en, searching look. It went to the depths of her eyes; it
included her face and hair; it included the folds of her dress, the cut
of her shoe, and rested attentively on the slender hands lying quietly
in her lap.

"I see the circumstances very clearly," he said. "I sympathize with your
position. Having known your father and being well acquainted with your
guardian, would you be satisfied if I should take the responsibility of
issuing to the clerks an order not to allow anything to be drawn from
the private account until the settlement of the estate?"

"Perfectly satisfied," said Linda.

"It might be," said Mr. Worthington, "managing matters i that way, that
no one outside of ourselves need ever know of il Should your sister not
draw on the private account in the mean time, she would be free to draw
household cheques on the monthly income and if in the settlement of the
estate she turns in this private account or accounts, she need never
know of the restriction concerning this fund."

"Thank you very much," said Linda. "That will fix everything finely."

On her way to the street car, Linda's brain whirled.

"It's not conceivable," she said, "that Eileen should be enriching
herself at my expense. I can't imagine her being dishonest in money
affairs, and yet I can recall scarcely a circumstance in life in which
Eileen has ever hesitated to be dishonest when a lie served her purpose
better than the truth. Anyway, matters are safe now."

The next day the books were taken and a cheque for their value was
waiting for Linda when she reached home. She cashed this cheque and
went straight to Peter Morrison for his estimate of the expenses for the
skylight and fireplace. When she asked for the bill Peter hesitated.

"You wouldn't accept this little addition to your study as a gift from
Henry and me?" he asked lightly. "It would be a great pleasure to us if
you would."

"I could accept stones that Henry Anderson had gathered from the
mountains and canyons, and I could accept a verse carved on stone, and
be delighted with the gift; but I couldn't accept hours of day labor
at the present price of labor, so you will have to give me the bill,
Peter."

Peter did not have the bill, but he had memoranda, and when Linda paid
him she reflected that the current talk concerning the inflated price of
labor was greatly exaggerated.

For two evenings as Linda returned from school and went to her room she
glanced down the hall and sm