and how she had put her hands upon him and clung to him when she had discovered that he lived.
Barney arose from the chair in which he had been sitting and walked impatiently to the hall. Was she not coming, now that he was here? He put his hand upon her letters in his pocket to reassure himself that she had wanted him to come.
Ethel, upon the floor above, had been ready for many minutes; indeed, she had been ready when, from the front window of the room which had been Agnes's, she had seen Barney approaching the house; but she had waited for the servant to tell her that Mr. Loutrelle had come and then, amazingly, a tremor had attacked her when she reached the head of the stairs. So she retreated to her room and dallied there unwillingly, indignant at herself for this senseless hesitation before going downstairs. No one now in the world was as close to her—so she had considered many times during these last, lonely days—as this new friend; she had been looking forward eagerly to his arrival, arranging all plans to include him in what she had to do; and she had a very great deal to tell him and discuss with him. She should, therefore, descend at once in a friendly and business-like manner and greet him; but,—he was a man and she a girl. The sight of his strong, vigorous figure striding toward her had stirred a flutter in her breast which no amount of argument with self could quiet.
She had heard his voice, too; just in a word or so to the manservant, and it had more confused that flutter. When she went first from the head of the stairs to her room, it was to see herself again in her glass; the second time she so retreated it was to gaze once more at the picture of him in the group photo-
