me what I was doing, I could say I was looking for my brother's ball." 

 "I fear you are a deep one," remarked the Candy Man. 

 "No, I'm not, but I'm rather good at thinking of things," Virginia owned complacently. "And then," she continued, "I poked around the rose bush, and peeped in at the window, and sure enough she was there, brushing the hearth. She saw me and came to the window, and when I ran away, 'cause I thought maybe she was mad, she rapped, and then opened the window and called: 'Come in, little girl, and talk to me.' And now who do you think she turned out to be?" 

 A suspicion had been deepening in the Candy Man's breast for the last few moments. His heart actually thumped. "Not—you don't mean——?" 

 Virginia nodded violently. "Yes, the lady who fell and got muddy. And she's perfectly lovely, and I'm going there again. She asked me to." 

 Why, oh, why should such luck fall to the lot of a long-legged, freckle-nosed little girl, and not to him, the Candy Man wondered. He burned to ask innumerable questions, but compromised on one. Did Virginia know whether or not she had come to stay? 

 "Why, I guess so. She didn't have her hat on, and she was cleaning up—dusting, you know, and taking things out of a box." 

 "What sort of things?" 

 "Books and sofa pillows and pictures. I helped her, and by and by Uncle Bob came in." 

 "And what did he say?" asked the Candy Man, just to keep her going. 

 "Why, he said, didn't he tell me so? And wasn't it great to have her ladyship there?" 

 "And what did her ladyship say?" 

 "She said he was a dear, and I forget what else. Oh, but listen! I'll bet you can't guess what her name is." 

 He couldn't. He had racked his brain for a name at once sweet enough and possessing sufficient dignity. He had not found it for the good reason that no such name has been invented. 

 "It's a long name," said Virginia, "as long as mine. I am named for my grandmother, Mary Virginia, but they don't call me all of it." She paused to watch two white-plumed masons on their way to the commandery on the next 

 Prev. P 20/76 next