“She probably forgot to take it off; her mind wasn’t on rings.” Jane’s voice was warm with feeling.

He looked at her with some curiosity. “What was it on?”

“Oh, her heart was broken. Nothing else mattered. Can’t you see?”

He hesitated for a moment before he spoke. “I don’t believe it was broken. I hardly think she loved him.”

Baldy blazed, “But why should she marry him?”

“Oh, well, it was a good match. A very good match. And Edith’s not in the least emotional——”

“Really?” said Jane pleasantly.

Baldy was silent. Was Frederick Towne blind to the wonders that lay behind those eyes of burning blue?

Jane swept them back to the matter of the bag. “We thought you ought to have it, Mr. Towne, but Baldy had scruples about revealing anything he knows about Miss Towne’s hiding-place. He feels that she trusted him.”

[42]“You said you had advertised, Mr. Barnes?”

[42]

“Yes.”

“Well, the one thing is to get her home. Tell her that if she calls you up.” Frederick looked suddenly tired and old.

Baldy, leaning against the mantel, gazed down at him. “It’s hard to decide what I ought to do. But I feel that I’m right in giving her a chance first to answer the advertisement.”

Towne’s tone showed a touch of irritation. “Of course you’ll have to act as you think best.”

And now Jane took things in her own hands. “Mr. Towne, I’m going to make you a cup of coffee.”

“I shall be very grateful,” he smiled at her. What a charming child she was! He was soothed and refreshed by the atmosphere they created. This boy and girl were a friendly pair and he loved his ease. His own house, since Edith’s departure, had been funereal, and his friends had been divided in their championship between himself and Edith. But the young Barneses were so pleasantly responsive with their lighted-up eyes and their little air of making him one with them. Edith had always seemed to put him quite definitely on the shelf. With little Jane and 

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