matters. Oh, well, if she was late, she was late, that was all;
and if Jim was furious, why, Jim would simply have to be furious! And
she began her explanations again--

After all, it was but fifteen minutes past eleven when she walked into
her husband's office. But neither Jim nor Mrs. Thayer was there.

"Mr. Fairfax went out not three minutes ago," said the pretty
stenographer in the outer office. Susanna, brought to a full stop,
stared at her blankly.

"Went out!"

"Yes, with Mrs. Thayer to the dentist. He said to say he was afraid you
had missed your train. There's a note."

The note was forthwith produced. Susanna read it frowningly. It was
rather conspicuously headed "Eleven-twelve!"

DEAREST GIRL: Can't wait any longer. Mrs. T. must see her dentist
(Archibald). I'm taking her up. Thayers and we lunch at the Palace at
one-thirty. Wait for me in my office. J. F.

"Oh, what is the matter with everything to-day!" Susanna burst out in
exasperation. "He's wild, of course. When does he ever sign himself 'J.
F.' to me! When did they go?" she asked Miss Perry, briefly, with an
unreasonable wish that she might somehow hold that irreproachable young
woman responsible.

"Just about three minutes ago," said Miss Perry. "He said that if you
had missed your train, you wouldn't be here for more than an hour, and
it was no use waiting."

"You see, it was a changed time-table, and he forgot it just as I did,"
explained Susanna, pleased to find him fallible, even to that extent.

"But HE was on time," fenced Miss Perry, innocently.

"They don't change the business trains," Susanna said coldly. And she
decided that she disliked this girl. She opened a magazine and sat down
by the open window.

The minutes ticked slowly by. The telephone rang, doors opened and
shut, and men came and went through the office. Susanna, opposed in
every fibre of her being to passive waiting, suddenly rose.

"Dr. Archibald is in the First National Bank Building, isn't he?" she
inquired. "I think I'll join Mrs. Thayer up there. There's no use in my
waiting here."

Miss Perry silently verified Dr. Archibald's address in the telephone
book, and to the First National Bank Building Susanna immediately made
her way. It was growing warmer now and the streets seemed noisy and
crowded, but no matter--"If I can only get to them and SEE Jim!"
thought Susanna.

In the pleasant shadiness of Dr. Archibald's office, rising from a
delightful mahogany