Things had gone wrong again with Frank and Nettie, most likely, she thought, for she was not ignorant, of the misunderstandings and misery arising from that unfortunate marriage, and she had about made up her mind to tell her sister just where the fault lay.

She would not spare Frank any longer, but would give him his just deserts.

She never dreamed that the trouble this time concerned Ethie, her own darling, the child whom she had loved so well, and pitied, and thought of so much since the time she left her out West with "those Philistines," as she designated Richard's family.

She had not heard from her for some time, but, in the last letter received, Ethie had written in a very cheerful strain, and told how gay and pleasant it was in Camden that winter.

Surely nothing had befallen her, and the good woman stood aghast when Mrs.Dr.Van Buren abruptly asked if Ethelyn was not there, or had been there lately, or heard from either.