the heat of the stove. "And you will be forced to look at him across the
table, and he will look at you,--and--and you must not,--" she stamped
her foot,--"you dare not look like THAT, Betty Jo.

"And then there will be the dinner that you will cook for him, and the
supper; and the evenings on the porch. O Lord! Betty Jo, what ever will
you do? How will you ever save the fineness of your love? If you were
afraid to trust yourself with the help of Auntie Sue's presence, what
in the world can you do without her--and you actually keeping house
with him? Oh, Auntie Sue! Auntie Sue!" she groaned, "you are the dearest
woman in the world and the best and wisest, but you have blundered
terribly this time! Why DID you do such a thing! It is not fair to him!
It is not fair to me! It is not fair to our love!

"All of which,"--the practical Betty Jo declared a moment later, wiping
her eyes on the corner of her apron, and going into the other room to
set the table for breakfast,--"all of which, Betty Jo, does not in the
least help matters, and only makes you more nervous and upset than you
are.

"One thing is certain sure," she continued, while her hands were busy
with the dishes and the table preparations: "If we can endure this test,
we need never, never, never fear that anything nor anybody can ever,
ever make us doubt the genuineness of our love. Auntie Sue has certainly
arranged it most beautifully for Brian Kent and Betty Jo Williams to
become thoroughly acquainted."

Betty Jo suddenly paused in her work, and stood very still: "I wonder,"
she said slowly,--"can it be,--is it possible,--what if Auntie Sue has
brought about this situation for that very reason?"