The mother's quick thought was, "What would she think if she knew that I had just been told to say 'Marguerite!'" Mary Dunlap, noting the troubled glance of the mother hurried on: "I had a precious little girl of my own, once, about your daughter's age, Mrs. Sheldon. She was my only child. That night when your daughter stayed with me in my room was the first time I had ever been able to say with my whole heart, 'Thank God my Margaret is forever safe in the Everlasting arms!' "That is my apology for intruding on you again. And now, perhaps it would be wiser for me to have my talk with you, leaving you to repeat as much or as little as you see fit, to your daughter." Mrs. Sheldon answered quickly, excitedly: "Oh, I wish you would!" she said, "I have so longed to see you and ask you a lot of questions. Won't you sit down? And please, tell me first, about that night at the hotel. I know so very little about it, and I want to understand exactly what happened. Daisy is very vague in her story, and is so excitable that I dare not question her in her present state. All that I now know positively is that because of crowded conditions at the hotel, you kindly permitted her to share your room for the night." "Is it possible that you have not been told the whole story!" exclaimed Mary Dunlap in amazement. It seemed incredible that such a girl as the one she had protected had kept her mother in ignorance of the whole of that night's happenings. "Oh, tell me quickly!" said the mother, with instant premonition, dropping down on the edge of the couch where the caller had seated herself. "Tell me all, please. I have been utterly at a loss to understand Daisy's unstrung state of mind." Mary Dunlap wondered wildly where she should begin and then plunged into her subject. "First, may I ask, please, about this Mr. Keller whom I met that night with your daughter? Of course I knew nothing of him whatever. Is he a personal acquaintance of yours? A—friend?" There was an instant flash of indignation in the mother's eyes. "Certainly not!" she replied with almost haughtiness in her voice. "I have met him but once and I have never liked anything that I have heard about him. He is a sort of a traveling agent I believe for some New York firm, and business seems to call him to this particular town more frequently than I could wish. My daughter thinks that I am prejudiced against him because of certain stories we have heard about him, which she thinks have no foundation except in malicious gossip. But frankly, he is a source of much anxiety to me.