Mary Louise hid herself in the drawing-room, where she could watch the
closed door of the library opposite. At times she trembled with an
unknown dread; again, she told herself that no harm could possibly
befall her dear, good Gran'pa Jim or her faithful, loving mother. Yet
why were they closeted in the library so long, and how could the meeting
with that insolent stranger affect Colonel Weatherby so strongly?

After a long time her mother came out, looking more pallid and harassed
than ever but strangely composed. She kissed Mary Louise, who came to
meet her, and said:

"Get ready for dinner, dear. We are late."

The girl went to her room, dazed and uneasy. At dinner her mother
appeared at the table, eating little or nothing, but Gran'pa Jim was not
present. Afterward she learned that he had gone over to Miss Stearne's
School for Girls, where he completed important arrangements concerning
his granddaughter.

When dinner was over Mary Louise went into the library and, drawing a
chair to where the light of the student lamp flooded her book, tried to
read. But the words were blurred and her mind was in a sort of chaos.
Mamma Bee had summoned Aunt Polly and Uncle Eben to her room, where she
was now holding a conference with the faithful colored servants. A
strange and subtle atmosphere of unrest pervaded the house; Mary Louise
scented radical changes in their heretofore pleasant home life, but what
these changes were to be or what necessitated them she could not
imagine.

After a while she heard Gran'pa Jim enter the hall and hang up his hat