Clayton Spencer met her late in December, walking feverishly along with
a book under her arm, and a half-desperate look in her eyes. He felt a
little thrill when he saw her, which should have warned him but did not.

She did not even greet him. She stopped and held out her book to him.

"Take it!" she said. "I've thrown it away twice, and two wretched men
have run after me and brought it back."

He took it and glanced at it.

"Spelling! Can't you spell?"

"Certainly I can spell," she said with dignity. "I'm a very good
speller. Clay, there isn't an 'i' in business, is there?"

"It is generally considered necessary to have two pretty good eyes in
business." But he saw then that she was really rather despairing. "There
is, one 'i,'" he said. "It seems foolish, doesn't it? Audrey dear, what
are you trying to do? For heaven's sake, if it's money?"

"It isn't that. I have enough. Honestly, Clay, I just had some sort of
an idea that I'd been playing long enough. But I'm only good for play.
That man this morning said as much, when we fussed about my spelling. He
said I'd better write a new dictionary."

Clayton threw back his head and laughed, and after a moment she laughed,
too. But as he went on his face was grave. Somebody ought to be looking
after her. It was not for some time that he realized he carried the
absurd little spelling-book. He took it back to the office with him, and
put it in the back of a drawer of his desk. Joey, coming in some time
later, found him, with the drawer open, and something in his hands which
he hastily put away. Later on, Joey investigated that drawer, and found
the little book. He inspected it with a mixture of surprise and scorn.