on was a perfect success, and when the boy was ready to
go, one of the Orthopedic women adopted him. He is the happiest, sturdiest
little fellow now.

"At the end of the summer when the note fell due Mrs. Feversham did not
care to renew it; she was going to Washington and wished to use the money
in New York. The desert tract was all I had, and when Mr. Morganstein
planned the motoring trip through the mountains and down to Portland, he
offered to take a day to look the land over. He did not want to encumber
himself with any more real estate, he said, but would advise me on its
possibilities for the market. An accident to the car in Snoqualmie Pass
obliged him to give up the excursion, and Marcia disposed of the note to
him. She said it could make little difference to me since her brother was
willing to let the obligation rest until I was ready to meet it. I do not
blame her; there are some things Marcia Feversham and I do not see in the
same light. It isn't so much through custom and breeding; it's the way we
were created, bone and spirit." Her voice broke but she laid her hand on
the parapet again with a controlling grasp and added evenly, "That is the
reason when Mr. Banks came I was so ready to accept his offer."

"So, that was your debt of honor!" Foster began unsteadily; the words
caught in his throat, and for an instant her face grew indistinct through
the mist he could not keep back from his eyes. "You knew you were
traveling on thin ice; the break-up was almost on you, yet you handicapped
yourself with those foundlings. And you never told me. I could have taken
over that subscription, I should have been glad of the chance, you must
have known that, but you allowed me to believe it was a loan to cover
personal expenses."

She met the reproach with a little fleeting smile. "There were times when
those accounts pressed, I am going to admit that, in justice to Elizabeth.
She always buoyed me through. I have known her intimately for years. We
were at Mills Seminary together, and even then she was the most
dependable, resourceful, generous girl in the school. I never should have
had the courage to dispose of things--for money--but she offered to. Once
it was the bracelet that had been my great-grandmother's; the serpent, you
remember, with jewelled scales and fascinating ruby eyes. The Japanese
consul bought it for his wife. And once it was that dagger the first
American Don Silva wore. The design was Moorish, you kn