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88 that at last I concluded I 'd better pull up stakes and quit."

"Nothing could have been more judicious, my young kinsman," responded the Colonel, "and these ladies, I am sure, are the magnets that have drawn you to us."

"Are you quite sure of that, Corbin?" asked Mr. Romaine, with a foxy smile. "Sometimes a cow does not like to be chased by a haystack."

Sir Archy, still busy with his traps, did not take this in. Ethel Maywood did not contradict it at all. She never took issue with Mr. Romaine, but Letty flushed angrily. She concluded then that Mr. Romaine was very old and very disagreeable.

Farebrother was still lingering, although the first whistle had already blown. It was about nine o'clock on a lovely September evening. The moon had risen, and a pale, opaline glow still lingered on sea and sky, bathing the harbor and the white walled fort and a fleet of yachts in its magic light. The scene and the hour melted Letty. She had been very happy at Newport. Usually, the first taste a provincial gets of the great world beyond is bitter in the mouth, but her experiences had