g.
"You haven't been getting into some mess you want to tell me about, have
you?"

"No, sir."

His tone was meek, but a mute distress lurked within it, bringing to the
father's mind disturbing suspicions, and foreshadowings of indignation
and of pity. "See here, Ramsey," he said, "if there's anything you want
to ask me, or to tell me, you'd better out with it and get it over. Now,
what is it?"

"Well--it isn't anything."

"Are you _sure?_"

Ramsey's eyes fell before the severe and piercing gaze of his father.
"Yes, sir."

Mr. Milholland shook his head doubtfully; then, as his son walked slowly
out of the room, he turned to complete his toilet in a somewhat uneasy
frame of mind. Ramsey had undoubtedly wanted to say something to him and
the boy's expression had shown that the matter in question was serious,
distressing, and, it might be, even critical.

In fact it was--to Ramsey. Having begun within only the last few hours
to regard haberdashery as of vital importance, and believing his father
to be possessed of the experience and authority lacking in himself,
Ramsey had come to get him to settle a question which had been upsetting
him badly, in his own room, since breakfast. What he want to know was:
Whether it was right to wear an extra handkerchief showing out of the
coat breast pocket or not, and, if it was right--ought the handkerchief
to have a coloured border or to be plain white? But he had never before
brought any such perplexities to his father, and found himself too
diffident to set them forth.

However, when he left the house, a few minutes later, he boldly showed
an inch of purple border above the pocket; then, as he was himself about
to encounter several old lady pedestrians, he blushed and thrust the
handkerchief down into deep concealment. Having gone a block farther, he
pulled it up again; and so continued to operate this badge of fashion,
or unfashion, throughout the morning; and suffered a great deal thereby.

Meantime, his father, rather relieved that Ramsey had not told his
secret, whatever it was, dismissed the episode from his mind and joined
Mrs. Milholland at the front door, ready for church.

"Where's Ramsey?" he asked.

"He's gone ahead," she answered, buttoning her gloves as they went
along. "I heard the door quite a little while ago. Perhaps he went over
to walk down with Charlotte and Vance. Did you notice how neat he looks
this morning?"

"Why, no, I didn't; not particularly