``You can't frighten me,'' said Mildred, with a
radiant, coquettish smile--for practice. ``Nothing
could frighten me.''

``I'm not trying,'' replied Presbury. ``Nor will
Siddall frighten you. A woman who's after a bill-payer
can stomach anything.''

``Or a man,'' said Mildred.

``Oh, your mother wasn't as bad as all that,'' said
Presbury, who never lost an opportunity.

Mrs. Presbury, seated beside her daughter in the cab,
gave an exclamation of rage. ``My own daughter
insulting me!'' she said.

``Such a thought did not enter my head,'' protested
Mildred. ``I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular.''

``Let's not quarrel now,'' said Presbury, with
unprecedented amiability. ``We must give Bill a spectacle
of the happy family.''

The cab entered the porte-cochere of a huge palace
of white stone just off Fifth Avenue. The house was
even grander than they had anticipated. The wrought-
iron fence around it had cost a small fortune; the house
itself, without reference to its contents, a large fortune.
The massive outer doors were opened by two lackeys