who had been listening with growing impatience to an account of Mr.
Stobell which that gentleman would have been the first to disclaim, "I
never gave him a cross word. Nothing was too good for me; I only had to
ask to have."

Mrs. Chalk couldn't help herself. "Why don't you ask, then?" she
inquired.

Mrs. Stobell started and eyed her indignantly. "So long as I had him I
didn't want anything else," she said, stiffly. "We were all in all to
each other; he couldn't bear me out of his sight. I remember once, when
I had gone to see my poor mother, he sent me three telegrams in
thirty-five minutes telling me to come home."

"Thomas was so unselfish," murmured Mrs. Chalk. "I once stayed with my
mother for six weeks and he never said a word."

An odd expression, transient but unmistakable, flitted across the face of
the listener.

"It nearly broke his heart, though, poor dear," said Mrs. Chalk, glaring
at her. "He said he had never had such a time in his life."

"I don't expect he had," said Mrs. Stobell, screwing up her small
features.

Mrs. Chalk drew herself up in her chair. "What do you mean by that?"
she demanded.

"I meant what he meant," replied Mrs. Stobell, with a little air of