"You are the cleverest creature; fancy doing that with everything
else you do!" the caller said, dropping into a chair. "I'm only
here for one second--and I'm bringing two messages from my
husband. The first is, that he has your tickets for the tennis
tournament with ours, we'll all be together; so tell Mr. Bradley
that he mustn't get them. And then, what did you decide about the
hospital? You see Mr. Ingram promised fifty dollars if we could
find nine other men to promise that, and make it an even thousand
from the Gardens, and Mr. Bradley said that even if he only gave
twenty-five himself he would find someone else to give the other
twenty-five. Tell him there's no hurry, but Ward wants to know
sometime before the first. I didn't know whether he remembered it
or not."

"I'll remind him!" Nancy promised brightly. She walked with her
guest to the car, and stood in the bright warm clear sunlight
smiling good-byes. "So many thanks for the tickets--and I'll tell
Bert about the hospital to-night!"

But when the car was gone she went slowly back. She eyed the cool
porchway sombrely, the opened casement windows, the blazing
geraniums in their boxes. Pauline was hanging checked glass towels
on the line, Nancy caught a glimpse of her big bare arms, over the
brick wall that shielded the kitchen yard. It was a lovely home,
it was a most successful establishment; surely, surely, things
would improve, it would never be necessary to go away from Holly
Court.