n to
see the difficulties of, and her unfitness for, the role she had so
impulsively accepted. An uneasiness for the future crept upon her. As
she had told Mr. Blake, she had never handled a case in court. True,
she had been a member of the bar for two years, but her duties with
the Municipal League had consisted almost entirely in working up
evidence in cases of municipal corruption for the use of her legal
superiors. An untried lawyer, and a woman lawyer at that--surely a
weak reed for her father to lean upon!

But she had thrown down the gage of battle; she had to fight, since
there was no other champion; and even in this hour of emotion, when
tears were so plenteous and every word was accompanied by a caress,
she began to plan the preliminaries of her struggle.

"I shall write to-night to the league for a leave of absence," she
said. "One of the things I must see to at once is to get admitted to
the state bar. Do you know when your case is to come up?"

"It has been put over to the September term of court."

"That gives me four months."

She was silently thoughtful for a space. "I've got to work hard, hard!
upon your case. As I see it now, I am inclined to agree with you that
the situation has arisen from a misunderstanding--that the agent
thought you expected a bribe, and that you thought the bribe a small
donation to the hospital."

"I'm certain that's how it is," said her father.

"Then the thing to do is to see Doctor Sherman, and if possible the
agent, have them repeat their testimony and try to search out in it
the clue to the mistake. And that I shall see to at once."

Five minutes later Katherine left the house. After walking ten minutes
through the quiet, maple-shaded back streets she reached the Wabash
Avenue Church, whose rather ponderous pile of Bedford stone was the
most ambitious and most frequented place of worship in Westville, and
whose bulk was being added to by a lecture room now rising against its
side.

Katherine went up a gravelled walk toward a cottage that stood
beneath the church's shadow. The house's front was covered with a
wide-spreading rose vine, a tapestry of rich green which June would
gorgeously embroider with sprays of heart-red roses. The cottage
looked what Katherine knew it was, a bower of lovers.

Her ring was answered by a fair, fragile young woman whose eyes were
the colour of faith and loyalty. A faint colour crept into the young
woman's pale cheeks.

"Why--Kat