There was so much to interest her almost every hour of the day that Carolyn was seldom unhappy. The corroding thoughts of the pale lady and her baby were blessedly removed. That very Monday she and Prince went with mamma in the buckboard, drawn by a hired horse, across the island to the Ball cottage to call on the hotel clerk's wife. Hannah Cameron being herself a country-bred girl had not forgotten how to drive. The pale lady's husband was to walk across the island three or four evenings each week to be with his family, and altogether the pale lady was happier. She had been brought up in luxury and had known nothing of poverty until her marriage, but she was not a complaining, fault-finding person. That she and her baby had a chance for life again, and that her husband had work, were two blessings for which she could not fail to be thankful. Yet there was a weight upon the pale lady's mind and this fact was observed by more than Carolyn. How could young Mrs. Bassett escape anxiety under the circumstances? As her husband had admitted to Mr. Cameron, their outlook for the future was very, very uncertain. Nor did the offer made Joe Bassett by Inness, his father's secretary, encourage the pale lady much. To go away--far, far away from familiar surroundings--is not a cheering thought. In addition, she was quite sure the offer was made her husband merely for the purpose of getting them out of the way. His father desired them all at a distance. Even the innocent little baby! He wished not to run the chance of having his son and the latter's family where he might cross their path. In no other way could she look at this offer of distant employment. There was, too, in the young woman's mind a corroding thought. It had begun troubling her soon after her marriage. It had been a reckless marriage. She was forced to admit this. She would not have untied the knot the Church had tied; but she feared she had done Joe a wrong in wedding him. They loved. They were happy despite their poverty--especially after the baby came. But she realized that Joe, like herself, had been brought up to do nothing useful. His naturally sweet disposition had been all that saved him, under his mother's indulgence, from being a perfectly useless member of society. As it was he lacked initiative, self-confidence, and real ability to work. He was not lazy, but nothing he had as yet undertaken seemed fitted to such business talents as he might possess. Baby Laird's mother, therefore, was by no means relieved of her mental trouble by coming to the island. If one's mind is not at peace one may not gain much benefit from the most healthful surroundings. She was too anxious of mind to absorb energy and happiness in these new and better conditions. Baby Laird almost immediately began to improve; but his mother remained the pale lady.