farther side were the meadows, and then the hills, smoky in their warm
haze. Over all was the pale April sky with skeins of gray cloud in the
west. He wondered what Alice was doing at this moment, and looked at
his watch. She must be just coming back from church. When he was at
home Mr. Pryor went to church himself, and watched her saying her
little prayers. This assumption of the Pryor-Barr liabilities would be
a serious check to the fortune he was building up for her; he set his
jaw angrily at the thought, but of course it couldn't be helped.
Furthermore, Alice took great pride in the almost quixotic sense of
honor that had prompted the step; a pride which gave him a secret
satisfaction, quite fatuous and childlike and entirely out of keeping
with certain other characteristics, also secret.

There was a gleam of humor in his eyes, as he said to himself that he
hoped Alice would not ask him how he had spent his Sunday morning.
Alice had such a feeling about truth, that he did not like to tell her
even little lies, little ones that she could not possibly find out. It
was the sentiment of fibbing to his girl that offended him, not the
fib; for Mr. Lloyd Pryor had no doubt that, in certain matters, Truth
must be governed by the law of benefit.

Thinking of his daughter, and smiling to himself, he lounged aimlessly
about the garden; then it occurred to him to go into the stable and
look at Helena's pony. After that he strolled over to the carriage-
house where were stored a number of cases containing stuffed
creatures--birds and chipmunks and small furry things. Some larger
animals were slung up under the beams of the loft to get them out of
the way; there was a bear in one corner, and a great crocodile, and a
shark; possessions of the previous owner of the Stuffed Animal House,
stored here by her executor, pending the final settlement of the