His assurance braced the girl. "I'll make a go of it, Daddy," she promised, and then, "It's wrong for me to expect Mr. Wilkins to run after me. I will go to his office this morning and see him." He gave her a look of approval. "That's business," he agreed. She hovered about him after they rose from the table. "Could I ask Mr. Wilkins to come to my concert, Daddy?" There was an appealing look in the big blue eyes. "I don't want it to seem as if I have no friends." He gave her an uneasy glance and there was almost a note of regret in his voice when he answered, "I am sorry that I can't come. Certainly, you may ask Mr. Wilkins. Tell him that I want him to go. Ask any one you like." Yet in spite of these concessions his conscience disturbed him. "How will you meet the expenses of the entertainment," he inquired. "They won't be much. Serena had the things which I needed charged at the store." Obadiah appeared about to protest but changed his mind. "I can pay for anything else I need out of my allowance," she went on. An unusual wave of generosity engulfed Obadiah, due, no doubt, to pricks of his unquiet conscience. "Don't do that," he objected. "Send the bills to me." A delighted Virginia lifted up her voice, joyously, "How perfectly grand! I'll order ice cream for everybody." Pain rested upon Obadiah's countenance, due, no doubt, rather to a twinge of indigestion at the mention of a large quantity of ice cream during the breakfast hour than to regret at the result of his unusual liberality. He sought relief in reproving Ike sternly, ere departing for his office. Virginia spent a busy morning. She telephoned to Colonel Ryan, visited Mrs. Henderson and conferred at length with Mrs. Smith, the matron at the Lucinda Home, regarding the approaching festivities. Later, she repaired to the establishment of Mr. Vivian, glittering brilliantly in the morning sun and graced even at this early hour by thirsty members of South Ridgefield's younger set. Her deliberations with the genial proprietor were prolonged. Complex factors hindered the meeting of minds regarded as essential to the contractual relationship of commerce. Mr. Vivian's knowledge of the law of probabilities as applied to the consumption of ice cream and cake by infants, by adults, or by infants and adults together, was as deep as the information of an insurance actuary on the mortality of fellow men. But specialists gain their reputation through years of toil, and they object to risking it on the uncertain. To Mr. Vivian the capacity of old ladies and aged soldiers for delicate confections was an unknown factor. He had no digest of leading cases to consult, no vital statistics to inspect, no medical journals to study. He was venturing into unexplored territory. Without premises he was asked to deduct a conclusion. Mr. Vivian was reduced to an unscientific guess.