"First 51, on time," said the caller, handing up a rather coal-dusty book and a pencil. Will Bates threw away a halffinished cigarette, took his feet down leisurely from the railing and signed his name in the book. He was trying not to look proud.

"What engine have you got for me?" he asked.

"The 103, boss."

"How does she steam?"

"De las' man say she steam all right."

A girl sat sewing on the veranda, near by. She glanced in admiration at the young engineer, whose second trip this was to be. "How coolly he takes it!" she thought. Aloud she said:

"Shall I fix you a lunch to take with you, Will?"

"No, I guess not; I'll get something to eat up the road."

"But they charge you such awful prices."

"Oh, well, I guess I can pay for it All I hate is--"

now.

Fay did not look up; she waited, but he did not continue, so she murmured: "What?"

"Leaving you."

"Oh, Will, you don't really care." "But I do 'really care.''

He looked sincere enough. He gazed at her thoughtfully.

"Fay, you are the prettiest girl I ever saw."

This remark was intended to please, but it did not. Fay looked hurt.

No. 9.

"You think so, perhaps, and that is why you care for me. But with me it is different-if you were not young, nor strong, nor handsome, it would be all the same to me."

"What on earth could you find in me to like then?"

"I believe you are brave, and good, and noble; it is for this that I-like you, and so long as I believe this, you will have my sincere regard."

Fay meant what she said. She spoke from the depths of a tender and trusting heart, only-she was not wise.

"Oh, well, we'll talk it over some other time; I've got to go. Good bye. Here comes Fred; tell him the reason you like me. He won't believe you do." As Will went out the gate his brother, Fred, came in. He was a large man and carried himself well, but he was not so handsome as Will. They were somewhat alike, but with innumerable little differences. Will was gay, talkative, a favorite among the ladies-but men preferred Fred.

Fay Weaver was their mother's cousin. She had lived here for the past year, and Will, who had carried on a mild flirtation with her from the first, had managed to gain a much larger share of her admiration and regard than he exactly deserved. It was different with Fred. Fay liked him, too, but with a sense of aloofness. He had acquired a certain habit of silence of late, that seemed to increase. Fay felt as if she hardly knew Will's elder brother, and she often won

dered what kind of a man he was when one came to know him.

Fred was a conductor. Perhaps his work was more absorbing than Will's, Fay thought, and this was why he spoke less.

Mrs. Bates was a good-natured old lady who idolized her two sons, and who went through life as if it were a great joke. Every one spoke of old lady Bates as being "good company." Fay, despite the fact that she was eighteen and her cousin Ethel fifty, got along beautifully with her. She admired the sterling qualities of the old lady, and fondly believed that she saw them reflected in Will; but it was Fred who, except for his present mood of silence, was like his mother.

One day Mrs. Bates came out of Will's room, in his absence, her face abeam with laughter. In one hand she held a coat of his, in the other a note.

"Look here, Fay; we'll have some fun with Will about this," and she handed the note to Fay. It was short, but running over with love-sick phrases, flattery and sentimental nonsense. It was signed with a silly-sounding pet

name.

Now, Mrs. Bates always pretended not to notice that there was anything between Will and Fay, but she could not misread the pain in the girl's face now. It was a disappointment to the old lady. She had hoped to arouse Fay's disgust, only.

When Will came in, his mother did tease him about the note, much to that young man's embarrassment, but Fay did not join in. She spoke of it afterwards when they were alone. Will explained it in this way; the girl did like him, he supposed, he did not know why -he had never tried to make her like him. He didn't see how he could prevent her writing to him if she wanted to, and much more to the same effect.

Of course, he ended up, Fay must know that no other girl could ever be "in it" with her. She was the prettiest girl he ever saw-"and the best," he added, remembering.

The incident of the letter blew over. All was serene in the Bates household.

Will was still an "extra" man, but he had as much work as he wished for. Life was very pleasant now to Will. His work was not hard, at least compared with firing it was not, and it was well interspersed with pleasure. Why is it that a little rise in circumstances affects some natures so ruinously? Will was undergoing a grievous change-or was it only development? He seemed to feel no added responsibility as engineer, and took no pride or interest in his work, except in so far as it made the all-important pay day possible. Older men noticed him silently, but seeing in their mind's eye "his finish.”

Fred saw everything, and broke through his reticence sufficiently to remonstrate with him, with the futile result he had expected. Fred spoke also of another subject that it was very difficult to mention. His gray eyes were stern with repressed wrath.

"You are earning good wages nowand our cousin-Fay; isn't there some sort of understanding between you and her? I know it's none of my business, but don't you think, if you ever expect to marry her, you ought to keep yourself a little straighter? The time may come when you will wish you had."

Will frowned with annoyance.

"I wouldn't take this interference from any one but you, Fred," he said. "And only from you, because I know it's kindly meant. But you are no angel yourself, and surely I'm old enough to know my own business. And as for marrying Fay or any one else, that's a long way in the future. I'm not in any hurry to chain myself down to any woman. A man can't have any pleasure after he's married."

"Then you ought to let her know in some way. You are not treating her right."

Fred was saying very little, to keep from saying too much.

Will laughed. "Oh, a man can't do that, you know. You can explain things to her, if you want! So long!" and Will strolled off whistling, while Fred fought hard with himself to keep from telling this man, on whom it would make no