there was a telegram telling of the marriage.

"Her father never forgave Mary. Seven months later he died, and after
settling up affairs there was nothing left. Alden House was mortgaged to
the limit. There were a number of small debts as well as two or three
large ones, and when these were paid and all accounts squared there was
barely enough left for Parke to buy his railroad ticket to some city out
West, where he had secured a place as resident physician in a hospital.
That was thirteen years ago." She took a deep breath, as if thinking.
"Thirteen years. Since then we've known little about him. You say he is
a famous surgeon? We've never heard it in Yorkburg."

"Of course you haven't. Yorkburg has heard nothing since 1865. But there
are a good many things it could hear." And Mrs. Grey laughed, but with
her forehead wrinkled, as if she were trying to understand something
that was puzzling her.

And then it was Mrs. Moon said something that made understanding come
rolling right in on me. The answer to that look on Miss Katherine's face
the night of the Reagans' ball was as plain as Jimmie Jenkins's nose,
which is most all you see when you see Jimmie. It was like I thought. It
was a man.

"Ophelia," said Mrs. Moon, and she moved her chair closer to Mrs. Grey,
and leaned forward with her hands clasped, "did you ever hear Doctor
Alden speak of a Miss Trent--Miss Katherine Trent?"

"No. You mean--"

"Yes; she's the one. Parke Alden and Katherine Trent were sweethearts
from children. Shortly after Mary's marriage something happened. There
was a misunderstanding of some kind, and they barely bowed when they
met. Everybody was sorry, for it was one of the matches Heaven might
have made without discredit. Soon after Parke went away, Katherine went
off to some school just outside of Philadelphia, and, so far as is
known, they've never seen each other since."

Mrs. Grey brought both hands down on her knees. "I knew it was something
like that. I knew it! Doctor Alden is just that sort of a man. And it's
Katherine Trent? I wish I'd known it before she went away."

"What would you have done?" Mrs. Moon looked frightened. She's very
timid, Mrs. Moon is, and always afraid of telling something she
oughtn't. "What could you have done?"

"Looked at her better. She's certainly good to look at. Not beautiful,
but a face you never forget. And Doctor Alden is the kind that never
forgets. But tell me something about the child. How