. And, Carley Burch, if your happiness depends on him you had better be up and doing–or you’ll lose him!”

“Aunt Mary!” gasped Carley.

“I mean it. That letter shows how near he came to the Valley of the Shadow–and how he has become a man. . . . If I were you I’d go out West. Surely there must be a place where it would be all right for you to stay.”

“Oh, yes,” replied Carley, eagerly. “Glenn wrote me there was a lodge where people went in nice weather–right down in the canyon not far from his place. Then, of course, the town–Flagstaff–isn’t far. . . . Aunt Mary, I think I’ll go.”

“I would. You’re certainly wasting your time here.”

“But I could only go for a visit,” rejoined Carley, thoughtfully. “A month, perhaps six weeks, if I could stand it.”

“Seems to me if you can stand New York you could stand that place,” said Aunt Mary, dryly.

“The idea of staying away from New York any length of time–why, I couldn’t do it I . . . But I can stay out there long enough to bring Glenn back with me.”

“That may take you longer than you think,” replied her aunt, with a gleam in her shrewd eyes. “If you want my advice you will surprise Glenn. Don’t write him–don’t give him a chance to–well to suggest courteously that you’d better not come just yet. I don’t like his words ‘just yet.’”

“Auntie, you’re–rather–more than blunt,” said Carley, divided between resentment and amaze. “Glenn would be simply wild to have me come.”

“Maybe he would. Has he ever asked you?”

“No-o–come to think of it, he hasn’t,” replied Carley, reluctantly. “Aunt Mary, you hurt my feelings.”

“Well, child, I’m glad to learn your feelings are hurt,” returned the aunt. “I’m sure, Carley, that underneath all this–this blase ultra something you’ve acquired, there’s a real heart. Only you must hurry and listen to it–or–“

“Or what?” queried Carley.

Aunt Mary shook her gray head sagely. “Never mind what. Carley, I’d like your idea of the most significant thing in Glenn’s letter.”

“Why, his love for me, of course!” replied Carley.

“Naturally you think that. But I don’t. What struck me most were his words, ‘out of the West.’ Carley, you’d do well to ponder over them.”

“I will,” rejoined Carley, positively. “I’ll do more.