Big Poker Site hazard of new fortunes 49

know he does behind our backs." Mrs. Leightons mind wandered back to another point. "Then if he says Mr. Beaton cant paint, I presume he doesnt respect him very much." "Oh, he never said he couldnt paint. But I know he thinks so. He says hes an excellent critic." "Alma," her mother said, with the effect of breaking off, "what do you suppose is the reason he hasnt been near us?" "Why, I dont know, mamma, except that it would have been natural for another person to come, and hes an artist at least, artist enough for that." "That doesnt account for it altogether. He was very nice at St. Barnaby, and seemed so interested in you--your work." "Plenty of people were nice at St. Barnaby. That rich Mrs. Horn couldnt contain her joy when she heard we were coming to New York, but she hasnt poured in upon us a great deal since we got here." "But thats different. Shes very fashionable, and shes taken up with her own set. But Mr. Beatons one of our kind." "Thank you. Papa wasnt quite a tombstone-cutter, mamma." "That makes it all the harder to bear. He cant be ashamed of us. Perhaps he doesnt know where we are." "Do you wish to send him your card, mamma?" The girl flushed and towered in scorn of the idea. "Why, no, Alma," returned her mother. "Well, then," said Alma. But Mrs. Leighton was not so easily quelled. She had got her mind on Mr. Beaton, and she could not detach it at once. Besides, she was one of those women (they are commoner than the same sort of men) whom it does not pain to take out their most intimate thoughts and examine them in the light of other peoples opinions. "But I dont see how he can behave so. He must know that--" "That what, mamma?" demanded the girl. "That he influenced us a great deal in coming--" "He didnt. If he dared to presume to think such a thing--" "Now, Alma," said her mother, with the clinging persistence of such natures, "you know he did. And its no use for you to pretend that we didnt count upon him in--in every way. You may not have noticed his attentions, and I dont say you did, but others certainly did; and I must say that I didnt expect he would drop us so." "Drop us!" cried Alma, in a fury. "Oh!" "Yes, drop us, Alma. He must know where we are. Of course, Mr. Wetmores spoken to him about you, and its a shame that he hasnt been near us. I should have thought common gratitude, common decency, would have brought him after--after all we did for him." "We did nothing for him--nothing! He paid his board, and that ended it." "No, it didnt, Alma. You know what he used to say--about its being like home, and all that; and I must say that after his attentions to you, and all the things you told me he said, I expected something very dif--" A sharp peal of the door-bell thrilled through the house, and as if the pull of the bell-wire had twitched her to her feet, Mrs. Leighton sprang up and grappled with her daughter in their common terror. They both glared at the clock and made sure that it was five minutes after nine. Then they abandoned themselves some moments to the unrestricted play of their apprehensions. II. "Why, Alma," whispered the mother, "who in the world can it be at this time of night? You dont suppose he--" "Well, Im not going to the door, anyhow, mother, I dont care who it is; and, of course, he wouldnt be such a goose as to come at this hour." She put on a look of miserable trepidation, and shrank back from the door, while the hum of the bell died away, in the hall. "What shall we do?" asked Mrs. Leighton, helplessly. "Let him go away--whoever they are," said Alma. Another and more peremptory ring forbade them refuge in this simple expedient. "Oh, dear! what shall we do? Perhaps its a despatch." The conjecture moved Alma to no more than a rigid stare. "I shall not go," she said. A third ring more insistent than the others followed, and she said: "You go ahead, mamma, and Ill come behind to scream if its anybody. We can look through the side-lights at the door first." Mrs. Leighton fearfully led the way from the back chamber where they bad been sitting, and slowly descended the stairs. Alma came behind and turned up the hall

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