it just simply will be lost; that is all there is to it."

The Judge was studying deeply now. Finally he said: "Young
lady, I greatly appreciate your coming to me. There may be
NOTHING in what you fear. It MIGHT be a matter of national
importance. In any event, it shows that your heart is in the
right place. May Mrs. Whiting and I pay you a visit some day
soon in your home?"

"Of course," said Linda simply. "I told Donald to bring his
mother the first time he came, but he said he did not need to be
chaperoned when he came to see me, because my father's name was a
guarantee to his mother that my home would be a proper place for
him to visit."

"I wonder how many of his other girl friends invited him to bring
his mother to see them," said the Judge.

"Oh, he probably grew up with the other girls and was acquainted
with them from tiny things," said Linda.

"Very likely," conceded the Judge. "I think, after all, I would
rather have an invitation to make one of those trips with you to
the desert or the mountains. Is there anything else as
interesting as fish hooks and Victrola needles and wooden legs to
be learned?"

"Oh, yes," said Linda, leaning farther forward, a lovely color
sweeping up into her cheeks, her eyes a-shine. She had missed
the fact that the Judge was jesting. She had thought him in