homes were visible Marjorie began as though she must get out
something' that was on her mind before they reached Colonel
Pendleton's gate.

"Gray," she said hesitantly and so seriously that the boy turned
to her, "did it ever cross your mind that there was ever any
secret between Uncle Robert and mother?"

The boy's startled look was answer enough and she went on telling
him of the question she had asked her mother.

"Sometimes," she finished, "I think that your father and my mother
must have loved each other first and that something kept them from
marrying. I know that they must have talked it over lately, for
there seems to be a curious understanding between them now, and
the sweetest peace has come to both of them."

She paused, and Gray, paralyzed with wonder, still made no answer.
They had passed through the gate now and in a moment more would be
at Gray's home. Around each barn Gray saw an armed guard; there
was another at the yard gate, and there were two more on the steps
of the big portico.

"Maybe," the girl went on naively, almost as though she were
talking to herself, "that's why they've both always been so
anxious to have us--" Again she stopped--scarlet.