can't. It came to me when I was walking along with the District Nurse
that you were just the one to help me. You're so--well, so sharp yet
safe. If they suspected, they would not let us know, maybe."

The two were now walking along in a companionable way back in the
direction Gloria had come.

"Dinney, if you find out who owns that house I will buy it. I've got
money; Uncle Em says I have. I will buy it and we'll fix it up good."
Dinney's face was aglow, his eyes shone, his breath was drawn sharp and
quick.

"Would you put in new stairs and new ceilings and new window panes if
you bought that house?"

"Yes, I would," said Gloria. "At first I thought I'd tear it down. But I
don't believe now I would, it's been home for so many. I'd just like to
see it fixed up the way it should have been years and years and years
ago."

"And you'd fix the hole in the ceiling?" asked the boy. Evidently that
break in the ceiling over the bed that had been his mother's had left a
deep impression on him.

"Wouldn't I, Dinney!" And now the girl's eyes shone. "It is a secret
worth keeping," she said.

"I should say!" answered Dinney. "And I'll find out if--if--it takes my
life, I will."