children, and as she stood in a circle of them all the afternoon,
untiring, eager--bending down to them, hooking the fish on the dangling
line--handing out the prizes, smiling into the flushed eager faces,
helping the very littlest ones to achieve a catch, I sat in a chair not
far away from her and watched. I saw Anthony come and go, urging her to
let some one else take her place, pressing a dozen reasons upon her for
desertion of her task, and coming back, when she refused, to complain to
me:

"Such things are a deadly bore."

"Not to Nancy."

"But they used to be. She's changed, Elizabeth."

"Beautifully changed."

"I am not sure. She was always such, a good sport."

"And isn't she now?"

"She is different," he caught himself up, "but of course--adorable."

Mimi Sears joined us, and she and Anthony went off together. Bob Needham
hung around Nancy until she sent him away. At last the hour arrived for
the open-air play which was a special attraction, and the crowds surged
toward the inclosure. The booths were deserted, and only one
rapturous child remained by the fish pond.

Nancy sat down and lifted the baby to her lap. She had taken off her