s ’ B u-s i N e s s 451 ing him so suddenly was to punish him for going to Dot a t all. She didn’t seem like that kind, but you couldn’t tell. sfc Hi He * H1 “Rex is coming home !” exclaimed Mrs. Henry Warner Wolfe, in her home in Farside Heights, as she glanced up from the letter she had been reading. “He is ! Why, I thought he was going to stay abroad two years to study.” “I thought so, too, but you never can tell what Rex will do,” “When does he come?” Mrs. Wolfe glanced again at the letter. “I guess he is here now, and I suppose he will drop in to dinner to night. And, oh dear,” she said, “I see trouble in the offing. Rex—and Lilli.” ’ “Well, what is the matter with Lilli ?” “Nothing. Nothing at all. But you know Rex; he gets simply crazy over every pretty face he meets—until he meets another. And Lilli is pretty. He will think she is here in some sort of disguise, and he will pester us to find out all about her.” “Well, I suggest that you tell him. Take him in on the secret.” But when Marian was consulted, she was very posi tive. “I would much rather not, Mrs. Wolfe, if you don’t mind. There is really no reason why he should know.” “He will guess something, and he will set himself to find, out.” “He will not find out from me,” Marian answered crisply. . • “Oh, but you don’t know him. He will engage you in conversation and then draw his own conclusions.” “Will he ? Wait until you find him engaging me in con versation. Lilli doesn’t talk, you know. She has a serious hindrance—impediment, you might call it, in her speech.” Marian’s dark eyes sparkled with laughter, but there was a firm little set to her chin which boded no good for Rex- ford Avery’s attempts to get acquainted with his sister’s maid, Lilli Bell. As Marian came into the dining room that night, the visitor stopped short in the story he was telling. “My stars! Vivian, where did you get that girl ?” he murmured when the door was scarcely closed behind her. “Lilli, you mean? Oh, she’s been with us for a while,” Mrs. Wolfe answered indifferently. But as the maid came in with the dessert, Rex was telling one of his funniest stories. He wanted to see her laugh. Yet not a gleam of recognition either of himself o* of his joke could he see in that mobile face. The next time it was no better. It piqued him. A week later he phoned his sister again that he was coming out to dinner. This time he walked boldly out into the kitchen. “Excuse me, Lilli,” he said, courtesy and good breed ing showing in voice and manner, “I know you won’t mind giving me a drink of water.” She handed it to him in perfect silence. He asked her a question, his eyes, full of flattering admiration, full on her face. “U-h—huh,” Lilli answered, without looking at him. As he started to leave the kitchen, he suddenly whirled about for another look at that puzzling girl. To his amaze ment; he caught' her with laughter almost bursting from her lips, while Her’-eyes danced with merriment. She turned her back on him then! % ; ; 1
October 1931 T h e K i n g ’ “I—I maybe won’t see you in the morning,” she said. “Then you want to tell me about it, and you would rather do it tonight ?” There was a soft light in his eyes. “You will perhaps sleep better if you do." And so she told him about everything—the happy eve ning she was having, the lovely people she had met, espe cially Dick Burling. She told of the pianist and his mes sage, and then she told of those last few minutes with Dick as he recalled his experience in Alaska, and of her fright lest he question her further. “And I ran away and came home,” she finished. “That was too bad, to run away like that from a nice young man.” His voice was very tender and sympathetic, but she looked at him suspiciously. “Daddy Goodwin, I think you are laughing at me,” she said. He smiled. “No, child, I am not. Lesser tragedies than that have wrecked happiness. But are there not some things to be glad about?” “Glad !” Marian echoed. “Haven’t you said you would give anything to know where your brother is?” “Yes, I have. Many times.” “Is it possible that God planned the evening for you so that you might receive this information?” “I never thought of that.” There was wonder in Mar ian’s voice. “But you are glad to know something of his where abouts ?” “Yes, I am,” she answered in a relieved tone. “But I could think only of having all that trouble spread out be fore everybody, or even before just Dick Burling.” “Was it?” “No, but it might have been.” “Yes, it might have been. Who prevented it?” Marian thought a minute. “I guess that Miss Hep burn.” She looked up with a twinkle in her eye. “Are you trying' to make me say I am thankful-for her, Daddy Goodwin ?” He smiled understandingly. “Perhaps.” They were quiet for some minutes, and then Mr. Goodwin said earnestly: “Marian, life is made up of sunshine and shadow— mostly sunshine for the majority of us, thank God. But there are plenty of storms on the calmest sea; just make up your mind to that, little girl. You can not plan your course to steer .past them, but you can set your bark how you will go through. Keep your faith in God steady at the helm. And, Marian, I am not blaming you for being so upset at what happened tonight, but do you not see how God’s overruling care brought you safely through ? Have the faith, and the will, and the vision, to see His hand when it is there, and to thank Him.” Thank you, Daddy Goodwin, I will try,” she mur mured humbly. Far into the night they talked, the girl bringing out from the stormy and bitter recesses of her heart each ach ing question, each rebellious thought. Even the hardest circumstances seemed to melt away, and the knottiest problem to yield itself for untangling in the patient hands of this kindly man of faith. But the disappearance of Marian Linton was a puzzle, to Dick Burling. He wondered if Dot Hepburn had done that thing on purpose, and he wondered if Marian’s leav-'
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