She deliberately drew her chair closer to him.

"Rob Roland," she said calmly, "my friend, Miss Thayer, is not
only a lady, but she is also a student of human ills. She has
been interested in little Wren that she might be cured. It
appears that some of her relatives consider her incurable."

"Cured!" he sneered. "That misfit made right! Why, she has only
a few months to live. Your friend is very foolish. She should
put her energy on something worth while. And she should be
careful how she handles their property. That scrapbook, for
instance."

"How dare you, Rob Roland!" exclaimed Cora. "Miss Thayer says the
child has been ill-treated through alleged treatment, and it
appears the man who has been treating her was paid by your
father."

"Oh, my!" The fellow sank deeper into his linen coat. "I had no
idea of your dramatic powers, Miss Kimball. I beg a thousand
pardons. I never dreamed that the Thayer girl was so close to
you. In fact, I rather thought you merely took her up out of
charity. Every one in Chelton knows that the Thayers are just
poor working-people."

That was too much for Cora. She stepped to the door of the
tea-room with dismissal in her manner. He knew she intended him
to leave at once.

"But what I want to know," he said, deliberately following her,