"Quite well, she says."

"Then what in the world is she coming for?" Theodora's tone expressed
both indignation and incredulity.

"It passes my comprehension. What do you think, Billy?"

Mr. Farrington took off his hat and pushed back his red-gold hair. It was
a trick he had, when he was worried or annoyed.

"I can't imagine," he said anxiously. "Mother has enjoyed Babe and she
has written often of Babe's being happy over there. It seemed a pleasant
thing for them both; and I am sorry to have the arrangement broken up.
What has Babe written to you?"

"Constant ecstasies. She has been perfectly happy, and has chanted the
praise of your mother for paragraphs at a time. I think there can't have
been any trouble, or Babe would have told us. She isn't the one to
disguise her feelings and spoil a story for relationship's sake."

Theodora sighed. Then she laughed.

"It is only another one of Babe's freaks," she said, with a blitheness
which was meant for her husband's ear. "We must bide our time till
she comes to explain herself. Did you ever know her to do what you
expected of her?"

It was nearly dark when the train rolled in at the familiar station. The
Farrington carriage was waiting, and beside it waited a grey-haired man