"I wasn't coming to tell you, but to rejoice _with_ you!" he amended. "Linda, dear, you have never been out of my thoughts for a minute these last two days." He paused and looked shyly away from her. "Will you believe it, when I tell you that my heart just bled for you?"
"Harry!" she exclaimed hoarsely. "You really cared—for my sake?"
"More than I can tell you!"
"And I imagined I hadn't a friend," she murmured. "A real friend, I mean, who thought more of my feelings than of my physical safety.... Oh, Harry, I'll never forget this!"
There was a deep silence for a moment, a silence filled with understanding and sympathy. Then Linda heard her aunt's voice, calling her from the library.
"Can you come in here a minute, dear?" she said. "I want you to look at your new dress."
"Certainly," responded her niece, and as Linda rose from her chair she felt as if she were walking on air. The whole world had changed for her in that ten minutes since Harriman Smith's arrival.
The young people entered the library together.
"Why, good morning Harry," said Miss Carlton, cordially. "I didn't know that Linda had company."
"It is a queer time to call, I'll admit," replied Harry. "And I guess I even forgot to apologize. But I do now."