Cressler frowned, puzzled and astonished.

“Hey⁠—what!” he exclaimed. “You’re crazy, Carrie!”

“Just the same,” persisted Mrs. Cressler, “I just yearn towards her sometimes like a mother. Some people are born to trouble, Charlie; born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. And you mark my words, Charlie Cressler, Laura is that sort. There’s all the pathos in the world in just the way she looks at you from under all that black, black hair, and out of her eyes the saddest eyes sometimes, great, sad, mournful eyes.”

“Fiddlesticks!” said Mr. Cressler, resuming his paper.

“I’m positive that Sheldon Corthell asked her to marry him,” mused Mrs. Cressler after a moment’s silence. “I’m sure that’s why he left so suddenly.”