"Even then?" Alice repeated, without intending to.

"No one has told you that you've gone backward in looks, has he?" Allen
laughed, looking straight into her face. Then he continued: "There's one
other game we played, which I haven't forgotten: Do you remember how we
used to keep house together? You were Mrs. Allen Sanford then, and we
had everything fixed up--"

Alice sobered. "I--I think I have forgotten that one," she said. "Isn't
it ridiculous what games children do play?"

"But the motor-car game has come true," he insisted, "and you'll look
just as good to me sitting in the real car, as you used to on top of
that tub. And as for the other--"

"How long Eleanor is taking!" she interrupted; "I'll run and find her."
With which she disappeared, returning almost immediately, accompanied by
Mrs. Gorham.

"I shan't be asked again, if I keep you waiting so long, shall I?"
Eleanor apologized.

"The appointed time always arrives at the same moment that Mrs. Gorham
does," Allen replied.

"So!" Eleanor was frankly surprised by the boy's gallantry. "If this is
a sample, I must agree with your father that diplomacy is your natural
field. It would be a pity to waste that in a business office."

"Don't you join the opposition, Mrs. Gorham," he said, seriously. "I'm