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"It's--it's----"

"Never ly "Get your breath; I can wait I hope nothing's wrong in your fa up unexpectedly that's upset you so, of course," she dared to say "Naturally, I know better than to think such a thing as that"

"Oh, Julia!" he said "Oh, Julia!"

"What is it, Noble?"

"Noth-ing," hethe word

"How odd you happened to be there at the station," she said, "just whenaway anywhere?"

"No; oh, no"

She was thoughtful, then laughed confidentially "You're the only person in town that knows I'ain "I came all of a sudden--on an impulse It's a little idiotic I'll tell you all about it, Noble You see, ten or twelve days ago I wrote the family aI wanted the it over, I knew they wouldn't You see, I wrote the I wanted theht about it, the ot into my head that I'd better jump on the next train for home!"

She paused, then added, "So I did! About ten or twelve days is as long as anybody has a right to expect the Atwater family connection to keep the deadliest kind of a secret, isn't it?" And as he did not respond, she explained, modestly, "Of course, it wasn't a very deadly secret; it was really about so of only the least importance"

The jar of this understate loudness "'Only the least importance'!" he shouted "With a man named Crum!"

"What!" she cried "Crum!" Noble insisted "That's exactly what it said his name was!"

"What said his name was?"

"The North End Daily Oriole!"

"What in heaven's name is that?"

"It's the children's paper, Herbert's and Florence's: your own niece and nephew, Julia! You don't reat confusion: "Do I deny what?"

"That his name's Crum!" Noble said passionately "That his name's Cruot nobody kno many children!"