price, but whether the dress would be
suitable. She would have to ask Elnora. She inquired her way to the home
of the Bird Woman and knocked.

"Is Elnora Comstock here?" she asked the maid.

"Yes, but she is still in bed. I was told to let her sleep as long as
she would."

"Maybe I could sit here and wait," said Mrs. Comstock. "I want to see
about getting her a dress for to-morrow. I am her mother."

"Then you don't need wait or worry," said the girl cheerfully. "There
are two women up in the sewing-room at work on a dress for her right
now. It will be done in time, and it will be a beauty."

Mrs. Comstock turned and trudged back to the Limberlost. The bitterness
in her soul became a physical actuality, which water would not wash
from her lips. She was too late! She was not needed. Another woman was
mothering her girl. Another woman would prepare a beautiful dress such
as Elnora had worn the previous night. The girl's love and gratitude
would go to her. Mrs. Comstock tried the old process of blaming some one
else, but she felt no better. She nursed her grief as closely as ever
in the long days of the girl's absence. She brooded over Elnora's
possession of the forbidden violin and her ability to play it until the
performance could not have been told from her fa