"You're a good pal, Alice," she said, "and I'm very grateful." Alice was compensated, although her shrewd knowledge of character told her how easily her friend won her points.

"And I hope you're duly grateful to Martin Gray ?" "To dear old Marty?
Rather! He and I are great pals." But that was all Alice got.

Her burning curiosity to know precisely how this young couple stood must go unsatisfied for the time being.

She had only caught a few fleeting glimpses of the man who had given Joan the key to life, and every time had wondered, from something in his eyes, whether he found things wholly good.

She was just a little suspicious of romances.