"I suppose," Mrs. Cressler went on, in a tone of resignation, "I
suppose he thinks the world and all of _you?_"

Laura raised a shoulder without answering.

"Charlie can't abide him," said Mrs. Cressler. "Funny, isn't it what
prejudices men have? Charlie always speaks of him as though he were
a higher order of glazier. Curtis Jadwin seems to like him.... What
do you think of him, Laura--of Mr. Jadwin?"

"I don't know," she answered, looking vaguely into the fire. "I
thought he was a strong man--mentally I mean, and that he would be
kindly and--and--generous. Somehow," she said, musingly, "I didn't
think he would be the sort of man that women would take to, at
first--but then I don't know. I saw very little of him, as I say. He
didn't impress me as being a woman's man."

"All the better," said the other. "Who would want to marry a woman's
man? I wouldn't. Sheldon Corthell is that. I tell you one thing,
Laura, and when you are as old as I am, you'll know it's true: the
kind of a man that men like--not women--is the kind of a man that
makes the best husband."

Laura nodded her head.

"Yes," she answered, listlessly, "I suppose that's true."

"You said Jadwin struck you as being a kindly man, a generous man.
He's just that, and that charitable! You know he has a Sunday-school