if not eager, to welcome an intruding guest, I could not easily
forget the drawn look about mouth and eyes which, in the first
instant of our meeting, had distorted features naturally
harmonious and beautifully serene.

I am sure her husband had observed it also, for his voice
trembled slightly as he addressed her.

"I have brought you a companion, Olympia, one whose business and
pleasure it will be to remain with you while I am making speeches
a hundred miles away. Do you not see reason for thanking me?"
This last question he pointed with a glance in my direction,
which drew her attention and caused her to give me a kindly look.

I met her eyes fairly. They were large and gray and meant for
smiling; eyes that, with a happy heart behind them, would
illumine her own beauty and create joy in those upon whom they
fell. But to-day, nothing but question lived in their dark and
uneasy depths, and it was for me to face that question and give
no sign of what the moment was to me.

"I think--I am sure, that my thanks are due you," she courteously
replied, with a quick turn toward her husband, expressive of
confidence, and, as I thought, of love. "I dreaded being left
alone."

He drew a deep breath of relief; we both did; then we talked a
little, after which Mayor Packard found some excuse for taking me
from the room.