that trash?"

"It isn't trash. It's perfectly delightful."

"What is it?" He came nearer to her, and she clutched the magazine
tightly.

"Oh, just a prize story."

"A prize story? And funny enough to make you laugh? Not O. Henry?"

"Of course not. He's dead. A new writer, it says."

He held out his hands for it, and, perforce, she resigned it to him.

"Francesca!" he exclaimed.

"Odd, isn't it? That's what attracted me to it," Bambi lied.

"Well, I suppose there are other Francescas. I came to ask you to listen
to a scenario."

"Good! I shall be delighted," she replied cordially, folding the
magazine over her finger.

So the fatal moment came and passed. Her secret was safe. She kept the
cherished magazine in her own room, read and reread it, patting its
cover, as one would a curly head.

Upon the receipt of her second story came a telegram from Strong, "Can
you see me on Thursday? New plan for stories. Arrive in Sunnyside ten in
the morning." She wired him to come, then sat down to work up an
explanation of him for the "Heavenly Twins." He would be there for
lunch--he must be accounted for. She discarded several plans, and
finally decided to introduce him as the brother of a college classmate,
in town for the day. She would get rid of the family speedily, so that
she and Mr. Strong might have time for the conference. What on earth did
he want to see her about? It must be important, to bring him from New
York. Maybe he was disappointed with the second story, and wanted to
break the contract. It was his kind way to come and say it, instead of
writing it, but it was a blow. She had felt that the second tale was so
much better than the first. She went over it, in her mind, trying to
pick flaws in it. Well, she could always go to dancing, if everything
else failed.

At lunch she casually remarked, "Richard Strong is coming to lunch on
Thursday. I hope you will both be here."

"Who may Richard Strong be?" inquired her father.

"He is the brother of an old classmate, Mary Strong."

"Does he live here?" Jarvis asked.

"No. He lives in New York."

"What brings him to Sunnyside?"

"He didn't say."

"I never heard of him before," Professor Parkhurst said.

"Oh, yes. I used to talk about him a great deal. He's a fine fellow."

"Was he a special friend?" Jarvis asked, roused to some interest.

Bambi hesitated. She was getting in deeper than she planned.

"Yes, rather special. Not intimate, but special