Man. If he picked me up I suppose I ought to patronise him. All the
same, Virginia," and now Miss Bentley spoke with great seriousness,
"I wish you not to say anything about me to him. It is rather silly,
you know."

Virginia did not know, but she longed to do in every particular what
Miss Bentley desired, so she promised.

The opal lights in the western sky were the only reminders left of the
sunny day, when Uncle Bob, seated comfortably in the big armchair,
listened to Margaret Elizabeth's confession, the flames dancing and
curling around a fresh log meanwhile. In size it was but a modest log,
for the fireplace was neither wide nor deep like those at Pennington
Park, but the Little Red Chimney did its part so merrily and well that
upon no other hearth could the flames dance and curl so gaily. At least
so it had seemed to Margaret Elizabeth, sitting there chin in hand,
after Virginia's departure.

"And you are certain you never met him before?" Uncle Bob ran his
fingers through his hair and frowned thoughtfully.

"Perfectly certain. You see the resemblance was remarkable, all but
the eyes, and I thought Mr. McAllister had simply waked up. People
are sometimes stiff when you first meet them. He knew who I was, for
he called me Miss Bentley. Naturally I thought it was some one I had
met--particularly when he mentioned the accident. You see, in getting
out of the machine at the Country Club a day or two before I caught
my skirt in the door and fell, striking my elbow. It didn't amount to
anything, though it hurt for a minute, but Aunt Eleanor made a great
fuss. He may have been somewhere about at the time, but I didn't meet