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“‘Yes,’ I answered, speaking slowly; ‘there was a sort of accord, a kind of–‘

“I was interrupted in what would have been a very labored sentence by the ringing of the door-bell. Mary instantly rose. It was plain she was laboring under suppressed excitement, for there was no other reason why she should have jumped up in that way. She looked as if she were anxious to see some one, no matter who it was. I, too, felt relieved by the interruption. In my state of wildly conflicting emotions any third person would be a relief.

“The door opened, and Miss Sarah Castle walked in. ‘Oh, Mary,’ she exclaimed, ‘I am so glad to find you at home! As it isn’t late and the moon is so bright, I thought I would run over to see you for a few minutes. Oh, Mr. Howard!’

“Sarah Castle was a young woman for whom I had no fancy. Active in mind and body, and apparently constructed of thoroughly well-seasoned material, she was quick to notice, eager to know, and ready at all times to display an interest in the affairs of her friends, with which, in most cases, said friends would willingly have dispensed. As she took a seat she exclaimed:

“‘You don’t mean to say, Mary, that you went deaf in Burma?’

“Unfortunately I had forgotten to put my translatophone into my pocket, and it was lying in full view on the table. Mary gave a scornful glance toward the innocent tube.

“‘Oh, that?’ she said. ‘That is not mine. It belongs to Mr. Howard.’

“The words ‘Mr. Howard’ grated upon my nerves. Up to this moment, except through the translatophone, she had not addressed me by my name in any form; and every tentative lover knows that when his lady addresses him as though he had no name it means that she does not wish to use his formal title and that the time has not arrived for her to call him by his Christian name.

“‘You deaf?’ cried Sarah, turning to me. ‘I have never heard anything of that. When did it come on? It must have been very recent.’

“‘Oh, he isn’t deaf,’ said Mary, impatiently. ‘It is only one of his inventions. But tell me something of your brothers. I have not heard a word about them yet.’

“But the knowledge-loving Sarah was not to be bluffed off in this way.

“‘Oh, they are all right,’ said she. ‘They are both in college now. But Mr. Howard deaf! I am truly amazed. Do you have to talk to him through this, Mary?’

“Mary Armat was not an ill-natured girl, but, as I said before, she was a high-spirited one, and was at the time in a state of justifiable irritation.

“‘Oh, bother that thing!’ she answered. ‘I told you it is only one of his inventions, and I wish he would put it in his pocket.’

“‘Not just yet,’ said Sarah. ‘I am really anxious to know about it. Why do you use it, Mr. Howard, if you are not deaf?’

“My face must have displayed my extreme embarrassment at this unanswerable question, for Mary came to my relief.

“‘Oh, it is a kind of musical instrument,’ she said. ‘But don’t let us talk any more about it. This is the second time I have seen you, but we have not really had a good chance to say anything to each other.’

“I took advantage of this very strong hint, and rose.

“‘Musical!’ exclaimed the irrepressible Sarah. ‘Oh, Mr. Howard, please play on it just the least little bit!’

“Mary allowed herself an expression of extreme disgust. ‘Please not while I am present,’ she said; ‘I could not abide it.’

“I now advanced to take my leave.

“‘Do not go just now,’ said Sarah; ‘I merely ran over for a minute to ask Mary about the Wilmer reception; but as you are going, Mr. Howard, you might as well see me home. It is later now.’

“I retired to a book-table at the other end of the parlor, and it was a good deal later when the two young ladies had finished talking about the Wilmer reception.