Discoursing of his family, with occasional mention of his sister Dorothy, Julius took his friend to the Elliot home.  Mrs. Jack, fresh and charming, made them welcome.  Jack himself, by some happy chance, had been able to come out for luncheon, and the three men found each other thoroughly congenial.

After luncheon Julius contrived a chance to exchange a brief colloquy with Mrs. Jack on the subject of the guest.

“What do you think of him, Bud?  Pretty fine sort to have developed from the grub who did the stunts with fractions, with his freckled face turning lobster colour because you girls were looking at him?”

“I can’t believe he’s the same,” Mrs. Jack whispered, looking through the open window at the figure on the porch outside, its side turned toward her.  “I haven’t seen a man in a long time with so much character in his face.  He’s not exactly handsome, but—­yes, I certainly do like his face very much.  I wish—­I really wish Dot were here.”

“Oh, no, not at all!” Julius objected.  “Dot’s satisfied with Ridge Jordan, or thinks she is.  So are you.”

“I have always liked Ridge,” Mrs. Jack insisted; “but—­well, Mr. Waldron is quite another type.”

“Yes, quite another,” Julius murmured, and returned to the porch.

Before the two took the train for the mountains Julius managed to let Waldron see a photograph of Dorothy.  As a matter of fact; photographs of Dorothy were all about the house, but in Julius’s own room hung one which the brother considered the gem of them all.  It showed one of those straight-out-of-the-picture faces which are sometimes so attractive, the eyebrows level above the wonderful eyes, the lips serious and sweet, the head well poised upon the lovely neck, the whole aspect one of youth unconscious of its charm, yet feeling a subtle power of its own.

Waldron, his attention called to the photograph, surveyed it with a quiet comment:  “I should have known she would look like this when she grew up”; and turned away without undue lingering.  Yet Julius was satisfied that Waldron would know the face again when he saw it, as it was intended that he should.

It was a journey of an hour and a half by rail up into the mountain resort where, by certain artfully veiled investigations, Julius had ascertained that the bridal party would stop for dinner.  Scheming joyously, he led his companion from the train at a station several miles from Saxifrage Inn, alighting at a mere flag station in the midst of a semi-wilderness.  The promised tramp began without the knowledge of the guest as to where it was to end or hint as to what might be found there.

Coats over their arms, the two young men swung away upon the trail—­a wide, much-used trail, which could be followed without difficulty.  The warm summer air was fragrant with the scent of balsam, pine, and fern; pine needles carpeted the path; faint forest sounds came to their ears—­the call of a loon from a distant lake, the whirr of a partridge, the chatter of a squirrel, the splash of falling water.  Waldron took off his straw hat and tucked it under his arm, baring his forehead to the spice-laden breeze that now and then filtered through the forest, stirring languid leaves to motion.