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 stockings and one of the neatest of little darns. He could resist no longer, and when he told me the story he showed me the identical hose.'

Now the thing's done. Except for an ending bringing 'me' and Fred Graham together over a basket of darning.

They didn't wear stockings in Arabia or stays or hoops or trousers, really. She gathered all her pencils together and, leaning almost at right angles over the waste-basket, began to sharpen them meticulously. Mr. Fox sauntered in, whistling, and as he drank from the Rockingham cooler he watched. Miss Bardeen's exactitude in the matter interested him. Not a sliver fell to the floor. Each point was perfection.

'Another story for "Hearth and Home"?' he asked, glancing at her desk.

'Yes.'

'What do you think of the stories we publish in that magazine?'

'Oh, some are very skilful. And I'm sure, as Miss Bigley says, they must do a world of good.'

'What ones have you enjoyed?'

She shot him a quick, birdlike glance. 'I liked "Mrs. Troubles' Twins" and "The Hands of Martha.

'Did you like "This I Have Promised"?'

'But that was in your 'Journal.' Yes, it was stupendous.'

'The thing coagulates like life. Do you think "The Hands of Martha" is like life?'

'Why, yes.'