That night came a sudden shift in the weather and when morning broke the sky was gray and overcast and the wind blew raw and penetrating from the northeast.

Jed, at work in his stock room sorting a variegated shipment of mills and vanes which were to go to a winter resort on the west coast of Florida, was, as he might have expressed it, down at the mouth.

He still felt the sense of guilt of the night before, but with it he felt a redoubled realization of his own incompetence.

When he had surmised his neighbor and tenant to be in trouble he had felt a strong desire to help her; now that surmise had changed to certainty his desire to help was stronger than ever.

He pitied her from the bottom of his heart; she seemed so alone in the world and so young.