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150 ing the lights and shadows on Mrs. Bradley's face that, if he heard the question at all, he paid no heed to it.

The widow now appealed to Lamar.

"Mr. Lamar," she said, "you are a friend of mine, and your judgment is very good. What would you do if you were in my place?"

"I should turn the offer down," replied Lamar, promptly. "It would be a great blunder for you to take this corporation's money. It would injure you and our cause in more ways than one."

The widow smiled again. Her face was fascinating when she smiled. There were two men in the room who would have vouched for that.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. "See what an embarrassing position you place me in. Mr. Malleson and Miss Chichester are positive that I should take the money, and Miss Tracy and Mr. Lamar are equally positive that I shouldn't. Two and two. And you are all my friends. What am I to do?"

Up through Barry's consciousness there struggled a gleam of light.

"I'll tell you what to do, Mrs. Bradley," he said, speaking with unusual rapidity; "hold the matter under advisement, a—hold the matter under advisement. For a fortnight say. Think it over carefully, and—as my friend Farrar would say—prayerfully, and I'll see you about it later."

Then Miss Chichester again had her innings.

"Barry!" she exclaimed, "you'll do nothing of the kind! If you don't close it up to-day you must drop it entirely, because I shall not come with you again to help you put it through."

Barry pondered for a moment over this ultimatum, but he did not appear to be at all displeased.

"I'll not insist," he said, "on your coming again. In fact I think possibly I could get along with Mrs. Bradley better, don't you know, if there wasn't any one present to interfere."