“She’s beginning at the wrong end.  Cornet manufacturers and the people who keep sanitariums and private asylums are the co-workers she wants.  I couldn’t live through the coming Winter were it not for pneumonia.  It means coal, and repairs for the automobile, and furs for my wife—­when I get one.”

“Come,” said Eloise, springing to her feet; “let’s go up and get ready for luncheon.”

“Have you told me all?” asked Allan, “or is there some gay young troubadour who serenades you in the evening and whose existence you conceal from me for reasons of your own?”

[Sidenote:  A Pathetic Little Woman]

“Nary a troubadour,” she replied.  “I haven’t seen another soul except a pathetic little woman who came up to the hotel yesterday afternoon to sell the most exquisite things you ever saw.  Think of offering hand-made lingerie, of sheer, embroidered lawn and batiste and linen, to that crowd!  The old ladies weren’t interested, the spinsters sniffed, the widow wept, and only the divorcee took any notice of it.  The prices were so ridiculous that I wouldn’t let her unpack the box.  I’d be ashamed to pay her the price she asked.  It’s made by a little lame girl up the main road.  I’m to go up there sometime next week.”

“Fairy godmother?” asked Allan, good-naturedly.  He had known Eloise for many years.

“Perhaps,” she answered, somewhat shamefaced.  “What’s the use of having money if you don’t spend it?”

[Sidenote:  A Human Interest]

They went into the hotel together, utterly oblivious of the eight pairs of curious eyes that were fastened upon them in a frank, open stare.  The rocking-chairs scraped on the veranda as they instinctively drew closer together.  A strong human interest, imperatively demanding immediate discussion, had come to Riverdale-by-the-Sea.

VI

A Letter

[Sidenote:  Discouraging Prospects]

Miriam had come home disappointed and secretly afraid to hope for any tangible results from Miss Wynne’s promised visit.  Nevertheless, she told Barbara.

“Wouldn’t any of them even look at it, Aunty?”

“One of them would have looked at it and rumpled it so that I’d have had to iron it again, but she wouldn’t have bought anything.  This young lady said she was busy just then, and she wanted to come up and look over all the things at her leisure.  She won’t pay much, though, even if she buys anything.  She said the price was ‘ridiculous.’”

“Perhaps she meant it was too low,” suggested Barbara.

“Possibly,” answered Miriam.  Her tone indicated that it was equally possible for canary birds to play the piano, or for ducks to sing.

“How does she look?” queried Barbara.

“Well enough.”  Enthusiasm was not one of Miriam’s attractions.

“What did she have on?”

“White.  Linen, I think.”