ements, it was easy enough to move the books
silently, and at last she discovered the blue envelope, tucked between
two of them. She drew it out without a sound,--careful lest the paper
should crackle,--and started to retrace her stealthy steps upstairs
again, when she saw the hem of the portiere move the veriest trifle.

"A mouse!" she thought to herself, with a terrified spasm of fear, for
Patty was foolishly afraid of mice.

Unable to control herself, she sprang up into a soft easy-chair and
perched on the back of it.

The springs of the chair gave a tiny squeak, scarcely as loud as a
mouse might make, yet sufficient to arouse Van Reypen from his
reverie.

He sprang up, and pushing aside the portiere, switched on the light,
to see Patty sitting on the low, tufted back of the chair, her hair
streaming about her shoulders, and her face expressing the utmost fear
and horror.

"Well!" he observed, looking at her with a smile,--"_well_!"

"Oh, Philip," whispered Patty, in a quaking voice, "it's a mouse! an
_awful_ mouse!"

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" and Philip folded his arms,
and stood gazing at the pretty, frightened figure on the chair back.

His amused calm quieted Patty's nerves, which had really been put on
edge by her uncontrollable aversion to mice, and she returned,
cheerfully, "I suppose I shall have to stay up here the rest of my
life, unless you can attack and vanquish the fearsome brute."

"I shall not even try," said Philip, coolly, as he turned to throw
away his cigar, "because I like to see you sitting up there. However,
as there may be danger of another attack from the enemy, and as this
chair is almost entirely unoccupied, I shall camp out here at your
feet, and keep guard over your safety."

He seated himself on the arm of the same chair, while Patty sat on its
low, cushioned back. She drew her blue gown more closely about her,
and cast wary glances toward the corner, where the enemy was
presumably encamped.

"I think perhaps the danger is over," she said. "And if you'll go back
to the smoking-room, I will make a brave effort to get away unharmed."

"Watch me go," said Philip, showing no signs of moving. "However, if
it will set your mind at rest, I'll tell you that it _wasn't_ a mouse.
I don't believe they have such things in this well-regulated
household."

"But I _saw_ it!" declared Patty, positively.

"Saw a mouse?"

"Well, not _exactly_ that, but I saw that littl