TWEEN T 
 
 ALIEL 
 
9 6 
 

 
 . B.CLARKE 
 
 [BOOKS 1 
 
 2Sa28TREMONTST.& 
 1 in rniiBT <;<-> une-rnk 
 
BETWEEN TWO 
 MASTERS 
 
 BY 
 
 GAMALIEL BRADFORD, JR. 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 ftitoer?iti ptes?, 
 1906 
 
COPYRIGHT 1906 BY GAMALIEL BRADFORD, JR. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published April iqob 
 
TO 
 
 S. H. B. 
 
 M506269 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. An Offer of Millions i 
 
 II. A Game of Billiards . . . 16 
 
 III. Gloria 30 
 
 IV. The Reverend Marcus . . . 41 
 V. Milly declines 5 1 
 
 VI. Coppers 61 
 
 VII. " I step down and out " . 76 
 
 VIII. Robertsville 87 
 
 IX. A Jester s Wooing .... 98 
 
 X. A Canoe Accident . . . . 109 
 
 XI. Harvey s Philanthropy . . . .120 
 
 XII. The Pleshpots 131 
 
 XIII. A Golf Tournament . . . . 144 
 
 XIV. The Crackling of Thorns . . . 155 
 XV. Mrs. O Brien 165 
 
 XVI. Harvey explains . . . 176 
 
 XVII. Tainted Money 191 
 
 XVIII. The Settlement .... 202 
 
 XIX. The Baiting of Diana . . . .211 
 
 XX. Mr. Phelps s Will .... 226 
 
 XXI. Impertinent Questions .... 232 
 
 XXII. The Personal Element ... 242 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 XXIII. Diana and Marcus . . . .252 
 
 XXIV. The End of the O Briens ... 265 
 XXV. The Everlasting Arms . . . . 279 
 
 XXVI. " Go ask her To-morrow " . . 286 
 
 XXVII. The Windflower 294 
 
 XXVIII. The Coming of the Tide . . . 309 
 
 XXIX. Milly 324 
 
 XXX. Diana . . . . . . 332 
 
BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 
 
 ON a warm October evening Amos K. Phelps and 
 his brother s son Harvey sat and smoked in the 
 great dining-room of Amos s house on Common 
 wealth Avenue. 
 
 The uncle was a man of something over fifty, slight 
 in build, very handsome and dignified in his evening 
 dress, hair already quite gray, skin as dark as an In 
 dian s, eyes dark, shrewd, penetrating, the face smooth, 
 except for a soft, gray mustache. The nephew was 
 a young fellow, as dark as his uncle, but of a very 
 different figure, tall, broad-shouldered, stoutly mus 
 cled, making even slight movements with the soft 
 ease of strength. His clean-shaven face was full, the 
 features a trifle heavy, yet by no means unintelligent, 
 and touched with a singularly winning frankness 
 when he smiled. 
 
 The uncle opened the conversation, speaking in a 
 quiet, even tone, with the deliberateness of a man 
 
a BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 who means never to regret anything he has uttered. 
 " Well, my boy, it looks like the beginning of life 
 for you now. Twenty-two years old, college over, a 
 long summer s vacation doing nothing." 
 
 Harvey took his cigar out of his mouth, as if to 
 remonstrate, but he thought better of it. 
 
 "I know," continued Amos. "If you prefer, we 
 won t say doing nothing ; but teaching boys to row 
 and swim in a summer camp is hardly a serious pur 
 suit. Of course, without saying very much about it, 
 I ve always hoped that when this time came you 
 would go into business with me. That s always been 
 the understanding, I suppose. You ve been my boy 
 ever since your parents died, and if I d had a son of 
 my own I could n t have loved him any better, and 
 no son of my own could have behaved better to 
 me. Now, I think, we should begin to talk about 
 the future." 
 
 Harvey Phelps was not the sort of man who speaks 
 easily, and it was with an evident effort that he made 
 the response which seemed to be demanded of him. 
 " You ve been awfully good to me, Uncle Amos. I 
 don t know what I ve done to deserve it." 
 
 " Well, not so good as that comes to either," the 
 uncle answered. "You have your own income, 
 not much, but enough to live on. You could have 
 got along without me, I suppose. I m willing to call 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 3 
 
 it square, so far. But you won t want to loaf forever 
 on two thousand dollars a year. It s the future we 
 must think about, my boy, the future." 
 
 Harvey looked, listened, smoked, and said no 
 thing. 
 
 " The future," Amos repeated, a little more slowly. 
 "I ve always lived in it, perhaps too much." Then 
 he went on in his ordinary business-like tone : " I m 
 fifty-three years old. When I was your age I had 
 nothing, and no prospect of anything. I was clerking 
 it on a small salary for Williams & Harding, bank 
 ers and brokers. Before I was thirty, by two or three 
 turns of extraordinary luck, I was a partner in the 
 house, making money by handfuls. Now I m the 
 senior partner of my own house, worth from six to 
 seven millions. For the last five years I Ve had it 
 in my head all the time that you should succeed me 
 and carry on the business. I believe you re just the 
 one to do it. Mind you, Harvey, I don t care about 
 money in itself. I don t care to hoard it, and I Ve 
 no taste for spending it. All this sort of thing" he 
 lifted his hand lightly towards the table with its spar 
 kling glass and silver " means very little to me. The 
 women like it. I built this house to please them ; 
 but I should be just as contented myself in the story- 
 and-a-half cottage where I was born. It s the suc 
 cess that counts, to be all the time reaching after 
 
4 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 something bigger and getting it, to lay long plans 
 and carry them out just as you foresaw them, to 
 put your hand on men and things and feel them 
 give." He stretched out his thin, dark, strong fingers 
 and closed them slowly, as if the world were yielding 
 to his grip. 
 
 " Lately, since I ve had this heart trouble, which 
 may carry me off at any time, you Ve been in all my 
 plans," he went on. "I feel, somehow, that you ve 
 got it in you, and we can work together. And I want 
 to leave the business and the name associated, after 
 I m gone. I did hope I should have a son, a child 
 of my own, at any rate ; but that was denied me. 
 Of course, there s Ethel. When I married Mrs. Har 
 per, Ethel was hardly more than a baby, and she s 
 been almost like my own daughter, especially since 
 your aunt died. She s a good girl and very nearly 
 your age, Harvey ; of course, I shall provide for her 
 amply, and sometimes I have thought" 
 
 He did not finish the sentence. Again Harvey 
 seemed about to speak, but he took a long pull at 
 his cigar instead. 
 
 Once more Mr. Phelps continued the conversation. 
 "Well, there it is. It s a good opening for you. 
 There s no doubt about that You 11 have to begin 
 at the bottom at first, till you know the ways and get 
 the hang of the street. But that won t last long. I m 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 5 
 
 sure you ve got it in you. You 11 go to the top in no 
 time. Now, then, wh.at do you say ? " 
 
 Evidently it was impossible for the young man to 
 keep silent any longer. Yet it was equally evident 
 that he was reluctant to speak. He looked thought 
 fully at the long ash on the end of his cigar, knocked 
 it off into the tray beside him, then looked at the end 
 of his cigar again. 
 
 " Uncle," he began at length, " it s awfully hard 
 for me to put my ideas into shape. You know that." 
 
 Amos nodded. 
 
 " Whatever happens, I want you to feel that I 
 appreciate your kindness. Not one young fellow in 
 ten thousand has the chance you re offering me, and 
 I m grateful." 
 
 Again a pause, which Amos this time showed no 
 disposition to break. He simply surveyed his nephew, 
 through the curling smoke, with quiet curiosity. 
 
 " The truth is " Harvey made a desperate plunge 
 "I have queer, fool doubts about whether it would 
 be quite right for me to do this." 
 
 " How right ?" was Amos s calm inquiry. 
 
 " If I try to say what I mean, you 11 suppose I m 
 finding fault with you, in some way, and I think 
 you re one of the greatest men alive." 
 
 " Just go ahead with your ideas. Leave me out. 
 I want to get at the facts." 
 
6 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Well, then, the last year or so I ve been looking 
 into things a little and I begin to wonder whether 
 our ways of doing are n t all wrong. These big trusts 
 and combinations, the graft, the boodle, the corrup 
 tion in politics and big rich men taking mean advan 
 tage of it I ve heard there s something infamous 
 at the bottom of every great fortune there, Uncle 
 Amos, that s just what I didn t mean to say it 
 sounds ungrateful, and I m not ungrateful." 
 
 " I know it," answered Amos, without the faintest 
 trace of irritation or disturbance. "Go on." 
 
 " These are n t my own ideas," Harvey continued, 
 with a little more confidence. " They re just floating 
 in the air. I have n t made them mine. I may never. 
 But they ve got hold of me, and I think slowly, you 
 know. I ve got to work them out. I m not ready 
 yet to join the capitalist ranks for good and all." 
 
 Another pause. This time Harvey waited for his 
 uncle to break it. 
 
 "Well," said the latter, at last, "I don t say but 
 you re right. These things weren t the fashion in 
 my day and I don t care much for them now. They 
 seem to me fanciful. Of course, every man has got 
 to draw his own line, and there are few men that 
 don t draw one somewhere. I ve always drawn mine, 
 I know, hard and sharp. But life is a practical thing. 
 Most of this talk comes from ministers and teachers 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 7 
 
 men who have never put through a business deal 
 in their lives, and don t know what it means. You ve 
 got to do business by business methods. You ve got 
 to beat a rascal at his own game. We don t make 
 the politicians corrupt. We wish they were otherwise. 
 But they are what they are. You Ve got to accept 
 them so, or get out. Some may get out. I don t." 
 
 Still Harvey did not seem quite satisfied. " But it 
 works unfairly," he said. " The strong and the un 
 scrupulous and the rich get the best of it. We pre 
 tend to have justice in this country and give every 
 man his chance ; but we don t." 
 
 " Nature does n t give every man a chance very 
 few," suggested the millionaire. 
 
 "That s just it. Nature is brutal. We ought to 
 be different. Of course, I m a child in these matters, 
 Uncle Amos. I don t even know what poverty and 
 suffering there is in the world. But somehow I seem 
 to have a strange feeling of it all about me. Things 
 seem wrong." 
 
 "And you want to make them right?" The in 
 quiry was gentle and almost sympathetic, not a trace 
 of sarcasm in it. " It s natural, at your age. But it s 
 an old, old world, and the wrongs in it right slowly. 
 As for the poverty and suffering, we can do a little 
 to relieve them here and there ; but nine tenths of 
 them come from folly and improvidence and vice. 
 
8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 You talk of giving every man a chance. We do. 
 The man who is thrifty and self-denying and fore- 
 sighted gets his chance and profits by it. Every man 
 has a chance to show what is in him. Most men have 
 nothing in them." 
 
 Both smoked on in silence for a few moments. 
 Through the open window came the brassy blare of 
 a German band, playing a few blocks away. 
 
 " You must think I m a fool," said Harvey. 
 
 " No," answered his uncle ; " though every man 
 has his moments of being a fool, and those not always 
 his worst moments either." 
 
 " The truth is," the young man continued, " I 
 haven t the least idea of finding fault with your 
 method of life or any man s. I don t know enough. 
 It would be too absurd. I ve never done anything 
 serious but play football. I want to look about me. 
 I want to learn. I want to make up my mind for my 
 self as to all these things. But I don t feel ready 
 quite yet to give my whole life to the accumulation 
 of money." 
 
 " There s just one thing," said Amos. " Is busi 
 ness distasteful to you in itself? Do you feel that 
 you would prefer some other occupation ? " 
 
 Harvey shook his head with a smile. " That s the 
 worst of it. I know I should like it. As you say, it 
 is n t the money, it s the dealing with men, the work- 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 9 
 
 ing out of large schemes, the sense of mastery. I 
 don t want to do anything else. I want to do that." 
 
 Amos s answering smile had a gleam of quiet sat 
 isfaction in it. " Then why not at least make a trial ? " 
 he said. " Come into the office for six months. See 
 how bad we are. You re not signing any articles. 
 You can leave when you like. You want to look 
 about you. How could you get a better opportu 
 nity ?" 
 
 " You re tempting me," was Harvey s slow answer, 
 " and I m afraid you know it. Did any man who got 
 in there and succeeded ever get out?" 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Ah, indeed, why not? But do they?" 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Phelps, rising, "you know what 
 I should like in the matter. Think it over." 
 
 " Yes, sir, I will ; and I have no doubt I shall accept 
 your offer for a time, at any rate." 
 
 After this, Amos retired to his private sitting-room, 
 and Harvey went upstairs to the library. There he 
 found Ethel Harper, his uncle s step-daughter, and 
 Miss Lucia Phelps, who had kept house for Amos 
 before his marriage and again since his wife s death. 
 
 Miss Phelps was a small, somewhat insignificant, 
 old lady, an excellent housekeeper, and a thorough 
 going adorer of her brother, nephew, and niece, but 
 not conversationally or socially remarkable. Just at 
 
io BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 present she was slumbering over the editorial col 
 umns of the " Transcript." 
 
 Ethel Harper was a large girl, with a certain gen 
 eral resemblance in type to Harvey, brown hair, 
 brown eyes, face rather full and a trifle slow and 
 heavy in expression, figure splendidly robust and 
 muscular. Her skin was as tanned as constant ex 
 posure to wind and sun could make it. 
 
 " That s right, Harvey," she began. " Do come 
 and wake me up. I know you ve been talking busi 
 ness with papa. Talk football with me." 
 
 The future banker drew a long breath and shook 
 his shoulders. " Don t mention football. I miss it 
 too much." 
 
 " I should think you would. Should n t I like to 
 play ! " Indeed she looked as if she might buck the 
 centre with considerable effect. " Can they beat Yale 
 without you at right tackle?" she went on. 
 
 "I don t know, I m sure. Football is my natural 
 atmosphere, and I m jolted out of it. Let s talk of 
 something else. Why did n t you win the golf tour 
 nament?" 
 
 " Do you suppose I like to talk about that ? I had 
 an off day, practiced too much the day before, broke 
 my brassey on the third hole and had to take another 
 that did n t suit me. And then, it might be that the 
 other girl played better golf." 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS n 
 
 "It might be," agreed Harvey sympathetically. 
 " Still, you furnish a very good article. " 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 There was silence for a moment in the great library, 
 with its rows of glass-covered, gilt-backed, unread 
 books. Both the man and the girl were quicker with 
 their hands than with their tongues. Miss Lucia began 
 to sleep audibly. 
 
 "So, you re just off the Windflower?" inquired 
 Harvey. " Good cruise ? " 
 
 " Perfect ! " was the enthusiastic response. " We 
 went farther down than I Ve ever been before, 
 almost to Newfoundland. Such fog ! Papa pattered 
 about all day on deck in his oilskins. It did him a 
 world of good. He gets the stock quotations now by 
 wireless, so he s more contented than he used to be. 
 We had a jolly big sea one day, scared me blue. 
 Aunt Lucia s heart was in her bed-slippers, poor 
 thing! Captain Jim has it in for you, Harvey, as 
 they say. He wants to know why you Ve deserted 
 him like this, says he can t run the ship without 
 you. I told him you were at a summer camp, doing 
 good. He said he hoped you would n t get notions. 
 Have you got notions?" 
 
 Harvey nodded, with mock melancholy. " I J m 
 afraid I have, -a mild case." 
 
 " That s too bad. What s your variety ? " 
 
12 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " I m getting to think you and I have too good a 
 time in the world." 
 
 " Nonsense ! It s every one s duty to have as good 
 a time as he can without hurting others." 
 
 " Ah, but," said Harvey, though reluctantly, and 
 as if indisposed to preach, " don t we hurt others? 
 There s the point." 
 
 "I m sure I don t mean to," Ethel answered, 
 with entire good nature. " I 11 take you a hundred 
 miles in my auto before long and blow all this out 
 of you." 
 
 "To be sure, the new auto." The change of sub 
 ject was accepted with evident relief. "An Excel 
 sior, is it ? How does she go ? " 
 
 "The best ever. When she s running over forty 
 the motion just rocks you to sleep." 
 
 " Does it, now ? Smell much ? " 
 
 " Not a bit. You might be riding on a bed of 
 roses." 
 
 " I know that kind. Ever hang up ? " 
 
 " No. That is, of course you might burst a tire. 
 And the other day something in the gearing went 
 on strike for a while. We don t want to have too 
 good a time in the world, you know. You must ex 
 pect those little things." 
 
 " I should." 
 
 Harvey was wonderfully contented. It was his 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 13 
 
 nature to be contented, and it cost him an effort to 
 be otherwise. Physical ease was pleasant to him as 
 well as physical effort. It was pleasant to recline 
 almost at length in the great Morris chair and watch 
 his cousin s pleasant, tranquil countenance and the 
 graceful play of her firm figure in her semi-evening 
 frock of blue crepe. It was so natural to have a good 
 time in the world and had been so habitual with him, 
 until lately there had come up that vague spectre of 
 the others. 
 
 " Just wait and see," Ethel went on. " Some fine 
 day soon, I m going to take you and Milly a good 
 long ride." 
 
 " Milly ? " repeated Harvey. 
 
 " Milly Erskine. Surely you remember her." 
 
 " I believe I did meet her here last year two or 
 three times. Is n t she the girl whose father went up 
 for half a million and then shot himself ? " 
 
 " Was n t it cruel of him ! " 
 
 "Was it?" 
 
 " Well, perhaps it would have made more trouble 
 if he had n t. But to leave his wife and daughter in 
 that way, instead of living and going to work and 
 taking care of them ! " 
 
 " They have to take care of themselves, then ? " 
 
 " Oh, they have something, I believe ; but Milly 
 has to teach in Miss Corliss s school, where she and 
 
14 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 I used to go, you know. And she hates it and does 
 it beautifully. It seems too bad." 
 
 "Well, I m not so sure," answered Harvey 
 thoughtfully. " Do you think it would be so bad for 
 you, for instance?" 
 
 "I do, indeed. Milly hates it, but she can do it. 
 I should hate it, and I could n t do it at all." 
 
 Once more there was silence. Miss Lucia had 
 made one or two ineffectual efforts to refix her 
 attention upon the " Transcript" and had subsided 
 again. 
 
 "And the Reverend what s his name," asked 
 Ethel, "is he well?" 
 
 " The Reverend what s his name is well," was the 
 deliberate reply. 
 
 " By the way, what is his name ? I always forget," 
 continued the athletic cousin. 
 
 " Marcus Upham." 
 
 " Do you know, Harvey, I m afraid he is n t very 
 good for you." 
 
 " Perhaps not." 
 
 "He s thin, isn t he, and looks anxious, and 
 preaches in the pulpit and out of it, and has a ter 
 rible sense of duty." 
 
 "He s a good fellow." 
 
 " I don t question it. But that sort of thing is n t 
 suited to you and me." 
 
AN OFFER OF MILLIONS 15 
 
 " A sense of duty ? " 
 
 " A sense of duty is well enough, but it ought to 
 be quiet and reasonable and every day. It s hard to 
 drag such a weight up on the heights. Perhaps you 
 think I might speak for myself." 
 
 Harvey frowned a little, not as if he were annoyed, 
 but as if he were puzzled. "I m afraid you re right," 
 he said. " But don t suppose I ve been on the heights 
 this summer. I ve taught a dozen boys to swim and 
 kept them out of mischief. That s all." 
 
 At this point Miss Lucia made a definite effort to 
 rouse herself, with the evident desire of transferring 
 her slumbers to a more suitable resting-place. " Go 
 ing, Harvey ? " she asked. 
 
 "Well, no, I wasn t; but perhaps I d better." 
 
 Miss Lucia protested civilly and Ethel decidedly. 
 " It must be so dismal over in those dreary chambers 
 all by yourself. Why don t you come and live here, 
 as you used to ? " 
 
 " We must n t have too good a time, you know," 
 Harvey suggested. " I manage to worry along over 
 there. But I shan t forget your auto invitation," he 
 added, as he said good-night. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 A GAME OF BILLIARDS 
 
 Two or three evenings after this, Ethel and her 
 friend Milly Erskine were in the great billiard-room 
 at the Phelps s. Both pool and billiards were avail 
 able, but the girls had chosen the nobler and more 
 difficult game. Ethel entered into billiards, as she 
 did into every sport, with all the solid application of 
 her nature. To her such things were the serious part 
 of life. Miss Erskine did not appear to regard any 
 part of life as very serious. She was a slight, fair per 
 son, with deep blue eyes, which sparkled like little 
 waves in sunshine. Her hair floated softly about her 
 forehead. All her features were firm and delicate 
 now ; but it seemed likely that in twenty years they 
 would be rather sharp and angular. 
 
 Billiards is a pretty exercise for women, and any 
 judicious observer would have been charmed to watch 
 these two figures, in their light dinner gowns, Ethel s 
 green, Milly s gray, falling, with unconscious grace, 
 into the odd attitudes which the game demands. 
 
 " This is my natural atmosphere," said Milly, as 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 17 
 
 she stood back and chalked her cue, while Ethel, 
 with long deliberation, tried a difficult shot and 
 missed it by a hair. " I ought to live in it always. 
 I m too delicate to labor. These hands this brain 
 are they framed for toil ? Now you" 
 
 " Oh, yes, I " Ethel took her turn at the chalk, 
 " I don t say you would n t shine in any sphere, Miss 
 Erskine ; but you re much more fit to work than I 
 am at least, so far as brain goes. I might take in 
 washing." 
 
 Here she began a run of phenomenal successes, 
 which absorbed them both. When it ended, Ethel 
 spoke again. " Oh, but, Milly, it is such a shame ! " 
 
 "That you should beat your guest? I know it." 
 
 " Nonsense ! That you should have to teach : day 
 after day shoving stupid girls such as I was 
 through French verbs and La Tulipe Noire. You 
 ought to be in Washington, astonishing the diplo 
 matic corps with American jokes, or the wife of the 
 minister in London something distinguished, some 
 thing startling. That s what you were born for ; not 
 to waste your sweetness on a Boston finishing school." 
 
 Milly dropped the end of her cue with a bang. 
 " Ethel Harper, you are positively eloquent. To think 
 that my misfortunes should inspire such a burst of 
 glowing oratory ! But don t tantalize me. Ah, if only 
 I could live to enchant young diplomats in the dim 
 
1 8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 corners of half-lit conservatories and to wheedle 
 state secrets out of gray ambassadors by the magic 
 of my girlish charms ! Alas, such things are not to 
 be. And I shall be known to the rising generation 
 of men as that cross Erskine girl who teaches my 
 sister French. The pity of it! Come, let s forget 
 and play out the play." 
 
 So they played. Milly, who could do pretty much 
 anything she chose, gave her attention strictly to 
 business for a time, making a series of brilliant shots, 
 which put her in the lead. Then she grew indiffer 
 ent again ; and Ethel, who was never inspired and 
 never indifferent, drew up quietly to where she was 
 before. 
 
 " Harvey says," she began, dropping the bridge 
 back into its place, " Harvey says that perhaps it s 
 rather a good thing for you to have to work, that it 
 might be a good thing for me too." 
 
 " Harvey says so, does he ? Well, now, that s in 
 teresting. How did your cousin get such an idea 
 as that ? From what I ve seen and heard of him, I 
 should hardly think it would have budded unassisted 
 in his own brain." 
 
 " You see Harvey s made a friend." 
 
 " Indeed ? One who does n t eat at the training 
 table?" 
 
 Ethel scored three and then answered quietly, 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 19 
 
 " You did n t seem to take to Harvey last winter, 
 Milly. I want you to. He s got muscle, but he s got 
 brains too, lots of them. And he s a good fellow. 
 He said he would come in to-night, with a friend of 
 his, and I hope he will. I want you to like him." 
 
 " I will. The friend, you mean ? " 
 
 " No, Harvey." Here Ethel made a run of eleven 
 and won the game. 
 
 "Let s sit down and talk about your cousin," said 
 Milly. " I m not of your force in billiards." 
 
 So they sat down, Milly curling her feet under her 
 comfortably, in one of the great leather-covered arm 
 chairs. " Is this friend who s coming to-night the 
 one who supplies the ideas ? " she began. 
 
 " Not at all. That s the Reverend Marcus some 
 thing I never can remember his name Upham, 
 that sit." 
 
 " And he s the one who thinks it s good for me to 
 work," said Milly, with a pucker of her brows and a 
 compression of her lips. " I should like half an hour s 
 interview with him." 
 
 "You won t get it here." 
 
 The contrast of the two, as they sat, was interest 
 ing. Ethel was perfectly quiet. Her figure filled the 
 great chair with lines soft and flowing, but ample in 
 their rounded ease. Her face was not inexpressive, 
 but as quiet as her figure. Milly was all motion, all 
 
20 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 light, all grace, her fingers spoke, her little gray slip 
 per, peeping from under her laced petticoat, spoke 
 with as much wayward petulance as her tongue. 
 
 " Oh, you don t have him here ? " she said. " I see. 
 A case of undue influence. Voice of the charmer. 
 A serpent in this Eden. And the young millionaire 
 a little discontented with his millionarity ? But who 
 would believe that that huge hulk of football-ridden 
 flesh would ever have a conscience? Tell me all 
 about it." She shook the refractory petticoat down 
 over the talkative slipper, in a vain attempt to si 
 lence it. 
 
 " How you rattle on ! " began Ethel deliberately. 
 
 " Like peas in a bladder," the irrepressible sug 
 gested. 
 
 "Exactly. But I can t tell you much about Mr. 
 Upham. Harvey got acquainted with him last year 
 when he was in the theological school. Harvey goes 
 to the Episcopal Church, you know. They ve been 
 together this summer, managing a boys camp some 
 where, and I suppose he has a great influence over 
 Harvey, though Harvey does n t say much about it. 
 You know, we re not a family to talk." 
 
 " I know." 
 
 " Papa does n t talk much either, but I don t think 
 he likes it at all. He has counted always on taking 
 Harvey into business with him, having him carry on 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 21 
 
 the name and the firm and all that. Now, if Harvey 
 jumps the track, it will come awfully hard on papa, 
 and he s not in first-class condition anyway." 
 
 "And will he jump the track?" asked Milly, with 
 much curiosity. 
 
 " I don t know, I m sure. He went into the office 
 to-day, and if he likes it, it may be all right. But I 
 have my doubts." 
 
 Here Miss Erskine sat straight up and clasped both 
 hands round one knee. " Did any one ever hear of 
 such foolishness?" she cried. " Now if your father 
 would offer me the chance to go into his business ! 
 And yet I go to church as regularly as Mr. 
 Upham? himself. But I don t want to make the 
 world over. It s a good world, I think ; especially 
 if you can ride on top. Give me a chance like that, 
 and I would ride on top. How I would hustle. The 
 schemes, and the deals, and the mergers, and the 
 stock watering, and all the wicked rest of it. But 
 what can a woman do ? " 
 
 "Marry," suggested Ethel, with the serenity of a 
 person whose work has been done for him. 
 
 But Milly had fallen into a posture of dejection, 
 with her head leaning forward on her hand. Even 
 the gray slipper hung dejected, limp, and did not 
 respond to this friendly hint. 
 
 "Your cousin?" said its wearer, with melancholy 
 
22 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 languor. u If he were going to carry out my pro 
 gramme, I might. Then I could be the power be 
 hind the counter, or counting-house, or whatever you 
 call it. But he s not the one to carry out my pro 
 gramme. Football, fads, and friends in the theolo 
 gical school thank you, not any in mine, please." 
 
 " But it would be so pleasant to me," Ethel urged, 
 almost warm in her manner. 
 
 " But I shan t marry to be pleasant to you," re 
 turned Milly, much warmer. " This is not your line, 
 my dear. Leave the match-making to your aunt, 
 who, by the way, would n t make this match, I m 
 certain. She would favor another, as you know. 
 Indeed, even if I were amorously disposed towards 
 the ingenuous youth, I should stand back, so as not 
 to interfere with you." 
 
 " Nonsense," answered Ethel, quickly for her, and 
 blushing a little. " Harvey cares nothing for me, nor 
 I for him, in that way." 
 
 " Very well." And Milly settled back in her chair, 
 slightly bored. " Let s talk about something else. 
 You said Mr. Phelps proposed to bring a friend this 
 evening. From the theological school, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Never ! " was the energetic reply. " This is Mr. 
 Kent. Quite a different proposition." 
 
 " Kent ? Do I know him ? " 
 
 " Know of him, at any rate. He was a classmate 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 23 
 
 of Harvey s. Now he s a newspaper man, and a 
 clever one, they say. I m no judge." 
 
 " Of course not," Milly agreed, with affectionate 
 candor. "You don t mean George Kent?" 
 
 " That s the one." 
 
 " The author of Snap Shots and Moderate Ex 
 posures ? How can he be just out of college. He s 
 been writing those things for a couple of years, at 
 least." 
 
 " You ve read them, have you ? They re too funny 
 for me. Well, he s older than Harvey, had to work 
 his way through, I think. At any rate, you have the 
 facts." 
 
 Milly sat up again. " Now that s something like," 
 she said. " George Kent and the Reverend Marcus 
 Upham and your cousin between them. What a 
 pretty comedy? And your father and his millions, 
 and your own young affections, in the background, to 
 weight it into melodrama, or even a sort of tragedy. 
 Is n t it charming ! I hope they won t forget to come. 
 I wish now the Reverend were coming too." 
 
 Ethel was collecting herself to express a decided 
 disapproval of this suggestion when Harvey and his 
 friend entered the room. 
 
 George Kent was somewhat shorter than Harvey 
 and much slighter. He had gray eyes with shrewd 
 humor in them ; also his mouth was broad, as be- 
 
24 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 comes a jester ; and the up-and-down furrows in his 
 cheeks, appropriate to that vocation, were deepening. 
 But the chin showed that there was something back 
 of the jests. 
 
 " It is rude to talk shop to a stranger," began Milly, 
 as soon as the introductions were properly over, " but 
 of course we all feel that you are taking snap shots 
 of us, Mr. Kent, and we might as well say so at once. 
 You will never see any of your friends, in future, 
 except posed. It must be very disagreeable." 
 
 " I never take my friends," was the appreciative 
 answer. 
 
 " I should certainly not choose my friends among 
 most of those you do take," Miss Erskine continued. 
 
 " I m sorry they don t please you." 
 
 " They amuse me, which is much better." 
 
 " Thanks. But to return to the original point. Don t 
 you think it would be very satisfactory, if all one s 
 friends lived in fear of the camera ? Look pleasant/ 
 says the photographer. I like the advice." 
 
 "No," said Milly, very decidedly, "I had rather 
 my friends would frown, or snarl, or sneer. Fancy the 
 whole world varnished with a photographer s smile." 
 
 At this point, Ethel, leaning back comfortably in 
 her chair, observed, in a half-aside, " Harvey, where 
 do we come in ? " 
 
 " Nowhere," was the placid answer. " I like it." 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 25 
 
 " They seem to think you like to talk, Mr. Kent," 
 Milly suggested. " Do you ? " 
 
 " Did they mean me? No. I prefer to listen. Lis 
 tening is my vocation. I find it charming. I listen 
 from morning till night and longer. When one 
 has once learned to find human folly amusing, the 
 delight of listening is simply inexhaustible." 
 
 "Thanks for humanity," interrupted one of the 
 listeners. 
 
 "As for talking, I am gradually disacquiring it, 
 and expect to end in total dumbness. Meanwhile 
 some remnants of habit linger by me." 
 
 As the talkative members left a slight pause here, 
 to show they could, Ethel suggested billiards, and 
 she and Kent were pitted against the other two. 
 
 " It will be fairer," said Harvey, when Milly urged 
 her inferiority to his cousin. " George listens more 
 than he plays." 
 
 " Mr. Kent," asked Milly, while Harvey was making 
 an extraordinary run, " would you advise me to go 
 into journalism? I have often thought I was born 
 for it." 
 
 "You ve written pretty verses, probably. Most 
 women go into journalism on the strength of that, 
 and of some that are not pretty. Now a journalist 
 doesn t spend much time writing verses. I never 
 wrote one myself, that I remember, and don t in- 
 
26 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 tend to. In fact, literature has n t much to do with it. 
 You ve got to have a ready pen, and think of what 
 you write, not of how you write it. A woman who 
 has it in her makes a good one. Only you ve got 
 to have a lot of well, say assurance." 
 
 " I have a lot of well, say assurance. It s my 
 strong point." Here Ethel having failed to score, the 
 speaker leaned half across the table, and, balanced 
 as lightly as a butterfly, tried a difficult shot and 
 made it, with much triumph. 
 
 After this, all parties gave their attention for a con 
 siderable time strictly to the game, which was more 
 even than might have been expected, owing to Milly s 
 carelessness, and to Ethel s steady fashion of hold 
 ing her own in everything. Milly finally got a little 
 piqued, however, and did some brilliant work, much 
 to Harvey s satisfaction ; so that in the end they went 
 out with a considerable lead. Then Ethel ordered 
 things to drink, Apollinaris for the ladies and black 
 and white highballs for the gentlemen ; and Milly 
 and Kent talked, while the others sipped and listened. 
 
 Something was said of teaching, of Milly s unfit- 
 ness for it, in her own opinion, and so of Harvey s 
 efforts to teach athletics during the summer. " But 
 he d do more than that for the Reverend Upham," 
 said Kent. " You know the Reverend Upham, Miss 
 Harper?" 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 27 
 
 Ethel signified that she did not, and something in 
 her manner even implied that she did not care to. 
 
 " I ve met him several times, under Harvey s aus 
 pices," Kent continued, " but we don t mix. He s a 
 first rate fellow. So am I. But he s a saint." 
 
 Milly nodded. " I know that kind," she said. " To 
 get along with them you ve got to be either a saint 
 or a sinner." 
 
 " Just so, though I don t know which you think 
 Harvey is. I should like to be neither or both. 
 Where is he now, Harvey, did you say?" 
 
 " Rector of St. Margaret s, Roberts ville." 
 
 "For good?" 
 
 " No, only supplying, for a few months." Harvey s 
 manner indicated that he would prefer to talk about 
 something else ; but this did not disturb his friend in 
 the least. 
 
 " The truth is," went on Kent meditatively, " the 
 Reverend Marcus ought to live in a better world 
 than this, and if he does and I do I shall desire 
 more love and knowledge of him, as the other fellow 
 said. But here he is always looking for trouble. He 
 disbelieves in money, in pleasure, and in laugh 
 ter ; and a man in that state of mind had better get 
 off the earth in my opinion. And not only he 
 does n t want these things himself, but he does n t 
 want others to have them. Is that reasonable, Miss 
 
28 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Erskine ? " He paused for Scotch and soda and an 
 answer. 
 
 Milly shook her head. " There are a good many 
 like that ; and the trouble generally is that at bottom 
 they want the things themselves." 
 
 Kent shook his head, in his turn. " No, no. That 
 is n t the Reverend Marcus either. He is white all 
 through. But he s so desperately in earnest. When 
 you know you re living a worldly life, you don t care 
 to have a shining example of the contrary always 
 before you. Really, it s quite done up poor Harvey 
 here ; I m not sure but he 11 end in the pulpit, and 
 of course he s ludicrously unfitted for it. He knows 
 how to enjoy life reasonably well not as I could, 
 or as you could, Miss Erskine. But think of the 
 chance he has, everything before him the wide 
 world to choose from. Now it seems to me it s up 
 to us to bring him into better ways, and that s why 
 I introduced Upham into this conversation, where 
 he is, indeed, singularly out of place. But Satan, 
 too, ought to have his missionaries, and I am of 
 them." 
 
 Harvey did not appear very much disturbed by 
 this tirade, but sat, in apparent contentment, sipping 
 his somewhat worldly beverage and chiefly watching 
 Milly, who was agreeable to watch. 
 
 Leaving the Reverend Marcus and serious sub- 
 
A GAME OF BILLIARDS 29 
 
 jects, the conversation ran on various commonplace 
 matters till the men took their leave. 
 
 Later, Milly and Ethel talked over their visitors. 
 
 " Mr. Kent has some of your qualities," said Ethel. 
 
 " Almost all the bad ones. I think I could make a 
 journalist just the same." 
 
 " You can t deny that Harvey plays a good game 
 of billiards." 
 
 " Uncommon. If life were a game of billiards 
 and I m not sure it would n t be better, if it were 
 I would ask for no other husband. But it is n t. So 
 if either of us is to be Satan s missionary and defeat 
 the machinations of the Reverend Marcus, it will have 
 to be you." 
 
 " No," answered Ethel. " I shall never love any 
 body. I m too solid." 
 
 " That has nothing to do with it. If I never love, 
 it will be because I m too light. But you might 
 marry, all the same." 
 
 To this Ethel made no answer. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 GLORIA 
 
 ON a bright afternoon, near the end of January, 
 Ethel, Milly, Kent, and Harvey were riding together 
 in the country. The roads were thickly covered with 
 smooth, well-trodden snow, and the keen air made the 
 horses glad to travel ten miles an hour, without urging. 
 
 " Why did you put Miss Erskine on Gloria? " Har 
 vey had asked Ethel at starting. 
 
 " Because my own hundred and sixty-two pounds 
 is too much for her. And why should n t I ? " 
 
 " No reason ; only I don t trust her." 
 
 "Such a compliment to me," Milly interrupted. 
 " But I can ride, Mr. Phelps, all the same, even if I 
 don t look it. Gloria and I shall get on famously." 
 
 So to all appearances they did, in spite of the little 
 brown mare s evident skittishness ; and Harvey had 
 the satisfaction of feeling that his ill-timed solicitude 
 had merely annoyed the person he was most desir 
 ous of pleasing. " Hard luck," he thought to himself, 
 11 that when a man can t say much any way, what 
 he does say should always be the wrong thing." 
 
GLORIA 31 
 
 But no one could long have been either solicitous 
 or annoyed under that cloudless winter sky, with the 
 wide sparkle and glitter of the white landscape, the 
 bright north wind, and the clear jingle of passing 
 bells. It is charming to ride on summer evenings, 
 in the moonlight, through long lanes, cool with dewy 
 shadow ; but the perfection of riding is on a mid 
 winter afternoon, over the snow. 
 
 When the breadth and openness of the roads per 
 mitted, the riders sometimes went, for a little dis 
 tance, four abreast ; but for the most part they were 
 separated into pairs, now in one combination, now 
 in another. 
 
 " Most of my riding has been done abroad," said 
 Milly to Kent, as they found themselves side by side. 
 " I am not used to this snow performance." 
 
 " But you like it?" 
 
 " Of all things. Only it makes one want to go. I 
 should rather like to be run away with." 
 
 " I am afraid you want life to be highly seasoned." 
 
 " It could n t be too highly seasoned for me. Mus 
 tard, pepper, vinegar, onions, spices, or, if you like, 
 garlic. And instead, my life is one long meal of un- 
 salted breakfast food. You know the flavor?" 
 
 " Or lack of it." Kent nodded. But here the neces 
 sity of increasing their speed to overtake the others 
 interrupted conversation for a little while. 
 
32 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Do you know, after all," Kent resumed at length, 
 "it s a commonplace, but I think work makes the 
 best seasoning. I wouldn t change with our friends 
 ahead there." 
 
 " I would," returned Milly shortly. " I want riches 
 and ease and no work at all. Work is the breakfast 
 food to me. If I had Ethel s money, I could provide 
 myself with seasoning enough." 
 
 " I dare say. Probably I should n t refuse. But I 
 am willing and glad to make my own way. So far 
 I ve always had to, and I like the sense of cutting 
 and hacking and hewing for myself into the quarry 
 of Fortune." 
 
 " That s well enough for a man," was the sarcastic 
 answer. " But when the quarry of Fortune is a young 
 lady s finishing school, sometimes I feel as if I should 
 like to hack and hew into it, but it would n t do, it 
 wouldn t do." 
 
 Meanwhile Harvey and Ethel rode in front, and 
 conversed more seriously. " Papa was talking of you 
 last night," began the latter. 
 
 "Was he?" was the somewhat limited answer. 
 
 " He was speaking again of how much you seem 
 to take to business and what a natural taste you 
 have for it." 
 
 " He doesn t say so to me." 
 
 "No, that wouldn t suit his ideas of discipline. 
 
GLORIA 33 
 
 But he told me they say at the office that very few 
 young men learn the routine so quickly as you 
 have." 
 
 Apparently her companion did not feel that this 
 called for any reply whatsoever. 
 
 In a few moments Ethel began again. " I was very 
 glad to hear papa speak so, Harvey." 
 
 She obviously looked for some response ; so Har 
 vey made one. " I am very glad I have been able to 
 please him," he said. 
 
 " I don t think you quite realize all that it means to 
 papa," Ethel went on. " It is as hard for him to talk 
 as it is for you. Even to me he does n t often say 
 much of what he feels. But he is really a great castle- 
 builder, papa is. All his fortune is just a castle in the 
 air to him. He does n t care anything about the plain 
 dollars and cents of it. But he likes the building, and 
 you have grown to be part of it, such a main part of 
 it that almost everything turns on you. He wants to 
 take you into all his plans, to turn over everything to 
 you gradually, more and more, and finally, to make 
 his castle yours. Do you see ? " 
 
 " I see," answered Harvey thoughtfully. " I under 
 stand it all well enough. Hardly a fellow I know but 
 would think it was the chance of a lifetime." 
 
 "But you don t?" 
 
 He drew his horse a little nearer to hers. " That s 
 
34 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 the worst of it. I don t know whether I do or not 
 And I m ashamed of my uncertainty." 
 
 " Do you mean you don t like it ? Of course, I sup 
 pose, at the beginning it must be mainly drudgery." 
 
 " It is n t drudgery to me," was the earnest answer. 
 " I like every bit of it. I don t care so much about 
 the money ; though I admit I like that. But business 
 itself suits me, as I knew it would. The air of State 
 Street excites me. I m sorry to leave it at night. I 
 like the men. I like the whole thing." 
 
 "Well, then ?" Ethel asked, in a puzzled tone. 
 
 " Well," he repeated reluctantly. " I like it, every 
 bit of it ; but the more I see of it the more I see of 
 its selfishness. It s a great machine that grinds up 
 everything, without pity or mercy a great fight, 
 with no quarter. There s no place for love or con 
 sideration for others. The strongest comes to the top. 
 Uncle is strong. I like to think I m strong. But it s 
 bad for the weak ones." 
 
 " Life is bad for the weak ones," said Ethel. " Life 
 must be in a great degree selfish, must n t it?" 
 
 " I don t know. I don t want to think so." 
 
 But it was too cold to walk and talk longer, and 
 all four here broke into a rapid trot. They were pass 
 ing over a great sweep of open hillside. Below them 
 the country fell away to the east, and the slant after 
 noon sun reddened the snow on the distant slopes and 
 
GLORIA 35 
 
 set the icicles glittering and sparkling. The naked 
 branches of the trees were cut sharp against the sky, 
 the elms in fragile tracery, the oaks stiff and rugged, 
 the apple boughs intertwined in a fantastic tangle. 
 The smoke from a distant train faded dimly off into 
 the clear blue. 
 
 At a fork in the road the two leaders paused for 
 the others to come up, so that they might decide on 
 their route. " We 11 ride together now," said Milly 
 to Ethel, " and let the men talk us over." 
 
 " We could do it as well later," Kent suggested ; 
 but nevertheless they adopted Milly s arrangement. 
 
 When there came a moment suitable for conver 
 sation, Kent said : "I hope it won t be long before 
 you announce your engagement." 
 
 "To whom?" asked Harvey in astonishment. 
 
 " Well, if you don t know, I m sure I don t." And 
 Kent laughed pleasantly. Then he added, " There 
 are n t many fellows who would hesitate, when they 
 saw the chance of a girl like that and all that goes 
 with her." 
 
 "You mean my cousin?" 
 
 " Whom else should I mean?" 
 
 Harvey jerked his horse s head, with an irritability 
 which was hardly caused by any action of the ani 
 mal. " To hear you talk, George, one would think 
 you much more mercenary than you really are." 
 
36 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Implying that I really am mercenary enough. I 
 don t pretend to be anything I m not, I hope." 
 
 "I m not sure about that. I don t think you would 
 marry a girl simply because she was rich." 
 
 " I might. I may. But as you know, this case is n t 
 simple at all. The girl loves you." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " 
 
 "Well, there is all of love that really counts. 
 Everything is suitable and proper and fortunate." 
 
 " Why not marry her yourself, George, if the match 
 seems so desirable ? And go into the business, and 
 succeed my uncle, and end up a multi-millionaire, if 
 you think so much of it ? " 
 
 Kent looked at his companion with a mixture of 
 contempt and curiosity. " I might, you know, if she 
 would have me, simply for the sake of teaching you 
 a lesson. You would go into the church, I suppose, 
 and vow the three vows of Saint Francis." 
 
 " Oh, I I would marry Miss Erskine if she 
 would have me." 
 
 " Harvey," Kent spoke with genuine earnestness 
 this time, " I don t know whether you are serious; 
 but I have had some suspicion of this. Miss Erskine 
 is charming, I grant. But she is n t your kind." 
 
 "Nor I hers, unfortunately." Harvey s answer 
 showed more feeling than anything he had yet said. 
 " Sometimes I have thought she was your kind." 
 
GLORIA 37 
 
 " So have I," was Kent s prompt response. " And 
 I d do everything I could to make sure of it, if it 
 would save you from such a piece of folly." 
 
 "Rivals, then?" 
 
 " Nonsense," said Kent roughly. " But the ab 
 surdity of such an idea on your part is too much." 
 
 Here they were interrupted by an unusually noisy 
 automobile, which, tearing up from behind, set both 
 their horses capering. The trouble for them was in 
 significant. Not so for Milly. Gloria shied sharply as 
 the machine went by, shook her rider so that she lost 
 a stirrup and with it her control, and then darted off 
 at full gallop into a narrow side street. 
 
 Harvey appreciated the situation in a moment and 
 was in his element. Action that touched every nerve 
 in his body. Tightening the reins, and urging his big 
 horse to speed at once, he called to Ethel and Kent to 
 come slowly after him, and then followed Milly and 
 Gloria down the narrow road. The chase was sharp 
 but brief, for Harvey knew his horse to perfection. 
 Ranging up quietly and evenly by Milly s side, with 
 out making the least effort to touch the little mare 
 himself, he simply spoke, in a voice which Milly had 
 never heard him use before, deep, determined, yet 
 gentle also, " Gloria ! Gloria ! Steady, old girl." 
 
 The mare lifted her ears, her muscles relaxed a 
 little, her pace slackened. 
 
38 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Gloria ! Steady, old girl. Quiet, Gloria." 
 
 Before Milly knew it her foot was back in the stir 
 rup, and her horse and Harvey s were walking quietly 
 side by side, with no sign of the gallop except the 
 quick pants and Gloria s trembling. 
 
 " You got me out of a very disagreeable situation," 
 said Milly, when she had breath enough. "Thank 
 you." 
 
 " Bother ! " was the short reply. " Can I do any 
 thing else for you ? " 
 
 " If you had a few hairpins," Milly suggested. " I 
 suppose you have n t." 
 
 "No. I m sorry." 
 
 " And all those useless pockets, too. Every man 
 should carry hairpins. I shall have to go home in 
 a pigtail, that s all." Taking off her hat she shook 
 down her hair, with the prettiest gesture that a wo 
 man makes, and was braiding it deftly when Ethel 
 and Kent appeared. 
 
 "Oh," said Ethel, "it was all my fault. That 
 wretched Gloria ! " 
 
 "No," objected Milly, with decision, " it was this 
 stupid cross-saddle fashion of riding. If I had stuck 
 to my old ways, the more she jumped, the better I 
 should have liked it. But what are you doing, Mr. 
 Phelps?" 
 
 For Harvey had got Kent to hold the horses, while 
 
GLORIA 39 
 
 he himself was exchanging Milly s saddle for Kent s. 
 " I think you had better shift," he answered. 
 
 " How absurd," was her petulant comment. " Do 
 you suppose I am going to give up for a mere acci 
 dent like that ? Besides, how will Mr. Kent look on 
 such a little creature ? Certainly I shall ride Gloria." 
 
 " I think it will be better not." Harvey continued 
 his preparation with quiet persistence, as if he had 
 not heard her speech at all. 
 
 " But, Mr. Phelps," began Milly in wrath. Then 
 she thought better of it and said no more. 
 
 On their way home she and Harvey rode together ; 
 but they trotted along rapidly and had little to say to 
 each other. Finally, however, at a favorable oppor 
 tunity Milly broke the silence, not wishing to appear 
 wholly ungracious. " I shall never forget the way 
 you quieted that horse. You must have a wonderful 
 power." 
 
 "Yes, I ve sometimes thought so myself," was the 
 sarcastic answer. " Still, as I ve known her from a 
 colt and she me, it is n t quite so extraordinary." 
 
 " You need n t laugh. It is n t a common thing to 
 be able to control animals like that." 
 
 " No. I might set up a circus. It would suit me 
 rather well." 
 
 " Anybody who can master animals can master 
 
40 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 "And women?" 
 
 "Ah, as to that I don t say. But you ought to 
 profit by your gifts, and not neglect them." 
 
 " I should like to, if I could find out the line they 
 go in. I have n t yet. Now if I could get a person of 
 discretion to guide me, like you, for instance " 
 
 "I discreet? I have never yet been able to guide 
 myself, and I have no gifts either." 
 
 But Ethel and Kent, who rode in front, were nearly 
 out of sight, and it was necessary to break off the 
 conversation at this point. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE REVEREND MARCUS 
 
 IN the latter part of March, Harvey went to Roberts- 
 ville to spend a Sunday with the Reverend Marcus 
 Upham. During the winter they had had some irreg 
 ular correspondence ; but Harvey was no great letter- 
 writer, and his interests and surroundings were not 
 such as seemed especially to suggest communication 
 with his clerical friend. As the months wore on, how 
 ever, and the various problems of life became more 
 complicated, a long talk with Marcus, on everything 
 and everybody, seemed more and more attractive. 
 
 It was a sweet, soft, spring-like morning. The south 
 wind chased the great white clouds swiftly over the 
 blue heavens. Harvey sat in a back pew of the quiet 
 old church, which had no stained glass to shut out 
 the beauty of nature, and at first his thoughts wan 
 dered often to the wind-swept sky and the slow wav 
 ing of the bare branches, traced blackly against the 
 sunlight. But the service and the immediate sur 
 roundings soon held his attention altogether. He had 
 been to church faithfully during the winter, as usual ; 
 
42 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 but the city congregation, carrying their everyday 
 thoughts into their religion, had seemed to him cold 
 and indifferent, and he had begun to wonder whether 
 the service of Mammon, in which he had engaged, 
 was already swallowing him up so completely as to 
 dull all sensibility to the higher and more spiritual 
 side of life. He had never, in his younger days, 
 reached the definite point of confirmation, never been 
 able quite to bring himself to the attitude of thought 
 which seemed to him necessary for coming out openly 
 on the side of Christ. Indeed, his intellectual make 
 up was so clearly and forcibly logical, that he felt 
 as if a positive acceptance of the Christian standard 
 ought to carry with it much more in the way of prac 
 tical living than it is commonly taken to do, and it 
 was in regard to this very question of practical living 
 that all his doubts and difficulties had arisen. 
 
 In times past, however, church had meant a great 
 deal to him ; and now, suddenly, those old, remem 
 bered feelings came back with all, and almost more 
 than all, their former force. He saw the pure, pale, 
 saintly face of his friend, with the thin lips, the high 
 forehead, the earnest eyes. He heard the deep, strong 
 voice, touched with solemn fervor, uttering the pas 
 sionate pleadings of the Litany, or making its own 
 personal appeal in unwritten sentences that came 
 straight from the heart. And he forgot his uncle, for- 
 
THE REVEREND MARCUS 43 
 
 got State Street, forgot the jar and clatter of the dens 
 of Mammon, forgot the good-natured cynicism of 
 Kent and the easy Epicureanism of Ethel almost 
 forgot Milly Erskine. Only he did not quite forget 
 her. Her subtle, mocking, irritating eyes danced still 
 vaguely beyond his own closed lids, flashed from the 
 shadows of the chancel, laughed from the corner of 
 the pulpit, in bold defiance of Marcus and all his elo 
 quence. What would she think of all this? What 
 would she say of it ? For she always said what she 
 thought. The idea spread a shadow of vexation over 
 the morning s perfect peace. And Harvey asked 
 himself if he loved Milly Erskine, and was not she, 
 after all, the personification of what he most felt that 
 he ought to avoid? 
 
 In the afternoon the two friends took a long tramp 
 together. This was by no means Marcus s habit of a 
 Sunday, there being many other more pressing de 
 mands upon his time ; but Harvey begged for a good 
 talk, without risk of interruption, and the young min 
 ister, understanding something of his companion s 
 needs, agreed, for once, to put aside other duties. 
 
 The New England March has been very much 
 abused, and deserves it. Yet it gives us days which 
 can hardly be paralleled in the year, and this was one 
 of them. The winter had broken early ; and though 
 patches of snow, even long drifts, lingered in shady 
 
44 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 corners and on the northern slope of the hills, the 
 open fields were bare, and the plowed ground spread 
 great, shining stretches to the warm sunlight. The 
 James River, which flows through Robertsville, was 
 swollen to its brim, and hurried its smooth, strong 
 current along the road on which our walkers set 
 out, and every little brook that came bubbling into 
 it was overcharged with the chill outcome of the re 
 cent thaw. Overhead the buds were swelling, like 
 the brooks, and the blackbirds and song sparrows 
 filled the air with music. 
 
 Even now that the time had come, Harvey found 
 it hard to begin talking about himself. At first he 
 asked a few questions as to Marcus s occupations 
 and interests ; and the latter was ready enough to 
 answer, telling of his difficulties in arousing any 
 deep feeling in an old, staid, long-established par 
 ish. Harvey listened, perhaps without understanding 
 very much. Then for a time they walked in silence, 
 pausing to see the river sweep smoothly under an 
 old arched bridge and to hear the redwinged black 
 bird herald spring with his reedy cry. 
 
 "Well," said Marcus at length, as they proceeded, 
 "and how have you enjoyed your winter?" 
 
 " I don t know," was the doubtful answer. 
 
 " Don t know ? Yet I can understand that. It has 
 been a new world for you, so many different ele- 
 
THE REVEREND MARCUS 45 
 
 ments mixed and striving together. Can t you tell 
 me all about it? It is a strange world to me." 
 
 For the moment, Harvey did not seem disposed 
 to reply, but walked on, his eyes fixed on the dis 
 tant hills, beautiful with swift changes of light and 
 shadow ; then he said abruptly, " Marcus, what do 
 you think about the right and wrong of business, 
 of all this money-getting ? " 
 
 It was Marcus s turn now to hesitate before he an 
 swered : " It s a big question. You ought to know 
 more about it than I do, by this time, from actual 
 experience." 
 
 " I don t. The more I see of it, the more muddled 
 I get." 
 
 "Yet," continued Marcus, still with hesitation, "one 
 would think there was only one right and wrong, 
 for business, as for other things." 
 
 " That is easy to say ; but it does n t seem to work 
 in practical life. There are almost as many standards 
 as there are men, or even each man seems to have 
 several." 
 
 Marcus s reply this time was decided, perhaps a lit 
 tle cold. " There has always been an infinity of false 
 standards. The true standard the Christian stand 
 ard is simple and single so it seems to me." 
 
 " It may be so in the abstract." Harvey looked 
 straight at his friend, with a weary bewilderment in 
 
46 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 the brown eyes. " I suppose the standard is sim 
 ple in itself. It s the application that bothers. Is it 
 strictly honest to be within the law and no more ? 
 Is it enough to be honest? Does mere honesty 
 leave any room for generosity and pity and sym 
 pathy ? Is it right to be rich at all ? and if so, how 
 rich ? Is it possible to be rich without making others 
 poor?" 
 
 Again Marcus was silent for a little while. A nut 
 hatch hopped up an elm-tree as they passed, and 
 then hopped back again, squeaking merrily, as if to 
 show how possible it is to live happy in a world that 
 is upside down. 
 
 " Big questions," said Marcus at last, " big ques 
 tions, Harvey. Who am I that I should answer them ? 
 I suppose the world will go on for a great many years 
 as it has gone. It is difficult to see any practical way 
 of abolishing the right of private property. Yet, as 
 you say, to be rich means simply making some one 
 else poor." 
 
 " Still," Harvey argued, quite consciously repeat 
 ing his uncle, "in most cases the poor are respon 
 sible for their own poverty. Foolish extravagance 
 and self-indulgence " 
 
 But Marcus interrupted, with some sharpness. 
 " They are teaching you the lesson, I see," he said. 
 " Oh, the pity of it ! Who denies the folly and the 
 
THE REVEREND MARCUS 47 
 
 extravagance ? The mass of men are foolish, extrav 
 agant, short-sighted, prone to forget the need of the 
 future in the desire of the present. The mass of men 
 are children, that is it, children, not criminals. Is 
 that any reason why those who are shrewd and far- 
 sighted and selfish for the folly of the children is 
 so often a generous and loving folly should take 
 advantage of the others weakness to get pleasure and 
 power and prudent self-indulgence for themselves? 
 I condemn no one. How should I ? Men will do as 
 their fathers have done before them. I have seen 
 enough of business men to know that they may be 
 generous, may be charitable ; some of them are much 
 better Christians than I can ever hope to be. But I 
 like to imagine a world where the perpetual grind 
 of the mill may be abolished, where men may live 
 for each other a little more than they do now, 
 where the best intelligence and power of mankind 
 may be spent on overcoming inequalities instead of 
 augmenting them." 
 
 For a long while nothing more was said on the 
 subject. Leaving the main road, they turned aside 
 into the fields and then climbed a bare, double-peaked 
 hill, from which they could see, far away, the river 
 winding, twisting, sparkling in the sunlight, and all 
 about it great stretches of brown field, with here and 
 there a patch of snow, gleaming dully. The warm, 
 
48 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 heavy breath of spring was about them, filling every 
 cranny and crevice of the damp earth with life and 
 fertility. They sat down on a broad shoulder of rock, 
 which was heated through and through, and listened 
 in silence to the rich, passionate carol of a bluebird, 
 in an orchard below. 
 
 But Harvey had not yet entirely freed his mind. 
 " Of course you understand my position ? " he said. 
 
 Marcus nodded. " In part, at any rate." 
 
 " My uncle has watched over my education and 
 cared for me in every way, since my parents died. 
 He is as kind, and as generous, as a man can be. He 
 has given his whole life to his business, built it up 
 from the ground. It is his pride and glory. Now his 
 health is breaking and he wants me to take it over, 
 carry it on, and develop it more and more, in memory 
 of him." 
 
 There was a moment s pause, before Marcus said : 
 "Do you like it?" 
 
 "Yes," said Harvey, " I like it. It suits me. But 
 the more I see of it, the more it troubles me. Things 
 are done there every day the whole tone of the 
 place well, two years ago I should have gone 
 right into it, without a moment s scruple. But I have 
 learned to know you, you see, and your ideas make 
 everything different." 
 
 Again Marcus stopped to think, and to let the blue- 
 
THE REVEREND MARCUS 49 
 
 bird finish his phrase, before he spoke. " There is a 
 young woman in the case, is n t there ? " 
 
 Harvey looked up in surprise from the stick he 
 was whittling. " How did you know ? " he asked. 
 
 "A step-daughter, is she?" Marcus went on. 
 
 " Oh, yes," answered Harvey indifferently. " That 
 complicates matters somewhat. Uncle Amos would 
 like me to marry her ; but I don t think she d have 
 me." 
 
 "From your manner, I conclude that there is an 
 other young woman." 
 
 "Yes," said Harvey, looking down again, and 
 whittling his stick. 
 
 " It is a little unfortunate," went on Marcus, with a 
 trace of humor, " that so much sentiment gets mixed 
 up in all your questions of conscience. Your position 
 seemed difficult enough in itself, without the intro 
 duction of an outsider, who is probably as undesir 
 able from your uncle s point of view as she would be 
 from mine. Am I right?" 
 
 " Entirely. That is, she s a lady." 
 
 " I don t doubt that. But to please your uncle you 
 should marry your cousin and stick to business. If 
 you give up business, you will hardly please this 
 young person. Do I state the dilemma ? " 
 
 " You do." 
 
 Neither seemed to have anything more to say at 
 
50 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 that moment, and as it was growing somewhat cooler 
 where they were, they arose and began their walk 
 homeward. 
 
 When they had descended the hill and turned into 
 the road again, Harvey resumed the conversation : 
 " What would you do in my place ? " he asked 
 briefly. 
 
 " Really, I can hardly say. You seem to be sur 
 rounded with difficulties. Doubtless, you have a 
 duty to your uncle. Yet to marry your cousin, with 
 out loving her, even if she would marry you, seems 
 out of the question. As to the other how can I tell 
 anything about her? She might be the saving of 
 you." Harvey s countenance expressed some doubt. 
 11 In any case, you can tell the right thing, I m sure. 
 That isn t so hard. The difficulty is to do it I be 
 lieve in you, Harvey." 
 
 " Thank you. I wish I believed in myself." 
 
 They spoke no more of these serious matters, 
 either then or afterwards. 
 
 Harvey went dutifully to the evening service ; but 
 something was wanting. The enthusiasm, the uplift 
 ing of the morning did not come ; and the image of 
 those dancing eyes was more persistent than ever. 
 After all, why should not Milly be the making of 
 him ? What he needed was a will in that great, bulky, 
 profitless mass of flesh, and she was all will, all fire. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 MILLY DECLINES 
 
 IT was a warm Sunday afternoon in the full tide of 
 spring, and Harvey and Milly were walking slowly 
 out into the Fenway Park, where so few Bostonians 
 think of seeking the real flavor of the country. Milly 
 was dressed in a light gray walking-suit, with here 
 and there a touch of blue, and carried a blue and gray 
 sunshade. She was charming to look at. So, at least, 
 thought Harvey. 
 
 As they walked slowly, they chatted of everything 
 and nothing, that is, Milly did, and Harvey listened. 
 She gave him a droll sketch of her school life and 
 how she hated it : the rich girls, with their imperti 
 nent snobbishness ; the pretty girls, with their airs 
 and vanities ; the dull girls, with their inconceivable 
 capacity of non-comprehension and their frenzy-pro 
 voking smile. " And to think that I was once as rich, 
 as pretty, and as dull as any of them ! And used to 
 pass all my time admiring my clothes and myself and 
 complaining that I was bored. How little I knew of 
 boredom ! " 
 
52 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Yet Ethel says they all think you are the best 
 teacher they ever had." 
 
 " The dears ! Just think of the range of their ex 
 perience ! And then Ethel says so. And Ethel adores 
 me." 
 
 " That is perfectly natural," Harvey suggested. 
 
 " Of course. Thank you. And I adore Ethel. I 
 don t think you half appreciate Ethel. Because she s 
 muscular and makes absolutely no pretensions, peo 
 ple are disposed to slight her. But her disposition 
 is perfect. She does no end of kind things, and she 
 never says unkind ones. That s the form of Christian 
 charity that I admire most, because it s quite beyond 
 me." 
 
 Harvey made no reply, not being especially inter 
 ested in Ethel s good qualities at that moment. 
 
 An automobile shot past, exceeding the speed 
 limit, as usual. " How much nicer it is to walk," 
 Milly said, " so one can hear the frogs." 
 
 Indeed, the charm of spring was all about them. 
 The air was soft and heavy, full of strange sweetness. 
 The constant music of the frogs was broken by the 
 reedy cry of the blackbird and the sharp, sweet song 
 of the sparrows. 
 
 But Milly preferred her own voice to any sparrow s. 
 " I like your uncle so much, too," she went on. "To 
 be sure, he s no talker ; but what he does say means 
 
MILLY DECLINES 53 
 
 something. How is it that he gives one such a sense 
 of power, when he s so quiet?" 
 
 " Because he is quiet, perhaps." 
 
 " Perhaps Only I ve known people who were 
 quiet without giving one a sense of power at all. I 
 do like that feeling of power in a man. And so gentle, 
 with it all. It seems impossible that he should be 
 rough, or even stern." 
 
 " Rough, no," Harvey agreed ; " but for stern, I 
 think you d hate to see him when he wants to be. He 
 never was so to me. But the other day a boy in the 
 office was caught stealing. Uncle Amos spoke to him 
 about ten words but the fellow turned as pale as 
 chalk. After that Uncle Amos was gentle and agreed 
 to keep him, if it did n t happen again. It never will." 
 
 "Ah," sighed Milly, "if I could only speak ten 
 words and make any one look pale." 
 
 " I think you might," was the simple comment. 
 
 "No, no," she said. "I speak a thousand, where 
 one might answer." 
 
 They walked for a few moments in silence. A car 
 riage or two passed them and a solitary cycler. In 
 the distance they could hear the puffing of trains and 
 the rattle of trolley cars, yet they seemed singularly 
 secluded and alone. 
 
 But Milly seemed anxious to continue the subject. 
 " Your uncle was saying, the other night, how sue- 
 
54 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 cessful you were in the business, and how much you 
 seemed to take to it." 
 
 "Was he?" answered Harvey briefly. " I try to 
 please him." 
 
 " But you like it for itself, don t you ? " 
 
 "Yes, I do." There was increasing animation in 
 his tone. " I like work. I like excitement. I like 
 struggle. I hate to sit and think. Everything is full 
 of movement down there. Every one is eager to 
 get something, to do something. I suppose a good 
 many of them want the money simply, because they 
 need it, or to see it pile up. I don t. I like to watch 
 the working, to test my brains against facts, just as 
 I used to my muscles in football. I used to think I 
 should like to play football all my life. Well, I think 
 Uncle Amos has played football all his life and a 
 sandy game." 
 
 Milly stopped short and turned and looked at him, 
 her eyes sparkling : " How I should like it ! " she 
 said. " I never wished to be a man, and I don t 
 now. But I do envy you the privilege of fighting. I 
 should like to go into that battle, and use my strength 
 and my cunning, and triumph." 
 
 Harvey watched her, fascinated ; but in an instant 
 her mood changed, and she walked on soberly. " That 
 sounds feminine, doesn t it? I m not cruel by na 
 ture, you know. In fact, I dare say the relish of the 
 
MILLY DECLINES 55 
 
 triumph would be all lost in pity for the victims if 
 there were any." 
 
 " There are," said Harvey, " lots of them. That 
 troubles me sometimes." 
 
 "I know," she answered, "I remember it s trou 
 bling you. But one can t live, if one has too many 
 scruples." 
 
 " Exactly." And all his doubts echoed in his tone. 
 " One might have scruples about the air one breathes 
 and the water one drinks. Life is fighting. One can t 
 give up and be nothing." 
 
 She nodded in approval. " The world runs its 
 course and we can t make it over all at once. See 
 what happens to those who try. They drive their 
 heads against a wall and it is bad for their heads. 
 It is written that one cannot serve God and Mam 
 mon ; but I believe we should not serve Mammon, 
 perhaps, but use him, if you mean by Mammon the 
 beauty and the luxury and the comfort of life. A cell 
 in the Chartreuse might have its charm ; but I am 
 not sure it was right, and I am sure it was n t useful. 
 We help the world by living in it, and as it lives, in 
 a certain measure." 
 
 So speaking, she gave to Harvey s scarce formu 
 lated thought a grace, a sweet seductiveness pecul 
 iarly her own. After all, he said to himself, Marcus 
 was antiquated, formal, Puritanic. He was ignorant 
 
56 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 of life, and his ignorance made life seem far blacker 
 than it was. It was time to shake off his influence 
 and be one s self again. 
 
 " Let us sit down a moment," said Milly. " I m 
 tired." 
 
 They sat down on one of the broad stone benches ; 
 and, for a time, there was silence. Harvey had much 
 to say, but as yet he could not say it. If Milly divined 
 his feelings and took a certain pleasure in them, who 
 shall blame her ? That sort of thing was her football, 
 and without it she sometimes thought the monotony 
 of life would be intolerable. 
 
 Before them was a great marsh, just blooming 
 into the softest, sweetest, tenderest green, and the low 
 sun shot golden splendor all through it, mingling 
 misty light with dreamy shadow. Clumps of shrub 
 bery, here and there, showed delicate with the half- 
 covering of new foliage. Forsythia bushes, heavy 
 with blossoms, sprayed the black and green with 
 radiant yellow. The low, deep murmur of life was 
 everywhere, in the rustle of the west wind, in the 
 buzz of the insects, in the song of the birds. 
 
 " Nature," said Milly softly, waving her hand with 
 a vague gesture. Then she turned to her compan 
 ion. " Do you a care for nature ? " she asked. 
 
 " Not particularly," was the abstracted answer. 
 
 " How nice of you. I rather do, but I m ashamed 
 
MILLY DECLINES 57 
 
 of it. When I see a withered crone observing a small 
 bird through an opera-glass, or an earnest young 
 woman, fresh from college, getting near to nature in 
 the company of a disingenuous young man, it makes 
 me wish I might never see a green thing again. 
 And, to tell you the truth, I love the little finger of 
 man homo, that is better than all the nature be 
 tween this and China. I bore you, perhaps ? " 
 
 " Milly," said Harvey, and though the attack 
 did not wholly surprise her, there was something in 
 his tone to which she was unused, something which 
 brought a bit of color to her cheek and turned her 
 eyes towards the sunset, " Milly, I want you. My 
 life is drifting. I want you to give it aim and charac 
 ter and purpose. I feel as if I had it in me to do 
 something in the world. I Ve got a sort of brains, 
 perhaps. But I m slow and dull just groping my 
 way. You see things, through things, over things, 
 everything. Won t you come to me and be my eyes, 
 help me, lead me, guide me? Milly ! " 
 
 The place was too public for him even to make a 
 move to take her hand ; but there was a depth, a 
 richness of caressing tenderness in his voice, which 
 seemed to envelop her in an actual embrace, startled 
 her, made her look involuntarily for the glance of 
 intruding curiosity, so that, for a moment, she was 
 too confused to answer him at all. Was it deeper 
 
58 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 than she had supposed, this growing passion, which 
 she had watched with amused interest, had perhaps 
 nursed a little more than she should have done ? 
 Was there a spirit she had not suspected in this bulk 
 of flesh and bone? 
 
 " Milly," came the voice again, ringing deeper and 
 gentler than before. 
 
 But she had pulled herself together now and was 
 as calm as usual in the face of danger. Looking at 
 him directly, with a keen glance which made him 
 feel, more than ever, the truth of what he had just 
 said about her eyes, she answered : " Mr. Phelps, I 
 can t think you really mean this ? " 
 
 " Mean it ? " he said, and no more. 
 
 " I don t doubt you mean it for the time." And 
 as he seemed anxious to interrupt her, she added 
 hastily, " and think you would mean it always. You 
 must remember, Mr. Phelps, that I am years older 
 than you ah, yes I am it is n t merely the num 
 ber of birthdays that counts. I know a great deal 
 about life a great deal too much, at any rate, to 
 think of taking the situation of guide and counselor 
 and wife to a person in your position. I counsel ! I 
 advise ! I sometimes know the better way, but I 
 always follow the worse. And then I am only fit 
 to live alone petulant, wayward, fanciful, tern- 
 perish " 
 
MILLY DECLINES 59 
 
 " I know you better," he interrupted. 
 
 " You don t know me at all. And then, do you 
 think I would come between you and Ethel? You 
 will end by marrying Ethel you must. Your uncle 
 expects it, nature really intended it, evidently. It is 
 one of those marriages that are made in heaven 
 and novels." 
 
 Her lightness hurt him. Before he could answer 
 her as he wished to, he paused a moment to gather 
 his thoughts, and his eye wandered over the wide 
 sweep of sunlit grasses nodding in the wind. 
 
 "Why do you trifle so with me ? " he asked. " I 
 may be dull and slow, but I am not a child. What 
 is Ethel to me but a sweet and kindly cousin ? How 
 can she ever be anything else ? It is you I want, you, 
 you, you." 
 
 She shook her head. " You can t have me," she 
 said emphatically. " Never ! Never ! " 
 
 " It means that you don t love me, then, I sup 
 pose," was his slow response. " There can be no 
 other reason." 
 
 "There are many other reasons." This in the 
 quick, decided tone she had used all along. Then 
 she added more gently : " Since you drive me to be 
 cruel, I must say that I don t love you. We have had 
 many pleasant times together and you have been 
 very kind, and if I have seemed to encourage you in 
 
60 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 any way, I am sorry. It is easy for a girl to do that, 
 I suppose. I don t think I shall ever love anybody. 
 I am all on the surface, all tongue, like Echo. I love 
 no one but myself and myself not much. I should n t 
 be so harsh, but I am sure somehow that you don t 
 love me. You love my clothes, my manner, my chat 
 ter, my flippant, idle ways ; but there is nothing else 
 in me that you could love. Don t let s talk about it 
 any more." 
 
 " Very well," he answered, rising ; and his manner 
 was almost rough. 
 
 She rose, too, without more speech, and they took 
 their way homeward, less cheerfully than they had 
 come. Hardly a word was exchanged between them, 
 unless when Milly made one transparent effort at 
 conversation about some passer-by. 
 
 Once only Harvey broke the silence : " Tell me one 
 thing. Is it George Kent ? " 
 
 "You have no sort of right to ask," Milly an 
 swered. " But it is no one, and I do not think it ever 
 will be." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 COPPERS 
 
 As to Harvey s fitness for business and success in 
 it there could be no doubt whatsoever. When he 
 first went into the office in October, he began at the 
 bottom, running about the street with deposits and 
 deliveries ; and even his constitutional humility was 
 a little staggered by the perfect indifference with 
 which everybody treated him, as if he were a green 
 boy from the back country, his standing as a Har 
 vard graduate and his prestige as a first-class foot 
 ball champion being totally overlooked. This did not 
 disturb him much, however. He took hold of his 
 work with the determination natural to him, was 
 always on hand and always willing, made no mis 
 takes, neglected nothing. Consequently, he soon be 
 came aware of a change of tone. Mr. Legge, his 
 uncle s partner, who knew business and the business 
 character, though he knew nothing else, was pleased, 
 and showed it. Other persons in the office became 
 more sympathetic, and even betrayed a knowledge 
 of football which they had appeared entirely guiltless 
 
62 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 of before. At length, about the beginning of March, 
 Harvey was promoted, and allowed to try his hand 
 at selling bonds. Instantly it appeared that he had 
 made good use of his few months preliminary expe 
 rience. His acquaintance was considerable, his man 
 ner such as to inspire confidence. In short, his success 
 was entirely satisfactory to Mr. Legge and immensely 
 gratifying to Mr. Phelps. 
 
 On the thirtieth of April the latter gentleman took 
 flight, going to his summer place at Cataumet, in 
 order to escape the prying impertinence of the city 
 assessor. This left Mr. Legge the most active part 
 in the management of the business ; for the health 
 of the senior partner made it impossible for him to 
 come to town more than two or three times a week, 
 although the telephone kept him in constant contact 
 with what was going forward. 
 
 One of the most interesting events of that season 
 in the Boston market was the revival of speculation 
 in the Aquila copper mine. The history of that affair 
 is well known. When the mine was opened and the 
 company organized, everything seemed very pro 
 mising. There was value there. Nobody doubted 
 that. Not only were the surface indications excel 
 lent ; but the diamond drill showed an unusual depth 
 and an unusual richness of ore. The thing did not 
 do well, however. It fell into the hands of promoters 
 
COPPERS 63 
 
 who were a good deal more interested in working a 
 quick boom on the market than in the production of 
 copper. The stock was widely advertised by shyster 
 methods, soared up sky-high for a few weeks, then 
 dropped like a dead rocket, drawing more gold out 
 of men s purses than copper out of the earth. It 
 went into the hands of a receiver, was thoroughly 
 discredited even among speculators, and for some 
 time dragged on an unprofitable existence at figures 
 hardly fit for quotation in polite society. 
 
 But the shrewd, who are always on the watch for 
 such things, knew that the Aquila mine itself was as 
 good as ever it had been. The copper was there, 
 no doubt at all about it. When the proper moment 
 came, a strong combination took hold of the con 
 cern, reorganized it, put the shares on the market in 
 a conservative way, and gradually forced them up 
 wards. Phelps & Legge were not directly active in 
 this operation ; but it was generally understood that 
 they were behind it with the capital and owned or 
 represented a large block of the shares. 
 
 During the greater part of the winter Harvey 
 watched the behavior of Aquila stock with intense 
 interest. He heard so much talk about it and about 
 the relation of the firm to it, that he made a special 
 point of investigating the matter and convinced him 
 self that everything was solid and reliable, established 
 
64 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 on a square business basis. Still, after all, the devel 
 opment of the mine was just beginning ; and when 
 the price went steadily up and up, it seemed to him 
 that the tone of things was getting distinctly specu 
 lative. However, it was, naturally, no affair of his. 
 
 By the middle of April the stock was quoted at 
 no. Harvey felt a strong desire to talk the mine 
 over with his uncle ; but Mr. Phelps was not an easy 
 man to approach on subjects that he did not care to 
 discuss. 
 
 115. 120. Who was the bull in this matter? The 
 market in general was strong. Crop prospects were 
 good. Everything was taking an upward turn. Cop 
 pers especially were inclining to a boom. Still, the 
 rise in Aquila was something out of the ordinary. 
 It was not so much a matter of advertising or public 
 pushing as of a quiet diffusion of confidence. Men 
 discussed Aquila over their lunch and thought it was 
 going higher. Phelps & Legge were said to be buy 
 ing, even at present prices. Whitaker was buying, 
 and he never made a mistake. Men got up from 
 their lunch and placed an order for ten or a hundred 
 shares of Aquila on their way back to the office. 
 
 In the first days of May the stock jumped even 
 more rapidly. 125. 130. The careful ones sold, and 
 patted their fat pocket-books, only to sigh a little 
 when 135 was reached. 
 
COPPERS 65 
 
 Harvey left the office in company with Mr. Legge 
 one afternoon, and ventured to ask him what it all 
 meant. 
 
 Legge looked at him with shrewd, impenetrable 
 brown eyes. " Mean ? " he answered. " It means a 
 big profit for Phelps & Legge." 
 
 "Surely it has got beyond the value now?" ques 
 tioned Harvey. 
 
 "The value for us is the market price, at least 
 when it s on the right side," was the laconic answer. 
 
 " But there must come a turn, a break." 
 
 " Very likely." 
 
 " And some one will suffer." 
 
 "A good many will get nipped, no doubt and 
 deserve to. It won t be us ; I can tell you that." 
 
 The subject was dropped and the conversation 
 turned to something in connection with the Harkless 
 Power Company s bonds, which Harvey had lately 
 been engaged in placing. 
 
 But he could not get Aquila out of his head. This 
 was evidently a sample of the sort of .thing business 
 meant. What would Marcus think of it? It was 
 easy to answer that question. 
 
 The next day he happened to lunch next to a man 
 who had been at school with him and whom he 
 met occasionally about the street. Ralph Thomson 
 had been keen for business from his boyhood, had 
 
66 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 gone directly from school into a broker s office, 
 and was said to be doing well, though it was whis 
 pered that he could not let the bucket-shops alone, 
 and that he kept his own little property and his wife s 
 perpetually dancing up and down the well. He was 
 a hard-faced fellow, with hungry cheeks and cold 
 blue eyes, and Harvey was not particularly fond of 
 him. 
 
 " Hullo, Harvey," he began. " They must be hus 
 tling over at your office." 
 
 "Why?" asked Harvey monosyllabically. 
 
 " Oh, don t you try and play the quiet game with 
 me. It won t do. It s all Aquila over there. I know 
 that. They say he s going to push her up to two 
 hundred, and I believe it." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
 " Legge, of course. This is his deal, and he J s a 
 smasher. I admire that man." 
 
 " There is a Phelps in the firm," Harvey suggested. 
 
 " Cut it out," was the rough answer. I know there s 
 a Phelps, and there s going to be another. But the 
 boot is on the other Legge now. He s run this Aquila 
 business, and he s doing it well." 
 
 " I m glad you admire him," was Harvey s com 
 ment. And he added, as he lit a cigarette, " I trust 
 you re not putting your admiration on a cash basis." 
 
 " You can just bet I am, then. Everything I ve got 
 
COPPERS 67 
 
 and everything 1 can get hold of went into Aquila at 
 125. I m coming out on top this time." 
 
 For a moment Harvey s indignation and disgust 
 were too strong for words. " You don t really mean 
 it, Ralph ? " he said at length. " As the thing stands 
 now, it s the rankest kind of speculation. And you re 
 on a margin, of course." 
 
 " Sure I m on a margin. What do you take me 
 for ? Speculation ? Is n t that the way to get rich ? 
 Do you want me to buy government bonds and put 
 em in the vault? It s easy for you to talk with 
 millions coming to you just for breathing. Did n t 
 your uncle make his pile by speculation ? And Wil 
 liam Legge, did he steer clear of speculation ? " 
 
 Harvey was completely nonplussed by this cold 
 frenzy. " Heavens ! man," he cried, " don t you know 
 that they are two in a thousand ? And what becomes 
 of the others ? Have n t you got a wife and child ? 
 Think of them." 
 
 " I am thinking of them," was the quick answer. 
 " When you get a wife, you 11 have something to 
 think of when you see how she makes the money 
 go." He spoke lower, with his face close to Har 
 vey s ; and the alcoholic suggestion of his breath 
 suited well with his general state of excitement. " I 11 
 tell you, old man, it ain t so hard to be the one in a 
 thousand. All you Ve got to have is nerve. Don t 
 
68 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 go into a thing until you re sure of it, and then go 
 in for all you re worth. I ve tried it two or three 
 times already, on a smaller scale, and it worked to a 
 charm. As for this Aquila business, I ve watched it 
 and studied it all winter, and I know just what the 
 big fellows are up to. I would have been in it long 
 ago if I had n t been all tied up in other things. But 
 I caught on in time. 
 
 "Well, why don t you sell now?" urged Harvey. 
 " You ve made enough, I should think." 
 
 Thomson looked at his companion with a shade 
 of doubt. " Is this a tip ? " he asked. Then, as Har 
 vey shook his head, he laughed scornfully. " No, 
 they d hardly trust you so deep as that. Sell ! I 
 guess not. Why, Legge was buying only this morn 
 ing. No, sir, 150 is my figure. Not a cent less. 
 You ll see the stock 175. But 150 s good enough 
 for me. I get out at that. Come round and take 
 dinner the day after, old man, will you ? " 
 
 Harvey accepted this very hypothetical invitation 
 and said no more. After all, it was not his place 
 to shake any one s confidence in Aquila. But the 
 thought of Marcus came to him more strongly than 
 ever. 
 
 During the next week the market was fairly quiet 
 and Aquila remained about the same, rising, in all, 
 perhaps a point or two. Then suddenly there came 
 
COPPERS 69 
 
 an uneasy day. Everything trembled. One or two 
 large sales of Aquila were made and the stock fell, 
 first slowly, then sharply to 123, then to 120. Of 
 course this meant more margin from Thomson, if he 
 had not sold, but surely he must have watched the 
 signs and protected himself. Harvey made several 
 efforts to see him, but without success. He would 
 also have liked to talk matters over with his uncle or 
 with Legge ; but Mr. Phelps had been detained for 
 some days at Cataumet by illness, arid Legge showed 
 no disposition to be communicative. 
 
 The next morning things looked better. It ap 
 peared that the big men were still buying Aquila 
 in small lots, and the price rose a few points. 
 
 Then, on the nineteenth, the crash came. Great 
 blocks of Aquila were unloaded in the early morn 
 ing, to guileless purchasers, who were glad to get 
 the popular stock at 120, 115, no, since Phelps & 
 Legge were still buying cautiously, in small orders, 
 and everything seemed to indicate a merely tem 
 porary flurry. But as the day wore on rumors got 
 about the street, coming from no one knew where. 
 The President had suddenly ordered a fleet to Pekin, 
 and in the strained state of our relations with Ger 
 many a conflict seemed almost unavoidable. The 
 whole market was immediately affected, and stocks 
 that seemed as solid as Bunker Hill Monument were 
 
70 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 shaken to their foundations. Harvey thought he 
 could never forget that day. The rush of haggard 
 men about the streets, the drawn faces, the sunken 
 eyes, the sense of fair fortunes withered at a touch, 
 of homes ruined, of wives and children beggared 
 and all for a vague report, which turned out to be 
 exaggerated and misleading, and which, if it had 
 come at another time, might not have disturbed pub 
 lic confidence at all. 
 
 It is needless to say that Phelps & Legge were 
 not affected by the tumult further than that a num 
 ber of unfortunate clerks were kept busy late into the 
 night, and consoled themselves with an extra good 
 dinner at the expense of the firm. Mr. Legge re 
 mained as impenetrable as ever, so far as Aquila was 
 concerned. Whether he had sold all of his interest, 
 or part, or none, Harvey was left to speculate. But 
 as, even after the crash, the stock hung far above the 
 figure at which the firm originally purchased, there 
 seemed to be no particular occasion for anxiety. 
 
 In the midst of the general chaos Thomson s fate 
 had been for the moment forgotten. On the follow 
 ing day, however, as Harvey was hurrying back to the 
 office at noon, he felt his arm grasped from behind, 
 and turning, saw the face of his old schoolfellow, 
 though so changed he hardly knew it. The cheeks 
 were pale and sunken, the eyes were dull and sur- 
 
COPPERS 71 
 
 rounded with dark circles, the mouth was drawn, 
 drops of sweat stood out on the forehead, under the 
 pushed-back hat. 
 
 "It s all up, old chap," he said; and his breath 
 and his voice were heavy with alcohol. " I m in the 
 soup. Not a rag left on me." 
 
 "You didn t get out in time?" cried Harvey in 
 dismay. 
 
 "Get out! No." They had reached the door of 
 Phelps & Legge ; but Thomson drew his compan 
 ion onward. " Come along," he urged, " I must talk. 
 I ve been tramping the streets all day. I m crazy, 
 Harvey." He looked it. Even in that troubled time 
 men stopped in the street to watch him. 
 
 "See here," exclaimed Harvey, much distressed, 
 " this won t do. You ve got to go home and go to 
 bed." 
 
 " I can t go home," was the hoarse answer. 
 
 " Oh, come, you take it too hard, Ralph. Every 
 man has got to get a rub in his time. It s a tough 
 lesson, but if it cures you of that sort of thing, it may 
 be well worth it." 
 
 " My God, man," cried the other, " how you talk ! 
 It is n t I. Do you suppose I care for myself ? It s 
 Nellie all her money all her mother s money. 
 When it dropped that first time, I swore I d hang 
 on. I knew your man Legge was buying damn 
 
72 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 him he s done me and a hundred others. I took 
 everything I could get. I took money from the firm, 
 Harvey there, it s out now God! what do you 
 think of that for a fool s job ? State s prison no 
 less. That Legge damn him buying a share or 
 two all the time to steady things and then unloading 
 out the back door, as fast as the fools would gulp it 
 down." 
 
 " I don t believe it," interrupted Harvey. 
 
 " Don t believe it ? I d have done the same any 
 body would. And then, yesterday morning, with a 
 tip from Washington in his pocket, what a chance ! 
 I don t believe he averaged less than no on every 
 share he sold and bought at under 50. And all the 
 time I was making an ass of myself. How those big 
 fellows swallow us. But Nellie that s all I can think 
 of, Harvey. Nellie ! I don t dare go home. I did n t 
 close my eyes last night, nor the night before. I m 
 just going crazy, and I m glad of it." 
 
 He burst into a fit of crying, part drink, part sleep 
 lessness, part excitement Harvey was completely at 
 a loss what to do ; but he finally got the fellow into 
 a quiet corner, sobered him down, reasoned with him, 
 and persuaded him to get into a cab and go home. 
 
 " I can t come with you, old man," he said, " for I 
 must get back to the office, but I 11 be along in an 
 hour or two and cheer you up." 
 
COPPERS 73 
 
 He had no sooner reached the office, however, 
 than he regretted having let Thomson go alone. 
 There was no telling what might happen ; and, re 
 luctant as he was to get mixed up further in such a 
 miserable business, he felt that he could not leave 
 things as they were. He therefore jumped into a 
 cab and ordered the driver to take him to the Engle- 
 wood, where Thomson had a flat. 
 
 When Harvey arrived he gave his name and asked 
 for Ralph ; but Mrs. Thomson hurried to meet him. 
 She was a simple, graceful little woman, and Har 
 vey s heart went out to her. 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Phelps," she cried, "what does it all 
 mean ? I know you are Ralph s friend. He was speak 
 ing of you the other day. Why does he look so ? He 
 would n t say a word to me when he came in, just 
 went to his room and turned the key behind him." 
 
 " Has he told you nothing ?" asked Harvey in dis 
 may. 
 
 She shook her head. Just then the report of a pistol 
 came sharp from a little distance along the passage. 
 Mrs. Thomson screamed and ran to a closed door, 
 followed by Harvey. 
 
 " Ralph ! " she cried. " Ralph ! Let me in. Oh, do, 
 Ralph ! " 
 
 No answer. Harvey put his whole strength against 
 the door and forced the lock. There lay the ruined 
 
74 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 speculator across the bed, his brains blown out, and 
 the revolver on the floor beside him. 
 
 With a cry his wife threw herself upon the body, 
 and for a long time Harvey could not succeed in get 
 ting her away from it. At length, however, he and 
 the maid, who was unusually sensible and tactful, 
 persuaded her to go to her baby in another room. 
 Then Harvey bestirred himself to summon her mother 
 and sister and a doctor ; and, promising to return the 
 next morning, he departed, in an unspeakable state 
 of wrath against the system which brought men to 
 such a pass as this. 
 
 Returning to the office, he made his way at once 
 to Mr. Legge s private room, knocked, and entered. 
 The junior member of the firm was attending to his 
 correspondence. 
 
 "I want to know," began Harvey, stirred entirely 
 out of his usual moderation. 
 
 But Legge, seeing that something was wrong, in 
 terrupted. " Just one moment," he said. Then, turn 
 ing to his stenographer, " Miss Winter, will you 
 kindly ask Mr. Perkins for the file of letters relating 
 to that matter of Wilde & Co ? " 
 
 When they were alone he addressed Harvey coldly, 
 " What can I do for young Mr. Phelps ? " 
 
 Young Mr. Phelps had more command of his nerves 
 by this time and spoke almost as quietly as usual. 
 
COPPERS 75 
 
 " I ve just seen a man shoot himself, Mr. Legge." 
 
 "Ah?" was the calm remark. "Perhaps if you 
 had gone to a doctor" 
 
 But Harvey paid no attention. " He had put every 
 thing he had into Aquila more than everything " 
 
 Again came the caustic comment : " A man is a 
 fool to put everything into Aquila or any other 
 mine and on margin, too, I suppose." 
 
 " And he told me that you that we that you 
 had made money out of it, had forced the market up 
 and up, kept on buying a little, even when you were 
 selling a great deal, and getting hundreds of others 
 to follow you, and then that you had word from 
 Washington before any one else, in time to unload 
 thousands of shares and take them up again at a big 
 profit." 
 
 He paused. 
 
 "Well?" asked Legge, with perfect serenity. 
 
 " Is this a true history of the thing ? " 
 
 " I don t see why it should n t be. But I absolutely 
 refuse to answer questions you have no sort of right 
 to put. Take them to your uncle, not to me. Ah, 
 yes, Miss Winter. You have the file ? Thank you." 
 
 Harvey turned short and left the office. 
 
 As soon as he reached his rooms he telephoned to 
 Ethel that he would come to Cataumet the next after 
 noon, for the Sunday. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 "I STEP DOWN AND OUT" 
 
 IT had been a severe trial for Mr. Phelps to remain at 
 Cataumet through such a lively crisis ; but although 
 he was feeling much better towards the end of the 
 week, the doctor did not think it a favorable time for 
 a visit to town. 
 
 As Amos became weaker and more dependent 
 upon his sister and his step-daughter, he grew more 
 disposed to talk than he had ever been before. 
 Ethel s even, tranquil disposition was especially 
 soothing and comfortable to him. He liked to hear 
 her read, or to sit on the piazza, in the cool south 
 wind, while she embroidered and chatted idly. And 
 always, in the end, Harvey got to be the subject of 
 their talk. 
 
 " I never believed he would do so well," said 
 Amos, on one occasion. " I knew he was intelligent 
 and industrious ; but as a boy he was so slow to 
 grasp anything." 
 
 " Perhaps he was not so slow to grasp things as to 
 express them," Ethel suggested. " When there was 
 
"I STEP DOWN AND OUT 77 
 
 anything to be done, he always seemed to me to be 
 quick enough." 
 
 " Perhaps," answered Mr. Phelps thoughtfully. 
 "At any rate, he is quick enough now in judgment 
 especially and not too quick." 
 
 They were both silent, watching the flutter of the 
 white sails down the bay. 
 
 " And he certainly seems to like it," Mr. Phelps 
 went on. 
 
 "He always speaks as if he did." Ethel spread her 
 embroidery on her lap, and cocked her head on one 
 side in aesthetic meditation. 
 
 " Yet, somehow or other, I don t feel quite satis 
 fied, perhaps because his sticking to the business 
 means so much to me. You ve heard me speak of 
 his mother ? " 
 
 Ethel nodded. 
 
 " His mother and I never got on. She did n t ap 
 prove of my ways nor I of hers. And he has a 
 good deal of his mother in him. I keep running 
 against it suddenly, every once in a while." 
 
 Ethel had no comment to make on this. Indeed, 
 one of her chief advantages as a companion was that 
 she did not insist on any very active part in the con 
 versation. After a time her father took up another 
 phase of the same all-important subject. " That Miss 
 Erskine," he said, " and Harvey. I have sometimes 
 
78 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 thought there was something between them. She s 
 a bright girl, but I don t wholly trust her." 
 
 Ethel was wide awake now. Her eyes showed it. 
 If she still hesitated before she spoke, it was to make 
 sure of her words. " Harvey and Milly," she repeated. 
 " No, I don t think there s anything in it. Milly 
 has n t said so ; but I feel almost sure she s refused 
 him." 
 
 " Refused him ! " Mr. Phelps sat upright in his 
 steamer chair. " Why should she do that ? " 
 
 " Does n t care for him, I fancy." 
 
 " But you think he does care for her? " 
 
 " Harvey has a taste for bright and pretty girls. I 
 think it would be nice if they d marry." 
 
 Mr. Phelps looked decidedly discontented. 
 " Ethel," he said, " you must know what I ve always 
 wished for Harvey " 
 
 But Ethel interrupted this time. Getting up and 
 coming behind her father s chair, where he could not 
 see her, she said, " Yes, papa, I know ; but those 
 things can t be settled in that way, can they ? Har 
 vey s always been just like a brother to me. I 
 could n t possibly think of him as anything else." 
 
 Mr. Phelps made no answer, but looked far off at 
 the blue water and the white ships. Then Ethel went 
 back to her work, and the talk turned on other things. 
 
 Saturday afternoon Harvey appeared at Cataumet, 
 
"I STEP DOWN AND OUT 79 
 
 having spent most of the morning over Thomson s 
 affairs, with a promise to give them further attention 
 on Monday. 
 
 That evening there was little talk between him and 
 his uncle, and only on general topics. Mr. Phelps 
 seemed tired and not inclined to discuss the affairs 
 of the office, and Harvey himself was rather glad to 
 do a little more thinking before he spoke, being 
 anxious not so much as to what he was to say, but 
 as to how he was to say it. 
 
 Sunday was bright and clear, with a fresh west 
 wind. Harvey took Miss Phelps and Ethel down the 
 bay in Ethel s boat. He had not enjoyed anything 
 so much for a great while. The salt air seemed 
 to blow all the snarls and twists out of his being. 
 Neither of his companions was curious or wanted to 
 talk Aquila or stock market. They were content to 
 be happy and to let him be the same. If only Milly 
 had been there and been kind, he would have asked 
 nothing better than to sail on so forever, with the 
 tiller in his hand, the white wings spread taut before 
 him, and the glorious bound and roll of the waves 
 beneath his feet. 
 
 After dinner, however, he found himself smoking, 
 with his uncle, on the broad piazza, and the time for 
 speech had come. 
 
 " It has been a lively week, Uncle Amos." 
 
8o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 "Oh, yes," answered Mr. Phelps with a sigh. 
 " Why could n t I have been there? But those days 
 are over for me. You enjoyed it ? " 
 
 Harvey shook his head. " No, not altogether." 
 
 " I m surprised at that." The older man glanced 
 searchingly at his companion and then went on. " Of 
 course you had no personal stake. But when I was 
 your age the very air of such a time was enough for 
 me. The clash of interests, the rise and fall of big 
 issues but perhaps you are not in it enough yet, 
 after all." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I m in it enough. I m in it too much, 
 Uncle Amos ; that s the trouble." 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 Harvey s answer did not come at once ; but his 
 uncle waited patiently. The veeries in the thicket 
 were filling the whole air with passion. High over 
 head the windmill clicked, turning idly in the light 
 breeze. 
 
 " Surely," went on Mr. Phelps, at length, " you 
 weren t mixed up in the thing yourself? Haven t 
 been trying your hand at a little margin work ? " 
 
 " No, no, hardly," Harvey answered, with some 
 impatience. Then he burst forth with the whole story 
 of Ralph, telling it in broken sentences, almost indif 
 ferently, though an observer so keen as his uncle 
 could not miss the feeling underneath. " He s only 
 
"I STEP DOWN AND OUT 81 
 
 one of many, I suppose. I can t say I enjoy that sort 
 of thing," he concluded. 
 
 For a moment there was no answer. Finally Mr. 
 Phelps spoke : " Your friend was foolish. I think you 
 must admit that. There is very little place in the 
 world for such people as he, in business or anywhere 
 else. If we stopped to pick up such wrecks as that, 
 nothing would ever go on." 
 
 But Harvey was determined to have the whole 
 thing out now. As yet he had made no reference to 
 Phelps & Legge in the affair. " At least, it does n t 
 seem pleasant to do the wrecking ourselves," he 
 said. And he proceeded to give Ralph s account of 
 Legge s various transactions. 
 
 Mr. Phelps listened very quietly as before. When 
 Harvey had finished, his uncle answered, in his usual 
 tranquil tone: "Whatever Mr. Legge has done has 
 been for the firm, and I am behind it. But I see 
 nothing out of the way in what you have told me. 
 We take up a large interest in what seems to us likely 
 to be a profitable investment. It goes on the market, 
 like any other. Our position is such that smaller in 
 vestors will be guided by us, to a certain extent. The 
 stock has its fluctuations like every other. And we 
 protect ourselves. That is perfectly simple and 
 legitimate." 
 
 "Yes," said Harvey, " I suppose it is legitimate. 
 
82 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 That is what disturbs me most. If what is perfectly 
 legitimate and usual and calmly done by men 
 like you, whom I honor and respect, carries such 
 misery and disaster with it, what are the operations 
 of men whom nobody honors or respects ? " 
 
 " The world must go on," was Amos s only reply 
 to this. 
 
 " I don t know that it must," answered Harvey, 
 with equal brevity. 
 
 Then they both puffed at their cigars a long time, 
 without speaking. The red glow of sunset filled all 
 the west and gleamed in the quiet waters of the bay. 
 Two or three sail-boats dragged slowly along, almost 
 becalmed. The noisy spitting of a launch was heard 
 behind the nearest headland. 
 
 Mr. Phelps was the first to break the silence. 
 " Until this crisis came you were getting on well 
 enjoying yourself, were n t you ? " 
 
 " In a way, yes. But I was bound to break with it 
 sooner or later, Uncle Amos. Things kept coming 
 up. Now these bonds I ve been selling Harkless 
 Light and Power Company, you know. They seem 
 to be a first-rate thing they are, and I ve had a lot 
 of fun handling them. But I came across a man the 
 other day. Look here, he said. I would n t touch 
 one of those things if you d give it to me. What s 
 the matter with them ? I asked. Look at their con- 
 
I STEP DOWN AND OUT 1 83 
 
 tracts and see what they re sure of. Look at their 
 concessions. Yes, said he, their concessions ! And 
 how did they get them ? It was one of the dirtiest 
 pieces of work ever done by one of the dirtiest legis 
 latures of the dirtiest state in the Union. I asked 
 Mr. Legge if this was true, and he laughed. Then I 
 looked into the matter and found it was." 
 
 "That s politics, Harvey." Mr. Phelps seemed 
 distinctly pleased with the diversion. "If you were 
 squeamish about politics, I shouldn t blame you. 
 Business men don t want to bribe legislatures " 
 
 "Don t they?" asked Harvey. Sarcasm was so 
 foreign to his nature that he must have been deeply 
 moved when he said it. 
 
 " No," said his uncle, without a sign of irritation. 
 " At least, the better class don t ; but nothing can be 
 done any other way. You ve got to do business as 
 the legislatures do it, or else step down and out." 
 
 " I step down and out," was the quiet echo. 
 
 " I m sorry for that, for my sake and yours." But 
 Mr. Phelps made no further attempt to argue the 
 matter, and again there was silence under the calm 
 stars which have gazed unmoved upon so many mil 
 lions of scenes of human passion and trouble. 
 
 When Mr. Phelps spoke again, it was with as little 
 apparent emotion as before. " It seems that you and 
 I belong to different worlds, my boy, and we shall 
 
84 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 hardly understand each other. But I should like to 
 know what you propose to do." 
 
 Harvey s voice, as he answered, showed a far 
 greater depth of agitation. " I don t know at all, I m 
 sure. Uncle Amos, I know it seems as if I were 
 criticising you. I don t mean to. You re a better, a 
 nobler man, in every way, than I shall ever be. Only 
 I can t seem to see things as you do." 
 
 "That s it," said his uncle nodding. "A man sees 
 things as he sees them. I still hope that some day 
 you may see them differently." 
 
 This seemed intended to close the conversation ; 
 but Harvey was not yet done. " There s another 
 thing," he began. Then he paused, flicked the ash 
 from his cigar, and gazed at the quiet waters glim 
 mering softly under the silvery crescent of the young 
 moon. 
 
 " Well ? " said his uncle, with some curiosity in 
 his tone. 
 
 " My own small property," went on Harvey with 
 infinite difficulty "if it doesn t embarrass you in 
 any way, I think I should like to take the charge of 
 it myself." 
 
 Mr. Phelps laughed a little, but without any bitter 
 ness. " Embarrass us ! Fifty thousand dollars ! You 
 shall have a check to-morrow. But really, my dear 
 boy, as far as taint goes, I should be glad to know 
 
"I STEP DOWN AND OUT 85 
 
 what you expect. You may find a mine, or a railroad, 
 or a manufacturing 1 concern, that is n t run by busi 
 ness men on business principles ; but if you do, 
 you 11 lose your money." 
 
 Then, as Harvey made no reply, the older man 
 continued : " Of course, you can t expect to get the 
 six per cent we re paying you now." 
 
 "I shan t expect to," was the calm answer. 
 "You ve been too good to me, in that, as in every 
 thing else." 
 
 " Luxuries are expensive," Mr. Phelps went on ; 
 "and fads are luxuries. If you get four per cent, 
 you 11 do well. Besides, if you live in Boston, you 11 
 find it hard to escape taxes." 
 
 " I don t think I want to escape taxes. I rather 
 think I want to pay them." 
 
 Mr. Phelps lit a fresh cigar and got it well under 
 way before he made any reply to this. " I m afraid 
 we have hardly any common ground," he said. " It s 
 a pity. Naturally, you understand that when you 
 pay your full personal tax you are paying far more 
 than your share, since two thirds of the personal 
 property in the state pays no tax at all." 
 
 " I have soothed my conscience with that argument 
 as long as I can," Harvey answered, throwing the 
 end of his cigar away with a little snap of decision. 
 " In a free country, where the people make the laws, 
 
86 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 it seems to me they ought to obey them or get them 
 changed. I am sick of evasions and quibbles. Is n t 
 it true that every poor man in the state who pays full 
 tax on his little homestead, and every widow who is 
 in the grip of the assessors and cannot escape, pays 
 far more than ought to be exacted, simply because 
 the millionaire evades his burdens ? If I pay all I 
 ought, I am at least relieving them just so much, 
 even if the relief is infinitesimal." 
 
 Mr. Phelps did not attempt to argue the question 
 further. " Of course, everything you have urged this 
 evening reflects directly on me," he said. But his 
 tone had neither irritation nor sarcasm in it; and 
 when Harvey began to protest, his uncle stopped 
 him. "No, no, don t apologize. I know you didn t 
 mean it. Perhaps if I were your age and had begun 
 as you have, I might see things differently. As it is, 
 our paths seem to run far apart just at present. I 
 can t help hoping that some time they may come 
 together again. Anyway, I wish you luck, my boy. 
 Good-night." 
 
 " Good-night, sir, and thank you." 
 
 That was all ; and, as they stood up and shook 
 hands, who would ever have suspected that the one 
 saw all the hopes of years shattered at his feet, and 
 the other, who had shattered them, would have given 
 his life to be able to do otherwise ? 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ROBERTSVILLE 
 
 TWO or three weeks after his talk with his uncle, Har 
 vey went to Robertsville for the summer. He had not 
 been near the office again ; but the very air of State 
 Street, even of Boston, fretted his nerves. His busi 
 ness acquaintances, although in reality they knew 
 nothing about his position, and would not have cared 
 if they had, all seemed to be making fun of him. The 
 very ticker, whenever he came near one, seemed to 
 say, " This is Phelps, the man of scruples. He does n t 
 look it, does he?" The mere thought of Marcus 
 carried with it a different world, a world without envy 
 and greed and dissension, a world in which sharp 
 smartness was not the first principle of life and self 
 was to be crushed out, not idolized. Harvey was by 
 no means sure that he should succeed in crushing 
 self as Marcus crushed it His self was so big, so 
 beef-nourished, so strong in its own waywardness. 
 Still, in his present state of mind, when love had dis 
 appointed him and work had disgusted him, the sug 
 gestion of totally different surroundings and interests 
 was full of charm. 
 
88 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 It was thus that, on a warm June evening, he found 
 himself sitting in Marcus s study, chatting leisurely, 
 They did not board in the same house, but Harvey s 
 quarters were so near that he could slip in and out 
 at any time. 
 
 " And now, tell me all about it," Marcus began. 
 He was sitting in the swivel chair at his desk, his 
 hands in his lap, with the fingers pressed against 
 each other, in a manner which devotion had made 
 unconsciously habitual. As he spoke, or listened, he 
 sat quiet, hardly even turning his chair ; yet some 
 thing tense in the thin features and the slight limbs 
 made the quiet seem rather that of nerves subdued 
 than of nerves absent. The whole aspect of the room 
 spoke, in the same way, of rigid control. All the plain 
 furniture was in order and in its place : the rug on 
 the floor, the simple books on the shelves, the papers 
 on the desk. 
 
 To turn and look at Harvey was like turning to 
 flesh from spirit. He had spread his huge muscles at 
 full length on the comfortless sofa. It seemed as if 
 Hercules had strayed into the precincts of a strange 
 god. Yet when you looked into his eyes, something 
 of the spirit was there too. 
 
 " All about it," he murmured, in echo of Marcus. 
 "All about it. And I, who found it hard to get 
 together words enough this morning to order my 
 breakfast." 
 
ROBERTSVILLE 89 
 
 " You might have written it all," his friend sug 
 gested. "Your letter was brevity itself. I have 
 thrown over business for good. Find me some board 
 ing place near you for the summer. I found the 
 boarding place. And we might let the past be. But 
 it is so useful for interpreting the future." 
 
 " I am not sure that I care to interpret the future," 
 was the meditative answer. " Let it go. It is so 
 infinitely peaceful here. The little church. And the 
 river flowing quietly down below. And the grave 
 yard especially the graveyard." 
 
 " Yes," said Marcus, " I am fond of the graveyard 
 myself." 
 
 Harvey continued for some time to reflect on the 
 peacefulness of his surroundings. Then he pulled 
 himself together and began a rambling narrative 
 of the last six months, their adventures and experi 
 ences, of his good progress in the business, his love 
 for it, his " natural aptitude for doing his fellow 
 men," as he expressed it, of his various successes 
 in bond-selling and consequent lessons in politics 
 as practiced by experts, of the ups and downs of 
 Aquila and the final crash which involved Thomson 
 and so many others in the ruins. " That s the whole 
 of it, and here I am," he concluded. " I ve had 
 enough." 
 
 Marcus had listened, with keen interest, and an ex- 
 
9 o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 pression of grave affection which showed how much 
 he prized the nobler qualities of his friend. " And 
 your uncle ? " he asked. " How did you ]3art with 
 him?" 
 
 " I don t know. Who ever knows anything about 
 my uncle ? " 
 
 "There was no quarrel, I hope?" 
 
 " No," answered Harvey, a little shortly. " My 
 uncle never quarrels." Then he added, in a softer 
 tone, " There was nothing of the kind. Uncle Amos 
 was generous and patient and dignified, as he always 
 is. Why is it, Marc, when he is a so much nobler and 
 better man than I am, that he should go on calmly 
 doing these things, which I can t do ? " 
 
 " Habit," said Marcus, in an earnest tone. " Habit 
 is half the tissue of life. It clings round a man, and 
 twines over him and under him, and smothers his 
 soul before he knows it. I don t doubt that your uncle 
 is a good man, better than you or I, if you like ; but 
 if so, it is in spite of his surroundings. You are 
 through with it all then for the time ? " 
 
 Harvey nodded. " Forever." 
 
 "One shouldn t say that," the other objected. 
 " One can t tell what may turn up." Then he swung 
 slowly round in his chair once and crossed his knees 
 the other way, still keeping the points of his fingers 
 pressed together. "When you were here, in the 
 
ROBERTSVILLE 91 
 
 spring, there was a young woman in the case," he 
 said. 
 
 Harvey nodded again, rather drearily. 
 
 " Is she a sunk in oblivion ? " 
 
 " No, she has pushed me in." 
 
 "I see. Oblivion is Roberts ville. I understand now 
 the tranquil river and the graveyard." 
 
 " No, you don t understand them the least in the 
 world," said Harvey, sitting up, in energetic protest. 
 " A week after she refused me, I decided I should 
 never have done for her. I am heavy and she is 
 light. She could n t help laughing at my elephantine 
 ways. I mind that sort of thing as little as any one ; 
 but there are interstices even in my hide. I believe 
 you mentioned the future ? " 
 
 A slight smile played about the corners of Marcus s 
 kindly mouth ; but his eyes continued grave and 
 earnest. "Ah, yes, the future," he said. "Well, let 
 us talk of that. What do you want to do ? " 
 
 " Good," answered Harvey monosyllabically. 
 
 "I see." 
 
 The words were meant to be sympathetic and per 
 haps sounded so to the speaker ; but Harvey s hy 
 persensitive ear read a touch of sarcasm into them. 
 He sat up and looked at his friend. 
 
 "You don t quite believe in me," he said. "It 
 is n t strange. I don t look like an apostle of sweet- 
 
9 2 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 ness and light, do I ? Or is it that your own enthusi 
 asm of a year ago has weakened ? You don t believe 
 any more that effort is worth while?" 
 
 It was Marcus s turn to sit up straight and speak 
 with intensity. The fire in his blue eyes did not look 
 like any lack of enthusiasm. " No ! No ! No ! " he 
 cried. " I believe more than ever. I trust more than 
 ever. I hope more than ever. The moments of doubt 
 come ; but they vanish the moment you make your 
 view wide enough. Every effort tells for others 
 and for yourself. There is so much to do and so few 
 to do it. Talk about the enthusiasm of success in 
 business ! What is it compared with success in mak 
 ing the lives of others calmer and better and happier ? 
 And there is so much to do in the world you come 
 from, Harvey ! The more I see, the more I believe 
 in the need of working among the rich and prosper 
 ous. Somehow we must make them feel that the 
 future of the world is with them. They must lay by, 
 of their own accord, their pride, their greed, their 
 self-indulgence, and go out and meet their brothers 
 and give up to them lovingly, willingly. So many 
 of them are ready, if they only knew the way. That 
 is the secret of the future, the true solution of all these 
 problems of socialism and anarchism. Love ! Love ! 
 Love ! We must preach love, we must teach love, 
 we must live love." 
 
ROBERTSVILLE 93 
 
 For the moment the young priest had forgotten 
 himself and his auditor in his outburst of passionate 
 zeal. At this point, however, he happened to glance 
 at Harvey, and the rapt absorption of the latter s at 
 titude checked his friend s energy a little. He hesi 
 tated, and then continued in a calmer tone : " This 
 is to show you that my enthusiasm is just what it 
 always was. But when one comes to particular cases, 
 one feels the responsibility. Your uncle has great 
 claims on you, Harvey. I believe you are acting 
 rightly in refusing to take an active part in the busi 
 ness ; but it is a serious decision to make, and you 
 ought to be very sure of your vocation before you 
 finally settle the matter." 
 
 Here Harvey was ready to interrupt, but Marcus 
 stopped him, with his air of quiet authority. " One 
 moment. There s another thing. You are full of de 
 sire to do good, to reform the world, and benefit 
 mankind. Now, for my part, I haven t very much 
 belief in such activity without a religious motive. 
 I don t deny that an immense deal is done by men 
 who have no such motive whatever. I respect them ; 
 but in my opinion they are working on a wrong 
 basis and they do a great deal of harm with the good. 
 I can t take a hearty interest in your work until you 
 are working, first of all, for Christ. And I think he 
 is not your leader yet, is he?" 
 
94 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " No," said Harvey gravely. " Not as you mean 
 it, not yet." 
 
 He lay back on the sofa, buried in thought. The 
 clock on the mantel ticked heavily, and outside were 
 the myriad murmurs of the summer night. Marcus 
 sat quiet in his chair, waiting. 
 
 "I don t think you quite understand, old man," 
 said Harvey at last. " I don t mean to put on any 
 great airs of making the world over. I ve got my 
 health, I ve got my strength, I ve got my leisure. I 
 want to do good, not harm with them, to do what I 
 think you would call working for Christ. But I m a 
 child. I ve got to learn. That s all I want to learn 
 how to make the best of myself. That s why I ve 
 come up here to be near you just that. I want 
 to read and think, to be at peace for a while, to see 
 how you live your life, and shape mine after it, if I 
 can. I can t say things as I want to, Marc never 
 could. But don t believe I think too much of myself." 
 
 Marcus s eyes gleamed, but not with the dry bril 
 liance of mystical enthusiasm. He got up and walked 
 twice back and forth through the room. Then he 
 stopped by Harvey and took his hand, laying his 
 own left hand on his friend s shoulder. 
 
 " Pride and self-righteousness will never be your 
 failing, dear boy, as they have been mine. Don t try 
 to shape your life by mine. Your own will be far 
 
ROBERTSVILLE 95 
 
 better. I believe in you. I trust you. If I hesitated, 
 it was only from my anxiety that you should make 
 no mistake. If you keep yourself so humble and so 
 simple, you can t. Except ye become as little chil 
 dren, said the Master. As for having you here, you 
 know what a pleasure it will be to me." 
 
 So began Harvey s summer at Robertsville. In a 
 few days he had fallen into the quiet, even current of 
 a life which ran away like a dream. He had books 
 which Marcus recommended, or which he hunted out 
 for himself, books ranging from the pure socialism 
 of Karl Marx and Henry George and the numerous 
 shades of their followers, through Ruskin and the 
 different stages of Christian philanthropy and benevo 
 lence, to religious and mystical studies which had 
 hardly any practical bearing whatsoever. He passed 
 the morning hours with these, while Marcus was busy 
 at his desk or attending to some pastoral duty. Then 
 in the afternoons they took long walks together over 
 the hills, or explored the river in Harvey s canoe, gen 
 erally ending with a game of tennis, in which Marcus 
 showed himself by no means unskillful, though hardly 
 a match for his friend. 
 
 Robertsville is mainly a factory town. The quaint 
 church of Saint Margaret s, dating from almost co 
 lonial times, keeps up a moderate congregation of 
 the older families living in and near the village, with 
 
96 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 a small support from the poorer people working in 
 the mills ; but the bulk of the inhabitants is naturally 
 Catholic. Among these Marcus s zeal found small 
 opportunity to display itself, although he kept on 
 good terms with the priest, and joined with him for 
 a number of excellent objects. In the Episcopal com 
 munity the people were conservative, devoted to their 
 regular rector, whom they had sent abroad for his 
 health, and somewhat inclined to regard the youthful 
 substitute with suspicion. Most of them soon yielded 
 to his self-sacrificing enthusiasm, however, and took 
 a more or less active part in his various benevolent 
 enterprises. 
 
 These included a club for young men, not espe 
 cially religious in its character, as its founder was anx 
 ious to influence more than the few members of his 
 own parish, but organized for general moral and edu 
 cational improvement. On winter evenings this club 
 had gathered regularly in its rooms to read, play 
 games, and listen to talks on subjects of general in 
 terest. But as the warm summer nights came on the 
 meetings grew thin ; and Marcus, feeling that this 
 was the very time when he was most desirous to keep 
 hold of the young men, debated a good deal as to 
 how to accomplish his object. 
 
 Here was a chance for Harvey. Let the club, which 
 had been an indoor institution during the winter, be 
 
ROBERTSVILLE 97 
 
 changed, for the summer months, into an athletic or 
 ganization for outdoor sports and games. The idea 
 seemed to be generally acceptable, and the former 
 football champion took hold of it at once, arranging 
 a tennis tournament, tug-of-war teams, contests in 
 running, jumping, etc., and other forms of amusement 
 and exercise, in which, it must be confessed, he felt 
 more at home than with Karl Marx and Ruskin. 
 
 These various pursuits passed the time lightly, 
 and the first weeks of summer slipped away before 
 Harvey knew that they were going. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 A JESTER S WOOING 
 
 MRS. ERSKINE and her daughter stayed in their city 
 flat till August, so that they might afford to pass that 
 month in a fashionable hotel at Magnolia. Milly liked 
 the seashore and she did not like cheap boarding- 
 houses. Wherever she went she wanted to see pretty 
 frocks, and to mingle with people of her own world. 
 And though she complained that she was growing 
 old, and that the drudgery of teaching was withering 
 her up, her bright, fresh spirit seemed as welcome to 
 her friends as at any time in former years. 
 
 She had not been at Magnolia ten days when Kent 
 appeared, on a Saturday evening, and announced 
 that he was spending Sunday at the Hesperus. This 
 did not surprise Milly particularly, for she had seen a 
 good deal of him during the last two months in town, 
 liked him, and was quite aware that he liked her. 
 But though she did not feel surprise, she expressed it. 
 
 " Who would have expected to see you here? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " I rather think that you would," was the serene 
 
A JESTER S WOOING 99 
 
 answer of a man who was beginning to understand 
 her and her ways. 
 
 Sunday, after tea, the two went out together on 
 the rocks. They rambled along the shore, towards 
 the great chasm, chatting merrily of things indiffer 
 ent. At length they sat down in a sheltered nook, 
 near the water. The tide was making. There was 
 not the faintest breath of wind, and the long swell 
 rose and sank almost imperceptibly, curling in round 
 the sharp edges of the cliffs, creeping upward, draw 
 ing slowly back, and, as it did so, shuddering and 
 shivering into white, white eddies of foam. The moon 
 was nearly full, and its image, only now and then 
 broken into a thousand sparkles, lay in the black 
 water close beneath the rocks. The shimmer of the 
 rolling foam took a strange, unearthly radiance in 
 the broad moonlight. There was no sound but the 
 long-drawn, whispering murmur of the sea in front, 
 and the quiet chirping of the crickets in the fields 
 above. 
 
 For some time the two sat silent. Milly drew her 
 light shawl closer about her shoulders. 
 
 " These surroundings are exceedingly romantic," 
 began Kent. " I hardly think my love-making can 
 come up to them." 
 
 Milly was leaning forward with her chin resting 
 on her hand, gazing intently at the moon-path on the 
 
ioo BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 water. She did not change her attitude one iota for 
 this speech. " Do you really want to make love ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I doubt it. The surroundings are, as you say, 
 romantic, and of a nature to suggest remarks which 
 one would be likely to regret in one s office to-mor 
 row by daylight." 
 
 " You feel the influence yourself, then, I assume." 
 
 Still no change in the lady s attitude, as she re 
 plied : " The question is peculiar, not to say imperti 
 nent ; but I have no particular objection to admitting 
 to you that I do feel the influence." 
 
 "Tome? I don t quite understand." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you do." 
 
 " See here," answered the author of " Snap Shots," 
 in a more serious tone than he had hitherto used, fi I 
 am talking business. My sentiments have nothing to 
 do with the surroundings, and I am simply saying 
 what I made up my mind to say in the office 
 by daylight." 
 
 "You might almost have had it typewritten, 
 might n t you ? " 
 
 " Oh, you need n t try to make me ridiculous. No 
 body could appreciate the situation better than I 
 a comic journalist, on his knees, figuratively, in the 
 moonlight, before a young woman. As a cartoon, 
 
A JESTER S WOOING 101 
 
 the thing has hovered before my imagination for 
 several weeks." 
 
 " Yet I doubt whether even your grotesque ima 
 gination could equal the absurdity of the reality," 
 was the sympathetic answer. 
 
 " Perhaps not. But I rely on just that absurdity of 
 the thing to guarantee its genuineness. Milly Er- 
 skine, I wish you would marry me, though I hardly 
 dare hope it." 
 
 The statuesque immobility of the girl s attitude 
 yielded a little. She turned half round, and the moon 
 light fell full on her face, making its soft, merry lines 
 perfectly bewitching under the sweet tangle of her 
 hair. 
 
 "If I could believe you serious as I can t," she 
 said, " I should really think you love me ; for you 
 must certainly see, as clearly as I do, the rank folly 
 of your proposition." 
 
 Kent picked up a pebble and threw it at the water- 
 image of the moon. " It struck me just that way at 
 first," he said slowly, " but when I came to think it 
 over, I changed my mind. Of course, I might marry 
 a million or two, perhaps ; but what should I get 
 with it ? I am going to succeed, myself, and make 
 enough. When I get my success, your spirit and 
 charm would be worth millions." 
 
 " I appreciate your rare candor," remarked the ob- 
 
102 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 ject of this compliment. As she said it, she laughed, 
 and her laughter seemed as light and wayward as 
 the foam that was tossing at her feet. 
 
 But Kent was perfectly serious. " In any case, I 
 love you," he urged. " You ought to know me well 
 enough, by this time, to know when I mean what I 
 say." 
 
 She had turned her eyes back to the moon again 
 and made no answer. Just a few yards out from 
 shore a boat was rowing by, with a man and a girl 
 in it. The girl was playing on the mandolin and 
 singing softly. She wasn t a water sprite, but at 
 that distance it was possible to imagine her one. 
 
 When Kent found that he was likely to get no 
 reply, he spoke again. "I gather that you don t 
 care for me. That is perfectly natural." 
 
 This time Milly answered him, but she still kept 
 her gaze fixed on the moon and the mandolin. " No," 
 she said. " I don t care for you in that way. It 
 is n t in me to love any one, I think, not as I should 
 like to love, not as I should really call loving, not so 
 that I should be willing to make a fool of myself 
 just for the pleasure of it." She paused a few mo 
 ments. The mandolin was fading away in the dis 
 tance. " Yet I like you," she went on absently. " It 
 has astonished me sometimes to find how well we 
 understood one another. Too well, probably." 
 
A JESTER S WOOING 103 
 
 " I think you expect too much," urged Kent, with 
 a ring of hope in his tone. " People like you and me 
 can never act All for Love, or the World Well 
 Lost. We see the strings that work the puppets a 
 little too clearly. But we may be none the less 
 happy for that, Milly ! " 
 
 He tried to take her hand, and those who laughed 
 at his cynical slang in the Sunday papers would have 
 been astonished, if they had seen and heard him. 
 
 But she withdrew her hand. " No," she said, " oh, 
 no ! " with far more softness than she had hitherto 
 used. " You have your way to make in the world, 
 your fortune. I should hamper you, hold you back, 
 and be old and withered when you had made it." 
 Then, as he tried to interrupt, with passionate pro 
 test, she went on quickly: "And besides, I couldn t. 
 I like my independence, my waywardness, my whims, 
 my fancies. A woman gives them up when she mar 
 ries. I couldn t give up my independence for any 
 thing but love." 
 
 Again there was a pause. A light breeze had 
 sprung up, and the moon image was broken into a 
 thousand gleaming, vanishing sparkles. Little wave 
 lets plashed against the rocks ; but their murmur 
 was lost in the hollow roar of the long tidal swell as it 
 surged into the gaping crevices and sullenly rolled 
 back. 
 
104 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Once more it was Kent who broke the silence. 
 "Do you know," he asked, "I have sometimes 
 thought, when we have talked together of Harvey 
 and your refusing him, that you loved him after 
 all?" 
 
 " Have you ? " said Milly, keeping her face shaded 
 with the hand it was leaning on. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " It s odd," the girl continued, in the same apa 
 thetic tone, "but once or twice the same idea has 
 occurred to me." Then she drew herself together 
 and turned straight round to her companion. " We 
 understand each other wonderfully, you and I ; it s so 
 easy, with you, to say what one feels. Yes, several 
 times lately I ve found myself thinking of Harvey 
 Phelps with a sort of tenderness. Now why should 
 I ? I Ve always made fun of him to Ethel. He s so 
 heavy and slow and I ve always called him dull 
 though I m not sure he is. At any rate, he s so dif 
 ferent from me. When he asked me to marry him 
 last spring, the idea struck me as a huge joke. And 
 yet I don t understand it in the least." 
 
 u I do." There was a sadness in Kent s tone, which 
 sounded strange for him. " People like you and me, 
 who are complex and subtle and intellectual, are 
 charmed with the simple natures, when they are 
 strong and noble as Harvey is. The mere contact 
 
A JESTER S WOOING 105 
 
 with them is restful. I have always found it so my 
 self." 
 
 They both resumed their contemplation of the 
 moon, which was veiled a little now under a light 
 drift of cloud. Milly drew her shawl closer round her 
 shoulders, as if the shadow brought an added chill 
 with it. 
 
 "Then I suppose," went on Kent slowly, "that if 
 Harvey comes back in the autumn and asks you 
 again " 
 
 But Milly interrupted him. " You feel the charm 
 of simple natures," she said. " Now there s Ethel. 
 I J ve sometimes thought, if Harvey won t marry 
 her, that there would be an excellent opening for 
 you." 
 
 " I Ve thought so myself," Kent rejoined, as soon 
 as he could get hold of this new current of ideas. 
 " But that was a good while ago. I like Miss Har 
 per exceedingly, and in very many ways the match 
 commends itself. But, you see, Harvey is my friend, 
 and he ought to marry Miss Harper." 
 
 " Exactly." Milly, as she said this, leaned her head 
 to one side a little and looked at him with ravish 
 ing mock candor. " Ethel is my friend, and Harvey 
 ought to marry her, as you say." 
 
 " That s different," argued Kent, with some per 
 plexity. 
 
io6 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " On the contrary, it s precisely the same. The 
 truth is that you and I, though we are abandoned to 
 frivolity and worldliness, have our scruples, just as 
 the Reverend Marcus has, though we may not have 
 so many and may be a trifle ashamed of what we 
 do have. If I were dying for Mr. Phelps, which I am 
 not, I would n t have him." 
 
 " Nevertheless," answered Kent a little bitterly, 
 " when two people are dying for each other, the affair 
 generally ends in one way." 
 
 " It won t in this case," was the firm reply. " Be 
 sides, your friend has died and resuscitated. He has 
 a kind of pride, with all his simplicity, which does n t 
 take a refusal very well. And then, he had only a 
 passing fancy for me, as you have. I ve met those 
 cases before. My kind does n t inspire anything of 
 the Romeo description. I ve no doubt a month was 
 quite sufficient to convince Harvey of his mistake 
 as it will you. Well, never mind that," she went on, 
 putting aside his protest. " Now I 11 tell you what 
 you and I are to do everything we can to bring 
 Ethel and her cousin together. Do you see ? These 
 philanthropic notions won t last long, I fancy. Our 
 friend is a great eater of beef ; and while it may not 
 do harm to his wit, that sort of diet is an enemy to 
 moonshine. I believe that, after a couple of months 
 
A JESTER S WOOING 107 
 
 of the Reverend Marcus, millions and a stolid dispo 
 sition will seem more attractive than they did." 
 
 Kent shook his head. " I think with you that we 
 ought to forward that marriage all we can, but I feel 
 sure it will never come off. Harvey may not be per 
 manently in love with Upham, but sooner or later he 
 will fall into the hands of some one of that stamp 
 unless you take him." 
 
 " I shan t take him," said Milly. 
 
 Then she stood up and began her homeward pro 
 gress. As they came nearer to the top of the rocks, 
 the murmur of the sea below grew vaguer and yielded 
 to the lovely, quiet chorus of the insects in the grass. 
 The wind had risen, and long, shapeless clouds trailed 
 brokenly over the splendor of the moon. 
 
 While they walked, they spoke but little, until they 
 had almost reached the end of their journey. Then 
 Kent suddenly put his hand on his companion s arm 
 and stopped her. " Milly," he said, and the intensity 
 of his voice surprised her and even himself. " Milly, 
 do think of it again. I don t know anything about 
 Romeo. If you won t marry me, I may end by mar 
 rying somebody else for money and success 
 and be ashamed of myself. But, oh, I want you. 
 We were made for each other, Milly. We look at 
 the world through the same eyes, laugh at it with 
 
io8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 the same heart of scorn oh, let us do it together 
 always." 
 
 She left her hand in his for an instant then 
 drew it away gently. " No," she said, " I can t. A 
 year ago, I don t know what I should have answered 
 you ; but now it s quite impossible." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A CANOE ACCIDENT 
 
 IT was an evening early in September, warm and 
 close. Rain had fallen at intervals all day, and 
 though the sky had cleared at sunset, and the stars 
 were out, the foliage was still heavy with moisture, 
 and the slow drip from the eaves mingled with the 
 thick, incessant murmur of the crickets. 
 
 Harvey sat in Marcus s study, trying to express, 
 in broken sentences, a frame of mind quite different 
 from what he had uttered in June. 
 
 " I begin to think it s no go, old man. I m not 
 cut out for this sort of thing." 
 
 Marcus was in his swivel-chair, as usual, with his 
 hands joined as usual, calm and controlled as usual. 
 Harvey had begun to think, of late, that their con 
 versations would be more intimate if his friend would 
 smoke and occasionally leave that chair ; but the 
 thought had not taken the form of a wish or a regret 
 in words. 
 
 To the above somewhat melancholy utterance the 
 young minister made no immediate reply, simply 
 looked keenly at his companion and waited. 
 
no BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 By and by Harvey went on. " No, I m not cut out 
 for it. I thought the sports with your club would 
 suit me. So they do the sports. But the club ! Of 
 course Father Maguire has got down on us now, 
 and that keeps the Catholics away, and stirs up 
 trouble. And then they ve all lost their interest. It 
 was a new thing at first ; now it isn t. But that is n t 
 all ; they re such cads ! That s the truth of it. I 
 thought I was a democrat, but I believe I m a 
 snob. Nothing brings out a man s breeding like 
 sport. A man that 11 take a whipping like a gentle 
 man is a gentleman. To be sure, I ve seen gen 
 tlemen that took their whippings like cads. But 
 these chaps are all cads. No, not all ; but the excep 
 tions prove the rule. And their talk their way of 
 doing everything ! " 
 
 Marcus spoke now, not harshly, but rather seri 
 ously. "Your spirit hasn t been right from the be 
 ginning. I have seen it all along ; but I knew expe 
 rience was the best teacher. You went into sports 
 because you liked them, not because the men did. 
 Consequently you expected the men to take hold of 
 them in your way, not in their own way. It would 
 have been better, perhaps, to select something you 
 did not like yourself. Then you could have looked 
 at it more from others point of view." 
 
 "I know you re quite right," said Harvey, some- 
 
A CANOE ACCIDENT in 
 
 what disconsolate, but humble. "You always are. 
 I m quite aware that the fault is in me. It s queer, 
 is n t it, that one person should be unfit for so many 
 different things ? It shows an incapacity almost 
 amounting to genius, I should say." 
 
 " Don t be cynical," Marcus answered, almost 
 shortly. " You re fit for anything, if you only go at 
 it right." 
 
 "Thank you. I begin to doubt whether I shall 
 ever be fit for philanthropy, either practical or spec 
 ulative. The dirt, Marc, and the vulgarity, you 
 would n t think I was the one to mind such things, 
 would you ? But I do. They don t bother me for 
 once ; but I get sick of them. That s the practical. 
 And the theoretical that s Henry George and Rus- 
 kin. They fly too high for me. I can t get off the 
 ground. I strain and sweat, but I can t get off the 
 ground." 
 
 The wind was rising outside, and now and then 
 a puff of the warm, dead air came through the win 
 dow. Two girls and a man, hurrying by in the 
 street, laughed and chattered. Then the man swore 
 vigorously, probably at an extra deluge from some 
 drenched bough. 
 
 Marcus turned his chair a little, first to one side 
 and then to the other. At last he spoke. "I m not 
 wholly surprised. You remember I said to you long 
 
ii2 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 ago, that for a true, deep, serious nature like yours 
 there could be but one lasting foundation for philan 
 thropic effort. You have n t found that yet. It will 
 find you. You will waver in the abyss a little longer ; 
 then you will find beneath you the support which is 
 sure and eternal." 
 
 To this Harvey made no direct reply. A few mo 
 ments later, however, he spoke again : "I think I 
 shall leave this in a day or two." 
 
 Again Marcus received the remark without sur 
 prise. " I have been looking for it," he said. " I don t 
 feel that the summer has been wasted. When you 
 get away from here, back into that other world, you 
 will feel the strangeness of it more than ever." 
 
 " Apparently I shan t belong in any world." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you will. You belong in our world. But 
 all progress that is worth anything comes slowly. 
 Tell me what you mean to do." 
 
 Harvey shook his head. " I don t know," he re 
 plied. 
 
 " Will you go back into your uncle s office ? " 
 
 " Never ! " was the brief, effective answer. Then, 
 as his friend asked no further question, some more 
 elaborate attempt at explanation came at last. "I 
 could n t do that. What I ve read this summer goes 
 too far for me in some ways ; but I could n t go back 
 into the money atmosphere after it." 
 
A CANOE ACCIDENT 113 
 
 "What did I say?" suggested Marcus. 
 
 " No, I shan t do that. But I shall go back and 
 live for a while in the larger world, I suppose. Why, 
 just now I feel that I want things, Marc." As he 
 said this, he sat up and spoke with unusual energy. 
 " I want things, just because they re forbidden, per 
 haps. I want to go to the theatre and get supper 
 at the Touraine and to drive an auto as hard as 
 she 11 go, and harder ; I want to get my hand on the 
 tiller of a boat and have her jump and bound under 
 me. I want to touch luxury and wealth just to see 
 how they feel once more, and whether they are as 
 hollow as these fellows make them out. I ve got to 
 get at things, you know, by actual touch, before they 
 mean anything to me." He spread out his broad, 
 brown hand, and smoothed the air before him, as if 
 it were some exquisite, delicate, fragile tissue. 
 
 Marcus nodded and spoke without a trace of stern 
 ness. " I don t blame you," he said. " I m just as 
 sure, as I can be of anything, where you ll end 
 up. But such strong, splendid natures as yours are 
 rooted deep, deep down in the soil they were born 
 in, and you can t transplant them all at once, nor 
 without a wrench." 
 
 Harvey seemed to pay very little attention to these 
 complimentary expressions. He lay back again on 
 the sofa, and for a long time he did not speak a 
 
n 4 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 word. The time was so long, in fact, that Marcus 
 turned to his desk, and pulling some papers from a 
 drawer, very soon became absorbed in them. 
 
 It was Harvey who at last broke the silence. " Do 
 you know who Maggie O Brien is ?" he asked. 
 
 Marcus turned round very sharply this time, and 
 there was the hint of a frown on his forehead. " Yes/ 
 he said. 
 
 "You know that her father was a porter with the 
 Peters Ink Company for twenty years, and that when 
 the Ink Trust was formed last year chiefly by my 
 uncle her father lost his job and was thrown on 
 the street and got to drinking and is in the asy 
 lum now for good ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Marcus again. 
 
 " It was an awfully hard case," Harvey concluded. 
 Marcus again agreed, monosyllabically. Then find 
 ing that nothing more was forthcoming, he took up 
 the subject from his own point of view. " It was a 
 hard case," he repeated, "though there is usually 
 something to be said on the other side. It was one 
 of those cases that are coming to us constantly, of 
 poor, blind creatures, who cannot help themselves, 
 crushed and thrown away. But, Harvey, I ve been 
 wanting to speak to you about just that. Only I 
 couldn t make up my mind to do it." 
 
 " On account of my uncle ? I see." 
 
A CANOE ACCIDENT 115 
 
 " No, on your own account. You know the girl 
 is pretty and attractive." 
 
 Harvey sat straight up. " Well ? " 
 
 " And people have talked." 
 
 " Talked ? What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Of course, I have more than absolute confidence 
 in you, and I should rather never have mentioned it. 
 But I suppose you may have taken some little notice 
 of the girl, on account of her history. At any rate, 
 you have made inquiries about her." 
 
 " Noticed ? Inquiries ? " Harvey was walking up 
 and down the room now, in a state of excitement 
 unusual for him. " To think of it, Marc ! The girl is 
 pretty, as you say, and I Ve exchanged a word or 
 two with her occasionally, as it s natural for me to 
 do with a pretty girl. Inquiries ! Why, I did ask 
 the fellows the details about her father, when I first 
 heard of the matter. But when you think why I m 
 living in this forsaken hole ! Marc, what do they 
 say ? What does it all mean ? " 
 
 "Well," answered Upham firmly, though a little 
 reluctantly, " a man told me the other day that your 
 uncle had ruined the father, and that now you were 
 going to ruin the daughter. It simply shows that 
 one can t be too careful." 
 
 Harvey stopped his walk. He had got himself 
 under control. " Good-night, Marc," he said. "Til 
 
n6 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 be out of this by to-morrow, or next day, at far 
 thest." 
 
 Marcus rose and grasped his friend s hand. " Don t 
 take the thing too much to heart," he urged. " Such 
 matters will come up. Absolutely no blame can at 
 tach to you. And there is no hurry about your go 
 ing. But I thought it almost necessary you should 
 know." 
 
 " Of course, of course. It s only one thing more." 
 
 He turned to go ; but Marcus followed him out 
 and reasoned with him gently, till the world began 
 to look a little kindlier. When they parted at last, 
 their good-night was as cordial as it had ever been. 
 
 As Harvey walked slowly down the street, the 
 heavy oppression of the damp autumn evening was 
 all about him. Disturbed and restless as he was, it 
 seemed impossible to go indoors. Nine o clock was 
 just striking. The stars glimmered quietly through 
 the mist. The steady rush of the river over the low 
 dam could be heard, not far away. An hour s sharp 
 paddling in his canoe suggested itself as the readiest 
 method to quiet his disturbed spirits. For him the 
 full, tense play of the muscles generally offered the 
 readiest solution of difficult mental problems. 
 
 He made his way at once to the little boathouse 
 where the canoe was kept, and soon found himself 
 afloat. The rain and dampness had frightened most 
 
A CANOE ACCIDENT 117 
 
 of the usual pleasure seekers, and the river was soli 
 tary except for here and there a drifting idler who 
 preferred the romantic to the comfortable. Harvey 
 went down-stream first, now keeping in the middle, 
 in the full glitter of the dim starlight, sending the 
 water swirling off in countless eddies from his busy 
 paddle, now running close to the bank, rounding 
 dark corners where the willows hung low, trailing 
 their long branches in the current. Here and there a 
 frog broke the murmur of the stream with his big 
 bass. 
 
 Though Harvey went rapidly almost too rapidly 
 for the darkness the speed of the river left his 
 muscles little work, and he made it up by thinking. 
 It was all thrown away then, this long, dull summer, 
 which he had hoped would lead to so much. All the 
 vague talks with Marcus, all the plodding hours spent 
 over big books on tempting, sunshiny mornings 
 what had they led to ? The accusation of a low in 
 trigue with a factory girl ! Pah ! And whenever his 
 thought wandered to the future and its possibilities, 
 to new efforts, plans, and aspirations of a wider scope, 
 something would bring them back sharply to that 
 girl, that brown-eyed, rosy-cheeked, insignificant, 
 commonplace, Irish girl. 
 
 When the idea had pulled him up short for the 
 tenth time, he turned his canoe about and started 
 
n8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 back. Paddling against the stream was a different 
 matter and much more satisfactory. He was deter 
 mined to go as fast as when he came down, and to 
 do it required all the strength and all the skill he had. 
 Ah, it was life again, to feel his back and shoulders 
 working. Ruskin and Henry George for others. To 
 him God had given strong, live muscles. All he 
 wanted was to use them in strenuous activity from 
 day to day. 
 
 So he thought, as he sped back, now again in mid 
 stream through the long, straight, quiet reaches, now 
 cutting the corners close, under the dark willows. 
 
 As he came near one of these corners, particularly 
 willowy and dark, he heard the voices of a man and 
 a woman talking and laughing loudly. The man s 
 voice was coarse, not to say drunken. The woman s 
 Harvey took to be that of the O Brien girl. It was 
 peculiarly soft, and rich, and Irish ; and it recalled to 
 him, in an instant, the wrath and disgust which he 
 was near forgetting. To escape the sound of it, he 
 redoubled his efforts for the sake of passing quickly, 
 when, just as he came opposite the point, the dim 
 shadow of another canoe shot aimlessly in front of 
 him. It was hopeless to attempt to back water, equally 
 hopeless to dodge. Harvey had no more than time 
 to cry, " Look out for yourselves ! " before the bow 
 of his canoe crashed into the other nearly amidships 
 
A CANOE ACCIDENT 119 
 
 and rolled it over. The man swore. The girl shrieked. 
 Harvey, as cool as always, kicked off his shoes and 
 was overboard in a minute. Leaving the man to shift 
 for himself, he struck out for the girl, found her, for 
 tunately, by her half-strangled shrieks, got his arm 
 around her and soon had her ashore. Meanwhile the 
 man had succeeded in rescuing the canoe and himself. 
 
 "Oh, it s you, is it?" he began, when he heard 
 the girl thanking her preserver by name. " Look 
 here ! What the hell did you mean by running into 
 us that way?" 
 
 " Bother ! " said Harvey, turning on his heel. " Be 
 have yourself and get your friend here home. She 
 needs it." 
 
 Then he went off after his canoe, paying no atten 
 tion to the further remarks of either the party he had 
 obliged, or the party he had n t. 
 
 " This is really complete now," he thought to him 
 self. " This is really complete." 
 
 Marcus thought so too, when he heard the story 
 next morning. "Of course nobody could possibly 
 blame you," he said. " But it would be better if 
 you had run into somebody else, and still better if 
 you had run into nobody at all." And he could not 
 help admitting that Harvey s decision to leave on the 
 following day was a wise one, " though I shall miss 
 you," he said, " I cannot tell how much." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 HARVEY S PHILANTHROPY 
 
 ON the evening after Harvey s aquatic misadven 
 ture, George Kent arrived in Robertsville. Kent had 
 passed the preceding Sunday at Cataumet, Ethel 
 having invited him largely for the purpose of con 
 sulting about Harvey s affairs. Mr. Phelps had failed 
 a good deal during the summer, and it seemed 
 doubtful whether he would live many months longer. 
 He himself did not often refer to Harvey, although 
 once or twice he had expressed to Ethel or Lucia a 
 vague wish that things might have been different. 
 That last interview in the spring seemed to have 
 settled the matter for him. Harvey had made his 
 decision, and decisions once made were accepted in 
 the Phelps family as final. 
 
 Ethel was not disposed to be so easily satisfied, 
 however. It is true, there was a certain awkwardness 
 in her situation. If she begged Harvey to come back 
 and be devoted to his uncle, it might seem as if she 
 were begging him to come back and be devoted to 
 her. Still, she was of a simple disposition, and saw 
 her duty clearly. Besides, her feelings toward Har- 
 
HARVEY S PHILANTHROPY 121 
 
 vey were not of such a sentimental nature as to ham 
 per her action. She liked him as a friend and rela 
 tive, but personally she was not especially anxious 
 for his presence. She wanted him to come back, 
 on his uncle s account. If he would come back and 
 marry Milly, it would be best of all. 
 
 When this view of things was suggested to Milly, 
 in one of the frequent letters which passed between 
 the friends, she returned a decided negative. " I 
 should never marry him, nor he me," she said. 
 " But if you think he ought to be in Boston this 
 autumn, and don t want to write yourself and tell 
 him so, why don t you get Mr. Kent to go up and 
 reason with him ? " 
 
 So it came about that Kent passed Sunday at 
 Cataumet, and on the Wednesday evening found him 
 self in Robertsville. 
 
 He first inquired for Harvey s lodgings and went 
 there, but did not find him in. She did not know 
 where he was, the landlady said, but he was most 
 always at Mr. Upham s, when he was n t at home. 
 
 "Just so," answered Kent. "I ll go to Mr. Up 
 ham s." 
 
 Harvey was not there either, however, and the vis 
 itor, being ushered into Marcus s study, found that 
 gentleman alone and at his desk, as usual. The two 
 men had met often enough in Cambridge, knew each 
 
122 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 other well, and, on the whole, esteemed each other ; 
 but there was no great cordiality between them. 
 
 "Kent?" said Upham, rising and shaking hands. 
 " This is unexpected. Are n t you driven rather far 
 afield for material ? " 
 
 "Not a bit of it," was the cheerful answer. " My 
 material is as abundant as yours. The laughable are 
 as ubiquitous as the poor. I Ve no doubt they are 
 found in Robertsville, but I am not after them." 
 
 "Then" began the young minister, but he 
 broke off abruptly. " Sit down," he said. 
 
 Kent sat down and concluded the other s sen 
 tence : " Then what did I come for ? I came to see 
 Harvey." 
 
 " I expect him here every minute." 
 
 " Never mind. I d rather have a talk with you 
 first. How is our little experiment getting on?" 
 
 Marcus did not answer at once. He had uncon 
 sciously adopted his customary attitude, his chair 
 half-turned facing his visitor, his legs crossed, his 
 fingers pressed together at the tips. " I am not sure 
 that I quite understand you," he said. 
 
 Kent laughed a quiet appreciative laugh. " I won 
 der if I might smoke," he asked. When he had re 
 ceived the desired permission, he lit his cigar. " It 
 is strange how a little smoke does relax things. You 
 ought to try it. What I m here for, Upham, is this. 
 
HARVEY S PHILANTHROPY 123 
 
 Harvey s uncle and aunt and cousin and I think he 
 ought to be at home. What do you think ? " 
 
 "He s going home to-morrow," was Marcus s 
 answer, rather of the shortest. 
 
 " Ah ? Then I might have saved three dollars and 
 a half." The humorist blew a cloud of smoke to 
 ward the ceiling. A moment later, he added : " That 
 means, I suppose, that the little experiment has n t 
 been a success." 
 
 The remark did not rigidly demand an answer, 
 and Marcus made none ; but Kent had not been three 
 years a journalist to be put off in such a fashion as 
 that. "Look here, Upham," he urged, "I should 
 like to have something of a frank talk with you. 
 Where s Harvey going to end up ? " 
 
 " I don t know." The answer was brief ; but its 
 brevity seemed somehow to show doubt and concern 
 rather than rudeness, and Kent so accepted it. 
 
 " Well, where do you wish him to end up ? " he went 
 on. " In general, I suppose you believe that any man 
 is better off anywhere than in the world of money and 
 business, and that it is more difficult for a rich man, 
 etc., etc. ? I speak it in all seriousness, and not as a 
 comic journalist." 
 
 Marcus at last roused himself to take an active part 
 in the conversation. He crossed his legs the other 
 way and, for a moment, rested both hands on the arms 
 
i2 4 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 of his chair. " I don t think we have much common 
 ground, Kent," he answered, " unless it be our affec 
 tion for Harvey ; but I know that men like you are 
 often driven into cynicism by their hatred of cant, 
 and I hate cant myself and love honesty. I will try 
 not to seem to talk cant to you. At the same time, I 
 hate to see any man, with any good in him, throw 
 himself into the business world of to-day. You know, 
 just as well as I do, that the business world of to-day 
 is mean, corrupt, greedy, cruel, and merciless." 
 
 Kent rose and flicked the long gray ash of his 
 cigar into the fireplace. Then he sat down again leis 
 urely. " The business world," he said, " is only a lit 
 tle section of human life. And life is mean, corrupt, 
 greedy, cruel, and merciless. You try to sweeten it 
 by a little love, and I by a little laughter. So much 
 for the abstract. Now, here s Harvey. Is he cut out 
 by nature for a career of philanthropy, self-abnega 
 tion, long sacrifice, and the cult of the ideal ? Does 
 he look it?" 
 
 Marcus s fingers had slipped into their normal 
 position. His head was bent forward. " I am not 
 sure," he said, from the slow depth of his thoughts. 
 
 " Has this summer s experience made it seem 
 likely?" 
 
 The total lack of response and the air of dejection 
 that went with it gave the question a sufficient answer. 
 
HARVEY S PHILANTHROPY 125 
 
 " Now look at the other side," went on the remorse 
 less inquisitor. " Here is Mr. Phelps, senior, dying." 
 
 At this Marcus looked up sharply. 
 
 "Oh, I don t mean that he is on his deathbed at 
 this moment, but it is only a matter of a few months. 
 Of course, Mr. Phelps is a man of business, and his 
 standards are business standards, not those of the 
 church, perhaps, or yours ; but, tried by his own, he is 
 an honorable man. He has brought up this nephew 
 to succeed him, offers him a fair career, a splendid 
 opening, suited to his tastes, and needs, and habits, 
 an excellent wife, in every way suited to him, also, 
 if he wants her. If it had n t been for you, for your 
 scruples and ideals, Mr. Phelps s plans would have 
 been fully carried out. I m not blaming you, Upham. 
 I can put myself in your place that is the natural 
 function of a comic journalist, who is otherwise a 
 rather despicable person. But I do ask you to take 
 Harvey s character carefully into account and con 
 sider whether you have n t made a mistake, and if 
 so, whether you can t do something to rectify it." 
 
 There was a long pause. Kent continued to smoke 
 comfortably. Marcus sat motionless, with his head 
 bowed a little, and deep reflection on his brow. 
 
 When he spoke, his voice had regret in it, but also 
 a touch of sternness. " No," he said, " I find nothing 
 to regret. If Mr. Phelps s plans are thwarted, I am 
 
126 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 sorry for him personally, but I think the plans were 
 of a kind that did not especially carry their own bless 
 ing with them. As for Harvey, if he is what I still 
 believe he is, I have done the best for him that could 
 be done. There must be suffering, there must be dis 
 appointment, there must be travail of spirit, if souls 
 are to be won into the kingdom of Heaven. Some 
 are born into it naturally. Some seem almost to be 
 born out of it," 
 
 " Like me," interrupted Kent. 
 
 Upham did not notice the interruption. " But most 
 of us," he went on, " are born in a middle world. We 
 may go upward. We may go downward. I believe 
 that Harvey will go upward, and I have done what 
 I can to help him. If I am wrong, he will probably 
 end where his uncle wishes him to." 
 
 Kent looked as if he might have made some reply ; 
 but at that moment a knock at the door introduced 
 the subject of this animated struggle between light 
 and darkness. 
 
 Harvey entered the room as serene as usual, 
 though there was an odd scratch or bruise on his 
 right cheek-bone, as of a blow. When he saw Kent, 
 he stopped, and his brow contracted slightly. " You 
 here, George ? " he said. 
 
 " George is here," answered the owner of the 
 name, nodding, but not getting up from his chair. 
 
HARVEY S PHILANTHROPY 127 
 
 "Why?" was Harvey s brief and not very civil 
 inquiry. 
 
 But Kent understood and forgave. " Because your 
 uncle is far from well and I think when he comes back 
 to town in October you should be there too, and 
 because I hoped that meantime you would like to 
 take a walking-trip in the White Mountains with 
 me." 
 
 " I should," said Harvey, " You can put up with 
 me to-night, and to-morrow we 11 go back to Boston 
 together." 
 
 As he said this, he sat down on the sofa. The 
 others somehow seemed to expect him to say some 
 thing; but for a while, he didn t. "I rather wish 
 you were out of the way, George," he began, at 
 last. 
 
 " I could go, I suppose," George suggested. Nev 
 ertheless, he made no move. 
 
 " No," answered Harvey slowly, " never mind. 
 You would get hold of it all sooner or later and it 
 might as well be over and done with. There s a girl 
 here." 
 
 "I imagined there would be," was Kent s quiet 
 comment. 
 
 " Oh, she is n t a girl that counts, for me. She 
 works in the mill. But the people talk in a place like 
 this. Yesterday I pulled her out of the river, her and 
 
128 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 her swain, after dumping them in by accident, 
 naturally." 
 
 " Oh, Harvey," interrupted his friend, repressing 
 his amusement, so far as possible, " I could n t have 
 imagined that. You are certainly a continuous show, 
 a regular comic biograph." 
 
 Here Marcus felt called upon to say a word. He 
 was a little annoyed. Why had Harvey been obliged 
 to bring up this matter at all, now that it was past 
 and done with ? " You must understand, Kent," be 
 gan the minister, " that Harvey has not been to blame 
 in the affair the least in the world. He has simply 
 been unfortunate." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I understand," Kent answered. "Simply 
 unfortunate. Poor Harvey ! " Once more the jour 
 nalistic impulse to laughter was almost too much for 
 him. 
 
 But Harvey showed no disposition at all to laugh 
 ter. " I just wanted George to know the facts. The 
 rest of the story is for you, Marc." 
 
 " Rest ? " inquired Marcus anxiously. 
 
 " Rest. I Ve just come from it." 
 
 Then the former football champion explained him 
 self, with obvious reluctance and very deliberate 
 speech, " I was passing through the little alley by 
 the churchyard, you know. I heard the voice of the 
 O Brien girl coming, and another girl, and two fel- 
 
HARVEY S PHILANTHROPY 129 
 
 lows. They were making considerable racket. The 
 fellows sounded as if they had been drinking. I 
 thought there might be trouble, but I could n t go 
 back. When I came up to them, they about blocked, 
 the alley. I took no notice, just turned to the girl 
 and was going to ask if she was all right after her 
 wetting. But the fellow with her butted in. Say/ 
 he began, what the hell did you run into me for ? 
 It was clumsy, said I, as quietly as I could. Still 
 there were two of us. Just stand back and let me 
 pass, please. Damn it, no, said he. And he struck 
 at me. I could n t stand that. So I put my left some 
 where in the vicinity of his ear, and he went down. 
 The other fellow let out a vicious one, which I did n t 
 quite dodge, as you see. But I side-stepped, and put 
 my shoulder into his wind, as we do on the gridiron. 
 Then I passed." Kent s mirth was by this time un 
 controllable. " Harvey ! " he cried. " Oh, Harvey ! 
 To think of it ! " 
 
 "It is funny," answered the victim, without the 
 faintest shadow of laughter. " Two men knocked out 
 and one girl s reputation damaged ! My philan 
 thropy ! " 
 
 Then he went up to Marcus, who was looking very 
 dark, and held out his hand. " I m sorry, old man; 
 but I m going in the morning. Good-by." And as 
 Marcus, no doubt unconsciously, seemed to shrink 
 
i 3 o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 a little, Harvey added. " There s no blood on it. I 
 didn t draw any." A remark which sent Kent off 
 into fresh convulsions. 
 
 But in a minute Marcus saw the absurdity of his 
 anger. " Good-night, my boy, " he said, " not good- 
 by, for of course I shall see you in the morning. 
 This has all been very unfortunate. I can t say how 
 sorry I am. But it is a mere miserable accident. It 
 can t change your future one iota and won t not 
 one iota. I believe in you as much as ever I did 
 more." 
 
 " Thank you," answered Harvey simply. " Good 
 night." 
 
 The next morning he bade farewell to Roberts- 
 ville with a feeling of satisfaction even greater than 
 that with which he had arrived there. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE FL^SHPOTS 
 
 HARVEY and Kent returned from the walking trip on 
 Saturday, the first day of October, and Sunday noon 
 Harvey dined with his uncle, who had been estab 
 lished in town nearly a week. Mr. Phelps was stronger 
 that he had been in the middle of the summer ; but 
 he was still unable to do more than drive to the 
 office for an hour or two irregularly ; and the doctor 
 gave no hope of his being materially better, while a 
 turn for the worse might come at any moment. 
 
 Harvey was cordially welcomed by all the family, 
 and at dinner no reference was made to his past or 
 future pursuits. The talk ran chiefly on Cataumet and 
 the sayings and doings there, visitors who had come 
 and gone, improvements about the place, the changes 
 in old haunts, and the purchase of new boats and 
 horses. 
 
 " Too bad that you were n t able to use the yacht 
 this year," Harvey said. 
 
 " Was n t it ? " answered Ethel. " Captain Jim was 
 terribly disappointed. Still, the Warings have had it, 
 you know. And they are having a lovely time." 
 
132 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 After dinner Harvey and his uncle were left alone 
 together, although the former would have much 
 preferred some other arrangement. He was too un 
 decided and irresolute about his future to wish to 
 discuss it. But Mr. Phelps never made much allow 
 ance for irresolution in any one, and, for him, at least, 
 time was pressing. 
 
 " They have missed you at the office, my boy," he 
 began. 
 
 Harvey doubted this ; but he did not say so, simply 
 bit off the end of his cigar and expressed a regret 
 that his uncle could not smoke. 
 
 "I miss it," said Mr. Phelps simply ; "but not so 
 much as other things." He was not ready to discuss 
 himself just then, however ; so he returned to the ori 
 ginal subject. " Has your summer been a success? " 
 
 " No, sir." It was this perfect candor which en 
 deared Harvey to his uncle and to others. 
 
 Mr. Phelps smiled. " I might say I am sorry ; but 
 I suppose you would hardly believe me. Perhaps 
 you would n t care to tell me all about it ? " 
 
 Harvey did not care to ; but he realized that 
 everything would come out somehow. After all, 
 what difference did it make ? " Oh, there s not much 
 to tell, sir. I started in smoothly and enjoyed it at 
 first, but it ended in a scrap. I found out that I was 
 no more fit for philanthropy than for business." 
 
THE FLESHPOTS 133 
 
 " But I thought you were peculiarly fitted for 
 business." 
 
 To this there was no answer. Perhaps the older 
 man hardly expected any. He leaned back in his 
 chair, with his eyes half closed, absorbed in thought, 
 while his nephew gazed at the ceiling and purled 
 vigorously. 
 
 At length Mr. Phelps spoke again. "And after 
 this experience, are n t you ready to come back to us 
 in the office?" 
 
 Harvey s answer now was quick and decisive. 
 " No, sir, I can t do that." 
 
 Mr. Phelps s face showed his disappointment. There 
 was an added grayness in the cheeks, a little tremor 
 around the mouth, which Harvey had never noticed 
 before, and which made him feel his uncle s weak 
 ness. Ah, if only things were different ! 
 
 But these signs were visible for hardly a second. 
 Amos K. Phelps was not the man to let bodily weak 
 ness break his spirit. " I had still hoped," he began 
 with perfect calmness. But he did not finish his sen 
 tence. " What will you do, then ? " he asked. 
 
 " I don t know, sir." 
 
 "A man of your abilities can t lie fallow and 
 rot." 
 
 " I don t know about the abilities, Uncle Amos. 
 But I don t mean to lie fallow. I shall work, when 
 
134 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 I ve made up my mind. I can t work till I do. I ve 
 got to look about me first and get adjusted." 
 
 The uncle nodded. Then he plunged directly into 
 the subject that lay nearest his heart. " I don t want 
 to hurry you," he said ; " but there is hurry, so far as 
 I am concerned. I ve got only a little while more ; 
 only a few years, or months, or weeks, it may be. 
 Never mind, we won t discuss the date," as Harvey 
 attempted some natural protest ; " but I ve got to 
 have things settled finally. I can t let uncertainties 
 go on any longer. As you know, my whole life has 
 been wrapped up in that business, and my money 
 must stay in it, after me. I shall provide properly 
 for Ethel, of course, and if only you and she well, 
 never mind that. She will always have everything 
 she wants. Now if you will promise me to go into 
 the business, squarely, honestly, and devote your 
 life to it so far, of course, as one can make such 
 a promise, allowing for unforeseen contingencies, I 
 trust your word absolutely I shall leave you every 
 thing I have, without conditions." 
 
 The business-like simplicity of the statement 
 touched Harvey. His uncle did not say that he was 
 a dying man and that his nephew s duty to him was 
 a deep and sacred obligation, which should precede 
 all others. There was no appeal for pity, none to 
 conscience ; and conscience and natural tenderness 
 
THE FLESHPOTS 135 
 
 responded a thousand times more on that account. 
 With them worked the sense of disappointment in 
 the summer s effort, the failure to sustain and real 
 ize all the ideals learned from Marcus, the apparent 
 hopelessness of trying to change flesh into spirit, of 
 seeking to wean a thoroughly earthly frame from 
 the warm contact and pleasant odor of the world. It 
 seemed to be a last chance, too. Millions were slip 
 ping, like water, from his grasp ; and millions are 
 tempting things. 
 
 All this passed through Harvey s mind before he 
 answered, in his usual slow and quiet tone, " I can t 
 do it, Uncle Amos ; not now. I m sorry." 
 
 If the "now" gave Amos a touch of hope, he 
 did not show it, any more than he showed his disap 
 pointment. " I am sorry, too," he said. " And I still 
 trust that you may see the matter differently before 
 I go. Meantime I must settle things at once, to be 
 prepared for the unexpected." 
 
 " Don t think of me at all," Harvey urged. " I 
 certainly have n t deserved it. Leave me on one side 
 altogether. I know you will do what is right for 
 Ethel." 
 
 " I am accustomed to take a man at his word," 
 Mr. Phelps answered gravely. " And, indeed, if you 
 feel that my money is * tainted that is the proper 
 expression, I believe a little of it would be as bad 
 
136 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 as a great deal." Then he went on in a more kindly 
 tone, as he saw Harvey s expression of distress. " I 
 did n t intend to say anything harsh ; but it is diffi 
 cult for you and me to understand one another." 
 
 " Yes," said Harvey, " very difficult. All I meant 
 was that I have enough of my own. If I refuse to 
 comply with your wishes, there is no reason why you 
 should consider me at all." 
 
 It seemed to Amos that here might be a vulner 
 able point. " Have you enough ? " he asked. " Your 
 income must be much less than it was when your 
 money was with us. How are you going to live? 
 Your rooms alone must take a large part of what 
 you have." 
 
 " I have given up my rooms." 
 " Ah ? But you must live somewhere." 
 " Yes. I am going to take a room with George 
 Kent on Columbus Avenue. It will be cheaper." 
 
 Then Amos gave up the battle. This was the real 
 thing. Harvey had never been either luxurious or 
 self-indulgent ; but during the ten years that he had 
 spent in his uncle s house he had become accustomed 
 to every comfort that wealth can supply, and both 
 in college and during the past winter he had shown 
 no disposition to change his habits. Now he was go 
 ing to live in cheap lodgings, and probably to eat in 
 cheap eating-houses. True, the very change might 
 
THE FLESH POTS 137 
 
 bring him to his senses, though this was improbable. 
 Meantime it was evident that there was something at 
 work here deeper and more serious than Amos had 
 appreciated. After this discovery he dropped the 
 conversation where it was ; and the two soon parted, 
 neither of them at all well pleased with the turn it 
 had taken. 
 
 In the evening Kent called at the Phelps s. He 
 found all three members of the family sitting in the 
 library and received a cordial welcome ; for Mr. 
 Phelps liked his sharp, straightforward, practical 
 views of things ; and the ladies were always enter 
 tained with his fresh, crisp talk, good-natured even 
 in its cynicism. Just at present, however, they were 
 chiefly anxious to thank him for his kind offices in 
 regard to Harvey. 
 
 " Oh, I did nothing," he said, when Ethel had at 
 tempted to act as spokesman for the family. " That 
 matter had already arranged itself." 
 
 " I am just as grateful for what you would have 
 done," Mr. Phelps suggested ; " and I ve no doubt 
 you did a great deal, though Harvey himself has told 
 me the summer was not a success." 
 
 "Has he, indeed?" Kent inquired. "He s the 
 frankest chap I ever saw, and much more ready to 
 tell his failures than his successes. I m glad. Then 
 I shan t be giving him away." 
 
138 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " He did n t go much into detail," Mr. Phelps 
 went on. " But he spoke as if there had been a diffi 
 culty of some kind." 
 
 " A difficulty oh, yes," and Kent burst out 
 laughing at the recollection. Then he narrated, in 
 substance, with his own peculiar graphic vivacity, 
 his arrival in Robertsville, his interview with Marcus, 
 and Harvey s dramatic appearance to announce his 
 own discomfiture. 
 
 " But those dreadful men might have hurt him," 
 suggested Miss Lucia with maternal anxiety. 
 
 Kent reassured her. "No, I don t think they 
 might." 
 
 And Ethel added : " It would take more than two 
 men of that kind to put out Harvey. You ought to 
 have seen him up against Yale last year, Aunt 
 Lucia." 
 
 Mr. Phelps had listened to Kent s story thought 
 fully, though with occasional gleams of amusement 
 "You have been with Harvey for the past two 
 weeks, Mr. Kent," he said. " Tell me what you think. 
 Has this experience affected him at all ? Is there any 
 chance of his coming back to us ? I talked with him 
 this afternoon ; but I did n t get much encourage 
 ment." 
 
 Kent hesitated a little before he answered. " It is 
 too soon yet. He must have more time. Even so, I 
 
THE FLESHPOTS 139 
 
 can t say. Nothing can drive Harvey or change him 
 when his mind is made up. He will do what he 
 thinks is the right thing, if the heavens fall. But now 
 he does n t know what is the right thing. If you ask 
 my advice, I should say it is useless to urge him or 
 to argue with him. Let his difficulties work them 
 selves out, if they will. And make things pleasant 
 for him. Let him feel that life is sweet. That sweet 
 ness would n t count one moment against the clear 
 voice of conscience ; but just now he is inclined to 
 agree with me that conscience is making a fool of 
 him and has no real quarrel with the sweet of life 
 at all." 
 
 Mr. Phelps listened to these words of wisdom and 
 expressed his thanks with a certain degree of com 
 fort. Then, after a little more desultory chat, he ex 
 cused himself, on the plea that his health required 
 very early hours ; and his sister accompanied him, 
 leaving Ethel and Kent alone. 
 
 " We are all very much obliged for what you have 
 done for us," repeated Ethel, to begin the conversa 
 tion. 
 
 " There is no need," was Kent s cheerful answer. 
 " I like Harvey myself." 
 
 " Of course you do. Everybody does. But we may 
 like people without taking so much trouble for 
 them." 
 
HO BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " No doubt of that. But when I see a friend, or 
 even a stranger, wantonly throwing away the chance 
 of his life, mere humanity impels me to hold his arm. 
 Harvey is throwing away the chance of his life for 
 a dream." 
 
 Kent was supremely comfortable, resting at his 
 ease in the deep armchair, absorbing with delight 
 all the luxury about him, the soft colors of the room, 
 the richly bound books, the pleasant figure of Ethel 
 herself, perfectly dressed in soft brown and gold, 
 quiet, easy, yet sufficiently responsive. And he 
 thought with amusement rather than with bitterness 
 of the right chances that so often fall to the wrong 
 men in this world. 
 
 "A dream, yes," answered Ethel indignantly. 
 " And not even his own dream, but that Upham s. 
 I don t like Mr. Upham." 
 
 " Don t you ? " said Kent. " Now I do. But then 
 you don t know him, and that makes a difference. 
 The reflection of our friends friends is generally dis 
 tasteful." 
 
 "What do you like about him?" Ethel asked, 
 disregarding the generalization, as women will. 
 
 " Well, he s sincere and then he s an idealist 
 two things I like, though I can t afford them. 
 And then I like almost everyone. My vocation re 
 quires it." 
 
THE FLESHPOTS 141 
 
 But Ethel was more interested in her cousin than 
 in the Reverend Marcus, and turned back. "You 
 will do all you can with Harvey, won t you?" she 
 said. "Of course I shall, too for papa s sake 
 but I I"- 
 
 Kent perfectly understood her difficulty, but he 
 hardly saw how he could help her. " But you?" he 
 repeated. 
 
 " But I " she blushed a little and broke off. " Oh, 
 I do wish he d marry Milly Erskine," she said. 
 " Then everything would be complete. It s the one 
 thing I want in the world." 
 
 There was no questioning the sincerity of her tone, 
 and Kent did n t question it. " How about Miss Er 
 skine?" he asked. 
 
 " I know nothing about Miss Erskine." The tone 
 was petulant for Ethel. "You d think her feelings 
 were written all over her, and she s the closest per 
 son that ever lived." 
 
 Kent laughed. "There are delightful complica 
 tions here," he remarked. "And to think that Har 
 vey is the centre of them, an ungrateful fool, who 
 has the riches of the world offered to him, and shuts 
 his eyes, and staggers about, running into every 
 lamp-post within a mile. If he had been brought up 
 as I have, and had to fight his way, he would behave 
 differently." 
 
142 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 "How were you brought up, and how did you 
 fight? asked Ethel simply. " Do you know, I think 
 I should like fighting?" 
 
 The hour and the place and the girl were tempt 
 ing, for she had that most charming flattery of lis 
 tening well ; and Kent allowed himself to talk of 
 himself, as a man will in such circumstances. In his 
 light, easy, journalistic fashion, he told her of his 
 struggle, in a country printing-office, as a book- 
 agent, in the college bookstore, long hours and lit 
 tle savings, just a bit of success here and there, then 
 the newspaper work, the first story that brought him 
 a pleasant word from the editor, then another, and 
 another, and a hit at last. 
 
 She found it very new and very piquant and very 
 agreeable. The man s manner was more to her than 
 the matter, though she did not know that it was so. 
 An hour passed lightly. 
 
 As for the narrator, it may have crossed his mind 
 that this was not Milly Erskine to whom he was talk 
 ing. It certainly did cross his mind that this was the 
 girl who by all right ought to marry Harvey Phelps, 
 and he was firm in the conviction that that marriage 
 should take place if he could bring it about. But 
 it may perhaps also have occurred to him vaguely 
 that she never would marry Harvey Phelps, that she 
 was a very comfortable girl, and that she owned a 
 
THE FLESHPOTS 143 
 
 very comfortable house. Would it not have occurred 
 to you ? 
 
 He went at last. " There is no subject under heaven 
 except myself that I could have talked about so long," 
 he said. 
 
 "I didn t know you had been talking long," was 
 the satisfactory answer. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A GOLF TOURNAMENT 
 
 THE sweet of life came to Harvey now, and he took 
 it, steeped himself in it, half with deliberate intention 
 to test the worth of it, half indifferently, drifting with 
 the current, waiting for some decisive incident to set 
 tle the future, without more stir on his part. Tennis, 
 golf, canoeing, automobiling more than absorbed his 
 time, and the days floated away, one like another, as 
 softly as feathers down the wind. 
 
 When his idleness was discovered at Cambridge, 
 there arose an immediate demand that he should 
 assist in the football coaching, for he was supposed 
 to know his own position as well as any man alive ; 
 and this, too, offered delightful occupation for all the 
 hours he was able to give, and more. For the time, 
 Marcus and Robertsville and vague ideals were laid 
 aside, at least, if not forgotten. 
 
 In the middle of October came the great golf tour 
 nament for women, in which Ethel played a prominent 
 part from the beginning, working her way steadily 
 along against all contestants, until at last she found 
 herself in the final round with Miss Heloise Winship, 
 
A GOLF TOURNAMENT 145 
 
 hitherto the champion of Massachusetts and a young 
 woman to whom golf was of far more consequence 
 than anything else in the world, physical or moral. 
 
 The match was to be played on Saturday after 
 noon, one round of eighteen holes, on the links of the 
 Wintergreen Club. Numerous spectators attended, 
 among them Harvey and Milly, who had both played 
 over the ground with Ethel, for practice, the morn 
 ing before. Just what his present relation to Milly 
 was, Harvey did not exactly know nor care. He 
 was certainly a rejected lover, and that rankled a 
 little, enough, at any rate, to keep him from think 
 ing of making love to her again. Perhaps he hardly 
 wished to do so. A good deal of water had passed 
 under the bridges since April. Milly was still charm 
 ing to him, but not quite so overpoweringly as then. 
 He could still look upon her countenance and live 
 comfortably. Yet it was a pleasant countenance to 
 look upon, pleasant to smile at and with, to talk to 
 and to listen to. If you survive love, friendship comes 
 agreeably after it, says the German song- writer ; and 
 the friendship that comes in that way has a peculiar 
 bitter-sweet flavor, little hints of strange and subtle 
 intimacy, which make it altogether different from 
 other friendships. So Harvey found it and relished 
 it exceedingly among the various sweets of his pre 
 sent pleasurable existence. 
 
146 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 The match was about to begin and the expectant 
 caddies were straining at their burdens, like hounds 
 in the leash. Ethel s antagonist was a small, slight 
 girl, dark as an Indian, thin features, with thin, set 
 lips, brimful of an intensity that almost seemed to 
 give a sanguine glare to the golden quiet of the Oc 
 tober afternoon. She talked to Ethel with an elabo 
 rate politeness which filled Milly with ecstacy. As 
 for Ethel herself, she was perfectly serene, as stately, 
 in her trim golf-suit, as Juno. 
 
 " Is n t she a dear?" said Milly to Harvey. "But 
 I hardly think she 11 pull it off. That other girl is 
 wiry." 
 
 " On a wire edge, I should say," was the quiet 
 reply. " I believe in Ethel." 
 
 " Well, there s one comfort," Milly went on. " She 
 won t care if she s beaten. I should go crazy." 
 
 " Oh, yes, she will," Harvey returned. 
 
 " Do you big, calm people ever care ? " She looked 
 at him rather impertinently, all things considered. 
 
 " Big dogs and big people don t bark, you know." 
 That was all he had to say to her on that point. 
 
 Miss Winship came to the tee first. Her form was 
 perfect. Anything cleaner, lighter, more graceful 
 than her swing it would have been difficult to im 
 agine, and she drove a clear one hundred and eighty 
 yards, straight for the hole. Ethel s drive was sliced 
 
A GOLF TOURNAMENT 147 
 
 a little and altogether her play was heavier and less 
 sportsmanlike. The first hole went to Miss Winship 
 in five, Ethel having misjudged her put badly. On 
 the second hole, which is longish, though over easy 
 ground, her luck was the same ; and with the third, 
 very short, she succeeded no better, barely making a 
 difficult five to her antagonist s three. Three up at 
 the very beginning made the Winshipites quite cheer 
 ful ; but their champion s set mouth did not relax, 
 nor did Ethel show the slightest sign of being rattled. 
 
 " I told you what would happen," said Milly to 
 Harvey, as they watched Miss Winship take a hand 
 ful of dirt from the box and proceed artistically to 
 the construction of her tee for hole four. 
 
 " Yes, you told me," was the tranquil answer. 
 
 "And are you still confident?" 
 
 " Entirely so. Look out for Ethel on the home 
 stretch." 
 
 Hole four is usually known as " The Swamp Hole " 
 and is troublesome. In a straight line from the teeing 
 ground the distance is but little over two hundred 
 yards ; but a straight line on the drive usually lands 
 you in ground from which there is no hope of escape 
 for any one. The experienced, therefore, aim to drive 
 at an angle in which one hundred and fifty yards will 
 take you beyond the swamp and give a chance to 
 reach the green by one good stroke with the brassey. 
 
148 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Miss Winship s drive was perfect. Ethel followed her, 
 topped, drove short one hundred and twenty yards, 
 perhaps, and had to face the dilemma of either 
 working humbly and safely round the corner, or 
 taking the chance of not covering one hundred yards 
 with the brassey and plumping squarely into the 
 middle of the swamp. The spectators gathered in a 
 curious group, awaiting her decision, Miss Winship 
 and her friends a little apart, simulating indifference 
 and gazing at the scenery, Ethel s supporters nearer 
 to her, and Milly, at least, chafing against the eti 
 quette of golf which forbade advice and suggestions. 
 But Ethel apparently had no need of advice and 
 showed no hesitation. She examined carefully the 
 lie of the ball, which was very favorable. Then she 
 measured the distance with her eye, then drew her 
 brassey from the bag and made one or two prelim 
 inary swings with it. Her mind was made up, she 
 took her stand, shifted her footing once or twice till 
 she got just what she wanted, then stood firm as a 
 tree, and struck. The ball flew low and straight, one 
 hundred and twenty yards and more, and landed on 
 the grass, within easy putting distance of the hole. 
 Applause, even from the Winshipites and the lady 
 herself, whose own performance after that was not 
 much regarded, her five making a poor showing be 
 side Ethel s three. 
 
A GOLF TOURNAMENT 149 
 
 Hole five also fell to Ethel, her opponent having 
 apparently been a little unsteadied and overshooting 
 the hole, which is short, thus reducing her lead to 
 one. On hole six, however, the luck changed again. 
 The hole is very long, up hill and down dale. Ethel 
 got the better start and kept it ; but at the end Miss 
 Winship, by a phenomenal put over a perfect green, 
 succeeded in halving. 
 
 As they followed the players up the long ascent, 
 Milly and Harvey got somewhat in the rear, and 
 when they reached the top of the hill the whole com 
 pany was strung out before them in a long, straggling 
 procession. It was a pretty sight : the cloudless Oc 
 tober sky, the far woods, red and brown and yellow, 
 the lovely, soft, sweeping outlines of the broken coun 
 try, and in the foreground, merry, pleasure-seeking 
 humanity, sprinkling drops of color all over the fields, 
 like flowers swaying in a summer stream. 
 
 "Ah ! " said Harvey involuntarily, "I like it." 
 
 "Like what?" asked his companion, less quick 
 than usual at divining thought. 
 
 " Pleasure, sport, amusement, gayety, laughter, 
 selfish indulgence, golf, girls, automobiles, pomp, 
 and vanity." 
 
 " Oh," gasped Milly, her breath nearly taken away, 
 "could you say it again? " 
 
 " No, I could n t. I don t know how I ever man 
 aged to say it once." 
 
1 50 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Nor I." Then she added : " But we can t stop to 
 talk just now, or we shall lose the victory you are so 
 sure of." 
 
 So they ran down the hill like two merry children, 
 and reached the teeing ground just in time to watch 
 Miss Winship finish her artistic tee. This time her 
 art availed her nothing, however. Ethel played care 
 fully and steadily, and won hole seven, tying the 
 score, then hole eight, then hole nine. Two up. It 
 was Milly s turn to be ecstatic, and I fear her aspect 
 was more triumphant than was wholly consistent with 
 courtesy, she having a tendency to display emotions 
 which she had no personal interest to conceal. Miss 
 Winship and Ethel treated each other still with the 
 same distant politeness, as if to show that they clearly 
 recognized the claims of a civilization which forbade 
 their flying at each others throats ; and their self- 
 control seemed rather to increase than to diminish 
 Milly s volatility. 
 
 Such a thing as over-confidence in Ethel seemed 
 difficult to imagine ; but whatever the cause, she lost 
 hole ten. The ground is bad, in spots, as every one 
 knows : and most people are obliged to resort reluc 
 tantly to the mashey. Ethel did not do this when 
 she should have done it, and got behind in conse 
 quence. Then a careless put left her on the very lip 
 of the cup and reduced her lead to one. 
 
A GOLF TOURNAMENT 151 
 
 Miss Winship s courage was up again, and it was 
 evident that courage was a very essential part .of her 
 game. The peculiar difficulties of hole eleven, the 
 most trying in the links Wandering Brook, with 
 its treacherous margins, and the cavernous sand-pit 
 beyond only spurred her to unusual effort, and she 
 cleared everything with a few perfectly adjusted and 
 brilliant strokes, while poor Ethel floundered and got 
 hopelessly behind. Hole twelve, however, long and 
 open, offering the best chance for even, steady play, 
 went differently, and left Ethel again in the lead, 
 which she lost once more on hole thirteen, with its 
 puzzling bunker. 
 
 Milly s patience was almost exhausted. "Why 
 don t they push ahead, one or the other?" she cried, 
 as she and Harvey followed the procession over the 
 wide fields to the fourteenth hole. " And Ethel just 
 as calm as if she were starting for church ! Who 
 would believe that any game could be at once so 
 stupid and so exasperating ? Let s talk about some 
 thing else your summer. You have n t told me all 
 about it yet." 
 
 "No," answered Harvey, "and shan t." 
 " Oh, yes, you will by degrees. Do you still be 
 lieve in the Reverend Marcus ? " 
 
 "Yes, more than ever. But in myself no." 
 
 " That s wrong. If you want to do anything or be 
 
1 52 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 anything in the world, you ve got to believe in your 
 self first of all." 
 
 "But if one can t?" 
 
 " One can. I believe in you." 
 
 " Thanks. For stopping a runaway horse or 
 coaching a football team. Those things don t count." 
 
 " They do count," she answered with eager affir 
 mation. <( In the first place, what a man is made for 
 counts. In the second place, a man who can stop a 
 runaway horse, as you can, can stop anything a 
 runaway woman almost a runaway world." 
 
 Harvey looked round, struck by the energy of her 
 tone, puzzled by it. Something in his look made her 
 turn her eyes away. "It is pleasant to have you be 
 lieve in me," he said, " or appear to, you who don t 
 believe in many things." 
 
 " How do you know I don t ? " was her brief reply. 
 " I believe Ethel will win, at any rate, since you say 
 so. Come, let s see her do it." 
 
 The prospect was somewhat more encouraging 
 now. Ethel had taken hole fourteen easily. Fifteen 
 gave her something of a struggle, but she took it 
 and was two up. If she could get the next, that 
 would end it. But Milly, with characteristic perver 
 sity, chose to renew the conversation instead of 
 watching the play. 
 
 "Talking of beliefs," she said, "I believe you 
 
A GOLF TOURNAMENT 153 
 
 will go back into your uncle s business and marry 
 Ethel, and all will end as pleasantly as a fairy tale." 
 
 " Your faculty of believing has developed extraor 
 dinarily since I used to know you," was Harvey s 
 smiling comment. 
 
 " It must have, if I have got where you can laugh 
 at me. We have changed rdles." Again there was 
 a depth in her tone which puzzled Harvey a little. 
 But before he had time to think of it, she went on 
 earnestly : " You must have a moral strength equal 
 to your physical, did you know it ? " 
 
 "No. Nor don t now." 
 
 " Nevertheless, it s so. Here is everything in the 
 world wealth, an honorable position, an endless 
 chance for usefulness, gratitude, duty, love, all pull 
 ing one way, and you set your moral back up, put 
 out your fore feet, and don t budge ! See ? " 
 
 Harvey laughed. " We are losing the hole," he said. 
 
 So they were. Miss Winship had halved the six 
 teenth with Bogey, making as perfect an approach 
 and put as that fussy hole had ever seen and leaving 
 Ethel high and dry in the rear. The lead was only 
 one now, and two more holes taken like the last 
 would forever disqualify Harvey as a prophet in golf. 
 
 The struggle for seventeen was delightful. Both 
 drove with excellent judgment, so as to avoid the 
 difficult sand bunker. Both cleared it with the second 
 
154 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 stroke, though Ethel s escape was narrow and the 
 lie very far from satisfactory. Being away, she played 
 next with her iron, and just reached the edge of the 
 green, at least four yards from the hole. Miss Win- 
 ship, however, took two strokes to get on to the 
 green. She was then only a yard away but was play 
 ing five, and Ethel still had a chance to win by a 
 long put. The whole company was watching now, 
 gathered as close as etiquette would permit. Milly 
 found it hard not to scream, laid her white- gloved 
 fingers on Harvey s arm and clutched it. But Ethel 
 was serene as ever. She gripped her putter firmly, 
 swung it once or twice, ran her eye back and forth 
 over the distance to be traversed, then struck. The 
 ball went straight and even over the beautiful green, 
 smooth as a billiard table, rolled the full four yards, and 
 dropped, with a charming flat thud, into the cup. A 
 long sigh came first from the spectators, then a cheer, 
 and the match was over, two up, and one to play. 
 
 As they all three drove home together in the fresh 
 autumn twilight, Harvey looked at Ethel, sitting op 
 posite to him, in her heavy cloak and furs, radiant 
 with triumph and with exercise, and thought he had 
 never before appreciated how charming she was. 
 She was simple, took life simply, had no doubts, no 
 perplexities, no complexities. It was a beautiful thing 
 to be born like that. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE CRACKLING OF THORNS 
 
 So the autumn slipped away. Harvey was not quite 
 easy, not quite satisfied ; but he enjoyed himself 
 immensely, nevertheless. As the end of the season 
 approached, football became more and more absorb 
 ing, and the effort to beat Yale seemed to be the one 
 important thing in life. Then the great day came. 
 Harvey took Ethel, Milly, and Kent out to see the 
 expected victory which was not a victory at all, Yale 
 having it pretty much all her own way. This ought 
 to have been very hard to bear ; but habit prepares 
 us for almost everything. 
 
 In social matters Ethel was showing a tact for 
 which no one had ever given her credit. She under 
 stood perfectly that her part was to charm Harvey, 
 to make him happy, contented, and comfortable, yet 
 to keep herself in the background. And she did it. 
 She organized golf and tennis contests. She arranged 
 auto trips to queer places where one had never been 
 before and perhaps never wished to go again ; but 
 they served for merriment. She gave a series of lit- 
 
156 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 tie dinners, where everything was rich and delicate 
 and harmonious, and gathered in to them now one 
 group of pretty girls and witty men, now another, no 
 girl prettier than Milly, no man wittier than Kent, 
 but a good many who could meet these two on even 
 terms. "All this," Kent grumbled, "to charm the 
 repentant Puritan back into the easy paths of prodi 
 gality ; while those of us who have had no thought 
 of straying from the primrose way get never a sop of 
 cakes and ale. The injustice of the world ! " 
 
 Harvey took something the same view of it, when 
 he reflected. What was he to be worth so much de 
 votion ? But it was very pleasant, and he appreci 
 ated it, and he understood perfectly well that Ethel 
 was doing it all. An awfully good girl, with a certain 
 charm about her, too, the charm of straightforward 
 ness, which wears well. You knew where to find 
 her, as you did n t some people. Occasionally Har 
 vey wondered what her real feeling was in regard 
 to her uncle s plans and wishes, which, as the wise 
 reader will observe, came to much the same thing as 
 wondering what her real feeling was in regard to 
 Harvey himself. 
 
 A few days after Thanksgiving, Ethel planned a 
 theatre party, one of the little, snug ones, just for 
 Milly, Harvey, Kent, and herself, with Aunt Lucia to 
 matronize. It was a rather sudden idea. A new 
 
THE CRACKLING OF THORNS 157 
 
 play by a new writer had made an unexpected hit, 
 and everybody wanted to see it. The time was so 
 short that Ethel could not get seats for them all to 
 gether ; but she did the best she could. " The Crack 
 ling of Thorns," said Milly reflectively. "Sounds 
 like some satire keen and critical. The laughter 
 of fools is like the crackling of thorns under a pot. 
 They get no laughter from me on that invitation." 
 
 Harvey and Ethel sat together, the other three in 
 front and a little to one side. The play was half 
 farce, half comedy ; and from the very first it seemed 
 to hit Harvey hard. The heroine was a young 
 woman, fresh from college, full of idols and ideals, 
 determined to reform the world, beginning with her 
 rich, vulgar father and elder sisters. The sisters were 
 earthy, one a sort of Dresden china, slight, light, and 
 frivolous, but piquant withal, the other solid stone 
 ware, material, muscular, athletic. When the general 
 drift of the thing became apparent, Kent and Milly 
 looked round with an expression indicating that 
 they expected to enjoy themselves to the limit. 
 "Harvey," said Ethel, turning to her cousin pite- 
 ously, " you don t think this was intentional on my 
 part?" "What nonsense," was the amused reply. 
 " Why should I care if it were ? " 
 
 Well, the earthy sisters leagued themselves with 
 an earthier young man to turn the young idea into 
 
158 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 ridicule. " Charlie," asks the Dresden china sister, 
 " do you think the world needs reforming so very 
 much ? " " If it did n t," Charlie answers, " what an 
 awful world it would be, especially for the reform 
 ers." It was here that Kent looked round to punctu 
 ate the situation. Then the earthy young man posed, 
 with despicable ingenuity, as a mystical poet, full of 
 ideals, Browning, and large philanthropy, which he 
 poured out before the fair apostle in very small verses. 
 And all the time he was prosaically making love to 
 the rich father s stenographer, who was pretty, and 
 loved the young man, and was determined to marry 
 the rich father. 
 
 " Harvey, I had no idea what this was all about," 
 repeated Ethel with solemnity, when the drop fell 
 after the first act." 
 
 " Well, and if you had had ? " he asked, smiling. 
 "Would you have stayed away? " 
 
 " Perhaps. At any rate, I should have told you 
 beforehand." 
 
 " Ethel must be apologizing now, I should think," 
 Milly said to Kent. 
 
 "And Harvey accepting it cheerfully," was the 
 ready answer. 
 
 " Acceptances will be the order between them soon, 
 if one might prophesy." 
 
 "You think so?" 
 
THE CRACKLING OF THORNS 159 
 
 " I think so." Kent s sharp ear detected a hint of 
 bitterness in his companion s tone. " I think so. The 
 young man is extraordinarily susceptible to impres 
 sions, you know. And if Ethel had been born and 
 bred a coquette, she could not have played her part 
 more artistically than she has done for the last two 
 months. Besides, she has held ten trumps and all the 
 aces." 
 
 " But she was neither born nor bred a coquette," 
 said Kent, with a certain warmth. 
 
 Milly turned and looked at him, smiling ever so 
 little. " You are ready to take her part ? " Then, with 
 a shrug of her shoulders as nearly imperceptible as 
 the smile, she added : " Every woman is born and 
 bred a coquette. Only some do it well, some don t." 
 
 Here the second act began. The young reformer 
 surged onward in her troubled course. Among the 
 obstacles that beset her was an athletic cousin at 
 Harvard, mighty on the gridiron, who implored her 
 to eschew her impossible ideals and follow him. But, 
 for the moment, she had the bit between her teeth, 
 and she hurried on. One of her chief aims was to 
 promote cordial relations between her father and his 
 employees. In pursuit of this worthy object, she suc 
 ceeded in persuading the old gentleman to take back 
 a workman who had been repeatedly discharged for 
 drunkenness, and then, in the enthusiasm of triumph, 
 
160 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 she secured a half-holiday for all the factory hands 
 and arranged to give them a picnic in the extensive 
 pleasure grounds of her father s estate. Just the sort 
 of thing, you see, to make an elderly Philistine, who 
 has traveled odd paths in search of fortune and knows 
 nothing else, tear his hair with rage and disgust. 
 Nevertheless, the enthusiastic young woman had her 
 way and was abetted by the athletic cousin from love 
 and the earthy sisters from mischief. The picnic was 
 to be. 
 
 " Where am I ? " asked Harvey jocosely, when the 
 act was over. " I feel as one does on a horse who 
 is trying to get into a lope and can t. I don t know 
 which of me is in which place. Am I the idiot young 
 woman who wants things different, or the muscular 
 cousin who does n t ? And which are you ? " 
 
 " I am I," answered Ethel, in her simple way, " and 
 I like things very well as they are." 
 
 "Yes," said Harvey, after a moment s thought. 
 " That s true. And it makes you very restful. I don t 
 think any one would wish you to be different." 
 
 " Yet," she continued, with some little hesitation, 
 " I sometimes wonder whether you don t think me 
 very stupid. Here are you all stirred up over these 
 great questions, and they don t stir me at all. I 
 go on eating, and sleeping, and playing golf, and 
 being of little use to anybody, and I am wonder- 
 
THE CRACKLING OF THORNS 161 
 
 fully contented. I ought to be ashamed of it, I sup 
 pose." 
 
 " No ; oh, no, never ! It s all different for a woman. 
 You have n t got to go in actively and do business by 
 business methods. You keep house and live happy 
 in the station to which it has pleased God to call 
 you. I wish a man might do the same." 
 
 " I think he might. I hope he will." 
 
 " Do you ? " The question was simple ; but the 
 hour and the surroundings and the air of that fairy, 
 theatrical world put something into the tone of it 
 which astonished even Harvey himself and made him 
 almost glad to have the curtain rise again. 
 
 The picnic, oh, the picnic ! Everybody came to it 
 who should n t have come : the earthy sisters and 
 the earthier young man, and the athletic cousin, and 
 the Philistine father, and the stenographer, and even 
 a fantastic reporter who wanted to keep his yellow 
 journal abreast with the latest thing in philanthropy. 
 Only the subjects of the heroine s charity came not. 
 They had fallen by the way, as was explained by the 
 drunken employee, who was to have brought them, 
 and who arrived himself in so unsatisfactory and vo 
 ciferous a condition that he made himself intolerable 
 even to his hostess, and was finally thrown into the 
 lake by the athletic cousin. This heroic and chival 
 rous method of wooing naturally overcame the young 
 
1 62 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 lady s scruples ; so that the football hero was at 
 length allowed to console her for so many deceptions 
 and disappointments. The earthy young man sud 
 denly inherited a fortune and married the steno 
 grapher ; and the rich old Philistine was left to enjoy 
 his ill-gotten gains with the peaceful companionship 
 of his two earthy daughters, who no doubt grew 
 earthier and earthier, as it is the nature of that sort 
 of person to do. 
 
 " A rather stupid play, I thought it," said Ethel, 
 as they all sat in the Touraine, half an hour later, 
 over champagne and oysters. 
 
 " And worldly, too," added Aunt Lucia, " not a 
 bit uplifting." 
 
 " Perhaps all the more like life," Milly suggested 
 thoughtfully, " which is stupid." 
 
 " And not uplifting," Kent completed her sen 
 tence. 
 
 " I don t think I like plays that are like life," 
 went on Aunt Lucia, who seemed unusually conver 
 sational. 
 
 " No," answered Kent. " Life is work. A play 
 should be play. In the plays the reformers and the 
 idealists and the dreamers should have it all their 
 own way. Don t you think so, Harvey?" 
 
 But Harvey was listening, not talking, and Milly 
 at once took up the first part of Kent s remark. " My 
 
THE CRACKLING OF THORNS 163 
 
 life is work," she said ; " but I don t think yours is. 
 Ah, if you had to get mind into hopeless girls who 
 have n t got any ! But to drift round all day, watch 
 ing the movement and the color of the world and 
 then at night merely to have to write it down I 
 don t call that work." 
 
 " One can see you ve never done it. Do you know 
 what a horrible thing a blank sheet of paper can be ? 
 Talk about hopless girls ! You try sitting down at 
 night, when you re tired, and setting to work to 
 make copy that s got to be forthcoming in the morn 
 ing, so many dreary words, dreary to you, but they ve 
 got to be quick, and telling, and funny, oh, funny 
 or the editor says, What s the matter, Kent? 
 Off your feed to-day a little ? he s always funny, 
 the editor. As for such trifles as the movement and 
 the color of the world, you forget what they re like 
 in a little while. It s all gray, you know, and it 
 does n t move at all. Work is work. That s the long 
 and short of it." 
 
 Thus the talkers talked over the champagne and 
 oysters. Ethel listened, having nothing on her mind. 
 Aunt Lucia listened and yawned slightly. Harvey 
 neither listened nor yawned. That idiot young 
 woman who wanted things different was she an 
 idiot, and did she do well to marry the athletic 
 cousin ? As he thought of this, he looked at Ethel, 
 
1 64 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 whose eye had just the touch of animation which it 
 needed and sometimes lacked. When at last they 
 started for home, Harvey spread the great, soft opera 
 cloak over his cousin s shoulders with a peculiar ten 
 derness. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 MRS. O BRIEN 
 
 ABOUT the middle of December Marcus came to 
 town for a day and went to see Harvey. At the first 
 moment of their interview every trace of coolness or 
 separation, which might have been left by their sum 
 mer s experiences, vanished. Marcus again felt the 
 charm of the frank simplicity which had always drawn 
 him to Harvey, and showed in his own manner the 
 sweet persuasiveness which tempered his austerities 
 and made his friends forget them. 
 
 "It s good to see you," said Harvey, holding the 
 slight hand long in his and feeling something in that 
 touch that neither golf nor automobiles could give. 
 
 " And you," was the quiet answer. To read its full 
 meaning you had to look deep, as Harvey did, into 
 the pure blue eyes. 
 
 The two went out to lunch together and talked at 
 length, without reserve, of Robertsville, and what had 
 happened there. 
 
 " Everything went as we ought to have expected," 
 said Marcus. " You are too big to be contented with 
 
1 66 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 a little life in a little place like that. You will find 
 your way." 
 
 Harvey shook his head, with a slight shadow in 
 his eyes. " The biggest lives go on in little places 
 sometimes, I think," he answered. Then, putting 
 aside gently Marcus s further inquiries about pre 
 sent matters, he went on to discuss the young min 
 ister s own future, and was interested to learn that 
 there was a prospect of his soon being settled at 
 a little church in Glendale, only a few miles from 
 Boston. 
 
 "Yes," said Marcus, "I hope to come there in the 
 spring say March ; and we shall surely see each 
 other often." 
 
 "I hope so," was Harvey s vague answer. 
 
 But Marcus was determined to dissipate the vague 
 ness. "What does it all mean, Harvey?" he asked 
 " It is n t like you to conceal things. Are you en 
 gaged to that young woman ? I forget her name." 
 
 " No," said Harvey. " I m engaged to no one." 
 
 " What are you doing ? Where are you going ? " 
 
 "I m doing nothing. And I don t know where 
 I m going ; where I drift, I suppose. I m waiting. 
 And meantime I take the pleasant things that come 
 in my way." 
 
 Marcus looked grave and for a moment said no 
 thing. Then his face lighted with the wonderful 
 
MRS. O BRIEN 167 
 
 sweetness that could come to it. " I have always 
 trusted you," he said. " I trust you." 
 
 They talked no more on that topic, and confined 
 themselves to Robertsville and other reminiscences. 
 Just before they separated, Harvey asked, with some 
 hesitation, " That O Brien girl, what became of her? " 
 
 Marcus answered, with more hesitation still : " I 
 didn t mean to tell you ; for you were certainly not 
 to blame. But she broke down soon after you left 
 a bad cough. She failed very fast. A few weeks ago 
 she came back to her mother s, here in town. I went 
 to see her this morning. They re poor, and there s 
 no hope for the girl, I m afraid. The mother s a fool 
 ish woman and very bitter. It s a hard case." 
 
 Harvey made no comment further than to ask for 
 the O Briens address. 
 
 Marcus gave it to him. " But I would n t go 
 there," he said. "You would only get into more 
 trouble." 
 
 " Yet you trust me," observed Harvey, with a wan 
 smile. 
 
 " Certainly I trust you. But this is hardly a case 
 for your handling, all things considered. And the 
 Associated Charities are looking after it." 
 
 There the subject dropped and the two parted ; 
 but there was an unspoken tenderness about their 
 parting deeply felt by both of them. " We shall see 
 
168 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 more of each other and be more to each other by- 
 and-by," said Marcus ; and the warmth of Harvey s 
 handclasp showed that at any rate he hoped so. 
 
 That afternoon Harvey called at Ethel s. 
 
 " I want to ask a favor of you," he said. 
 
 Then he told her the history of the O Brien family, 
 not, of course, blaming his uncle, but simply stating 
 the facts, including his own misfortunes during the 
 summer and the unhappy condition of things at 
 present. 
 
 Ethel listened quietly. " It seems a hard case," she 
 answered, when he had finished, " though I suppose 
 those things are always happening." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose they are. And we play golf and 
 ride in our automobiles in spite of them." 
 
 But Ethel was not easily irritated, and took this 
 remark as Harvey meant it. " We do. And I don t 
 know that we are wrong to. Why should all be 
 wretched because some are? But what favor can I 
 do you ? " 
 
 Harvey hesitated a moment, " I thought," he be 
 gan at length, " that perhaps you would be willing 
 to go with me to see these people." 
 
 " Certainly," answered Ethel at once. " But what 
 can we do ? Give them money ? " 
 
 " I hope so if they 11 take it. We 11 see what we 
 can do, when we get there." 
 
MRS. O BRIEN 169 
 
 " By all means. Only I must tell you that I m not 
 good at that sort of thing. I blunder. But I m glad 
 to try. And, Harvey, I hope you won t think I m 
 wholly selfish." As she said this, she leaned towards 
 her cousin with a gentle earnestness that was won 
 derfully sweet ; and there were tears in her eyes, or 
 something near it. "I so often feel that the world is 
 all wrong all wrong. But I have n t the very least 
 faculty for making it right. I can t even get unhappy 
 over it. When I get up in the morning, the sky looks 
 so blue, and breakfast tastes so good and life keeps 
 on tasting good all day." 
 
 " I know," Harvey answered. He did know. 
 
 The next morning the two started out together on 
 their benevolent errand. 
 
 " We seem to me like two big children, with good 
 intentions and very little more," remarked Ethel. 
 
 " Yes," Harvey agreed. " Butting in, as George 
 would say. But something must be done and who 
 else is to do it?" 
 
 " I suppose papa would gladly send a check?" 
 
 " No," was the decided response. " That would n t 
 do at all." 
 
 "I dare say not," echoed the timid cousin, who felt 
 distinctly out of her element. Not that she had never 
 done a kind thing before, nor visited persons in dis 
 tress. She was a woman, and a gentle one, and 
 
170 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 many, many dollars went from her pocket-book 
 every year in ways which not even those nearest her 
 suspected. But this sort of militant charity was 
 strange to her. To be traversing the streets with 
 Harvey, for such a purpose, as if they were going to 
 a football game, was a novelty. And to persons of 
 an unadaptable constitution novelties are either ridic 
 ulous or painful. This was a little of both. 
 
 The address which Marcus had given Harvey was 
 that of a house on Hudson Street, in a region in 
 habited mostly by foreigners. As the two stately 
 young athletes passed by, many a tousled black 
 head, with beady eyes, peered at them curiously ; 
 and one youngster, playing on an ash heap, re 
 marked, in confidence, to another, " Gee, Ikey, ain t 
 that fierce ? " But the athletes were unconscious and 
 wholly absorbed in their unwonted task of glory 
 and of good. 
 
 When they reached their destination, they mounted 
 the unrailed steps and rang the rackety bell. It took 
 several rings to call forth any response ; but at last 
 the door was opened by a stout, middle-aged Irish 
 lady not clean. 
 
 " Is it Maggie O Brine, ye want ? Sure, she s here. 
 And won t niver be anywhere else, poor girl, till it s 
 the cimitry, I m thinkin . Three flights the first 
 door ye come to." 
 
MRS. O BRIEN 171 
 
 Harvey led the way up the ancient staircase, which 
 groaned under his weight and his companion s. The 
 house had served sleek, well-to-do citizens, in former 
 times, when such inhabited that region ; and near 
 the top of the stairs a shapely niche, cut in the wall, 
 hinted at decoration of the sculptural order ; but the 
 niche was empty now of all but melancholy sugges 
 tions of the past. The floor was dirty and unkempt ; 
 so were the walls. Ethel lifted her skirts rather higher 
 than usual and trod gingerly. 
 
 The second staircase was like the first, except for 
 the niche, and the third was like the second. When 
 they reached the top of everything, they stood for 
 a moment in the narrow, dingy hallway, facing a 
 closed door, from behind which came the voice of 
 some one reading. 
 
 "Well?" said Harvey, softly, looking at Ethel. 
 
 "Well?" answered Ethel, as softly, looking at 
 Harvey. 
 
 " You knock," Harvey suggested. 
 
 After a moment s further hesitation, Ethel gave a 
 knock so timid that it would hardly have disturbed 
 the repose of a ball on the smoothest of putting- 
 greens. There were keen ears inside, however. The 
 reading stopped, and instantly after the door opened. 
 
 In the opening appeared a young lady, who seemed 
 rather insignificant, at the first glance. She was short, 
 
172 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 slight, dark-haired, pale, very pale, and dressed in 
 a plain, dark, wool gown. When you looked at her 
 a little longer, however, you felt the fire in her eyes, 
 even in that doubtful light, and you began to feel 
 that there was fire in her figure, also. 
 
 For a second the three gazed at each other. Then 
 Ethel spoke, with some uncertainty : " Miss Newton, 
 I think." 
 
 The young lady s features assumed that expression 
 which says so plainly, " I am distressed to find that 
 you have the advantage of me." Then they cleared, 
 perhaps not quite enthusiastically. "Miss Harper, 
 is n t it ? This light and then " 
 
 " You did n t quite expect to see me here," said 
 Ethel, trying to be easily facetious. "Nor did I you. 
 This is my cousin, Mr. Phelps, Miss Newton." 
 
 Miss Newton simply bowed, but expressed no 
 pleasure in making Mr. Phelps s acquaintance. In 
 deed, from her countenance you might almost have 
 supposed that her feeling was the other way. 
 
 Ethel, having paused a moment for some remark, 
 felt that it was her part to continue the conversa 
 tion. " We were told that a young person, named 
 O Brien, lived here." 
 
 "A young person, named O Brien, does live here 
 with her mother." 
 
 There was nothing in this to invite confidence, and 
 
MRS. O BRIEN 173 
 
 Ethel felt much disposed to leave Harvey to attend 
 to the rest of his errand himself, but he made no 
 move, and she was almost forced to go on. " You 
 see, we heard that she, Miss O Brien, was quite ill 
 and my cousin that is, I in short, is n t there 
 something we can do to make her more comfort 
 able?" 
 
 Miss Newton grasped the situation now, and it 
 was with a trifle more gentleness in her tone that she 
 answered, "Well, no, I hardly think there is. Of 
 course, it s very kind of you to take so much trouble, 
 and of Mr. Phelps. But well, there have been 
 things in the past to tell the truth, I don t believe 
 Mrs. O Brien would wish to take anything from a 
 person of that name. You see " 
 
 But here the conversation was interrupted by the 
 appearance of Mrs. O Brien herself, who had been 
 listening until she could listen no longer. She was 
 a slight, oldish woman, of a much higher order than 
 the landlady of the house and with a certain air of 
 intelligence about her ; but she seemed utterly poor, 
 wretched, and discouraged, and there was a shifty 
 look in her eyes, which at this moment were full of 
 wrath. She pushed herself into the doorway, beside 
 Miss Newton, and burst out : " Take anything from 
 a Phelps ? Not if it was to save Maggie from dying 
 in the poorhouse. He s a robber, that man is. I will 
 
174 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 speak" this to Miss Newton, who was trying to 
 quiet her " a thief and a robber. Look where he s 
 put my poor husband. And he himself getting fat on 
 his boodle and going on to rob and rob. He ought 
 to be in jail. That s where he ought to be. And I 
 hope to live to see him there. And you" turning 
 to Harvey "who says you re any better than he 
 is ? If it was n t for you, my poor girl might be well 
 and happy now. Ain t you ashamed " 
 
 But here she was interrupted by a scream from 
 within the room : " Mother 1 Mother ! You stop it ! 
 Keep still. Come here ! " 
 
 The cry was so imperious that it drew even Mrs. 
 O Brien s attention and gave Miss Newton a chance 
 to whisper to Ethel: "You d better go. The poor 
 woman is n t quite right." 
 
 But Mrs. O Brien overheard, and she screamed out 
 again, as the dazed visitors made their way down 
 stairs ; would have followed them, if Miss Newton 
 had not prevented her. "If I m not all right, who 
 made me so ? It was that father of yours. He s a 
 robber and a thief. And I believe he sent you here 
 to buy me off. But he can t. I 11 see him in jail be 
 fore I die. A rich man like that, with all his millions, 
 to hunt a poor workman to death " 
 
 She was still talking when they made their way 
 out of the front door, where a number of other lodgers 
 
MRS. O BRIEN 175 
 
 had congregated at the cheerful sound of a row. The 
 two cousins walked rapidly through Hudson Street, 
 into a more civilized portion of the world, before a 
 word was spoken between them. 
 
 " Ethel," said Harvey at last, " I m very sorry I 
 exposed you to anything like this. Who was that 
 young woman ? " 
 
 " I don t know," said Ethel, her cheeks still flushed 
 with indignation at the words she had heard about 
 her father. " I met her somewhere once ; she runs 
 the College Settlement and things of that sort, I be 
 lieve. But, Harvey, in future, I think I 11 let the poor 
 alone." 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 HARVEY EXPLAINS 
 
 " EVER know a girl named Newton ? " asked Harvey 
 of Kent, as they were dining together that evening. 
 
 "Three," Kent answered, trying the cauliflower, 
 and showing no disposition to try it again. 
 
 " That s too many," was Harvey s dissatisfied 
 comment. 
 
 " They re all my cousins. But probably you mean 
 Diana. She s the oldest philanthropy, charity, 
 college settlements, etc." 
 
 " What does she look like ? You ? " 
 
 "Well, you wouldn t mistake us for each other 
 on a bright day. Shortish, palish, brownish, quietish 
 to look at, but oh, my!" 
 
 Harvey nodded. " That s the one. How did she 
 come to be your cousin ? " 
 
 " How did there come to be kerosene in this mut 
 ton gravy ? I never knew your equal for questioning 
 the arrangements of the universe. But if you agree 
 with me, we 11 change our hash-house before long." 
 
 Then, for the moment, they both devoted them- 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 177 
 
 selves to making a dinner, an operation which really 
 did require some thought. Finally Kent seemed 
 ready to continue the subject. " Where did you run 
 across Diana Newton ? " he asked. 
 
 Harvey had no special desire to explain the circum 
 stances under which he had met the young lady. 
 Nevertheless, he explained them ; and Kent enjoyed 
 the explanation. 
 
 " Don Quixote ! " he gasped, when he had finished 
 such laughter as the public place permitted. " Don 
 Quixote ! But your cousin should n t be allowed to 
 play Sancho to you. That won t do." 
 
 " Never mind my cousin," Harvey answered, tak 
 ing his companion s amusement as serenely as usual. 
 "Never mind my cousin. Tell me about yours." 
 
 The dessert had come now, and Kent seemed to 
 find it more tolerable than the previous course. 
 " About my cousin. Oh, certainly," he said. " She s 
 a nice girl. I go to see her once or twice a year. 
 But she s only my second cousin and she disapproves 
 of me. Her father s well-to-do, a doctor, lives in the 
 next town to us at home. She s been to Wellesley 
 and learned how to improve the world. It s a disas 
 trous acquisition. Now she lives with her aunt 
 Miss Whitcomb, on Newbury Street. The aunt is in 
 the philanthropic line, too, but different, Unitarian, 
 old abolitionist, etc., etc. Diana s an Episcopalian 
 
178 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 mild. She lived in the Settlement last year ; but 
 that was too much for her, broke her down. All this 
 interests you, probably." 
 
 u It does. I m going to call on Miss Newton." 
 
 " Thunder ! No ! " answered Kent. And as he 
 lighted his cigar and led the way out into the street, 
 innumerable undesirable possibilities began to sug 
 gest themselves. 
 
 " I would n t call on her, if I were you." He 
 grasped Harvey s arm and spoke in a very confi 
 dential fashion. 
 
 " Would n t you? Why not ? " But Harvey s voice 
 did not indicate much interest in his friend s reasons 
 or much inclination to yield to them. 
 
 " Well, for one thing, I don t think she d want to 
 see you." 
 
 " I should take the chance of that, you know. I 
 need n t go again." 
 
 "What the devil do you want to call on her 
 for?" 
 
 " Why the devil do you object to my calling on 
 her?" 
 
 Kent laughed good-naturedly. " Answer my ques 
 tion first ; then I 11 answer yours." 
 
 " I want to call on her and explain." 
 
 Kent laughed a great deal more, so that a street 
 boy stopped and remarked to him : " Say, Mister, 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 179 
 
 you must ha been readin one of George Kent s 
 Snap-Shots, " which made Kent laugh louder still. 
 " That s glory, Harvey," he said. " Excuse my laugh 
 ing at the idea of your explaining. It s impossible. 
 What you really want is to get acquainted with this 
 girl. There s something piquant about her, I admit, 
 something different. It s in her eyes, Harvey, 
 her eyes. Set in that pale, thin, cold, conventual face, 
 they literally burn. It s those eyes that give you this 
 vague, perfectly pointless, and illogical desire to ex 
 plain. If it had been the aunt, Miss Whitcomb, you 
 know, you never would have thought of explaining 
 anything at all." 
 
 " Well," rejoined Harvey, still serene. " Now why 
 do you want to interfere with me?" 
 
 Kent walked on a few steps, absorbed in thought. 
 " If you were some men," he said at last, " I should 
 laugh it off and say no more about it, hoping you 
 would let the matter slip and forget and there would 
 be an end. But, confound it, you never 11 forget, 
 nor let the matter slip ; and there 11 never be an end, 
 till you ve tried what you call explaining, Heaven 
 help us ! On the other hand, if I tell you what I 
 think, your natural perversity will simply be stirred 
 up all the more. Well, here goes for the warning of 
 a sensible man to an insensible one." He took a 
 long pull at his cigar. " Let that girl alone, Harvey. 
 
i8o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 She 11 never do you any good. You re just get 
 ting into the right road now, getting the non 
 sense shaken out of you. Things are beginning to 
 go smoothly. Your cousin well, your cousin is 
 worth fifty of Diana Newton. If you go after Diana 
 explaining/ oh, Lord, I hear it now! those 
 eyes will burn you, Harvey, and she won t care for 
 you any more than for touchwood and punk. There s 
 just one thing that kind of woman cares for and 
 that is herself. She calls it ideals, charity, philan 
 thropy, heaven knows what all besides. Whatever 
 it is, it leaves no room for the tender emotions that 
 you look for in the sex. Now go * explain, and 
 scorch yourself ; but don t say I did n t warn you 
 beforehand." 
 
 " Thank you," answered Harvey. " I won t" 
 The subject was not again mentioned between 
 them, and for some days Harvey made no move 
 toward carrying out his project. This did not de 
 ceive Kent, however, who knew that it was equally 
 characteristic of his friend to delay the execution of 
 his plans and never to give them up. In fact, the 
 whole thing weighed so seriously upon the young 
 journalist s mind that he finally took the extreme 
 step of calling himself on his philanthropic cousin 
 with the object of suggesting to her that the great 
 est kindness she could do Harvey s friends would be 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 181 
 
 to snub him as effectively as possible. " She s just 
 such another mule as he," he thought. " If I really 
 want her to snub him, I might as well beg her to 
 fall in love with him at once. But still " 
 
 "Why should he call on me?" asked Miss New 
 ton, when such a thing was suggested. 
 
 "Why shouldn t he? I think he was charmed 
 with you. He s easily charmed, if you 11 excuse the 
 apparent rudeness of the remark." 
 
 Something about the remark probably not its 
 rudeness seemed to annoy the young lady ex 
 tremely. "George, why will you come to me with 
 such talk as that ? Do you suppose that I have time 
 or inclination to be trifling with idle boys? If he 
 wants to be charmed, let him go to those who want 
 to be charming." 
 
 " Ah, but, my fair cousin, it is n t always those who 
 want to be charming that are. In fact it s very sel 
 dom. Whether you want to be or not, you can t 
 help it. I admit you re not my kind. I prefer some 
 thing much more worldly not the charm of the 
 lunar rainbow. Though I ve always imagined that 
 there was a volcano under your ice-fields some 
 where." 
 
 " George ! " 
 
 The impatient petulance of her tone delighted her 
 cousin. " I thought so," he went on. " But, you see, 
 
1 82 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 you re just this man s kind. He wants to be charmed 
 and elevated at the same time. Perhaps you don t 
 know his history. His uncle Phelps & Legge. 
 is several times a millionaire, has no children but a 
 stepdaughter, and wants Harvey to go in and take 
 the business, and the millions, and the stepdaughter. 
 Now all I ask of you is not to spoil this pretty pro 
 gramme." 
 
 " I spoil it? " asked Diana, with an expression be 
 tween wonder and disgust. 
 
 " You see, Harvey is disposed to refuse the daugh 
 ter and the millions. He has kinks in his head, to 
 the effect that business is not an ennobling occupa 
 tion, and that his uncle s money has been acquired 
 by methods not strictly consistent with what he calls 
 Christian ideals. Possibly you understand. I don t. 
 Well, he tried butting into the philanthropic line and 
 made a complete failure of it ; and now, for the last 
 three months, he has been slowly he moves slowly 
 coming round to a sensible view of things, when, 
 behold, he wanders down a back alley and runs 
 into you. Now, if you don t want to break a num 
 ber of hearts and spoil a useful career, will you send 
 him about his business ? " 
 
 Diana s expression had altered a good deal in the 
 course of her cousin s narrative. "This is a strange 
 story," she said 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 183 
 
 "It is a strange story, but it s true. I know you 
 would naturally sympathize with Harvey s ideas. 
 But think what it means, Diana. His uncle is deter 
 mined to keep all his money in his business, and 
 will leave nothing away from it. Harvey has a small 
 income of his own, but he s no more fitted to be a 
 philanthropist than I am ! " 
 
 " Really ? " asked Diana, with a little curl of her 
 lip. She could be sarcastic, if she thought it neces 
 sary. 
 
 " Really. Mr. Phelps s health is broken, too. This 
 matter has affected him to such an extent as to give 
 his illness a very serious turn. If Harvey does n t 
 yield, it will make his uncle s last days miserable. 
 And the young lady is a noble, handsome girl." 
 
 "Does she want to marry the young man? " 
 
 Kent hesitated a moment. " She s ready to, I 
 think," he said. 
 
 Diana s eyes and ears were keen, and something 
 in her cousin s tone made her say, " Ready to marry 
 him. It seems to me the golden calf is looking for a 
 pretty general sacrifice in this affair." 
 
 Kent was annoyed for a second. Then he laughed. 
 " It is just as I expected," he said. " Like all good 
 people, you regard it as your first duty to upset the 
 arrangements of everybody else." 
 
 Diana looked at him with a certain grave reproach 
 
1 84 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 in her deep eyes. " You re rather hard on me, 
 George. I m afraid I m not so good but what you 
 can afford to associate with me a little longer. As 
 for this young Mr. Phelps, I really don t see why he 
 should call on me, and I don t think he will." 
 
 " Oh, yes, he will," Kent interrupted. " If there is 
 anything foolish he can do, he never omits it." 
 
 " Very well, if he should " 
 
 " If he should " 
 
 " I shall be rather curious to hear what he has to 
 say for himself." By which it will be seen that though 
 Diana was a saint by profession, she was also a 
 woman, and even not so remotely removed from the 
 blood of the Kents. 
 
 A few days later, on a dull, wet afternoon, Harvey 
 made his call and found Diana at home. She was 
 dressed in a simple, dark blue, wool gown, her brown 
 hair coiled low at the back of her head ; and the first 
 impression of insignificance was stronger than ever, 
 now that she was a little on her guard, a little cold. 
 She shook hands quietly with Harvey and they seated 
 themselves, before he offered any explanation of his 
 visit. The room was lighted from the chandelier ; 
 but it was a large, high, old-fashioned, darkly draped 
 room, full of dim corners. 
 
 " I wanted to explain, Miss Newton," Harvey be 
 gan. Then Kent s ludicrous harping on the word 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 185 
 
 came back and made it seem hopelessly unsuitable. 
 That is, you must have wondered what I was doing 
 at the O Briens s the other day." 
 
 " I did, rather." The words were cold, but the tone 
 was not unkind. 
 
 " Well you see I felt in short " 
 
 She would have been glad to help him, but she did 
 not see how she could. 
 
 Then he suddenly changed his method of attack. 
 "George Kent is your cousin, I believe?" 
 
 " Yes," she said. 
 
 " And he came to see you the other day and told 
 you about me?" 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " Of course he made fun of me." 
 
 Diana smiled. "Ah, no one minds that. It s 
 George s business." 
 
 " I don t mind his fun. But I don t want you to 
 think I m a fool." 
 
 " I don t. Nor does George." 
 
 Again there was a difficulty ; but Harvey broke the 
 silence at last. " I can t seem to say what I want 
 to about the O Briens, without speaking against my 
 uncle. That is do they think I was to blame for 
 anything that happened last summer?" 
 
 Diana was less pale than usual, as she replied : " I 
 don t know much about the facts. Mrs. O Brien 
 
1 86 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 seemed to be angry with you as well as with your 
 uncle. But she is unreasonable." 
 
 Harvey leaned forward, with intense earnestness 
 in his dark eyes, as he said, " I don t think I was to 
 blame, Miss Newton. I heard the girl s story and 
 inquired about her, and was sorry for her. The rest 
 was all unfortunate accidents. I hope you believe 
 me. Otherwise our acquaintance might as well end 
 here." 
 
 For a moment something in Diana s expression, a 
 little hardening about the mouth, seemed to say, " I 
 have n t sought the acquaintance. Let it end." Then, 
 as she watched Harvey s face, the hardness relaxed. 
 " I believe you," she answered. 
 
 Harvey settled back in his chair and murmured, 
 "Thank you. About the rest of it," he went on, "I 
 don t think my uncle meant to be cruel." 
 
 Diana s mouth grew hard again. " I don t think 
 it makes very much difference what he meant," she 
 said. 
 
 " No, I suppose not. But if you knew him. The 
 idea of his being cruel ! " 
 
 " I dare say he is n t what we call cruel." She was 
 wide awake now, and nobody could have thought 
 her insignificant. " He may be a courteous, chival 
 rous gentleman, in matters that don t affect his busi- 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 187 
 
 " He is," Harvey interrupted. 
 
 "I think it very likely. That only makes it 
 worse that we should live under a system which 
 turns courteous, chivalrous gentlemen into robbers 
 and murderers. I don t apologize, Mr. Phelps. You 
 need n t have come, you know." 
 
 " No, I need n t have come. But I m glad I came." 
 
 " I ve no fault to find with your uncle personally. 
 I dare say I should like him. I dare say it would pain 
 him to see people suffer, as much as it pains you or 
 me. But he does n t see it. He lives in the heart of 
 the machine, and the din of the wheels deafens him, 
 so that he never hears the groans of those who are 
 caught and ground to pieces." 
 
 Harvey listened and wondered. Ethel s pleasant 
 frivolities and Milly s cynicism seemed vague and far 
 away. " But can things be made any different ? " he 
 asked, not so much doubting as anxious to hear what 
 her ideas were. 
 
 Diana clasped her hands and looked straight at 
 him, in earnest, passionate appeal. " They can, if we 
 believe they can," she said. " Not you, nor I. We 
 can t make the world over alone. Nor even all the 
 little army of workers who are giving their lives to it. 
 But we can all do something, all use our own belief 
 to make others believe. It is discouraging, some 
 times, to see the mass of evil, willful evil in the world. 
 
1 88 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Yet when you see how it yields to a little effort 
 see what a little love will do and we can try, Mr. 
 Phelps, we can try never give up trying. If there 
 were no hope, instead of every hope, those of us 
 who love the kingdom of light would toil for it and 
 battle for it till we die." 
 
 Every nerve in her seemed to thrill as she spoke, 
 and every nerve in him. Then her voice sank away 
 in the quiet of the dim parlor, and nothing was heard 
 but the ticking of the clock and the sound of a horse s 
 hoofs in the street. 
 
 Harvey felt that he ought to go ; but he could n t 
 and would n t. " I suppose George told you some 
 thing of my circumstances ?" he said. 
 
 Diana nodded. She was reserved again, when the 
 personal element came up. 
 
 " It is a peculiar position, is n t it ? " he went on. 
 
 "Very peculiar." 
 
 But he was determined to force her to discuss it 
 with him. And in the end she did. The quiet, sim 
 ple, absolutely unaffected way in which he put his 
 case interested her. At first she remembered Kent s 
 warnings and tried to be cold, indifferent, judicial. 
 But here was a problem involving all the passions 
 and struggles of her life. How could she keep out of 
 it, or resist the charm of it ? When he described the 
 panic in copper, the death of Thomson, and his part- 
 
HARVEY EXPLAINS 189 
 
 ing with his uncle, " Oh, you were right," she cried ; 
 " a thousand times right ! But it took courage." 
 When he spoke to her of Marcus, of his summer, of 
 his sense of failure in it all, she was full of sympathy. 
 " We have to find our niche," she said. " Sometimes 
 we grope blindly, and stumble, and bruise and lame 
 ourselves ; but we slip into it at last." When he 
 went on and told her frankly that he was still grop 
 ing, more than ever, that sometimes it seemed as if, 
 he being what he was, his duty was to his uncle 
 first and foremost, and as if he might finally end up 
 in the business where he had begun, she burst out 
 impulsively, " Oh, no, no, no ! " 
 
 Then she interrupted herself, remembering Kent s 
 suggestion as to responsibility. There was silence 
 and more dull ticking of the clock. 
 
 " It is so easy to do one s duty, so hard to know 
 it," she resumed, with an effort at coldness. Yet 
 there was sympathy in her voice still. 
 
 " Yes," answered Harvey, feeling the coldness as 
 well as the sympathy, and not quite understanding. 
 " But I know my duty now is to go." 
 
 He had been there almost two hours, and she did 
 not dispute his proposition. 
 
 " May I come again ? " he asked, when she had 
 given him her slight, pale hand in a loose grasp. 
 
 " Certainly," she replied, relapsing at once into 
 
i 9 o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 the conventional young woman. "I shall be pleased 
 to see you, when you have leisure. But I warn you 
 that you were fortunate or unfortunate in choos 
 ing this afternoon. I am so apt to be out." 
 
 That was all ; and Harvey found himself once 
 more in the dull December air. But he had a vague 
 feeling that he should never go back into business 
 nor marry Ethel. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 TAINTED MONEY 
 
 THE impression made by the interview with Miss 
 Newton did not diminish as the days passed. Cer 
 tainly she was not the sort of woman one would fall 
 in love with. She was too saintly, unearthly, perhaps 
 too cold, for that. Yet high ideals seemed to come 
 from her with a more winning loveliness than even 
 from Marcus seemed to be less austere, unbending, 
 more sweetly human. Harvey soon began to ask 
 himself how long a time must elapse before he could 
 decently make that other call. 
 
 Meanwhile, a few words more had passed between 
 him and Ethel as to their experience in Hudson 
 Street. 
 
 " I was unreasonable, I suppose," Ethel had said. 
 " But it was terrible to me to hear such things about 
 papa. The woman was crazy, of course." 
 
 " Partly, I imagine," Harvey answered. 
 
 " I think I shall ask papa to tell me just what it 
 all means." 
 
 " I would n t." 
 
 Nevertheless, she did, as Harvey discovered when 
 
192 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 he called at his uncle s one morning and found him 
 in his study just preparing to go down town. 
 
 " I wanted to see you," Mr. Phelps said. " Ethel 
 told me the other day about your visit to that unfor 
 tunate O Brien woman. It seems a hard case ; though, 
 of course, the idea of my being to blame for it is too 
 absurd. Business is business, and must be done by 
 business methods. The woman is more or less insane, 
 probably. At any rate, I m glad to help her, so far 
 as I can. But it would hardly have been wise to send 
 money directly to her. Ethel knows that Miss New 
 ton, and I have made some inquiries. She seems an 
 energetic and well-disposed young person. So I sent 
 her a check for a hundred dollars for the O Briens. 
 At the same time I sent her a larger check for the 
 College Settlement, which I understand she is very 
 active in. That is a charity that has always inter 
 ested me." 
 
 During this longish harangue the speaker had 
 paused occasionally, as if expecting some comment. 
 None came. Now, however, it seemed necessary to 
 speak. 
 
 "That is very generous of you, sir," Harvey said. 
 Inwardly, looking at the matter by his newest lights, 
 he was not sure that it was generous, and he was 
 almost perfectly sure that it would make trouble. 
 But there was nothing else to say. 
 
TAINTED MONEY 193 
 
 " I like to do what I can to relieve misery," Mr. 
 Phelps continued. " I know there is plenty of it in 
 the world, and, though I believe nine tenths of it 
 comes from improvidence and shiftlessness, there is 
 still the other tenth. What pleases me about this 
 College Settlement idea, as I understand it, is that it 
 is educational. Most misery comes, in one way or 
 another, from ignorance." 
 
 Harvey did not feel prepared to discuss the Settle 
 ment question in the light of his uncle s generosity ; 
 and, for the first moment, the sound of the doorbell 
 was rather a relief to him. When Diana was an 
 nounced, however, his embarassment became ten 
 times what it had been before. 
 
 " I had better go," he suggested. 
 
 " No, no," answered his uncle. " She has come at 
 once to thank me. I like that in her." 
 
 But Diana s appearance did not suggest any over 
 powering exuberance of gratitude. She was dressed 
 in a simple, trim, brown walking-suit, with sable muff 
 and boa. The cold January morning had put a bit 
 of color in her cheeks ; but her eyes were hard and 
 her manner formal. 
 
 She bowed to Mr. Phelps and returned Harvey s 
 greeting, then sat down in the chair which her host 
 pointed out to her. When she spoke, her voice was 
 very low and quiet, at first with a slight tremor in it, 
 
i 9 4 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 but afterwards even and firm. " I Ve come to bring 
 back your check for the O Briens, Mr. Phelps." She 
 drew it from her mufl and held it out to him. 
 
 " Bring it back?" he said ; but he did not let his 
 voice express the astonishment which he certainly 
 felt. " And may I ask why ? Some error, perhaps? " 
 
 "No," she replied. "The check is correct, at 
 least, so far as I understand those things. But I am 
 not quite ready to accept the money for that purpose." 
 
 Harvey, sitting in the background and little re 
 garded by either actor in this drama, wondered how 
 his uncle would behave ; wondered, yet knew. 
 
 Mr. Phelps took the check and held it in his hand. 
 " Of course," he said quietly, " I am not anxious to 
 force my gifts upon any one. I am not often obliged 
 to. But are n t you a little hasty in this matter ? " 
 
 He half held out the check towards her once 
 more; but she shrank from it. " No," she answered. 
 "When I think of what the money means and of 
 that poor man, I could n t, I could n t." 
 
 Even Harvey almost expected to see his uncle 
 either impatient or embarrassed after this ; but if his 
 face expressed anything, it was a very, very faint 
 gleam of amusement, instantly controlled, however. 
 "Might I suggest," he continued, " that perhaps you 
 are consulting your own sensitiveness more than the 
 good of your clients ?" 
 
TAINTED MONEY 195 
 
 " No, no," she returned, and her eyes were warmer 
 now, though her voice was still quiet. " That money 
 couldn t do them good. They will be cared for 
 otherwise. Besides," she added, after a moment s 
 hesitation, " they would n t touch it. Nothing could 
 make them touch it. I talked with Mrs. O Brien 
 about it this morning. Indeed, perhaps I may say 
 that by paying you this early visit, which is very 
 unpleasant to me, I have saved you one from her 
 which would have been still more unpleasant to 
 you." 
 
 " Ah?" said Mr. Phelps, this time a little shortly, 
 Harvey thought. Then the banker tore the check into 
 small pieces, tossed them into the waste-basket, and 
 looked as if he rather expected his visitor would go. 
 
 But she did not. Instead, she drew from her muff 
 that other, larger check, which had been sent her 
 for the Settlement, and held that also toward her 
 long-suffering victim. 
 
 " I must return this other, too," she began, her 
 voice even quieter and firmer than before. 
 
 The color certainly came to Mr. Phelps s cheeks 
 now ; but he showed no other sign of irritation ; and 
 his manner was much what it would have been in 
 speaking to a child. Probably that was just what 
 he felt that he was doing. 
 
 " Excuse my arguing the matter a little with you," 
 
196 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 he said. " I suppose your excellent charity must be 
 supported in some way ? " 
 
 " Yes," she answered, with perfect readiness ; 
 " and doubtless it is supported by money acquired, 
 in many cases, by much worse in a very doubtful 
 fashion. If you send the check directly to the trea 
 surer, I have no question but that he will take it and 
 thank you. I cannot." 
 
 Mr. Phelps quietly tore the check and sent it 
 after the other. It was the only thing approaching 
 temper which came from him during the interview. 
 "You understand," he remarked, "that I am not 
 trying to defend myself. I am simply rather curious 
 as to your attitude. Now, I think I may say that, 
 taking all things together, my standard of honesty 
 is well, quite as high as that of the average of the 
 men with whom I live." 
 
 Diana interrupted him with eagerness. The abso 
 lute freedom not impertinence, because it was so 
 simple of her manner bewildered Harvey, who was 
 accustomed to seeing his uncle approached almost 
 with awe. " I don t doubt it. That is what appalls 
 me. If I had meant to speak rudely to you as an 
 individual, I shouldn t have come here. It is the 
 system that is all wrong a system of wild beasts, 
 tearing at each other and treading each other down. 
 There is no love in it no love in it." 
 
TAINTED MONEY 197 
 
 "Yet, after all," Mr. Phelps urged, and his curios 
 ity seemed almost becoming interest, " you who are 
 fighting the devil must condescend to use the devil s 
 weapons. This check that I drew you is money in 
 the abstract ; it will feed and clothe and warm just so 
 many poor .people. Is n t it better, from your point 
 of view, that it should go into the hands of those who 
 will do good with it than that it should go back into 
 my hoard and do more damage and help tread down 
 more wild beasts?" 
 
 He might have been poking a little fun, but Diana 
 hardly thought so, and she did n t care in the least if 
 he was. " No," she returned. " That is the common 
 argument, but I think it is all wrong. Give all your 
 money, that is, give yourself, give love, and we will 
 take every cent of it, and the use of every cent will 
 bring a double blessing with it. But we want nothing 
 from those who think that a few hundreds spent in 
 what they call charity will give them a social absolu 
 tion to rob in peace. That was just what Jesus meant 
 when he rebuked the young man who was very 
 rich, and who thought that the exact giving of tithes 
 bought him the right to live in luxury and pleasure. 
 No giving of tithes will buy that right, while others 
 toil and suffer. And those who accept the tithes abet 
 the sin. But I have no business to preach to you, 
 Mr. Phelps." She half rose from her chair. 
 
198 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 "One moment," he said, detaining her. "Of 
 course you are aware that you are trying to make 
 the world over, Miss Newton ? It is quite an under 
 taking." 
 
 She smiled ; and there was a wonderful winning 
 sweetness in her smile so Harvey thought. " You 
 would like to make me out very conceited. I hope 
 I m not. If you would try to make over the world, 
 you and the thousands of great, strong souls like 
 you, who are only busy holding it down in the mire, 
 where it is, something might be done. But it needs 
 making over, doesn t it? If that is so, you can t 
 blame even the little, weak, pitiful ones for trying 
 with God to help them. Good-morning, Mr. Phelps." 
 
 She held out her hand, with some hesitation, and 
 he took it. Then, bowing slightly to Harvey, she was 
 gone. 
 
 " A very strenuous young woman," Mr. Phelps 
 remarked. " I rather like her. But she s unpractical ; 
 and if you 11 forgive me for saying so, it seems to 
 me that she is rather a take-off on you. Now I must 
 try to get down to the office." 
 
 Harvey knew that it was his uncle s habit on fine 
 days to walk slowly, as far as his strength would 
 allow, for the sake of the air and exercise, and then to 
 take a cab. The young man, therefore, offered his 
 company, and the two set out side by side in the 
 
TAINTED MONEY 199 
 
 bright winter sunshine. They had not gone more 
 than half a block, however, when the wan, wild face 
 of Mrs. O Brien appeared, coming rapidly towards 
 them. 
 
 Harvey saw her, with much distress, and cried, al 
 most involuntarily : " There s that woman." 
 
 "What woman?" asked Mr. Phelps in astonish 
 ment. 
 
 "The O Brien woman." 
 
 For a second, Harvey, looking at his uncle, saw in 
 his face that ruinous expression which comes over 
 the features of the aged or the feeble under sudden 
 shock. It was for only a second, however. Then the 
 calm strength flowed back. 
 
 " I hope she won t make a scene," Harvey mur 
 mured. 
 
 But she did make a scene, and it was clear that 
 that was what she was there for. She walked straight 
 up to Mr. Phelps and stopped in front of him, so as 
 to stop him. " I told Miss Newton I would n t go to 
 your house," she cried, in a high, strident voice ; 
 " but I did n t say I would n t wait for you in the 
 street. Send money to me, conscience money, blood 
 money." 
 
 " Let me pass, woman," said Mr. Phelps. His voice 
 was calm, but his lips trembled. As he spoke, he 
 pushed by ; but the woman kept beside him and 
 
200 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 hissed her words into his face. " Yes, blood money, 
 blood money that s what it was, to keep me quiet. 
 Where s my husband now ? Where s my daughter 
 now ? It s their blood you thought you could buy 
 for a hundred dollars." 
 
 Here Harvey tried to interfere. " My uncle is a 
 sick man, Mrs. O Brien. You may kill him by such 
 talk as this." 
 
 "Kill him," she shrieked across at the young 
 man. " Why should n t I kill him ? How many has 
 he killed with his trusts and his mergers and his 
 stock-gambling? It isn t only me and mine. But 
 I 11 talk to you, if you like " 
 
 " The woman is insane, Harvey," said Mr. Phelps. 
 " Call a cab." 
 
 But she continued her railing, while the cab drove 
 up. " Insane, am I ? Well, if I am, who made me 
 so ? Oh, yes, you can call your horses and carriages 
 and drive away from anything you don t like here ; 
 but it won t be so in hell. And there s where you ll 
 go, for all your millions and your mergers and your 
 graft and boodle. There 11 be a judge one day that 
 you can t buy and a policeman that won t bow down 
 to your riches." 
 
 This last remark was for the benefit of a member 
 of the force who bustled up officiously just as Harvey 
 was putting his uncle into the cab. The officer scat- 
 
TAINTED MONEY 201 
 
 tered the curious crowd which had assembled. " Shall 
 I take the woman in charge, Mr. Phelps ? " 
 
 " No, no ; she will be quiet enough, when we re 
 gone." 
 
 So she was, when the cab had fairly driven off and 
 she had shaken her fist at it. 
 
 " Go home," ordered the policeman. " Mind your 
 own business and let others mind theirs." 
 
 " So I will. And you mind yours. But I J d like to 
 mind his for a while." 
 
 " So would I," agreed the officer, laughing. 
 
 "That was a disagreeable episode," said Mr. 
 Phelps. " It has been an unpleasant morning." He 
 made no further allusion to the subject. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 THE scene between Diana and his uncle had by no 
 means diminished Harvey s desire to call upon the 
 young lady. That she was strong in her convictions 
 was certain, and it was evident that she was afraid of 
 nothing and nobody. But her manner was so quiet 
 and so gentle, so perfectly free from conceit or arro 
 gance, and there was so much charm in her straight 
 forward earnestness, that her acquaintance seemed 
 well worth seeking, especially by one who was look 
 ing for light in just the directions in which she ap 
 peared to have discovered it. 
 
 His first attempt to find her, in the afternoon, 
 failed ; but when he tried again, two or three days 
 later, in the evening, he was more fortunate. This 
 time she was dressed rather less severely than before, 
 in a soft gray gown with much soft tulle about her 
 neck and throat ; and in her manner, as she greeted 
 him, there seemed something more of sweetness than 
 he had yet associated with her. Was it the gown, 
 or the hour, or a different mood from those he had 
 known her in hitherto? 
 
THE SETTLEMENT 203 
 
 " I am glad you came," she said, as they shook 
 hands, " and sorry I missed you the other afternoon. 
 I warned you that I was often out, you know." 
 
 " I am glad you are in now," was all his answer. 
 
 They seated themselves. "I hardly thought I 
 should see you again," she continued, "after what 
 shall I say? my my interview with your uncle." 
 
 " Why not ? " he began ; then, changing to his 
 usual frankness, " But I know why not. And perhaps 
 I ought not to have come. It does n t seem quite 
 seems a little treacherous somehow." 
 
 " Did your uncle know that you were coming ? " 
 
 " No. But I don t think he would care." 
 
 " In short, you don t think my visit made any great 
 impression on him?" She laughed. Possibly she 
 was a bit nettled, but she did not show it. 
 
 " Well, no, I don t think it did," Harvey replied. 
 " It is n t very easy to make an impression on my 
 uncle. Perhaps you heard that we met Mrs. O Brien, 
 after we left you?" 
 
 "Oh, yes," she cried, with a look of genuine dis 
 tress. "I am so sorry. Those things never do any 
 good. Mrs. O Brien is n t quite right poor woman. 
 She s had enough to make her so. I tried hard to 
 keep her out of it altogether, but I did n t succeed, 
 as you see." 
 
 The subject dropped. Harvey had much to say, 
 
204 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 but did not quite know how to say it. Diana, for the 
 moment, seemed to be thinking of something else. 
 She sat quiet in the big, dark chair, her head resting 
 against the back, the light falling a little from behind, 
 so that her face was partly shadowed and the depth 
 of meaning in her eyes was more divined than seen. 
 Her white hands, with the long, thin fingers, rested 
 one on the arm of the chair, the other in her lap, 
 motionless. 
 
 Harvey spoke at last. " I wanted to say more 
 about my uncle, you know. He s been very good to 
 me. I don t want you to think ill of him." 
 
 She started, just a trifle, as if her thoughts had 
 been called back. " I think ill of your uncle ? No, 
 indeed, I liked him. That was why I went to see 
 him instead of writing. I was afraid I might write 
 the wrong thing as I should have done. That 
 and then it seemed more plucky to let him speak 
 if he had anything to say. Was n t it more plucky ? 
 Or was it impertinent?" 
 
 " No," said Harvey, delighted. " Plucky." 
 
 " I m glad you think so. But I liked your uncle 
 very much. He is so strong and so quiet. There 
 is so much bustling strength in the world. I bustle 
 so myself without the strength. Think what he 
 could have done, if all that power could have gone 
 for good instead of harm ! " Her head left the chair- 
 
THE SETTLEMENT 205 
 
 back and the white fingers gripped the arm slightly, 
 as she was uplifted with the idea of Mr. Phelps play 
 ing the part of St. George and slaughtering fiery 
 dragons ad libitum. 
 
 " Not all harm," Harvey remonstrated. " It is hard 
 for me to associate the idea of harm with any one 
 who has been so good to me and to all those about 
 him." 
 
 " I know," she answered thoughtfully. " I can im 
 agine getting very fond of your uncle. And yet he 
 can be firm, and I think he can be hard. Those 
 lips"- 
 
 " He has never been hard to me," was the simple 
 comment. 
 
 " And you have been forced to be ungrateful ? And 
 you regret it?" 
 
 Harvey nodded. Then she led him on to talk of 
 his circumstances, of his wishes, of his doubts. If 
 only he could find the right thing to do in the world. 
 And he dwelt again upon his last summer s difficul 
 ties, his sense of failure. 
 
 " No one can succeed always," she said. " There 
 are things one can do and things one can t." In her 
 turn she went on to tell of her own experiences, of 
 efforts wasted and again of triumphs. Her previous 
 winter at the Settlement had been so hard, so 
 many different interests to meet and reconcile. It 
 
2o6 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 had broken her down utterly. When she went into 
 the country, for the summer, she had made up her 
 mind that with her insufficient strength, her fretting 
 temper, as she called it, any usefulness in the world 
 was impossible, and she must settle back to selfish 
 leisure and inactivity. Now here she was again, not 
 trying to do so much, -a little wiser, perhaps, in 
 husbanding her resources, but able to do something, 
 and so intensely interested, so eager to help, if only 
 a little, in the thousand good works that were going 
 on about her. 
 
 The Settlement? Oh, yes, she could talk about 
 that forever. He must n t let her bore him. And she 
 gave him a glowing account in which he found no 
 boredom of the efforts of the little band of workers 
 to get into contact with the life of the other half of the 
 world, to disseminate, by unconscious influence, 
 such real gifts of beauty and love and joy as are 
 more readily within the grasp of the rich and the 
 highly educated, although the rich and the highly 
 educated have not always the wisdom to profit by 
 them. As she spoke of all these things, her eyes 
 gleamed, even in the shadow, and her breath came 
 quickly ; but her voice was low and quiet, and Har 
 vey could have listened to her forever. 
 
 He did listen, until he suddenly became aware 
 that he was staying beyond all reasonable limits, 
 
THE SETTLEMENT 207 
 
 and even then he was reluctant to have her stop. 
 As he rose to go, he said : " Will you take me to 
 the Settlement some time ? Could you ? " 
 
 There was again a trifle of ordinary social for 
 mality in her manner, as she hesitated. "I don t 
 know." Then the natural warmth broke through. 
 " Yes, why not ? Some evening when we are both 
 at liberty I think next Friday, perhaps I will tell 
 you about it later will let you know. Could you 
 go then?" 
 
 Certainly he could go, then, or at almost any 
 time. 
 
 So it was arranged that he should hear from her 
 Friday morning more definitely, and they separated, 
 with a cordial good-night. 
 
 As Harvey walked home he perfectly appreciated 
 how Kent would laugh at this new instance of his 
 friend s eternal philandering. But this girl was dif 
 ferent altogether different. In fact, it was hard to 
 view her as a girl at all. She was pure spirit, and 
 the things her earnest eyes and lips spoke of were 
 spiritual wholly. As for himself, he was likely enough 
 to fall in love with her, such being his way. But the 
 love would be hopeless and ideal, from the begin 
 ning. She would never respond to it, never recog 
 nize it, unless with impatience or disgust. And her 
 spiritual power over him showed most perhaps in 
 
208 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 the fact that his thoughts soon strayed from herself 
 to her higher interests, to the cause she had argued 
 so passionately and so powerfully, and to the bear 
 ing of that cause on the present crisis of his own 
 life. It is to be feared that Ethel good, wholesome, 
 practical, comfortable Ethel was fading dimly into 
 a quite unillumined distance. 
 
 These impressions were by no means diminished 
 by the sight of Diana in her Settlement surroundings. 
 For Friday morning brought a note saying that every 
 thing had been arranged, and in the evening the two 
 visited together the little colony which was spread 
 ing a quiet influence of health and light through 
 the darkest, roughest, most discouraging quarters 
 of the city. What impressed Harvey most of all was 
 the common-sense of everything. There was no 
 faddism, no sentimentality, no overwrought enthu 
 siasm. Everything was pitched on the note of every 
 day effort, of simple, earnest endeavor to accept life 
 as it is and bring out what is best in it, noblest, 
 most permanent. Especially striking was the absence 
 of any patronizing tone, of any suggestion of char 
 ity in the condescending sense. These ladies of the 
 highest breeding and cultivation were simply trying 
 to live among the people, as of the people, to under 
 stand them first and help them afterwards, even with 
 a consciousness that they themselves were in need of 
 
THE SETTLEMENT 209 
 
 help as much as those about them and might some 
 times get it where they looked for it least. 
 
 Harvey was introduced to several people who 
 seemed to know of him and greeted him cordially. 
 He went into rooms where classes were studying, 
 one the simpler and better known English and Ameri 
 can authors, another current events of political and 
 social interest. Elsewhere he got a glimpse of a 
 mothers club, worn women who had washed the 
 supper dishes and put the babies to bed and now 
 were assembled for a social chat or a practical dis 
 cussion of some domestic topic. When he looked 
 into the room later, they were playing a game of 
 forfeits and went at it as eagerly as children, with 
 the same intense self-forgetfulness. "They love to 
 play all the old games," said Diana, "Going to 
 Jerusalem, Blind Man s Buff ; they will romp as if 
 they were fifteen instead of fifty." 
 
 So the evening slipped away, Harvey saying little 
 and thinking much. It was the atmosphere of the 
 whole thing that touched him, as of a world he had 
 not as yet known. Something real was being done 
 here, something worth while. There was solid accom 
 plishment, in the face of all distinctions of high and 
 low, rich and poor. It was not much as yet, but it 
 was enough to suggest vast possibilities of things to 
 come. Above all, and this was what he thought of 
 
210 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 most, the evening had given him a better appre 
 ciation of Diana, of her obvious intensity and enthu 
 siasm in union with calm self-control and common- 
 sense. 
 
 " Thank you," he said simply, as he bade her 
 good-night. " I understand the Settlement now bet 
 ter than I did. And I understand you better." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE BAITING OF DIANA 
 
 THE severe cold of midwinter was trying for Mr. 
 Phelps, and there were many days when he made no 
 attempt to get to the office at all. Indeed, his sister 
 and Ethel, watching him constantly, felt that, in spite 
 of his splendid courage, his strength was slipping 
 away fast, and that the final collapse might come at 
 any time. 
 
 To Harvey his uncle had never made any further 
 reference to Diana s visit ; but he had mentioned it 
 occasionally to his sister and daughter, first describ 
 ing what had happened, in his brief, vivid fashion 
 immensely to Miss Lucia s disgust and then once 
 and again dwelling upon the spirit and earnestness 
 of the young enthusiast. 
 
 Finally, one evening, as the three sat together in 
 the library, Mr. Phelps remarked : " Lucia, I think I 
 should like to have that Miss Newton come and dine 
 with us." 
 
 " What?" said Miss Phelps, overcome with aston 
 ishment, while Ethel lost her place in her new novel, 
 a thing which occurred rather frequently, by the way. 
 
212 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " She interested me," went on the autocrat of the 
 family, unperturbed. " I think I should like to see 
 her." 
 
 " I don t think I should like to see her at all," 
 answered the quiet Lucia, with unusual flatness. 
 " Besides," here she glanced at Ethel, who sud 
 denly found her place, or another one just as good, 
 " the truth is, Mr. Kent was saying the other day 
 that Harvey goes to see this a young woman. 
 Probably we should want to ask Harvey to any din 
 ner that we had and I don t see why we should 
 lead him to think that we approve of her at all." 
 
 Mr. Phelps was still unperturbed, and not at all 
 disposed to give up his wishes out of any fantastic 
 consideration for his nephew. " I don t know that we 
 are obliged to ask Harvey ; though, as a matter of 
 fact, I think you might as well. He is old enough to 
 choose his own friends, if not wise enough." 
 
 " But," urged the still reluctant Miss Phelps, with 
 all the persistence of her brother s own sister, " it 
 seems a little awkward. What shall I say to her? " 
 
 " State the facts. It is a method which she, of all 
 people, ought to appreciate. I was interested and 
 should like to see more of her. I am an old man 
 and cannot go to her. Will she do me the favor of 
 coming to me?" 
 
 Here Ethel lost her place again and took part in 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 213 
 
 the conversation. " Papa, if she comes, would you 
 mind asking Milly and Mr. Kent ? It would be so 
 dreadfully solemn without." 
 
 " I Ve no objection. Miss Erskine is always wel 
 come as your friend," there was a quiet tenderness 
 in his tone which touched Ethel deeply, " though 
 I must say she s a little airy for me. As for Kent, I 
 like him." 
 
 The note to Diana got itself written, though sorely 
 against the grain. It would have been written to no 
 purpose, however, if it had not been for the interces 
 sion of both Kent and Harvey. 
 
 " What should I do there ? What should I say ? " 
 urged the young lady to her cousin. 
 
 " You will do what is graceful and proper, as 
 always," Kent replied. " And it is unnecessary for 
 me or any man living to provide you with anything 
 to say." 
 
 " That s just it. I m sure to say something I 
 ought not." 
 
 " If I can judge in the matter at all, that is exactly 
 what is expected of you. From all I hear, your one 
 interview with Mr. Phelps consisted of a huge mass 
 of things you ought not to have said. Yet he seems 
 to desire another." 
 
 Diana was by no means satisfied. " Then I m to go 
 and make a spectacle of myself and be laughed at." 
 
2i 4 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " You certainly won t be laughed at, because you 
 are going among ladies and gentlemen, a sort of so 
 ciety you haven t frequented latterly. I think you 
 rather owe it to the bloated capitalist to go, after the 
 way you ve treated him." 
 
 Harvey s method of argument was more sympa 
 thetic and more effective. 
 
 " I m not used to that sort of thing nowadays," 
 Diana said to him. " I shall hardly know how to 
 behave." 
 
 " It would give me great pleasure if you would go," 
 was the quiet answer. 
 
 Then Diana wrote a cordial acceptance and the 
 thing was settled. 
 
 It was a charming dinner. Miss Lucia and Ethel, 
 by long practice with unlimited means, had learned 
 to do the thing to perfection. The light in the room 
 was so soft, the table was so delicately furnished, the 
 flowers were so exquisitely chosen, not too few, not 
 too many. The wines were as exquisitely chosen as 
 the flowers, soft, not too many, nor too few. The 
 whole thing was simple, with the simplicity which 
 can only be had by taste and money combined. Yet 
 Harvey, as he enjoyed it with all his big capacity of 
 material enjoyment, thought constantly of that other 
 evening at the Settlement. Something there that 
 could not be furnished by either taste or money. 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 215 
 
 Mr. Phelps took Diana out. She was very attrac 
 tive to look at in her light, lemon-colored crepe gown, 
 cut simply, and filled in with lace at the neck, a 
 charming thing in itself, but not especially calcu 
 lated to harmonize with Milly s pink chiffon. 
 
 (i I hope it is peace between us," said the gentle 
 man, smiling. 
 
 " I hope so," Diana answered, with a laugh and 
 with a little blush also. "I did not mean to be 
 warlike the other day. But I fear I am bellicose by 
 nature. Even now I feel that I am likely to outrage 
 hospitality at any moment." 
 
 Mr. Phelps smiled again. Pale and ill as he looked, 
 there was a certain nobility and dignity about his 
 slight figure in the severe evening dress. Diana was 
 touched by it and even more disposed than before to 
 like him personally. 
 
 From the beginning the dinner showed no signs 
 of being dull. Kent and Milly kept the talk moving, 
 and Mr. Phelps and Diana were always ready to 
 respond, if they did not initiate. 
 
 " And to think," Kent remarked, sipping his brown 
 amontillado, while the spring lamb and asparagus 
 were being removed, " to think that Diana totally 
 disapproves of all this, and would rather be sharing 
 her last crust with a tramp in an old barn ! " 
 
 Diana colored a little. " I don t know why you 
 
216 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 should bait me, George," she said. " Though I re 
 member of old, you abused a cousin s privilege of 
 tormenting. I wish there were no tramps and no 
 crusts, just as much as you do. I wish all the tramps 
 might be here." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " protested the affectionate 
 cousin. 
 
 But Mr. Phelps, who had hitherto courteously re 
 frained from drawing Diana out, now thought it 
 might be permissible to seize the opportunity. " I m 
 sure you will believe, Miss Newton, that nobody, 
 unless your cousin, wishes to bait you or outrage 
 hospitality. But now that the tramps have been 
 introduced, would you mind pursuing them a little 
 further?" 
 
 "To the end of the world," Kent murmured. 
 
 But Diana answered amiably, " Not in the least." 
 
 " Well, then," Mr. Phelps went on, " since we can t 
 have all the tramps here which I am willing to 
 regret in the abstract as you do don t you 
 think it is better for us to be here than no one ? Or, 
 to put it somewhat less selfishly, is n t it better for 
 the country, for the tramps themselves, that there 
 should be a leisure class into which everyone may 
 make his way who has the ability, and what is much 
 more, the self-denial " 
 
 " And the luck," Kent interrupted. 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 217 
 
 " And the luck, a little, perhaps, a class which 
 stands for what is beautiful and refined and graceful 
 and delicate ? You would n t wish those things put 
 out of the world altogether because everybody can t 
 have them ? " 
 
 Diana reflected a moment before she answered, 
 with extreme gentleness, " I am not sure that I 
 would n t put them out of the world under those con 
 ditions. The large beauty of great art should belong 
 to every one. The large beauty of nature does. What 
 are called delicacy and refinement are so apt to go 
 with falsehood and selfishness. But it would be quite 
 false in me to pretend that I am not enjoying your 
 hospitality, Mr. Phelps. Beauty and grace appeal to 
 me, I admit." 
 
 " Exactly," answered the host, pressing her, but 
 not in the least with unkindness. " But is n t it neces 
 sary to have leisure in order to appreciate these 
 things in any form ? You say the beauty of nature 
 belongs to every one. But does our tramp, who lives 
 in the midst of it, care for his possession ? Is n t it 
 only the leisure class who really enjoy even what is 
 the common property of all ? " 
 
 " It may be so," replied Diana, still with the same 
 unassertive gentleness ; " but I think it ought not. 
 And if there is to be a leisure class, at least, it 
 seems to me that they ought to buy their leisure 
 
2i 8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 by a large amount of service to the community as 
 a whole. I wonder if I might ask you one thing, 
 Mr. Phelps?" 
 
 " Many things." His manner was as gentle as hers. 
 The rest of the company listened curiously. 
 
 " Well, then, can you tell me why it is that in Eng 
 land the leisure class at any rate, so many of them 
 seem to feel it their duty to give the best of their 
 lives to their country ? Of course, I am not saying 
 that things as a whole in England are better than 
 they are here ; but if all the splendid intellect in the 
 country, which goes into the pure, gross making of 
 money, were expended on public affairs, if the Rocke 
 fellers, the Carnegies, the Morgans, the Phelpses, 
 would go into politics and public life, with a genuine 
 patriotic purpose, what a difference it would make." 
 
 " My dear young lady," Mr. Phelps answered. " In 
 England it is a hereditary aristocracy that does those 
 things, and the tramps are far more excluded than 
 they are here." 
 
 At this point Kent spoke up rather unexpectedly. 
 " Might I say a few words on the question before the 
 meeting ? " 
 
 Mr. Phelps nodded, and Diana looked a little an 
 noyed. 
 
 "Of course I m nothing but a comic journalist, and 
 I J m not supposed to pay any attention to public mat- 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 219 
 
 ters, except as a huge joke. Still I do, occasionally, 
 absurd as it may seem. And I ve often thought of 
 what Diana says, because I ve had a notion that I d 
 like to go into politics myself. You laugh ; but I m 
 not a literary chap by nature. I stumbled into it ; but 
 that sort of success does n t appeal to me, and I d 
 give it up to-morrow, if I saw any chance. Only in 
 politics there s no chance for a man to be a man at 
 all. In England you get into Parliament, and what 
 you do and say counts. If there s the stuff of a prime 
 minister in you, you get to be prime minister. Here 
 the whole machinery is devised to put men into the 
 background and let things be run by the petty tricks 
 of shyster lawyers. If a hard-hitting, clean-meaning 
 man gets to the top as one has he s got to do 
 it by strangling a million politicians with their own 
 dirty wires. Give the Rockefellers and the Morgans 
 and me a chance to govern, and we had a thou 
 sand times rather do it than run corporations. But 
 no big man cares to spend half his time squashing 
 spiders in the dark, for nothing. " 
 
 This outburst shifted the conversation into other 
 channels, and Diana s part in it once more became 
 secondary. 
 
 After dinner the ladies went upstairs to the draw 
 ing-room. Spring fashions came up first for discus 
 sion naturally ; and Diana showed a true woman s 
 
220 BETWEEN TWO iMASTERS 
 
 interest in the subject and familiarity with it, not giv 
 ing herself the least air of superiority to such vanities. 
 Nevertheless, after a few moments, Milly pretended 
 to feel the need of apologizing. 
 
 " I m afraid these things don t interest you," she 
 said. 
 
 Diana colored and asked: "Why not? I am a 
 woman." 
 
 "Of course. But I thought you might feel 
 that it was all a little worldly." 
 
 " Even the unworldly must wear clothes, I suppose. 
 It seems to me more affected to be out of the fashion 
 than in it. Besides, to tell the truth, I should n t care 
 to talk shop, if I had a shop, all the time." 
 
 Milly was unusually perverse, and it pleased her to 
 misinterpret this little snub. " I m glad to hear you 
 say that. Do you know, I should think you would 
 get awfully sick of that kind of work ? I should, before 
 I began. I agree so heartily with what you said at 
 dinner, that the world would be better if there were 
 no poor people in it. And I do my best to make that 
 kind of a world by thinking about them as little as I 
 can. I love pretty things, I love luxury, and idleness, 
 and ease. I love just pure, naughty worldliness. If 
 I could share it with others, I would ; but I would n t 
 give it up for them." 
 
 " Oh," burst out Diana, with the light in her eyes 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 221 
 
 which made her beautiful, " how can you say such 
 things ? If you could actually go among those who 
 have neither beauty nor luxury and feel their lives ! 
 I suppose you have always had everything and never 
 known want or even discomfort ; but one can t tell 
 what accident may happen " 
 
 Here Diana suddenly remembered that she was 
 talking to Miss Erskine, and that she had heard some 
 thing of Miss Erskine s history ; and she found diffi 
 culty in finishing her sentence. 
 
 Ethel saw the difficulty and would have helped ; 
 but Ethel s wits moved slowly off the golf-field ; and 
 Milly, not in the least disconcerted, spoke for her 
 self. 
 
 " Accidents do happen. Accidents have happened 
 to me. If I were really rolling in wealth, I should 
 find it a duty, possibly even an amusement, to run 
 after those who are not. But, you see, I spend five 
 hours of the day and some of the night for a 
 pitiable remuneration, looking after the intellectual 
 needs of those who have no needs and no intellect. 
 It sours me. I am abominably poor myself, and that 
 is why I flee from the society of my equals." 
 
 It was perhaps fortunate that Mr. Phelps appeared 
 at this point, having left Kent and Harvey to finish 
 their cigars by themselves. He invited Diana to 
 come and sit on the sofa beside him, while Milly, 
 
222 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Ethel, and Miss Lucia carried on a conversation of 
 their own. 
 
 The talk on the sofa turned at first on Diana s per 
 sonal history. Mr. Phelps inquired, with genuine 
 interest, about her early life, her education, her ex 
 periences at college, and the influences that had led 
 her into her present pursuits. She answered him 
 simply, modestly, dwelling much more on her friends 
 and teachers than on herself. She hardly had any 
 pursuits, she said ; was hardly more than a watcher 
 compared to the real workers ; but when one saw 
 all the greed and selfishness, and, worst of all, the 
 indifference, in the world, it was impossible to fold 
 one s hands and do nothing. 
 
 " And how does your father feel about it all ? " 
 
 " My father is very kind and indulgent always," 
 Diana answered. Then she added, with a sudden 
 burst of frankness : " I m afraid he feels about me 
 very much as you do." 
 
 Mr. Phelps laughed quietly. " The older genera 
 tion, my dear. It is hard for us to keep up. Tell me," 
 he went on, "is it your notion that all rich people 
 are wicked ? " 
 
 Diana s tone was sober, but perhaps there was a 
 slight gleam in her eyes, as she said, after a moment s 
 reflection : " None of my notions are very clear ; but 
 I think so. That is, it is wicked to be rich." 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 223 
 
 " But, after all, riches is a relative term." 
 
 " No, not in my use of it Leisure, self-education, 
 beauty, even a certain kind of luxury, are not riches. 
 Riches are the mere accumulation of money for itself 
 and the arrogance of it." 
 
 " I see." Mr. Phelps was taking real pleasure in 
 the touch of this young, eager spirit, and his manner 
 showed it. " Now," he continued, " supposing you 
 had as much property as I have, what would you do 
 with it?" 
 
 " I won t suppose it," was the quick answer. " It 
 would be dreadful." 
 
 " You would get rid of it, then, as soon as possible ? 
 Or perhaps you think from my experience the 
 other day that nobody could be found to take 
 it?" 
 
 " I have no doubt I could get rid of it. But I am 
 not going to indulge in impossible suppositions, Mr. 
 Phelps. It makes one dizzy to think of the good 
 one could do with so much money ; but what a re 
 sponsibility ! " 
 
 They were silent for a moment, Mr. Phelps won 
 dering how best he could get her to talk freely, and 
 Diana not quite comfortable, in spite of her strong 
 sense of his kindliness. 
 
 At length he said : " And you mean to go on de 
 voting your whole life in this way to charity?" 
 
224 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Don t call it charity, please. I have come to 
 hate that word." She sat up erect in her corner, 
 turning towards him, yet speaking softly, so as not 
 to attract the attention of the others. " Saint Paul 
 said good things of charity, but the world seems 
 different nowadays. Charity is puffed up, and 
 boasteth itself, goes about with a tinkling cymbal, 
 a whole brass band, in fact. What we want is love, 
 just love, to give ourselves. It is easier to give mil 
 lions of money than to do that. To get right into the 
 lives of others, to touch their hearts, and let them 
 touch ours. Not to condescend, not to stretch out 
 the tips of our fingers with a coin in them. Love will 
 solve all the problems, Mr. Phelps ; but there is so 
 little of it in the world, so little." 
 
 She leaned back again, half sorry for what she 
 had said ; for she knew by many experiences that 
 his remark about an older generation was true, and 
 that in spite of his paternal interest in her, her en 
 thusiasm would fall off from him like the spray of a 
 fountain from cold marble. 
 
 But before he made any response whatsoever, her 
 carriage was announced and she rose to go. 
 
 " I hope you won t think I m an impertinent 
 young minx," she said, as she shook hands with Mr. 
 Phelps. 
 
 "On the contrary, all your remarks are exceed- 
 
THE BAITING OF DIANA 225 
 
 ingly pertinent. Only I fear you are very, very 
 young. I wish I were." 
 
 " I wish you were." There was something in her 
 voice approaching tenderness. 
 
 Then she exchanged a more or less cordial good 
 night with the others, including Kent, who had just 
 come upstairs with Harvey ; while the latter went 
 down again, to put her into her carriage. 
 
 There was a short silence, after she had gone, 
 broken by Milly s addressing herself to Kent : " Do 
 you think, now I am growing old, it would pay me 
 to go into the prophetic and benevolent line ? I have 
 queer impulses that way sometimes." 
 
 " Wait till you begin to grow old and then see." 
 
 "You are n t troubled about reforming the world?" 
 she went on. 
 
 " Not one little bit. I ve damaged my solar plexus, 
 making my way in it, as it is. I don t want to begin 
 all over again." 
 
 " Besides," Milly added, with apparent inconse 
 quence, " it did seem unnecessary for her to put my 
 best frock out of countenance." 
 
 Then Mr. Phelps disposed of the subject in his 
 quiet, decisive fashion : " I think we might all learn 
 something to our advantage from Miss Newton;" 
 and the conversation traveled into other lands. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 MR. PHELPS S WILL 
 
 MR. PHELPS S strength failed more and more, as 
 the days ran on ; and by the middle of February he 
 was confined to his bed with an extreme weakness, 
 which made it seem as if the end must be very near. 
 Yet his courage was as great as ever, and he made 
 no complaint, rarely even any reference to his own 
 discomfort. Ethel was with him constantly, reading 
 or talking to him, or sitting quiet, with her embroid 
 ery or a book, while he dozed away the time. 
 
 He had never said much to her about financial 
 arrangements, simply giving her to understand that 
 she would be amply provided for. She felt no anx 
 iety about herself ; but she was very much troubled 
 about Harvey. Was it possible that her father would 
 leave him nothing at all ? 
 
 Finally, when some slight excuse presented itself, 
 she asked the question. 
 
 " No," was the quiet answer. " How can you leave 
 anything to a person who won t take it ? " 
 
 " But he would take something, I m sure." 
 
MR. PHELPS S WILL 227 
 
 " And how am I to decide just what amount of my 
 tainted fortune would suit the delicate digestion of 
 his conscience ? He has enough to live upon of his 
 own, or thinks he has. Besides, I want every cent of 
 my money to stay in the business. The business is 
 my child. The business and you. I wish Harvey 
 would take them both." 
 
 Ethel smiled and blushed a little. "Unfortu 
 nately he wants neither. But, papa, I can t bear to 
 feel that I am interfering with him." 
 
 " You re not. Nobody has interfered with him but 
 himself." 
 
 There was a long pause, during which Ethel plied 
 her needle. Then she spoke once more. u At least, 
 papa, I trust you 11 arrange matters so that if Harvey 
 should change his mind there will be a chance for 
 him to go into the business." 
 
 " If he marries you." 
 
 " Really, papa," she answered, almost with irrita 
 tion, " there is a good deal of the sheep about me, 
 but I don t think I could ever be driven to marry 
 Harvey, after all that s come and gone. Leave me 
 out of the question. I can t help hoping that he ll 
 marry Milly, and then he would need money a 
 great deal." 
 
 Mr. Phelps was thoughtful. " I don t like Milly. 
 Still, anything would be better than his marrying 
 
228 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 such a person as Miss Newton. Marry Milly? And 
 go into the business?" 
 
 " Yes, papa. It would be so satisfactory. Do at 
 least leave him the chance. And do talk with Har 
 vey once more. Promise me you will." 
 
 " I 11 consider it." 
 
 " Only don t say anything about Milly, of course. 
 Harvey is " 
 
 " As obstinate as a Phelps should be. I know it," 
 was the weary answer. 
 
 The interview with Harvey took place the same 
 afternoon ; but it was brief. 
 
 " Why do you tire yourself with thinking of these 
 things now, uncle Amos ? " the young man remon 
 strated. 
 
 " Because now is just the time when it is necessary 
 to think of them. Not but that I have long ago done 
 all my thinking and made my arrangements. But 
 I will make them over again, my boy, in a moment, 
 if you say so. Harvey, say that, after all, you will 
 take up the business for my sake." 
 
 There was a wistfulness in the utterance of the 
 dying man, which he would hardly have shown even 
 a month before. Harvey heard it, felt it, and tears 
 came into his eyes ; his voice trembled, as he an 
 swered : " I can t, uncle, I can t. I should only be 
 deceiving you. If I promised and tried to keep my 
 
MR. PHELPS S WILL 229 
 
 promise in the letter, I should break it in the 
 spirit." 
 
 Mr. Phelps urged the point no further, and showed 
 no more signs of emotion, certainly none of anger, 
 as he added : " One thing more I did want to speak 
 of. That Miss Newton I hope you won t take a 
 fancy to her." 
 
 " A fancy to her ? " Harvey repeated, a little sur 
 prised and a little annoyed. 
 
 4 " Enthusiasm makes a useful neighbor at a safe 
 distance," his uncle went on. " But a very, very bad 
 housemate." 
 
 This was all that was said between them on the 
 subject that was nearest to both their hearts. A 
 week later Mr. Phelps was dead. 
 
 The disposition of his property was substantially 
 what those nearest to him had expected. Mr. Legge 
 was left sole executor and trustee. Several hundred 
 thousand dollars were distributed among different 
 charities in which Mr. Phelps was interested. The 
 bulk of the property was to remain in the various 
 business enterprises represented by Phelps & Legge, 
 and the firm was to continue under that name. Miss 
 Phelps and Ethel were to have practically what in 
 come they might think proper to draw, subject, be 
 yond a certain amount, to the discretion of the 
 executor. If Ethel should marry, her husband was to 
 
2 3 o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 be admitted into the firm, if the executor should think 
 best, and her son, if she had one, was to be heir to 
 the whole property, the testator expressing a strong 
 wish that the said son might be brought up to think 
 of the business as his sole and proper vocation in 
 life. If Ethel should have only daughters, their posi 
 tion, in relation to the property, was to be the same as 
 their mother s. If, for any unforeseen reason, the firm 
 of Phelps & Legge should be dissolved, the sum of 
 one million dollars was to go straight to Miss Phelps 
 and Ethel and the remainder of the property was 
 to be distributed, in proportion, to the above-men 
 tioned charities. If Ethel should die without issue, 
 the property was to go to Harvey and his children, 
 under the same conditions as to her. 
 
 No other reference was made to Harvey in the will, 
 as it originally stood. Three days before his death, 
 however, Mr. Phelps had added a codicil, directing 
 that, in case his nephew should, at any time, show a 
 desire to become a member of the firm, the executor 
 should, if possible and when possible, make an effort 
 to bring about such an arrangement. " Also," it was 
 added, " I give and bequeath unto my said beloved 
 nephew, Harvey C. Phelps, the entire right and title 
 to the house and estate at Woodsley, where the said 
 nephew s father and myself were born. This estate, 
 which came from his grandfather, and partly, by pur- 
 
MR. PHELPS S WILL 231 
 
 chase, from his father, my said nephew may, perhaps, 
 be willing to accept." 
 
 A fortnight or so after his uncle s death, Harvey 
 was summoned to a formal interview with Mr. Legge 
 and the above codicil was communicated to him. 
 
 "You will be put in possession of the estate at 
 once," said the executor. " As to the other provision, 
 I need hardly observe that it is my desire to do every 
 thing which can possibly be done, to carry out the 
 wishes of my late partner and friend." 
 
 There was actually a gleam in the man s eye and 
 a tremble in his voice as he uttered the last word ; 
 and Harvey felt more kindly towards him than he 
 had ever done before. Nevertheless, he merely ex 
 pressed his thanks in a few formal phrases. He was 
 hardly prepared to discuss his future with William 
 Legge. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS 
 
 ONE evening, a few weeks after Mr. Phelps s death, 
 Ethel was sitting in her dressing-room, listening to 
 Milly s varied talk. The two were now as constantly 
 together as Milly s duties would permit, and the real 
 tenderness which made the basis of her nature, under 
 all its assumed frivolity, had never been more appar 
 ent than in the tact with which she treated her friend 
 during this period of grief and desolation. For Ethel 
 was terribly desolate, though she made no talk about 
 it, and no show of it, except in the hollowness of her 
 eyes and the paleness of her cheeks. Her father had 
 been very near to her. They had never exchanged 
 words of affection, never complained when they were 
 separated, nor expressed joy when they met again. 
 But they had understood each other. Now Ethel felt 
 herself alone ; and for the time it seemed to her almost 
 impossible to rouse herself again to the common 
 affairs and activities of daily life. To Milly s keen, 
 sympathetic eye there was a heart-breaking pathos 
 in the quiet, dejected attitude of the black figure, a 
 pathos immensely heightened by the warm luxury of 
 
IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS 233 
 
 the surroundings, the dainty room, with its green and 
 white furnishing and draperies, the score of perfect 
 little toilet articles, gold and silver and glass and 
 ivory. With the gentlest art she tried to draw her 
 friend s attention to the future, to more normal in 
 terests, to other possibilities of effort and affection. 
 
 " I know," said Ethel, in answer to some of these 
 attempts. " There is plenty to live for. Aunt Lucia 
 needs me. And then I know well enough that plea 
 sant things will be pleasant again " 
 
 " And Harvey " Milly suggested. 
 
 "Harvey?" repeated Ethel, in a tone so colorless 
 that Milly could divine nothing from it. 
 
 "Yes, Harvey. Do you know, dear, I can t help 
 still hoping that the day may come when your name 
 will be Phelps, as it ought to be ? " 
 
 " No," said Ethel, with decision. 
 
 "Why not? Do you mean that you would re 
 fuse?" 
 
 " I shall never be asked." 
 
 "But if you should be?" 
 
 " I don t think the question is quite one for you to 
 put to me. But I may say that if I should be, so far 
 as I can see now, my answer would be no." 
 
 " Ah, but you don t see very far now." 
 
 Ethel made no comment on this, and did not seem 
 disposed to be communicative. 
 
234 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Presently Milly remarked in a somewhat vague 
 and doubtful tone : " Do you know, Ethel I have 
 sometimes wondered whether you were n t getting 
 fond of George Kent ? " 
 
 Ethel certainly colored a little, but whether from 
 self-consciousness or from annoyance it would have 
 been impossible to say. "You seem to be in a mood 
 to ask extraordinarily impertinent questions," she 
 observed. 
 
 " Do I ? " was the inquiring reply, but nothing in 
 Milly s manner showed any disposition to apologize. 
 " George Kent is such a good fellow," she went on, 
 "so manly, so generous, such exceedingly pleasant 
 company. Only one feels sorry for Harvey " 
 
 But Ethel interrupted, with a vivacity which she 
 would hardly have displayed in her normal condition : 
 " Since we are on the subject of investigating other 
 people s feelings, Milly, my dear, perhaps I might 
 tell you something about yours." 
 
 "Ah?" There was a candor in Miss Erskine s 
 eyes, more genuine than she sometimes showed. 
 
 " Yes, really," Ethel continued. " I am dull ; but I 
 can see a thing sometimes." 
 
 " And what is the wonderful thing you have seen ? " 
 
 The answer was a trifle indirect. " Perhaps you 
 have occasionally heard me express a wish that you 
 might become Mrs. Phelps. I used to wish it, as one 
 
IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS 235 
 
 wishes for sleighing in August, because I had good 
 reason to suppose you had already refused the honor. 
 Well now I have a notion that you won t refuse 
 it, when it comes again." 
 
 Milly made no immediate answer. The fire at that 
 moment called for attention, and she took upon 
 herself to give it, so that it was impossible to tell 
 whether the glow on her cheek came from within or 
 without. Ethel sat comfortably in her chair, with just 
 a hint of the smile of a person who has hit back. 
 
 When Milly had returned to her place, she leaned 
 her head on her hand and said thoughtfully : " You 
 mentioned impertinent questions, did n t you ? " 
 
 " I did." 
 
 " Perhaps we d better stop asking them. I believe 
 Shakespeare remarks somewhere : 
 
 " Who seeks and will not take when once t is offered, 
 Shall never find it more. " 
 
 Whatever might be Ethel s real feelings towards 
 Harvey, it would have been impossible for her to be 
 dissatisfied with his treatment of her in the present 
 crisis. No matter how many other engagements he 
 had, he never let a day pass without calling at the 
 Phelps mansion and exchanging a few words with 
 his aunt and cousin. His kindness was never obtru 
 sive or importunate ; yet he made them feel that if 
 there was anything in the world that could be done 
 
236 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 for them, he was there to do it. Ethel was deeply 
 grateful for all this ; and a year ago she would have 
 expressed her gratitude, would have poured out to 
 Harvey something of her sorrow, something of her 
 loneliness, something of her regret that so much of 
 the world s goods should have come to her and so 
 little to him. But now she was conscious of a singu 
 lar restraint in her intercourse with him, of a curious 
 and vexatious fear of being misinterpreted. 
 
 Once only did she force herself to express a little, 
 a very little, of what she felt. " Harvey," she began, 
 with evident effort, " I want so much to say some 
 thing to you about all these wretched money mat 
 ters." 
 
 " No," he answered with infinite gentleness. " Why 
 should you vex yourself? There is nothing to be 
 said." 
 
 " Oh, but there is." She blushed very deeply as 
 she spoke. " What right have I or what claim 
 who am no relation of papa s whatever to so much, 
 when you should have had it all? I do so hope you 
 will see your way to taking advantage of what papa 
 arranged at the last. If you don t, promise me, 
 Harvey, promise me that you will consider what is 
 mine as yours" she blushed more deeply still 
 " at least, that you will come to me for anything you 
 really need." 
 
IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS 237 
 
 He was hardly ready to make such a promise, even 
 to please her ; and he had to tell her so ; but he did 
 it so gently that she could not feel hurt, although so 
 firmly that she could press the matter no farther. 
 After that, the question of the inheritance was no 
 more named between them. 
 
 Milly s method of expressing her sentiments on the 
 matter was much more vivacious. " Mr. Phelps," she 
 said, when she met him one day at Ethel s, " I can 
 hardly find words to express my opinion of your 
 folly." 
 
 The language was frank almost to roughness ; but 
 there was no roughness in the tone with which it was 
 uttered. "Indeed?" answered Harvey, smiling. 
 
 " Yes, indeed. I J m afraid you don t know what 
 you want in the world, and that is the one thing which 
 is foolish above all others. The man who wants good 
 things is admirable. The man who wants bad things 
 is respectable, if he wants them hard enough and per 
 sistently enough and gives his life to it ; but the man 
 who wants first this thing and then that thing and 
 then the other thing, and none of them enough to 
 give his life to it is foolish. Excuse my speaking 
 harshly ; but I have a certain privilege, you know, 
 and I do it for your good." 
 
 She was ready to work even more energetically 
 for his good. A few days later Kent called on her, 
 
238 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 and she implored him to use all his influence to bring 
 Harvey to a more rational state of mind. " So far as 
 Ethel is concerned, I m afraid it s of no use," she 
 said. "Ethel is manageable up to a certain point. 
 At that point she stops. I hardly believe even respect 
 for her father s wishes would make her marry Harvey 
 now. Yet she likes him. If he would only make an 
 effort. Do urge him to make an effort." 
 
 Kent laughed. "You say Miss Harper is man 
 ageable up to a certain point. Harvey isn t by 
 me." 
 
 " But I know who can manage him." 
 
 "Ah?" 
 
 "Yes," she rejoined, and there was a slight hint 
 of irritation in the sibilant. Then she added slowly, 
 " That Diana Newton. How do they get their power, 
 Mr. Kent, those little, brown, pale women ? There s 
 nothing to look at in her, except her eyes. How they 
 do burn, her eyes. Do you think he 11 marry her ? " 
 
 " I have n t heard anything of it." 
 
 "You wouldn t. Men never ask each other s 
 secrets." 
 
 "And women are so ready to tell theirs." 
 
 Milly thought of her little talk with Ethel, but she 
 didn t allow that thought to distract her from the 
 subject in hand. " Miss Newton is your cousin, Mr. 
 Kent," she said. " Now why don t you see her and 
 
IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS 239 
 
 reason with her? Ask her if she is ready to allow 
 Harvey to give up a fortune and a career just for her. 
 Or, no, she 11 say he s doing it for duty, not for her. 
 Point out to her that nobody will ever be sure of the 
 fact. Let her stand out of the way, and let him do it 
 just for pure, bare duty. That will be so grand it 
 ought to appeal to her imagination. I wish I could 
 put it to her myself." 
 
 "Why don t you?" suggested Kent serenely. 
 
 "Because because" Any one who did not 
 know Milly would have said she was embarrassed. 
 
 "I ll tell you the because," said the gentleman. 
 " You re jealous of Miss Newton and afraid of show- 
 ing it." 
 
 " You would never have guessed that if it were n t 
 for a little talk we had once," remarked the lady, with 
 some sharpness. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I should." 
 
 " It appears that everybody is getting to think 
 they can read my feelings. Never mind. He must n t 
 marry her, Mr. Kent." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Don t be stupid. Is he fit for that sort of life ? 
 She would lead him like a bull with a ring in his nose 
 at a fair. She would put great weights of ideals 
 on his shoulders, and make him tug and labor at the 
 foundations of her castles in Spain. He would puff 
 
2 4 o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 his poor, patient sides, and toil after her, and every 
 body would applaud her and say, What a noble ani 
 mal you have there, and how obedient. He must n t 
 marry her." 
 
 "In other words," Kent answered, still serene, 
 " somebody else wants the noble, patient animal, and 
 the glory of him." 
 
 "Not for building castles in Spain, at any rate. 
 Mr. Kent, you know what I mean. Will you do it ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, I know what you mean, and I ve 
 thought of trying it myself. But see, you want me to 
 manage two of the most unmanageable people in the 
 world, two reasonable people. Unreasonable people 
 you can manage, by supplying them with what they 
 have n t. Reasonable people, who do their own rea 
 soning, you can t. There s another thing strikes 
 me," he added, after a little pause. " You assume that 
 Diana will jump at the chance. I am not sure of it 
 yet, and that s why I ve hesitated. Will any woman 
 marry Harvey, if he asks her?" 
 
 " Yes," said Milly, " after she gets to know him." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because he s strong and brave and gentle and 
 wise and never thinks of himself." 
 
 Kent was absorbed, for a moment, in mock reflec 
 tion. " I wish I were strong and brave and gentle and 
 wise and not inclined to think of myself first and fore- 
 
IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS 241 
 
 most, as I am. Then perhaps all the women would 
 like me." 
 
 Milly took her turn at the mock reflection now. 
 " Possibly one woman may like you, Mr. Kent not 
 I. Oh, no, not I. Her liking would be worth having, 
 too, and I don t know why you should n t have it, if 
 others don t appreciate it." 
 
 When Kent was alone, he gave a few moments to 
 real reflection. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 
 
 KENT thought the matter over for a day, and de 
 cided that it might not be unserviceable to talk to 
 Diana on the lines Milly had suggested, and would 
 certainly be amusing. Therefore he called the next 
 evening in Newbury Street, exchanged a few words 
 with Miss Whitcomb, and then got Diana to himself. 
 
 At first they talked about each other s occupations, 
 Kent with much curiosity, she with little, and some 
 disgust. "George," she said, " with your gifts, I hoped 
 better things of you. After all, these newspaper an 
 tics do seem so much like a clown in a circus." 
 
 He was charmed with this view of the case, as 
 may easily be imagined. " My gifts," he answered, 
 " you overrate them. I have none but a weak stom 
 ach and a vicious determination to get ahead in the 
 world. My journalistic antics they are not mine, 
 but those of humanity in general and the idealists in 
 particular. I merely record them." 
 
 Diana sighed. " I don t complain of those who are 
 born dull or material. But you were made for some 
 thing better than your present way of life." 
 
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 243 
 
 " I was. And I mean to get it." 
 
 Then, very naturally, they began to talk of Har 
 vey. 
 
 " Now there s a person," Diana remarked, " who 
 has given up of his own accord just the things you 
 are striving for." 
 
 " Given them up for what ? " said George. 
 
 " For something nobler, and better, and more ideal." 
 
 " H m," said George. 
 
 "H m? I suppose his is a case of the antics that 
 afford you copy ? " 
 
 " Rather." 
 
 " Oh, George, don t laugh at him," went on the 
 young apostle, with enthusiasm. "Think what it 
 means. After all, money is so much, especially when 
 one has been all one s life accustomed to it. Those 
 of us who are n t tempted may be very comfortable 
 about it ; but what would you do " 
 
 " Oh !" was the protesting and unheeded interrup 
 tion. 
 
 "What should I do if I had such a decision to 
 make ? Just think, he might marry Miss Harper, who 
 is a very lovely girl, he might add millions to millions, 
 he might give away so much and enjoy so much ; 
 and he abandons it all for a principle" 
 
 "And a pair of brown eyes," suggested Kent, who 
 had listened to this rhapsody in a very comfortable 
 
244 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 posture, leaning back in his chair, with his finger-tips 
 twiddling against each other. 
 
 He might just as well have thrown a glass of cold 
 water into Diana s face. " What ? " she gasped. 
 
 "A pair of brown eyes," he said. " You own them." 
 
 " George, George," her voice was full of tears. 
 " Have your journalistic antics made you so low, so 
 mean in your estimate of human motives, that you 
 can t find anything in them but a selfish, personal 
 element ? " 
 
 " When it s a question of Harvey and girls, the 
 selfish, personal element is the one to look for." He 
 saw that every word was a stab to her, and he had 
 less affection than ever for the r61e of philanthropist 
 which he considered himself to be, at that moment, 
 playing. 
 
 " But I m not a girl," she urged, pleading passion 
 ately. 
 
 " Ah ? " was Kent s cool interjection. 
 
 "My life is purely impersonal, abstract. These 
 things don t enter into it. You know they don t. I m 
 not the sort of person any one would fall in love 
 with." 
 
 " I m by no means sure of that." The tone and 
 the look that went with his remark put a color into 
 her cheeks which made him even less sure of it than 
 he might have been before. 
 
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 245 
 
 " George," she protested, " how horrid you are. 
 I ve flattered myself, with my foolish vanity, that I 
 was really helping Mr. Phelps, really giving him a 
 little light in the solving of his problem. Now you ve 
 spoilt it all. How can I ever see him with any comfort 
 again ? " 
 
 "It is wonderful what vanity will do for us some 
 times," said Kent, still coldly playing his r61e. But 
 in his heart he was sick of it and pondered, with in 
 finite disgust, on the annoyance which Harvey s su- 
 persensitive conscience had caused not only himself 
 but everybody connected with him. 
 
 With this interview in mind, it will not be sup 
 posed that Diana felt perfectly at ease, when Harvey 
 called upon her a few days later. He himself had 
 no misgivings and no discomfort. He was begin 
 ning to care for her very much, and knew he was. 
 Why should he not ? But his caring for her was of a 
 different order from what he had felt for Milly or for 
 any other woman. The others had distracted him 
 from the deeper issues of his life. She was identified 
 with all of them. When he was with her, he did not 
 think of himself, he was absorbed in the higher effort 
 and interest which she represented. With all the 
 others, the first thought was, could they care for him. 
 With Diana, it would be sweet if she too cared. Oh, 
 how sweet. But her charm, her influence, her power, 
 
246 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 would be just the same, if she did not care at all. He 
 would live his life out as she bade him, do the tasks 
 she set him, with no other reward than her cold ap 
 proval and the inward sense of satisfaction with him 
 self. It was thus that during the last month he had 
 leaned more and more upon her guidance and sug 
 gestions, had devoted himself to reading the books 
 she recommended, had visited and studied and of 
 fered his assistance in various charities which inter 
 ested her. Now, after a brief interval, he came again 
 for more advice and sympathy ; but her mood was 
 very far from being attuned to his, and his innocent 
 enthusiasm filled her with annoyance and irritation, 
 though she made every effort to control these feel 
 ings and at first successfully. 
 
 When they had discussed his reading and his oc 
 cupations for the past week or ten days, and Diana 
 had expressed all the interest she could, the talk 
 drifted to the settlement of Mr. Phelps s affairs, which 
 had not been definitely known when they last met. 
 
 " And he did not leave you anything anything 
 at all ? " Diana asked. 
 
 "He left me the place atWoodsley where he 
 was born and my father my grandfather s 
 a little, simple, country place I am very glad to 
 have it." 
 
 " Of course you are." For the moment, Diana for- 
 
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 247 
 
 got Kent s insinuations, in the ardor of her sym 
 pathy. 
 
 " Do you know, Mr. Phelps, after all, you have 
 done a very heroic thing." 
 
 " Quixotic," he suggested. 
 
 " No, no, no ; heroic. It is what all of us, who feel 
 as you feel, think we should have done ; but should 
 we ? Money is such a great, comfortable possession, 
 and one can find so much excuse for one s self in its 
 power of doing good. I hope I should have done 
 as you have ; I hope so." 
 
 " Of course you would," was the earnest answer. 
 " For you are sure, while I am so doubting and so 
 uncertain ; or was, till I knew you." 
 
 She did not relish this personal turn at all, and she 
 met it with another. " If your doubt and uncertainty 
 continue, there is still a loophole open, isn t there?" 
 
 He looked at her for a second, surprised at her 
 tone, and not quite following her meaning. " A loop 
 hole ? You mean the clause which provides for my 
 being taken into the firm, if I should wish it?" 
 
 " I meant Miss Harper," she said slowly. 
 
 " Oh," his answer came more slowly still, " There 
 can be nothing between Miss Harper and me. Only 
 it was unfortunate that my uncle should have com 
 plicated an abstract question with personal feelings." 
 
 " Most unfortunate," she cried in hearty agree- 
 
248 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 ment. "Personal feeling should not be allowed to 
 enter into such questions at all." 
 
 But her eagerness had carried her too far. After 
 all, it was better that she should know him as he was, 
 should see that everything must be personal between 
 him and her. And a strange impulse seized him to 
 reveal to her that though she had won him by spir 
 itual weapons, she had won him wholly for herself. 
 
 "Fortunately, or unfortunately," he began, with 
 tumultuous speech that gave his words a triple mean 
 ing, "we are human, we can t be abstract. There 
 will be personal motives. Miss Newton, from the 
 very first time when we met so strangely, you have 
 personified for me it is you whom I " 
 
 Her eager eyes and clasped hands broke his sen 
 tence in the middle. " Oh, Mr. Phelps, leave me my 
 belief in you. Leave me my love and admiration for 
 your great sacrifice, those are the devotions I can 
 understand, you know the others seem to me I 
 I don t care for them. Be a hero right through to 
 the end. Let it all be heroic. We will never refer to 
 this again, will we ? " 
 
 He said nothing, tried to fall back upon his old 
 conclusion that he loved her for her ideals, desired 
 nothing more, if she would give him those, tried 
 and succeeded. Yet, now that it was evident that she 
 cared nothing for him, never could, that she lived 
 
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 249 
 
 high up in the region of the saints, where the air was 
 always clear and always cold, the ideals, even hers, 
 seemed, for the moment, a little less satisfying. Yet 
 they were hers, they should be his, they always had 
 been his, as he had learned them from Marcus, before 
 he thought of her at all. 
 
 Then, to break the silence, he changed the subject 
 abruptly, and talked to her of Marcus. They had 
 often discussed him before, and Diana had expressed 
 a great desire to meet him. 
 
 " I shall soon be able to introduce to you my friend, 
 Upham," Harvey said. 
 
 She welcomed the new topic with eagerness. " He 
 will be in Boston for a time, then?" 
 
 " For a long time, I hope. That is, at Glendale, 
 only twenty minutes ride out. He was in town yes 
 terday and I saw him for a moment. He has been 
 called to a little new church there. I am very 
 glad." 
 
 " So am I. You will see him often, won t you ? " 
 
 " I hope so. He has been more to me than almost 
 any other person in the world." There was a light 
 stress on " almost," which she did not appear to 
 notice. 
 
 " Tell me more about it," she said. 
 
 Then Harvey, in such broken phrases as he was 
 apt to use, gave her quietly some account of his first 
 
250 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 acquaintance with Upham and how that subtle spir 
 itual influence had worked its way into his life, which 
 up to that time had been mainly muscle and sinew. 
 
 "But his influence must have been almost alto 
 gether religious, I suppose," she suggested, "not 
 philanthropic merely?" 
 
 Harvey nodded. 
 
 " And ? " she continued. 
 
 " I never went the full length," he murmured, meet 
 ing her thought. " I could n t." 
 
 " Ah, but you will." Then, after a little pause, she 
 asked again : " Has Mr. Upham advised you during 
 the last year ? Does he approve of your course ? " 
 
 Harvey hesitated before answering. " Yes and no," 
 he said. "He would approve of it if it were any one 
 else, I think. As it is, he mistrusts me, feels that I 
 am earthly, and not capable, for long, of these high 
 flights. I dare say he is right. It must be pleasant 
 to be born all one thing or all the other." 
 
 " Oh," burst out Diana, with most eager sympa 
 thy, " none of us is born all one thing, or all the 
 other ; none, none, not one." Then the fear of mis 
 interpretation paralyzed her, and he saw that it did. 
 " I shall be very glad to meet Mr. Upham," she con 
 cluded quietly, a little coldly. 
 
 Harvey, as he walked home under the stars, re 
 peated to himself again and again : " None of us is 
 
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT 251 
 
 born all one thing, or all the other ; none, none, not 
 one." Nevertheless, he felt bitterly convinced that 
 Diana was born all for Heaven, or, at any rate, she 
 was not born for him. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 DIANA AND MARCUS 
 
 MARCUS arrived and Harvey was delighted. They 
 had not written to each other ; but as soon as they met 
 the bond between them seemed to be drawn closer 
 than ever. Harvey found, or imagined that he found, 
 his friend gentler and a trifle less uncompromising 
 than formerly ; and Marcus felt that the spiritual flame 
 in Harvey, instead of being dimmed by his winter s 
 contact with the world, burned with a clearer and, 
 above all, with a steadier light. 
 
 Harvey went to the first evening service held by 
 the new rector. The church was a small, insignifi 
 cant building, in a quiet corner, under old elms and 
 maples. The organ was small and the choir small 
 and as yet untrained ; yet something in the air of the 
 place, or in Marcus s voice, perhaps, brought Har 
 vey feelings which he had not known in the great 
 city churches, where he had been all winter. Peace 
 came upon him, for the moment, at any rate ; no 
 definite attitude of mind, no simple solution of his 
 troubles, just a broad and blessed sense of peace, dif- 
 
DIANA AND MARCUS 253 
 
 fused from the dim altar, from the quiet responses of 
 the worshippers, from Marcus standing there in the 
 tranquil halo of his sacred office. Ethel and Milly 
 were forgotten, even Kent s clear, good-natured 
 mockery. Yes, even Diana s earnest eyes faded, 
 faded in that soft, white, enfolding atmosphere of 
 peace. 
 
 Afterwards, in Marcus s study, where books and 
 furniture were tumbled about, not yet reduced, under 
 the old housekeeper s hands, to any semblance of 
 order, the friends had a long, quiet, pleasant talk. 
 Harvey explained, in a calm voice, the circumstances 
 of his uncle s will. 
 
 " And he left you nothing, then, except the place 
 at Woodsley, nothing at all ? " asked Marcus, just as 
 Diana had done. 
 
 " Nothing else. Why should he ? " 
 
 " Of course not. Yet it was a great deal to give 
 up." 
 
 Harvey laughed. " You must either be very insin 
 cere or else have a very poor opinion of me." 
 
 " No," said the minister, still absorbed in thought. 
 " I hope I am sincere. You know what my opinion 
 of you has always been. But most people would have 
 found some way to accept so many millions. There 
 are subterfuges, you know." 
 
 " I suppose so ; but I was never ingenious." Har- 
 
254 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 vey smiled as he made the remark. It was agreeable 
 to be there, on the same old sofa, and to watch Mar 
 cus sitting in the same old swivel-chair, quiet as ever, 
 his hands pressed together at the finger-tips. 
 
 " And you don t regret it all ? " asked Marcus, at 
 length, somewhat abruptly. 
 
 Harvey s smile faded, though his expression was 
 only sober, not sad. " I don t regret it for a moment, 
 if I m doing the right thing. I m not quite sure yet, 
 you know." 
 
 " What are you doing ? " 
 
 " Well, very little at present." Then he gave his 
 friend an account of his pursuits during the last month 
 or two ; but the account was not lucid, as he made 
 no mention of Diana, and Marcus s keen ear detected 
 the omission. It was hardly likely that Harvey should 
 be studying these different charities purely on his own 
 initiative ; possible, but not likely. 
 
 "What led you into all these things?" was the 
 question that had to be met, when the narration was 
 ended. 
 
 Harvey met it with his usual frankness and quiet 
 sense of the humor of his own conduct. " A young 
 woman." 
 
 "Ah ? " Marcus s eye gleamed perfect appreciation 
 of the candor of the answer, though his tone showed 
 a trifle of annoyance. 
 
DIANA AND MARCUS 255 
 
 " If you can call her such," Harvey went on, his 
 memory tingling with the smart of that last inter 
 view. " But not a young woman of flesh and blood ; 
 a saint, a statue, so you need n t be in the least con 
 cerned about sentimental complications." Then he 
 gave his friend a full account of his acquaintance 
 with Diana, including the meeting at the O Briens , 
 the interview with his uncle, and all the rest. 
 
 Marcus listened intently, hardly moving, a warm 
 light in his eyes, his fingers occasionally pressing 
 more tightly against each other. Now and then he 
 asked a question. 
 
 When the story was finished, he said : " She must 
 be a remarkable person, Miss Newton." 
 
 " She is." 
 
 Marcus s suspicions were again aroused by the 
 warmth of tone in this speech. "She must have 
 meant a great deal in your life," he went on. 
 
 " Yes, she has and does and will. I revere her 
 as I do you." 
 
 "Nothing more?" 
 
 "Anything more anything else would be in 
 compatible with her nature. I told you she is n t flesh 
 and blood. I want you to meet her, Marc." 
 
 Marc signified that social meetings with young 
 women, even those who were not flesh and blood, 
 were something totally foreign to the reserve of his 
 
256 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 disposition and the seriousness of his calling. Then 
 he turned to some further discussion of the various 
 interests with which his friend was busying himself. 
 But Harvey was set upon his object ; and when he 
 had got Marcus thoroughly interested in the working 
 of a new plan for improved and modern tenements, 
 so that he expressed an extreme desire to investigate 
 it further, this young man, who had a little while ago 
 modestly disclaimed all ingenuity, ventured to sug 
 gest that his own knowledge of the matter was 
 painfully limited, but that a visit to Miss Newton 
 would certainly clarify everything. 
 
 Marcus laughed his quick, sunny laugh, which was 
 all the sunnier for its rarity. " By all means let us 
 visit Miss Newton." 
 
 Two or three evenings later they did call on Diana. 
 Harvey performed the introduction with the pleasure 
 one feels in bringing two people one esteems into 
 contact with one another. He hoped they would be 
 friends in time, with his assistance ; but he had per 
 formed enough of such introductions to know that 
 they are apt to be unsatisfactory, and he hardly ex 
 pected that the first meeting would lead to anything 
 more than the establishment of semi-cordial relations. 
 Well, he was disappointed. Perhaps it was because 
 his two friends were neither of them flesh and blood ; 
 but they took to each other with astonishing rapidity. 
 
DIANA AND MARCUS 257 
 
 Harvey had time to introduce modernized tenements 
 as a topic of common interest. That was all. Before 
 they had exhausted that subject, a dozen others sug 
 gested themselves. Had Mr. Upham seen this and 
 that and the other ? He had seen this and that, but 
 not the other. She would like so much to show it to 
 him and have his judgment on it, in comparison with 
 this and that. An appointment for the purpose of 
 such inspection was made at once ; and other inspec 
 tions were hinted at which carried with them limit 
 less possibilities of appointments in the future. It 
 was all absolutely impersonal and in a region wholly 
 foreign to considerations of flesh and blood ; but poor 
 Harvey, sitting quiet on one side and only included 
 in the talk by a courtesy which made him seem pe 
 culiarly out of it, felt that he had succeeded almost 
 too well. As he walked home, after parting from 
 Marcus, he foresaw, in dim apocalyptic vision, a pos 
 sible approximation of his two friends, which had 
 never entered his head until that evening, and which 
 would leave poor him, Harvey, weak flesh and blood 
 as he was, all a-quiver and a-tremble out in the win 
 try cold. But would it not be a beautiful and suitable 
 thing? Could there be a perfecter match, a fitter 
 union, one that would be more useful to the world 
 and more delightful in itself ? Was he not bound to 
 help it on by every means that in him lay ? Perhaps 
 
258 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 so. But he sighed a little, as he thought of it, and 
 reflected that if the way of the transgressor is hard, 
 that of the would-be righteous is not always easy. 
 
 For some time after this he kept away from Diana. 
 He saw Marcus often, however, and gathered that 
 they two were working in common, as if they had 
 known each other all their lives. 
 
 At length Marcus asked one day, " Why don t you 
 go and see Miss Newton? She was wondering last 
 night what had become of you." 
 
 Wondering what had become of him ? He doubted 
 that. It was hardly likely, with all the dependents 
 she had on her hands, that she should wonder what 
 had become of him. Yet, no. That was unjust. Her 
 heart had room for him and for a thousand others, 
 and he was glad enough to have a place there, even 
 among a thousand. Above all, he was anxious not 
 to show the slightest pique or petty soreness. If she 
 could not care for him, except as an object of charity, 
 nay, even if she could care for some one else, he would 
 be large enough to appreciate her, and admire her, 
 yes, and love her, as she would wish to be loved. 
 
 Thus he found himself waiting in Miss Whitcomb s 
 parlor the second evening after Marcus had made 
 the above observation. In a moment or two Diana 
 appeared, dressed a little more elaborately than usual, 
 in a soft, dark blue gown, with much lace at the neck 
 
DIANA AND MARCUS 259 
 
 and sleeves. She had never looked lovelier, Harvey 
 thought, never more ethereal and spiritual, more out 
 of his common world. 
 
 She was kind and cordial, as always, but she ex 
 pressed no wonder in regard to his absence, whatever 
 she may have said to Marcus. 
 
 " I must thank you for bringing Mr. Upham to us/ 
 she began, almost at once. 
 
 " He would have found you, before long, anyway. 
 If there is something good to be done, he is gener 
 ally in it, sooner or later." 
 
 " Perhaps so. But you helped." 
 
 " I like to help," Harvey answered simply. 
 
 " I know it. And you do help," was her comment, 
 simple also. 
 
 "Marc is a good fellow, is n t he?" Harvey went 
 on, partly with genuine desire to praise his friend, 
 partly for the bitter-sweet pleasure of hearing her 
 praise him. 
 
 " He is exceptional, I think," she replied, with 
 warmth. " There are a great many people, a great 
 many ministers, who want to do the right thing ; but 
 they don t know how. He does. He knows just what 
 to say and when to say it, and when to keep still, 
 which is best of all ; something I ve never learned 
 because I m a woman, I suppose. He has the power 
 of winning people. Even in these few weeks I ve seen 
 
26o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 that. Oh, Mr. Phelps, that is the rarest thing. You 
 can command people, you can buy people, you can 
 persuade people intellectually ; but to win people, to 
 make them yours, so that they feel with you that 
 is what does good. And his ideas about life are so 
 true and deep. He is working for a new world, with 
 out the silly distinctions of society or the greed of 
 riches ; but he is so moderate and tactful in doing it." 
 
 " I am glad, so glad you like him." His tone was 
 earnest and hearty, because his feeling was ; and he 
 did not see how she could detect any trace of thought 
 of self or dissatisfaction. 
 
 Nevertheless, as soon as he had spoken, she 
 changed the subject, and said, with an unusual soft 
 ness : " And you tell me about yourself and what 
 you have been doing all this time." 
 
 There was neither undue eagerness nor false re 
 serve in the natural account he gave her of his own 
 affairs. He had become very much interested in the 
 country hospital, he said. This was something newly 
 started, to which she had first introduced him, a plan 
 for finding suitable boarding-places in the country 
 for poor patients who had been dismissed from the 
 hospitals, cured of their complaints, but not strong 
 enough to work, needing country air and quiet, for 
 a time, before they could resume their ordinary pur 
 suits. He had offered his services to the managers of 
 
DIANA AND MARCUS 261 
 
 the affair and they seemed likely to provide him 
 with ample occupation in visiting possible quarters, 
 making financial arrangements, etc. This sort of 
 thing might, he thought, perhaps be within his 
 abilities, a chance, at any rate, for making himself 
 useful. 
 
 She was enthusiastic at once. "Of course it is 
 within your ability. You underrate your abilities. 
 But this is something really worthy of them, a noble, 
 beautiful thing to do. Oh, so much better than fight 
 ing for gold down in State Street." 
 
 The warmth of her words was sunshine to him, and 
 he was basking in it luxuriously, when Marcus was 
 ushered into the room. Did he wish to see Marcus 
 just then? Of course he did, he always wished to see 
 Marcus. There should not be one moment of petty 
 jealousy to mar the beauty of his intercourse with 
 these two whom he loved better than anything else 
 in the world. 
 
 " I want to ask you about those people who own 
 that tenement we were speaking of the other day, 
 Miss Newton," Marcus began, after shaking hands 
 with his friend. " You know I promised to see them 
 and look into matters. I want to get all the facts from 
 you first." 
 
 The facts were complicated and required a good 
 deal of research into papers, memoranda, and records 
 
262 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 of one kind and another, which Diana produced, as 
 they were needed, and explained with extraordinary 
 logic and lucidity. Harvey enjoyed listening for a 
 time ; but the feeling of being distinctly outside was 
 strong upon him, and he finally made up his mind to 
 take his leave. 
 
 " Don t go," urged Diana. "We ve been rude, 
 I m afraid." And Marcus added : " I did n t come to 
 spoil your call." 
 
 " Nonsense," returned Harvey, without a shade of 
 apparent soreness. " I made my call before you came. 
 Really, I must stop at Ethel s before I go home, and 
 they won t be up if I don t get there soon. Ethel goes 
 into training about this time." 
 
 Then he took himself off, and the others were again 
 immersed in details of tenement accommodation, 
 ventilation, sanitation, over-habitation, and other 
 ations without end or limit. 
 
 When they at last emerged, they said a few words 
 about Harvey. "I am so glad he has taken hold of 
 this country hospital work," remarked Diana. " I 
 think it will just suit him." 
 
 " If he finds what really suits him, he will do won 
 ders," added Marcus. " I don t know whether you 
 know him as well as I do, Miss Newton. If you do, 
 you know that he is a man and a true and noble 
 
DIANA AND MARCUS 263 
 
 She nodded. " Did you were you able to ad 
 vise him in his difficulty?" she went on. 
 
 " No," he answered slowly, " I could n t. I could n t 
 take the responsibility. It is a great deal to refuse 
 millions, with all they mean, of good as well as evil, 
 in these days, or any days. We talk of it glibly, but 
 when it comes to the point even for myself, when 
 I tried to put myself in his place then, he isn t 
 fleshless, bloodless, a natural fanatic, as I am," the 
 smile with which this was uttered showed that the 
 man had the gift of getting outside of himself, a 
 quality so rare in saints. " He relishes the world and 
 the world s ways. It means so much for him to give 
 them up. And he does it with no complaint and no 
 trumpeting of his sacrifice." 
 
 "Yes," she agreed, "he is very noble about it. 
 But I have felt, as you do, some question as to the 
 wisdom of the decision for him. May he not regret 
 it some day ? " And, after a pause, she added, " His 
 cousin, step-cousin, Miss Harper, do you know her? " 
 
 Marcus shook his head. 
 
 " If he would marry her, you know, he would have 
 all the property." 
 
 " But would she marry him?" 
 
 Diana s lip curled ever so little, with truly feminine 
 scorn, as she answered : "I think she would. And 
 would n t it be better ? Would n t it give him a wider 
 
264 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 sphere of usefulness, give him the large means which 
 he so well knows how to use ? But she is n t worthy 
 of him, Mr. Upham ." 
 
 " I dare say not," was the somewhat commonplace 
 rejoinder. 
 
 Then the visitor took his leave ; and on his journey 
 home he thought a great deal about tenement san 
 itation, but also a little about the young lady who 
 had supplied him with material for getting up the 
 subject. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE END OF THE O BRIENS 
 
 IT was the middle of May, and Miss Phelps and Ethel 
 were making their preparations for Cataumet. Before 
 she went, however, Ethel was very anxious to see 
 something of the Reverend Mr. Upham, of whom 
 Harvey had been constantly talking during the last 
 month or two. 
 
 " Aunt Lucia and I," she said to her cousin, one 
 morning, " were thinking that perhaps he would come 
 and dine with us quietly some evening, as your friend. 
 Of course it would be very quiet, and very informal, 
 just Miss Newton, say, and Milly, and Mr. Kent. 
 Should you like it ? " 
 
 " Of course I should like it." 
 
 "And he?" 
 
 Harvey reflected a little. " I think Marcus will 
 come," he said. " Why should n t he to please me ? 
 Though he does n t do much in the social line." 
 
 " Then we 11 consider it settled say for Monday, 
 the fifteenth, if he can come. Oh, and Harvey," 
 Ethel added, "you know papa arranged that two 
 
266 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 hundred dollars a year was to be paid to that Mrs. 
 O Brien during her life. Mr. Legge is so slow about 
 all those things ; but he told me yesterday that he 
 should send the first check in a few days now." 
 
 Harvey made no answer, for a moment. "The 
 daughter is dead," he said, at length, in a hardish 
 voice. 
 
 " Is she? I m so sorry though perhaps she s 
 better off with that mother. But I don t doubt the 
 mother can use the money." 
 
 " Very likely," Harvey replied, in the same tone. 
 " If she 11 take it." 
 
 " Take it ! " was the indignant rejoinder. " Refuse 
 a legacy like that ? Now, Harvey, that would be too 
 absurd." Few experiences in her life had stirred the 
 tranquil Ethel more than Mrs. O Brien s tirades on 
 the day of their visit to Hudson Street. " Take it ! 
 She need n t take it if she does n t want to ; but I 
 don t see how you can think that such people deserve 
 any sympathy." 
 
 To this Harvey made no reply. 
 
 Both Marcus and Diana accepted Ethel s invita 
 tion, after some urging. " It is very kind of her ; but 
 I am out of place at a state dinner," said both of 
 them, in substance. To which Harvey replied that it 
 was not a state dinner, and that they were not going 
 for formal sociability, but that his friends might meet 
 
THE END OF THE O BRIENS 267 
 
 his friends, and to please him. To which argument 
 they both yielded gracefully. Needless to say that 
 neither Milly nor Kent required any urging what 
 soever. 
 
 The dinner was perfect, like all Miss Lucia s din 
 ners. Ethel s black gave her firm figure a little more 
 delicacy than usual, and was very becoming. She 
 and Marcus seemed to take to each other from the 
 first, and to have elements of sympathy beyond the 
 mere fact of their love for Harvey. Milly, light and 
 bewitching in her pink frock, sat on the other side of 
 the young minister, and also gave him her almost un 
 divided attention, speaking of things religious and 
 sacrilegious, with the amiable candor which had cap 
 tivated many members of his cloth before. 
 
 Diana and Kent sat opposite these three, Diana 
 this time in quiet brown, so that Milly s splendors had 
 full possession of the field. Diana had not seen her 
 cousin for some time. 
 
 " George," she said, " I ve been looking over your 
 book. I m more ashamed of you than ever." 
 
 " No ? " replied George, cheerfully, sipping the 
 golden Liebfraumilch, " is it possible ? Immoderate 
 Exposures/ I presume you mean. What s the matter 
 with it?" 
 
 " It s so indescribably vulgar, vulgar people, 
 vulgar pictures, and most vulgar language." 
 
268 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Well, I m vulgar," said George, taking another 
 slow sip with infinite relish. 
 
 " No, you re not. You have immense possibilities 
 of refinement in your nature. If you were vulgar 
 yourself, you would n t have such a keen eye for the 
 vulgarity of others." 
 
 " That s very shrewd and very complimentary. 
 Don t you think we could go a little farther and make 
 out that I only depict the vulgarity of life to show its 
 objectionableness ? " 
 
 " Not a bit. You describe it as if you loved it. And 
 you make others love it. It is n t funny to be vulgar. 
 But you make it seem so." 
 
 " It is funny to be vulgar, cousin mine. It is funny 
 to be anything in this funny world, even an enthu 
 siast and a reformer." Then, taking a fancy to make 
 the conversation general, he spoke across the table. 
 " How do you like my last book, Upham ? " 
 
 " I have n t seen it," was the composed reply. " I 
 read one of the others." 
 
 " And that was enough ? " suggested the snubbed 
 author. "My cousin here is ashamed of me. She 
 thinks I might be better employed than teaching the 
 vulgar to laugh at themselves." 
 
 " I think so too," Marcus answered gravely. 
 
 " Yet is n t it a beautiful, golden thing to laugh ? " 
 continued the journalist, laughing, as he defended his 
 
THE END OF THE O BRIENS 269 
 
 occupation in life. " Go out into the street and see the 
 hungry, careworn, eager, anxious, hard, greedy faces. 
 All I want is to relax them a little, to soften them a 
 little, just for one moment. I m an enthusiast, too, 
 you see, and a reformer, and a philanthropist. Would 
 you believe it ? " 
 
 " No," said Marcus, with undisturbed serenity. " I 
 don t." 
 
 " But I do," Milly broke in. " I think Mr. Kent is 
 a moralist and a prophet, after his fashion. Pity is 
 akin to love, says the poet. I think laughter is, too. 
 When you are laughing at people, you are n t hating 
 them, or quarreling with them. Indeed, I am sure 
 you must be rather inclined to charity and tolerance." 
 
 "That s it," remarked Diana. "There are things 
 one ought not to tolerate." 
 
 " Things, perhaps, not people." 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried Kent, delighted with this exchange 
 of shots. " Laughter is as broad and charitable as the 
 sunlight. It embraces even those who hate it most, 
 and finds its sweetest nutriment in the dense earnest 
 ness of those who preach against it. So now, cousin 
 Diana." 
 
 After dinner Marcus followed the ladies, leaving 
 Kent and Harvey to their cigars in the dining-room. 
 Upstairs Milly attached herself to Diana; and the 
 two, seated on a sofa in a quiet corner, prepared for 
 
270 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 a pleasant little sparring match, in which it was diffi 
 cult to foretell the victor. Marcus seemed decidedly 
 to prefer the calmer society of Ethel, and as Miss 
 Lucia soon excused herself on the plea of fatigue, he 
 had an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with 
 his friend s cousin and to study the advantages which 
 his friend had thrown away. 
 
 " I am very glad to have this chance of talking 
 with you about Harvey," began Ethel, after her 
 aunt s departure. " He has talked so much of you. 
 I know that no one has so much influence over him 
 as you have." 
 
 Marcus understood her perfectly. " And you think 
 I have used that influence in a very unfortunate 
 way?" . 
 
 " Unfortunate for us," she answered, with the frank 
 ness which was her greatest charm. 
 
 "But for him?" 
 
 "Of course, I can t tell as to that yet. Nor can 
 you. Nor any one. But don t you think you have 
 taken a great responsibility, Mr. Upham? " 
 
 " It is the first duty of my calling to take respon 
 sibility for human souls." 
 
 "True," she replied slowly. 
 
 He was pleased with her open-mindedness, but 
 went on, with some haste : " Yet, to speak candidly, 
 I have shunned the responsibility in Harvey s case. 
 
THE END OF THE O BRIENS 271 
 
 I did sow the seed, I suppose ; but I have refrained, 
 as much as in me lay, from cultivating it." 
 
 She looked at him with earnest thought in her 
 warm brown eyes. " Then you do feel that the re 
 sponsibility is serious ? " she asked. 
 
 " I do very serious. Harvey s is a big, complex, 
 many-sided nature. Neither you, nor I, nor he him 
 self, can decide off-hand what is best for him." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Upham," Ethel urged, with a singular 
 depth of pleading in her tone, " if you feel that way, 
 do give us the benefit of it. Let Harvey come back 
 to us, if he will." 
 
 Then she colored a little at the full bearing of what 
 she had said. "It is nothing to do with me person 
 ally. Pray believe I am speaking for his good. Har 
 vey and I are brother and sister and can never be 
 anything more. But that he should throw away such 
 a chance of being something in the world And 
 that I, who have no claim whatever, should get so 
 much that belongs to him It is n t right. You must 
 see that it isn t right." 
 
 Marcus was touched ; but he was not the sort of 
 man to let his feelings run away with him. " As I 
 told you, Miss Harper," he said, "I have abstained 
 from influencing Harvey, when it was very diffi 
 cult to abstain. I couldn t interfere now, even if I 
 thought it best. Andjt would do no good. Harvey 
 
272 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 is a man who must and will work out his own life. 
 All we can do is to stand by and watch the struggle 
 with absorbed interest." 
 
 Then Ethel dropped the subject, realizing that she 
 had met a nature just as firm and immovable as her 
 own, though in a different way. She respected him 
 and he her, and they began to talk of things of no 
 interest whatever to either of them. 
 
 But Milly and Diana had been fencing joyously. 
 
 " Do you know," said Milly, " I envy you." 
 
 "Really?" Diana answered, with some suspicion. 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " It must be delightful to see so much meaning in 
 life, to strive and struggle on, with so much enthusi 
 asm, towards a definite end." 
 
 Diana laughed a little more comfortably. After all, 
 if this creature of frail frivolity was making fun of 
 her, what did it matter ? " What is the definite end 
 towards which I am working ? " she asked. 
 
 " I don t know ; but I thought you did." The per 
 fect simplicity of the reply seemed to deprive it of 
 all impertinence. 
 
 Diana parried, without making a definite response. 
 " Do you give me to understand that you don t see 
 any meaning in life ? " 
 
 Milly looked down into her pink lap, at her little 
 hands, which showed work in spite of all the mani- 
 
THE END OF THE O BRIENS 273 
 
 cure she bestowed on them. " Meaning? Yes," she 
 murmured. " Gleams of meaning, shreds of meaning, 
 spidery films dancing in the sunlight. You get an 
 end of one between your fingers so on a summer 
 morning, and think it will lead you to heaven. Then, 
 in an hour or two, the fog comes, thick, and the film 
 melts away, and you grope so." 
 
 "I m afraid you have nerves," suggested Diana, 
 as little scornfully as possible. 
 
 "Nerves?" was the answer, very scornful indeed. 
 " Have n t you nerves ? I read them all over you. 
 But probably you have a will that keeps them in 
 order. I have n t." Then she leaned close to Diana, 
 with a hand on her arm, and no human being could 
 have told whether she meant what she said or not. 
 " I suppose it is my nerves, but there are times when 
 I feel that I should like to outdo you far. The in 
 stinct of sacrifice great big sacrifice is in me if 
 I let go. I should like to wear sackcloth next my skin 
 and strew ashes in my hair, tend loathsome diseases 
 from morning till night and kneel on cold stones from 
 night till morning. I really should. Only I m afraid 
 it would be ridiculous." 
 
 " It would," said Diana, laughing, not very sym 
 pathetically. "But why bring me into it? I don t 
 wear sackcloth nor strew ashes in my hair." 
 
 " Don t you ? " The words were nothing ; but the 
 
274 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 tone if Diana had not been a Christian, she would 
 have struck her. 
 
 "Then," continued Milly, in the same low, intense 
 voice, " it all goes." She made a gesture, as of spong 
 ing a slate. " And the world comes back again ; the 
 gay world, the merry world, the beautiful world : 
 laughter, and waltzes, and bridge, and frocks, and 
 champagne illimitable. Nerves, I suppose. But, do 
 you know, though Mr. Phelps has no nerves, I m as 
 sure as sure it will be just so with him. And that is 
 the whole point of my little sermon. Sackcloth and 
 ashes seem lovely to him now. But it must be that 
 that film will run into fog some day and he will lose 
 it, and then the champagne and laughter will seem 
 lovely. I hope it won t be too late." 
 
 The infinite impertinence of this tirade was not lost 
 upon Diana. It was not meant to be. Yet how could 
 she get angry ? Why should she ? Again she laughed, 
 as scornfully as courtesy would permit ; for she was 
 human. " I hope not also," she agreed. " But for all 
 I can see, Mr. Phelps is as far from sackcloth as he is 
 from champagne. In any case, I don t quite know 
 how it concerns me." 
 
 " If you don t, I don t," said Milly shortly. " Let s 
 go over and look at Ethel s photographs." 
 
 Meanwhile Kent and Harvey smoked and sipped 
 their crme de menthe, talking vaguely of liqueurs 
 
THE END OF THE O BRIENS 275 
 
 and ladies. Kent had tried hard for weeks to say 
 just the right word to Harvey, but they had both 
 been a great deal occupied and Harvey had been 
 unresponsive. Now seemed a good opportunity for 
 an attack along a new line. 
 
 " It must be rather hard, old chap," he began, " to 
 throw away everything for a pretty toy and then not 
 get it." 
 
 "What s all this about?" asked Harvey, as yet 
 unsuspecting. 
 
 " Diana," said the other ; and blew the name to 
 heaven in a cloud of smoke. 
 
 " Oh," went in non-committal fumigation after it. 
 
 But Kent had not interviewed all our leading poli 
 ticians to be discouraged in that way. " You won t 
 think I m over-inclined to interfere " 
 
 " I may," Harvey suggested. 
 
 " Very well. I don t care if you do. But it occurred 
 to me that, as a disinterested outsider, I might call 
 your -attention to the fact that our friend Upham and 
 our cousin Diana seemed singularly adapted to each 
 other, and from some things that have come to me I 
 imagine they may be on the way to find it out." 
 
 " Really ? " If Harvey s puffs came any quicker or 
 any slower, his friend s keen eye could not detect it. 
 " Do you know, George, I am dull, but your idea is 
 one that occurred to me some time ago?" 
 
276 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Ah, and what do you think of it ? " 
 
 " What should I think of it ? " 
 
 " I did n t know but you might not like it." 
 
 " On the contrary, I should like it very well." 
 
 " Then I was mistaken. I often am." Kent lifted 
 his glass and took a meditative sip. Afterwards he 
 held the clear emerald liquid against the light and 
 surveyed it critically. "This is a pleasant way to 
 live," he said, setting the glass down, and waving 
 his hand over the table, with its flowers and silver. 
 " To think that you might marry either one of two 
 charming girls and live in splendor all the days of 
 your life ! " 
 
 "Two?" repeated Harvey, with very languid in 
 terest. 
 
 " Why, there is Miss Erskine and Miss Harper." 
 
 " You seem to be overwhelmingly matrimonial to 
 night, George. Miss Erskine has already refused to 
 marry me. And Miss Harper certainly would." 
 
 "Indeed? I didn t know," answered the journalist, 
 as meekly as any lamb. " Still," he continued, in the 
 same lamb-like tone, " I ve heard it said that it does 
 no harm to ask any woman twice." 
 
 Harvey made no reply ; and as the cigars were 
 finished, the two went upstairs. 
 
 In the drawing-room the conversation was general 
 and not very lively ; and a ring at the door was wel- 
 
THE END OF THE O BRIENS 277 
 
 come to Diana as announcing her carriage. It was 
 not her carriage, however. There was a few mo 
 ments delay, accompanied by the sound of voices 
 below. Then the butler came into the room, in a 
 somewhat perturbed state of mind ; and before he 
 could speak, he was followed by the whirlwind ap 
 parition of Mrs. O Brien. Rushing straight up to 
 Ethel, she threw an envelope into her lap. " There s 
 your money," she cried, in her strident, unnatural 
 voice. " I d have brought it before, only I did n t 
 get home till late from working all day. Do you sup 
 pose I d have it in my house a minute? There s 
 blood blood on it. Do you know my Maggie s 
 dead ? And who killed her ? The man that stole that 
 money stole it, I say yes, stole it by wringing 
 and grinding and treading on the poor. And now 
 he tries to smooth things over by giving back a drop 
 of it. Did you think I d take it and be bought that 
 way? Do you think, for fifty dollars, I d give up the 
 right of saying he s in hell ? in hell ? in hell ? " 
 
 The instant the woman entered, Diana had under 
 stood the emergency, and set herself with divinely 
 quiet tact to get her out of the room. At this point 
 she succeeded, and nothing more was heard but the 
 echo of incoherent raving, as they gradually with 
 drew downstairs and into Diana s carriage, which 
 fortunately had just arrived. 
 
278 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 The awkwardness that fell upon the company after 
 this episode was such as one experiences only a few 
 times in a moderately long* life. Ethel, pale and 
 shaken more than she had ever been before, tried 
 to do something to support Milly s tactful efforts at 
 conversation ; but evidently the thing for the men 
 to do was to get away as soon as possible ; and they 
 did. 
 
 "If it had been a man ! If it had been a man !" 
 cried Kent, when they were in the street. Ethel s pale 
 ness had stirred him to unusual wrath. 
 
 " But the woman was simply crazy, neither more 
 nor less," Upham urged. 
 
 " Bah ! Crazy ! So was I." 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE EVERLASTING ARMS 
 
 ON a warm June Sunday, Harvey and Diana rode out 
 in the open car to Marcus s evening service. They had 
 long planned to do this ; but Diana had many en 
 gagements, and Harvey had determined not to seek 
 her society without a good excuse. This evening 
 tempted him, however ; so he telephoned and found 
 that she was at leisure and glad to go. 
 
 The little church was dimly lighted and only partly 
 filled. Diana chose a pew at the back, in a quiet cor 
 ner, close under the open window. If your thoughts 
 wandered and you looked out, you could catch the 
 calm twinkle of the stars through the elm boughs, 
 rocking gently in the summer breeze. Even if your 
 thoughts were most devoutly fixed, the sounds of 
 night would mingle with them, the long, low rustle 
 of the foliage, the perpetual throbbing murmur of a 
 thousand hidden creatures, broken now and then by 
 the clang and rush of a car or the tramp of horses 
 feet. 
 
 Harvey s thoughts were not fixed altogether. In- 
 
28o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 deed, at first, he paid little heed to the service. Diana 
 was beside him, close, their garments touching ; and 
 that proximity was too intense to leave, for the mo 
 ment, any room for vaguer things. Yet there before 
 him also was Marcus, dim and quiet in his sacerdotal 
 robes, moving about the duties of his sacred office 
 with a priestly dignity. Was not his proximity to 
 Diana in reality closer than Harvey s own, a spiritual 
 proximity beside which that of flesh and blood was 
 cold, limited, and incomplete ? The thought was so 
 deadening that he instinctively drew away from her 
 a little, as if their physical contact meant a separation 
 and a bar. It is true that Marcus had not, as yet, sug 
 gested any special feeling on his part toward Diana ; 
 indeed, Harvey sometimes doubted whether his friend 
 ever analyzed, or wished to analyze, the situation. 
 But it was not alone Kent s unkind innuendo it 
 was Harvey s own sense of the peculiar fitness of 
 the match, his keen appreciation of the sympathy in 
 nature and in aim which drew the two together, that 
 made him feel as if their union, sooner or later, was 
 inevitable. With that thought in mind how was it 
 possible for him to cherish these pleasant proximities 
 or to do anything but crush the great, the almost 
 overmastering hunger that possessed him ? 
 
 These thoughts filled his mind during the first part 
 of the service, they mingled with the low responses of 
 
THE EVERLASTING ARMS 281 
 
 the kneeling women and blended with the hushed, 
 distant murmur of the throng of summer insects. 
 Then Marcus began his discourse, and gradually the 
 burden of it forced itself into Harvey s ears, just a 
 brief simple burden, the grand phrase of Deuteron 
 omy, "And underneath are the everlasting arms." 
 The preacher attempted no elaborate logical develop 
 ment. He spoke without notes, and gradually warm 
 ing with the power of his theme, he dwelt upon the 
 weariness of common life, the weariness of success, 
 the weariness of power, the weariness of blind strength 
 hurling itself forever, in sinewed impotence, against 
 the barren cliffs and thorny thickets of the world. 
 And ever, as he depicted the failures of such strength, 
 all the weaker because of its superb confidence in 
 itself, he brought his hearers back to the immortal 
 calm of the old refrain, "And underneath are the 
 everlasting arms," "And underneath are the ever 
 lasting arms." 
 
 And Harvey, as he listened, forgot the vague 
 sounds of humanity outside and the tranquil chorus 
 of the insects, forgot the dim presence of the worship 
 ers, forgot even the enchanting nearness of Diana 
 herself. They were for him, these words, and they 
 burned themselves into his brain. Who knew better 
 than he the weakness of strength, its barren self-con 
 fidence, its absurd inadequacy in dealing with the 
 
282 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 serious problems of life ? Always hitherto, in all his 
 difficulties, he had trusted in himself, trusted in his 
 muscle, in his nerve, been unwilling to make the real 
 surrender that the fuller life of the soul demanded of 
 him. Now that trust began to fail. At last he dimly 
 seized the possibility of something higher and broader 
 and deeper and stronger than human muscle, and 
 human nerve, and human strength. The white figure 
 of Jesus shone out and burned before him, as it had 
 never done in other days. The whole mighty clasp 
 of the divine seemed to enfold him in the awful repe 
 tition of those words, " And underneath are the ever 
 lasting arms," " And underneath are the everlasting 
 arms." 
 
 After the service they waited a few moments for 
 Marcus ; and he walked with them to the car. The 
 conversation was mainly between him and Diana, 
 who thanked him, with much feeling, for his brief 
 talk. 
 
 " You ought to have, you must have a wider circle 
 of hearers," she went on. " Such preaching as yours 
 must not be wasted on a little country parish." 
 
 " You overestimate it altogether," he replied. " But 
 such as it is, I don t think it wasted. I believe I am 
 more fitted to talk simply to a few earnest people in 
 the twilight than for anything else. At any rate, I 
 always feel, myself, that I talk better in that way." 
 
THE EVERLASTING ARMS 283 
 
 Then he went on to suggest some difficulties in 
 his parish work and to ask her advice about them. 
 Harvey listened and answered, when one or the other 
 made a courteous effort to bring him into the conver 
 sation ; but, for the time, his thoughts were on other 
 things. 
 
 Riding home beside Diana he was equally silent, 
 and after one or two attempts to make him talk, ren 
 dered doubly difficult by the noisy surroundings, she 
 too settled into quiet reflection on the experiences of 
 the evening. 
 
 When they got out at the corner of Fan-field Street 
 they passed back of the car, and Diana, who was 
 ahead, stepped directly in the way of an automobile, 
 which was going quite as fast as the law allows. She 
 screamed a little, and stood still, paralyzed for the 
 moment. One or two other women screamed a good 
 deal. But Harvey reached forward and, catching her 
 under the arms, swung her back to safety. Then the 
 automobile passed one way into the darkness and 
 the car the other, and the two were left standing in 
 the middle of the street. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said Harvey, with his usual 
 tranquillity. 
 
 She looked at him trembling. It was the first time 
 she had got any direct impression of the splendid 
 vigor of his muscles. " My pardon ? " she repeated. 
 
284 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Where should I have been now, if it had n t been 
 for you ? How strong you must be." 
 
 As they started to walk home, Harvey saw that 
 she was somewhat shaken and disturbed. " You had 
 better take hold of my arm," he suggested. 
 
 She did so, without speaking. To have her so close 
 to him, so dependent on him, her whom he felt to be 
 in reality so much the stronger of the two, made a 
 curious blend with the other impressions which the 
 evening had afforded. 
 
 When they reached her house, she asked him to 
 come in, and he accepted the invitation. A mighty 
 desire possessed him to tell her of all he had felt, of 
 all he had been through, to compare sensations with 
 her, to find out what her experience had been of this 
 vast exaltation, this supreme repose. Something of 
 the kind he attempted. There seemed to be a blind 
 and painful groping of his spirit towards her ; but it 
 was fruitless and unavailing, ended in little more 
 than a commonplace expression of pleasure in Mar 
 cus s gift of teaching and preaching, ended, as their 
 conversations were now so apt to do, in admiring 
 eulogy of Marcus himself. Why was it that she was 
 so difficult to approach, so remote from him, so almost 
 on her guard, as it appeared, against any touch of 
 sentiment or sympathy ? Was it because he had been 
 so abrupt with her, had so foolishly, so crudely intro- 
 
THE EVERLASTING ARMS 285 
 
 duced a merely personal element into their relation 
 which she would have kept wholly ethereal and ab 
 stract ? He could not help asking himself whether she 
 would resent the personal element as much when it 
 was embodied in Marcus. But then, Marcus had tact 
 and he had none. 
 
 As he fell asleep that night, these thoughts were 
 strangely mingled in his mind with the strong emo 
 tions of the earlier part of the evening, and the sense 
 of separation from her made him recur again to the 
 overmastering refrain, " And underneath are the ever 
 lasting arms." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 "GO ASK HER TO-MORROW " 
 
 DAYLIGHT and the return to commoner things dulled, 
 for a time, the intensity of Harvey s religious expe 
 rience. It was there, hovering in the background ; 
 but still the old, stubborn Adam fought against it, 
 not so much in the longing for pure worldliness, as 
 in the hatred of self-surrender, the unwillingness to 
 give up quite to the new commanding influence, to 
 come out squarely and openly under the leadership 
 of Christ. If Marcus had been approachable, avail 
 able, had laid the earnest softness of his touch on his 
 friend s heart, at the appropriate moment, the thing 
 would doubtless have been done. But just at this 
 time Marcus was very busy with his own concerns, 
 often also with Diana s, whom Harvey was still dis 
 posed to avoid. And Harvey found himself more 
 and more engaged with his country hospital. The 
 work was growing. Those who managed it, finding 
 that he had leisure, intelligence, and inclination, left 
 him more and more of the burden. He threw himself 
 into his task with much energy, and devoted all the 
 
ASK HER TO-MORROW" 287 
 
 first part of the summer to a new method of organ 
 ization which put the whole scheme on a more satis 
 factory business basis and gave great promise of suc 
 cess in the future. Thus he saw very little of his two 
 friends ; but what he did see confirmed him more 
 and more in the impression that they were drawing 
 nearer to each other. 
 
 It was an intensely hot evening toward the end of 
 July, and Harvey was sitting in his room, in distinct 
 undress, perspiring over the hospital accounts, when 
 he was astonished by a visit from Marcus. 
 
 " Come in, old man," he cried, " and take off your 
 clothes. You 11 die, if you don t." 
 
 "No, you come out with me," Marcus replied. 
 " We 11 stroll somewhere. It s cooler outside." 
 
 Harvey glanced at his accounts and thought that 
 this meant the small hours of the morning. Then he 
 glanced at Marcus and saw that he was paler than 
 usual, looked almost ill, in fact. It might be the heat. 
 It was more likely to be something else, Harvey 
 thought, and thought he knew what that something 
 was. So, without further discussion, he put on his 
 collar and coat and followed his friend into the street. 
 
 They walked down the avenue more rapidly than 
 was quite consistent with comfort in such a tempera 
 ture, talking of things indifferent, other conversa 
 tion being hardly possible amid the roar and rattle 
 
288 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 of cars and the varied confusion of the crowd. In 
 the same way they continued down Boylston Street 
 till they reached the Public Garden. There Marcus 
 turned in, and, after some searching, they found a 
 seat to themselves, out of the glare of the light, where 
 they could exchange their thoughts in comparative 
 peace. 
 
 At first it seemed as if they had none to exchange, 
 and they sat side by side in silence, Harvey tran 
 quilly enjoying his cigar. A breath of freshness 
 began to pass through the night air. Overhead the 
 leaves trembled softly. Distant sounds of every kind 
 mingled together in rough harmony. A man and a 
 woman were sitting on a bench near them, half 
 hidden by an intervening thicket. The man spoke 
 low, steadily, passionately. You could hear the tone, 
 though not the words. Now and then the woman 
 uttered a vague murmur, more passionate than his. 
 
 Finally Marcus began to speak. His voice was a 
 bit hurried and broken, lacked the soft note of com 
 mand which naturally belonged to it. " I want to ask 
 your advice, Harvey." 
 
 " My advice ? It s not worth much." 
 
 " It is to me just now." He paused again, as if 
 at a loss for words. " Miss Newton " he went on. 
 " I ve got singularly fond of her, you know." 
 
 " That s quite natural," was the sympathetic reply. 
 
"GO ASK HER TO-MORROW" 289 
 
 " I don t know whether it is or not." Now that he 
 had started, Marcus spoke with his usual ease, but 
 he still looked away from his friend at the man and 
 woman of the passionate duologue. " I don t know 
 whether to be ashamed of it or not." 
 
 " No," interrupted Harvey abruptly. 
 
 " I don t mean ashamed of the feeling, but of my 
 self for having it ; I ve never thought much of those 
 things, kept away from women, believed in a priest s 
 exclusive devotion to his work. I really hoped that 
 it would be so with me, that I was stronger or colder 
 than other men. I was a little proud of it, I m afraid. 
 And now she s different from other women, 
 Harvey." 
 
 "They mostly are," was the sententious com 
 ment. 
 
 "I shan t blame you for laughing at me," con 
 tinued the minister, in all humility. 
 
 " I m not laughing really," answered Harvey, 
 with earnestness. " I m not much of a laugher, as 
 you know. As for Miss Newton she is different. 
 She is not flesh and blood, as I told you once." Ah, 
 how clearly he remembered that interview. " She s 
 pure spirit." 
 
 " Yes," Marcus agreed. " And therefore I m mak 
 ing a fool of myself." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," replied his friend, with energy. 
 
290 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " You are just the one for her and she for 
 you." 
 
 Marcus sat up and looked Harvey straight in the 
 eye, laying an eager hand on his arm. " Do you 
 think so?" The passion of his tone struck cold on 
 Harvey s heart. " Don t encourage me unless you 
 really think so. You don t know what she s grown 
 to be to me. I hear her voice when I pray morning 
 and evening. I see her face when I stand at the altar. 
 It would be terrible if it were n t so beautiful. It would 
 be wicked if it were n t right. Harvey do you 
 think she cares for me?" He bent forward and 
 covered his face with his hands. A little shudder 
 shook his frame and Harvey felt it. 
 
 " How can a man tell positively about these 
 things?" he answered, with his wonderful gentle 
 ness. " She must love you, old man. How can she 
 help it, when you have everything in common ? " 
 
 For a little while nothing was said. The breeze 
 rocked the great branches of the elms more audibly. 
 The man and woman had ceased speaking, save 
 for an occasional whisper, and sat with their hands 
 clasped, looking now and again into each other s 
 eyes. 
 
 When Marcus spoke, it was without changing his 
 position, and with a certain abruptness. " I thought 
 at first you loved her yourself, Harvey." 
 
"GO ASK HER TO-MORROW" 291 
 
 Harvey met the thrust unperturbed. "At first I 
 thought so, too." 
 
 Marcus sat up and looked at his friend. "And 
 now ?" His voice was hoarse, harsh almost. 
 
 " Now I see she s not my kind," continued the 
 other calmly. " Not flesh and blood, you know. I 
 am. She belongs way, way up above me, just as you 
 do. I can never get up there, and if I did I could n t 
 stay. I can only look up and stumble in the mud, 
 while I m doing it." 
 
 The instant response came, low and eager. " If I 
 thought, for a moment, I were coming between her 
 and you, I would tear the image of her out of my 
 heart, if half my heart went with it." 
 
 "I know you would, I know you would," an 
 swered Harvey, in his most commonplace manner. 
 " Luckily there s no need of anything of the kind. 
 Go ask her to-morrow. I know what she 11 say to 
 you." 
 
 "Ask her," repeated the minister, after another 
 brief pause. "I don t know how. What words?" 
 
 "Don t think about the words. All that will ar 
 range itself." 
 
 " And to-morrow," Marcus went on. " She s going 
 away to-morrow for six weeks. Didn t you know 
 it?" 
 
 " No." Any one but a lover would have started at 
 
292 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 the sound of the monosyllable ; but this priest-lover 
 heard it not. " I could n t ask her so soon/ he con 
 tinued. "I will wait till she gets back give her 
 time give myself time." 
 
 " Better have it over," was Harvey s friendly sug 
 gestion. 
 
 " No, no, I could n t. I must think of it further, 
 must adjust my life to it, must make myself more 
 worthy of her. I am so unworthy. Harvey, do you 
 think she can say yes ? " 
 
 Again Harvey asserted, with the most common 
 place candor, that he had every reason to think she 
 would ; and during the remainder of the evening he 
 listened, with an unfailing patience, to his friend s 
 doubts and questions and difficulties, to those in 
 tensely personal outpourings which come so readily 
 from every lover, priest or layman, high or low. 
 
 When Marcus had at length departed, and the ac 
 counts of the country hospital became the urgent 
 necessity of the moment, Harvey, even while he 
 worked at them with all his energy, felt himself 
 oppressed by an overwhelming sense of desolation 
 and solitude. On toward the pale morning hours 
 he labored, when the city sounds were hushed into 
 comparative quiet and the slow ticking of the clock 
 was the only accompaniment to the dull thud of fig 
 ures on his heated brain. Another sphere ! Another 
 
"GO ASK HER TO-MORROW" 293 
 
 sphere ! Those two were like pure, dim, twin stars 
 floating- serenely, in another sphere. And for his 
 gross flesh and weary sinews there was nothing but 
 dull, perpetual plodding on the barren surface of the 
 dusty earth. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE WINDFLOWER 
 
 HARVEY saw Marcus once or twice during the next 
 week or two, and received his friend s confidences 
 always with the same patience and sympathy. Nev 
 ertheless, it was something of a relief when the rector 
 went to pay a short visit to his invalid mother in the 
 western part of the state. Harvey felt that if once 
 that marriage were arranged and over, life would be 
 easier to accept and to endure. 
 
 Through August the country hospital required con 
 stant attention. By the end of the month, however, 
 the new organization was completed, things were to 
 a certain extent running themselves, and Harvey 
 found himself without enough to do. The weather 
 had been close, heavy, and depressing all through 
 the month. Every one but Kent was out of town, 
 and Kent was always busy. Harvey passed a good 
 deal of time in thinking, and thinking was an occu 
 pation he never liked. He thought of Marcus always 
 with love and reverence, yet just now with a little 
 touch of estrangement. He thought of Diana, and 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 295 
 
 the thought was bitter-sweet. Yes, he could never 
 forget what she had done for him, been to him. That 
 memory would light him and guide him always. 
 Only, at present, the light seemed a trifle far away. 
 There were dark spots in the road, full of mire and 
 mist, ever ready to befoul and befog the unwary trav 
 eler. Even the work he had been doing all sum 
 mer, the hard work, the really good work, did not 
 quite satisfy him. After all, there was nothing very 
 spiritual about it. Every one had praised his aptitude, 
 had hoped he would be able to continue in the same 
 enterprise and others. He hoped so himself and ex 
 pected it. Yet what he had done was a matter of 
 business, not so very unlike his duties in his uncle s 
 office. He had even been dismayed to find that good, 
 charitable, devoted people were inclined to be won 
 derfully tolerant of some of the business methods 
 which had excited his wrath and disgust, especially 
 when their own philanthropic pursuits seemed likely 
 to benefit thereby. He said to himself that these 
 earthy mixtures were matter of course in all the do 
 ings of the children of earth. He was far from being 
 definitely discouraged, as he had been a year before. 
 Diana s influence and energy and enthusiasm had 
 taken hold of him too deeply for that. But he was 
 weary, weary in body and still more in soul, doubt 
 ful, lacked hope and clear vision of the future. At the 
 
296 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 moment, it seemed as if an entire change, even if only 
 for a little while, would be thoroughly acceptable. 
 
 Then Ethel wrote and asked if he would go yacht 
 ing with them for September. " You need it, I am 
 sure," she said. "Aunt Lucia and Milly and I are 
 going, anyway. If you go, we shall ask Mr. Kent. 
 We start on Monday, the fourth, and are coming up 
 Friday to stay over at the Touraine and make our 
 preparations. Come and see us there and be pre 
 pared to say you 11 go." 
 
 Harvey read the note, then leaned back with his 
 eyes shut, thinking it over. " Yes, he would go. He 
 could leave now, and he had surely earned a vaca 
 tion. And the yacht he loved it so. The reek of 
 the salt air filled his nostrils and made his blood 
 dance. Milly was going too. Well, why should he 
 not see Milly ? He had chosen his path and certainly 
 he should walk in it even alone even with the 
 vision of those other two walking together in a 
 golden glory which he could not share. But Milly 
 was gay and frank and merry. Her laughter and the 
 sparkle of the waves would do him good. Then, 
 when he came back, Marcus s little affair would all be 
 settled. There would be nothing left but to congrat 
 ulate and adjust one s self to permanent relations. 
 Yes, he would go." 
 
 So Friday evening he went to the Touraine. They 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 297 
 
 were all there, and they were all good to him, and it 
 was very pleasant. Some little courteous reference 
 was made to his present occupations, but there was 
 no raillery, nothing unkind or satirical. The talk 
 turned mostly on Cataumet and the summer s doings 
 there ; and Harvey found himself listening, with a 
 rather hungry interest, to various personal details of 
 flirtation and sport. This was not the atmosphere 
 which Diana and Marcus would have approved. 
 Harvey did not approve of it himself. But he had 
 grown up in it. It seemed desperately natural, and 
 for the time very agreeable. Then they discussed 
 their coming trip, and Harvey was the one they all 
 turned to. Harvey knew the Maine coast. If he knew 
 it ! Had he not spent summer after summer there, till 
 three years ago ? Harvey knew the Windflower, and 
 all about other yachts, and yachting, and yachting 
 ways. So they chattered till twelve o clock and after. 
 
 " He seemed to like it," said Ethel to Milly, as they 
 were going to bed. 
 
 "He seemed to," was the thoughtful reply. " I 
 doubt if he really did." 
 
 Saturday evening Harvey called, and again Sun 
 day. On the latter occasion he found only Aunt 
 Lucia, as Ethel had gone out. 
 
 " I m so glad to get you alone, Harvey," began 
 his aunt. " I want to talk to you." 
 
298 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 The young man blandly signified his willingness to 
 undergo the operation, though he was rather aston 
 ished at Miss Lucia s decided attitude. 
 
 "I think" she went on, "I am afraid that 
 Ethel is going to marry Mr. Kent." 
 
 Harvey had often thought of this, even mentioned 
 it jestingly to Kent. If it had been spoken of in 
 general terms, he would have approved, he did ap 
 prove. Yet something in the idea was disagreeable 
 to him. Was it necessary that just now the whole 
 world should be busy with marrying and giving in 
 marriage ? 
 
 " What put that into your head ? " he asked. 
 
 "Well, they re a great deal together. He s been 
 at Cataumet a number of times this summer, you 
 know." 
 
 Harvey did not know. He had been at Cataumet 
 only one night himself, and had heard nothing of 
 Kent then. But if the affair was palpable to Aunt 
 Lucia, it must be very palpable indeed. Then, 
 after a moment s thought, he conquered his repug 
 nance, and expressed his broader view. " Well, and 
 would n t it be a good thing? " 
 
 Aunt Lucia looked, for her, considerably annoyed. 
 " He s got nothing, of course. At least, I don t sup 
 pose he has. And he s so very forth-putting, I 
 might say. Young men seem to be so nowadays, 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 299 
 
 all but you, Harvey. And I don t believe your uncle 
 would have liked it." 
 
 " I don t know," was the thoughtful answer. " I m 
 inclined to think he might have liked it very well." 
 
 " Oh, but you know what he wanted about you 
 and Ethel," the old lady continued, with tears in her 
 eyes. " He loved you both, so much." 
 
 " I know he did. But, Aunt Lucia, Ethel would 
 never have cared for me." 
 
 " Yes, she would, you silly boy. You would n t let 
 her." 
 
 For half a second Harvey saw the last two years as 
 one vast mistake. It is a painful thing, as most of us 
 know, to get a glimpse of a considerable stretch of 
 life under that aspect. But the thought passed quickly. 
 "It could never have been," he said. "As it is, I 
 think we must be glad that George should have her. 
 He s a good fellow." 
 
 Then Ethel herself came in, and that conversation 
 ended. 
 
 Monday was a bright, clear, hot day ; and as Har 
 vey stepped aboard the Windflower he felt that he 
 was entering another world. The spotless deck, the 
 dazzling twinkle of the polished brasses, the lazy oscil 
 lation of the trim schooner in the tide, all carried him 
 back to old days when the thoughtless enjoyment of 
 this world was everything, and conscience, with its 
 
joo BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 dim disquietudes, had not entered in. He gripped 
 the ropes of the side-ladder with sudden intensity, as 
 if he were meeting the clasp of an old friend. 
 
 An even warmer grip was reserved for the scrawny 
 brown hand of Captain Jim Ogden, who for fifteen 
 years had managed Mr. Phelps s boating matters, pass 
 ing the winter in charge of the place at Cataumet. 
 Captain Jim was a tall, lank, shapeless down-easter, 
 who had knocked about the world since he was ten 
 years old, yet kept a heart as innocent and candid as 
 Harvey s own, with a head that would stand any kind 
 of a knock and keep steady in every sort of an emer 
 gency. He had been a marine foster-father to Har 
 vey, having plunged him into the water for his first 
 swim, and pulled him out after the upsetting of 
 his first catboat. Honest Captain Jim ! Harvey had 
 almost forgotten him in the different atmosphere of 
 the last few years. Now his bluff, hearty greeting 
 was delightful except for the "Mr. Phelps" at the 
 end of it. 
 
 " I say, Jim, old man, cut that out. It s Harvey or 
 nothing." 
 
 Jim grinned, spat over the rail, and proceeded to 
 exhibit the latest improvements. 
 
 Promptly at twelve the anchor came up and they 
 were off, with a freshening easterly breeze, which 
 bade fair to shove them along properly, when they 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 301 
 
 got clear of the harbor. The Windflower was an 
 excellent sailer, but she was broadish in the beam, 
 built for stiff seas rather than gallery work, and there 
 was no denying that it suited her best to have the 
 wind well on her quarter. 
 
 "Now, Harvey," said Ethel, as they stood in a 
 group on the after deck, when lunch was over, " you re 
 skipper. Is n t he, Captain Jim ?" 
 
 "Sure, Miss. Who else?" 
 
 Harvey made no answer ; but his chest expanded 
 under his white flannels, and stepping to the wheel, 
 he took the spokes from the helmsman, handling 
 them as if he had done nothing else from his cradle. 
 Oh, the pleasure of feeling the boat turn and quiver 
 in his grasp, like a real, live thing ! To stand there 
 and look forward to the broad, towering sweep of the 
 white canvas, with the flash of green water under foot, 
 and out beyond the tossing, turbulent infinite of blue. 
 The freedom of it ! The freedom of it ! To fill one s 
 lungs, and one s heart, and one s soul with it, after all 
 those months of unnatural constraint. Say what you 
 might, it was a good world, a bright world, a glorious 
 world, just to live in and no more. 
 
 Miss Lucia and Ethel placed themselves near Har 
 vey and exchanged a word with him, whenever he 
 could be got to talk. Milly had gone forward all by 
 herself and was seated on a camp stool in the bow, 
 
302 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 watching the dash and gleam and glitter of the spray, 
 as it flew high off the graceful cutwater. When Kent 
 emerged from below, where he had been writing a 
 letter, he went forward and joined her. 
 
 For a long time they sat silent, now looking down 
 into the deep green which slipped away under them, 
 now gazing at the drift of while sails near by, or at 
 the rocky, sunlit shores. The sea breeze was increas 
 ing in strength and bringing a haze with it which 
 gave delicious softness to the September landscape. 
 
 " This is a little voyage which may be loaded with 
 great matters," said Kent, at length, softly, not look 
 ing at his companion, but out to sea. 
 
 "It is so," she assented, with lovely, formal sim 
 plicity. 
 
 " What if all those who are starting unattached 
 should come back in couples ? " 
 
 " Captain Jim and Miss Lucia ? " 
 
 "Well, yes; why not? These sea-isolations are 
 wonderful for developing affinity. Witness the 
 novels of Clark Russell." 
 
 " I have n t read them." 
 
 "You ought." 
 
 Again silence. They were running close under the 
 lee of a huge, ungainly four-master, named the Re 
 becca Curtis, so close that she almost took the wind 
 out of their sails. A few ancient mariners, whose best 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 303 
 
 clothes were obviously hung out to dry across decks, 
 leaned over the rail and surveyed the yacht with the 
 grim hatred which all genuine toilers of the sea natu 
 rally feel for that butterfly generation. Kent waved 
 his hand to them and they returned the salute with a 
 discourteous gesture. 
 
 " Harvey is on the snobbish side again, here," he 
 said, laughing, to his companion. " Poor Harvey." 
 
 " Oh, yes, poor Harvey," she echoed. 
 
 " Your sympathy does n t sound sincere." 
 
 " It is n t." She turned and and looked at him, her 
 face full of sudden animation. "Why poor Harvey? 
 Because he wants the earth and can t have it ? He 
 wants all the fun of vice and all the reward of virtue. 
 So do we all, and some of us can t have either. He 
 seems to be sure of one or the other." 
 
 " And I fancy on this trip he means to make his 
 choice. Don t you?" 
 
 " I don t know," she answered, in a low tone, turn 
 ing her head away again. 
 
 They were getting out into open water now and 
 the long bound of the yacht over the swell was glo 
 rious in its rhythmic motion ; but these two had no 
 thought for anything but the topic that absorbed them. 
 
 " It means a good deal to you, does n t it ? " Kent 
 asked, with singular gentleness. 
 
 Again she looked up, but more slowly and with a 
 
304 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 strange, sad wistfulness in her tone. " Yes, it does. 
 I don t try to conceal it from you, who understand me 
 a great deal better than he ever could. I want him ; 
 oh, I want him. And to think that I might have had 
 him, all for my own, and just threw him away, away 
 into the lap of that pale, quiet creature, who passes 
 her time trying to do her duty. Think of it ! As if 
 her duty could possibly matter to any human being, 
 past, present, or to come. Why does he like her, Mr. 
 Kent?" 
 
 Kent shrugged his shoulders. " He ought to like 
 you better. I hope he will. I hope it will prove so." 
 
 " No," she answered, with a sad shake of her head. 
 Then she began to talk of his concerns. " It will be 
 all settled with you in a day or two, I suppose ? " 
 
 " How can I tell ? Do you encourage me ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Do you approve ? " 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 "Yet," he continued doubtfully, " even I don t like 
 to seem to marry for money. You know, it is n t so, 
 really " He paused, with his speech half finished. 
 
 She laughed a little hard laugh, which did n t quite 
 become her. " Is n t it awkward ?" she said. "You 
 don t quite like to admit, even to me, that millions 
 and yachts are what you want. Yet you can t quite 
 say to me that you love the girl, when you re- 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 305 
 
 member what passed between us a year ago let me 
 see we shall go by the very spot this afternoon, 
 shan t we ? Do let s look out for it together." Then, 
 softening her tone a little, " I do understand your po 
 sition, Mr. Kent. I know you love Ethel, and she s 
 worth loving. Not perhaps quite as you might have 
 loved me, if I had n t been too cross-grained. There 
 won t be much vitriol in it, will there ? But that burns. 
 Now I think we d better go back to the others. If 
 they were to get jealous what an unnecessary com 
 plication ! " 
 
 They made their way aft, to join the remainder of 
 the party ; and there they all sat, while the glorious 
 summer day slipped by dreamily, deliciously. Har 
 vey kept his place at the wheel and spoke little. The 
 others chatted vaguely of sea and land matters. The 
 steady southeast wind swept the yacht along under 
 full sail, like a pure windflower, as she was ; and the 
 most prosaic of human beings could hardly have failed 
 to feel the magical beauty of color in that sea and sky, 
 dotted with white clouds and sails, and fringed, in the 
 background, with the more sober tints of green field 
 and dark and rugged rock. 
 
 They reached Gloucester toward the latter part of 
 the afternoon and anchored in the harbor for the 
 night, as Miss Lucia wished to visit some friends at 
 East Gloucester in the morning. After dinner, Kent, 
 
306 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Milly, and Ethel took the little launch which the Wind- 
 flower carried, in addition to her tender, and went for 
 a short trip along the shore by moonlight. Harvey 
 stayed to chat with Captain Jim. 
 
 The two leaned over the rail and smoked, gazing 
 off at the lights as they twinkled palely beneath the 
 moon, listening to the cries and songs and laughter 
 of the sailors in the craft about them or to the further 
 murmur of the city. Then Harvey began vaguely to 
 pick up little threads of boyish reminiscence. " Do 
 you remember the day we went to such a place and 
 did so and so ? " " That summer on the coast of Lab 
 rador, the iceberg, the gale on the banks ? " " What 
 a close call we had when I first went blue-fishing and 
 the big fellow pulled me overboard." 
 
 Captain Jim grinned and responded heartily, as if 
 he were enjoying himself ; yet he seemed to have 
 something on his mind. At length, in one of the 
 frequent and long pauses with which Harvey inter 
 spersed the talk, the Captain cleared his throat and 
 began, with an effort : " Say, Harvey, I don t see but 
 you re just about the same as you always was." 
 
 Harvey looked round in astonishment and laughed : 
 "Why should n t I be?" 
 
 " Search me," said Captain Jim ; " but they told me 
 you wasn t." Then, as Harvey resumed his contem 
 plation of the harbor, without further comment, the 
 
THE WINDFLOWER 307 
 
 Captain took courage and went on with his lecture ; 
 for such it was apparently intended to be. " They tell 
 me you ve got notions and think it s wicked to be 
 rich and would n t take your uncle s money. Is that 
 so?" 
 
 " Well," was the meditative answer, addressed to 
 Captain Jim and the fishes, "I suppose that s the 
 way they would put the thing, in a nutshell." 
 
 " Now," continued the Captain, warming up with 
 his work and finding it rather agreeable, " that s all 
 damn foolishness. There s got to be rich in the world 
 and there s got to be poor, and the poor most gen 
 erally always deserves to be. You might call me poor. 
 I ain t, by George. I ve earned my living since I 
 was twelve years old, and there ain t a rich man on 
 earth that s had more fun out of it than I have. And 
 others can do the same, if they want to. It ain t bein 
 rich or poor that counts, it s bein a square man and 
 bein right there with the goods, when your turn 
 comes. And if you talk of square men, there was your 
 uncle ; he was one of the squarest, whitest men that 
 ever lived. Do you think you can do the trick better 
 than him?" 
 
 Harvey shook his head. 
 
 " Nor I don t neither. Nor any other of your 
 darned philanthropists, as they call themselves, that 
 go round stickin notions into people s heads that 
 
3 o8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 don t belong there. The way to look at it, Harvey, 
 is this. You ve got a duty. You re a square man 
 like your uncle was. It s your duty to take this 
 money that s comin to you and do what your uncle 
 would have done with it. If you don t, it 11 most 
 likely fall into worse hands. And don t you listen 
 to any of these fellers who tell you it s wrong to have 
 any money, and right to give it all away. They 
 have n t got any. If they had, you d see what would 
 happen. I suppose you think I J m an ignorant old 
 sailor ; but there s just one thing. I ve lived a lot of 
 my life among what they call the poorer classes, and 
 I ain t in such a damned hurry to pity em as some 
 that don t know em so well." 
 
 Captain Jim concluded his vigorous oration, with 
 which he was evidently much pleased. But Harvey 
 did not attempt any argument, simply held out his 
 hand for the captain s bony grasp, and said, " Thank 
 you, old man." 
 
 That night, however, as the slow sway of the tide 
 in Gloucester Harbor rocked him into peaceful slum 
 ber, he could not help reflecting that, after all, there 
 might be a certain rude sense in Captain Jim s view 
 of things. But it would not have pleased Diana. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE COMING OF THE TIDE 
 
 THE cruise of the Windflower was a dream of beauty 
 and delight, broken only by the incidents natural to 
 such an excursion, an occasional heavy sea, and a 
 stormy day or two in harbor. The wanderers stopped, 
 for a longer or shorter time, at all the most interest 
 ing points on the Maine coast, notably at Mount 
 Desert. Then, in the latter part of the month, they 
 continued on somewhat farther, to the entrance of 
 the Bay of Fundy ; and on the twenty-fifth, having 
 reached the limit of their time, they anchored at the 
 mouth of a large, beautifully broken estuary, mean 
 ing to explore it a little, before turning their course 
 toward home. 
 
 During the whole trip, Harvey had abandoned 
 himself completely, deliberately, to the charm of his 
 surroundings. Yet once more he would drain the 
 cup of selfish pleasure to the full, try the savor of it, 
 test the worth of it. He sailed the yacht. He ate and 
 drank the delicacies which Ethel s thoughtful care 
 had provided. When he was on board, he idled, lay 
 
3 io BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 in the sun, and let the women purr over him. When 
 he was on shore, he danced with pretty girls and 
 trifled away the time. And he enjoyed it his 
 make-up was such that he enjoyed the luxury, the 
 idleness, the trifling, the drench of golden sunshine 
 amid the trifling of others. Yet in the sweetest mo 
 ments there came a sense of dissatisfaction, a haunt 
 ing uneasiness which he had never known before. 
 When he was in a ballroom at Bar Harbor, dancing 
 with the prettiest girl there, he was astonished to 
 find himself thinking of the country hospital, wonder 
 ing whether his arrangements were going rightly, 
 and in particular whether a certain poor woman, who 
 was just getting over an operation for appendicitis, 
 was having the attention and the care and the com 
 forts she ought to have. When these shadows of 
 conscience or duty fell thickest, the thing that was 
 most apt to make him forget them was the presence 
 of Miss Erskine. Somehow, he and she were often 
 together, now that Ethel and Kent had interests of 
 their own which seemed to require frequent discussion 
 in private. And Harvey found Milly in an indefinable 
 way changed from her former self. She was still gay 
 and merry, always ready with a sparkling jest, even 
 a cynical one. But she had moments of thoughtful- 
 ness, almost of melancholy, which seemed strange in 
 her, moments when she would actually sit quiet and 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 311 
 
 expect Harvey to talk. Her whole manner had grown 
 gentler, more tender, more earnest, had at times almost 
 something of a sad wistfulness about it. This attitude 
 puzzled Harvey and interested him, made him feel 
 more in sympathy with her than he had done for 
 many months past. 
 
 The evening after they had reached their final 
 anchorage, Harvey and Kent talked and smoked late 
 on deck, when the others had gone to bed. As Kent 
 finally threw the end of his cigar into the water and 
 declared his intention of turning in, Harvey remarked : 
 " I say, old man, you 11 let a fellow know when it s 
 all settled, won t you ? " 
 
 Kent hesitated, then came back to his companion s 
 side and spoke frankly : "I believe I 11 try my luck 
 to-morrow if I get a chance. What do you think 
 of it?" 
 
 " You re all right. Go ahead. I congratulate you." 
 
 "And you don t bear me any grudge?" 
 
 "Why should I?" 
 
 "After all," Kent continued, with some note of 
 apology, " you can t have em all you know." 
 
 " Perhaps not any of em." 
 
 The jocular suggestion had a hint of sadness in it 
 which Kent knew and answered. " Nonsense, you 
 might have had em all only not all at once. In 
 this country things are so painfully limited." 
 
3 i2 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 "Well, good-night, George," said Harvey, as his 
 friend went below. u Good-night, pleasant dreams, 
 and good luck." 
 
 Harvey himself stayed and smoked for an hour 
 longer, watching the fog bank climb up from the east 
 over the stars and listening to the lazy swash of the 
 tide beneath the vessel s counter. " Might he have 
 had any of them ? And was he really to have none ? " 
 
 In the morning the fog hung thick over everything 
 and it was impossible to be on deck without protec 
 tion. Books and bridge in the cabin were absolutely 
 necessary to get rid of the time. But towards noon 
 the sun burned its way out and after luncheon Ethel 
 proposed that they should take the little launch and 
 make a short excursion up the bay. Somehow the 
 proposition did not meet with general acceptance. 
 Harvey wished to finish his book of the morning and 
 Milly had something of a headache and preferred to 
 stay on board. 
 
 " You and George go," suggested Harvey, " and 
 explore, and report." 
 
 " If Mr. Kent cares to," Ethel answered, and her 
 sunburnt cheek grew a shade darker. 
 
 " Of course I care to." Long experience in jour 
 nalism had made it impossible for Kent to blush ; but 
 he would have done so under these circumstances, if 
 he could. 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 313 
 
 Just as they were being pushed clear of the vessel, 
 Captain Jim, who had been casting a glance seaward, 
 called out : " You 11 have to keep watch for the fog. 
 It 11 be back towards night, and if you ain t careful, 
 you might run by us." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir," said Ethel. The launch shot gayly 
 off into the blue water. 
 
 They ran directly up the bay, which was nearly a 
 mile wide and narrowed but little, until the very end. 
 Ethel steered and did the sailoring generally, her 
 companion being more at home on land than on the 
 ocean. Although the mists still hung heavily about 
 the southern horizon, the sky overhead was clear and 
 wonderfully soft. A light easterly breeze tipped the 
 blue waves with foam and made them glitter and 
 flash and sparkle about the flying craft. Along the 
 rocky shores, maples just turning were mingled with 
 the spruces and hemlocks, and bred a perfect riot of 
 color in the mellow autumn light. 
 
 When they had run about two miles from the 
 Windflower, they came to a long, low ledge of bare 
 rock, around which was gathered a noisy swarm of 
 gulls and other seabirds, cutting the air in every 
 possible curve with the white flash of their radiant 
 motion, or alighting, in fretful tumult, near some 
 object which could not be discerned from the level 
 of the water. 
 
3 14 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " What in the world are they after ? " asked Kent, 
 with all the curiosity of a landsman and a boy. 
 
 " We might go and see," Ethel answered ; " but I 
 suspect we shall find something not very pleasant/ 
 
 They went, however, running the launch into a 
 little opening at the back of the ledge. 
 
 "How is the tide I wonder?" asked the head of 
 the expedition. 
 
 " Low water a few minutes before six," was the 
 unexpected reply. 
 
 " How do you know ? And do you know ? " 
 
 "I do happened to look this morning, by an ex 
 traordinary chance." 
 
 "Very well. Then we won t pull her up much. 
 Just throw the painter round that stone." 
 
 The gulls naturally dispersed on the arrival of vis 
 itors, and the object that had attracted them proved 
 to be, as Ethel had suggested, not very pleasant, some 
 slimy sea monster who had met his death within an 
 only comparatively recent period. But the islet itself 
 was sunny and offered a number of flat and tranquil 
 places just adapted for the comfortable seating of two ; 
 and Kent thought that it might be as well to linger 
 there a little while. So they made their way to the 
 farther end, and established themselves on a broad 
 rock, some five or six feet above the water. They 
 were facing west, looking towards the blue dance of 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 315 
 
 the waves in the sunlight and the nearest shore with 
 its gorgeous foliage. The Windflower was behind 
 them and nearly hidden by the rocks ; for Kent did 
 not care to keep within the range of Captain Jim s 
 all-penetrating glass. 
 
 When they had sat silent for a moment or two, 
 Kent began abruptly with what was next his heart. 
 " I dare say you can imagine something of what I 
 want to say, Miss Harper." 
 
 If she could, she made no sign, but sat still, with 
 her eyes fixed on the autumn glory towards the 
 west. 
 
 " There are a great many reasons why I should not 
 ask you to marry me," Kent went on. 
 
 Still she made no sign ; only turned her face a 
 little farther from him, and the color deepened on her 
 cheek and neck. 
 
 " In the first place you re rich and I m poor, one 
 of the proletariat, as Diana might say. In the next 
 place, it looks as if I were interfering with Harvey." 
 
 Then Ethel spoke, but in a soft, strange voice, with 
 her gaze still far off : " Harvey has never asked me 
 to marry him. He cares nothing for me, nor I for 
 him, as you mean it." 
 
 The softness of her manner gave Kent courage to 
 allow more feeling in his own. " Harvey has devoted 
 himself for some time now," he said, "to throwing 
 
316 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 aside and trampling on all the beautiful things of life 
 that have come in his way so many of them. I 
 really think he hardly deserves many more chances, 
 though I like him and I don t want to interfere with 
 him. Ethel," he continued, after a little pause, not 
 venturing to touch her, even to take her hand, but 
 speaking with an intensity in his tone which she had 
 never heard there, " Ethel, I am going to be perfectly 
 frank with you. When the idea of of asking you 
 to marry me, first came to me, I thought a good deal 
 of of your money there it is out. Now I love 
 you. There is something about you so generous, so 
 large, so sweet, never a touch of meanness, never a 
 narrow thought or a cruel word, no raillery, no mock 
 ing. As I have lived with you these last three weeks 
 and seen your gentleness, your patience, your readi 
 ness to do everything for any one without the parade 
 that goes with some people s charity I have got to 
 love you, Ethel, so much that I tell you these things, 
 and then wonder whether you can love me. I m not 
 generous, I m not patient, I m not kind. I m not 
 worthy of you. There must be something good about 
 my love for you, I think. I ve never thought before 
 about not being worthy of anybody or anything." 
 She did not make much answer even now just 
 turned and looked at him, and her eyes were full 
 of tears. " No one ever spoke so of me before," she 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 317 
 
 said. " I think you must love me I trust you 
 only I m afraid you 11 be disappointed." 
 
 So they sat there, in the autumn sunlight, exchang 
 ing such sweet thoughts and hopes and memories 
 and closer tokens of endearment as lovers use. Every 
 moment Kent seemed to find in her large, free na 
 ture something new, that was rich and satisfying, 
 something ample and generous which dwarfed the 
 showy gifts of his own nervous temperament and 
 made him wonder more and more whether he had 
 anything to offer that would be worthy of her com 
 plete surrender of herself. 
 
 But Ethel was practical, even at such a time as 
 this. Glancing down from Kent s shoulder at the 
 water beneath them, she pulled herself together 
 suddenly. " Why ! " she exclaimed, " the tide is 
 coming in ! " 
 
 Her lover was not interested in the tide just then. 
 " Let it come," he suggested. 
 
 But she was already on her feet, crying out, " The 
 launch ! The launch 1 " 
 
 He too rose and looked back. There was the 
 " Windflower No. i " dancing gayly on the blue 
 water, at least half a mile up the bay. The crevice 
 where they had landed was completely covered over, 
 and the islet on which they stood was reduced to little 
 more than half its original dimensions. 
 
3 i8 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Ethel looked at her companion with a very serious 
 expression. " You must have been mistaken," she 
 said. 
 
 "So it would appear. Oh, hang these marine 
 technicalities! It was something, at a little before 
 six." 
 
 "Possibly high water." Ethel s face expressed 
 some love, some laughter, and some vexation. " It 
 may prove more than a technicality for us." 
 
 "Why," returned Kent, looking at her in much 
 astonishment, " you surely are n t alarmed. Harvey 
 will take us off in time for dinner." 
 
 " The tides here come high and they come quick," 
 she said. And there was real anxiety in her voice. 
 " It will be all right, if they see us on the yacht. 
 Let s wave to them at once." 
 
 She took out her handkerchief as she spoke, and, 
 standing on the highest point of the ledge, began 
 to wave vigorously. Kent did the same, with an 
 extremely sheepish feeling. 
 
 " See us ! " he murmured. " If only they have n t 
 been seeing us all the afternoon ! They 11 think 
 we re announcing our engagement." Then, as Ethel 
 seemed to have little laughter to spare for this sally, 
 he added, " Of course the tide won t come over the 
 rocks, do you think?" 
 
 " It has, it does," she said briefly. " There is n t a 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 319 
 
 blade of grass here. It may not come over every 
 time. Who knows ? " 
 
 Kent s voice was a good deal less assured when 
 he answered : " Well, at any rate, we can count on 
 Harvey. He never fails." 
 
 As he said it, Ethel gave a little cry : " The fog ! 
 The fog ! " 
 
 Yes, there it was, the great fog bank, which had 
 hovered on the horizon all day, now rolling up its 
 quiet, dull, brown-gray masses over the shapely lines 
 of the Windflower. Even as they looked and waved, 
 the spars and rigging became dimmer and more 
 spidery. On swept the mist, till white hull and blue 
 water were indistinguishable. Only, as they got their 
 last uncertain glimpse, Kent thought he detected the 
 flutter of an answering wave from the vessel s stern. 
 
 Ethel quietly put her handkerchief into her pocket 
 and turned a pale, set face towards her lover. 
 
 " What is to be done," he asked, calm and cool 
 now, as if he were writing a " Snap Shot," instead of 
 acting one. 
 
 " Nothing but wait," she said, scanning the shore 
 in every direction for possible help; but none ap 
 peared. There were houses here and there, within 
 sight, but none likely to have observed their signal. 
 
 " A chance for a swim ? " he asked, following her 
 eye. 
 
3 2o BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 " Not for me in ice water," she replied. 
 
 " Not for me in any water. I never learned." 
 
 " We must wait," was her comment, still quiet. 
 " Oh, George, to think I should have brought you 
 to this the very first day." 
 
 He put his arm round her and made her sit down 
 by him, this time on the point of the island towards 
 the Windflower and the fog. " My darling !" he 
 urged. " Don t let us have any such talk as that at 
 all. We are on our little pleasure excursion, on it 
 still. We love one another. We forgot the tide in 
 that before. Let s forget it again. Harvey will find 
 us, fog or no fog. It is our business to think and talk 
 of each other and nothing else." 
 
 Meantime, the gray mist had swept down upon 
 them and all at once they were covered, hidden from 
 the autumn sunshine, from the golden glory of the 
 woods and the blue of ocean. They had sought soli 
 tude and now they found it, alone with their new 
 passion, on that mite of rock, in the midst of the 
 great, gray, devouring waters. The fog was thick and 
 solid, cold and drenching. Ethel shivered, even in 
 the sweater and heavy wool gown which Aunt Lucia 
 had urged as a precautionary measure. A dull breeze 
 murmured hoarsely from the east, and flicked the 
 foam up on to the rocks. Every moment the slow, 
 sullen waves crept higher, higher, higher. 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 321 
 
 But Kent talked, as evenly, as brightly, as wittily, 
 as he would have done in the yacht s cabin, talked of 
 his past, all his queer experiences in knocking about 
 the journalistic world, talked of their future. He would 
 do what she wished him to do, give up literature ; 
 he had never loved it, was tired of it ; or he would go 
 on with it, if it interested her and gave her pleasure. 
 
 And all the time he feared she would go to pieces, 
 get hysterical, as well she might. Then what should 
 he do with her? But she didn t She was pale and 
 she shivered ; but she was as calm and self-possessed 
 as he, as ready to listen as he to talk, and he knew 
 that listening was much more difficult. Every mo 
 ment, in this crisis, his love for her was growing. 
 What a wild consecration it was, for both their loves, 
 this abandonment to solitude in cold, and damp, and 
 mystery, and darkness! 
 
 Soon after the fog shut in, Ethel suggested that if 
 Harvey should have started for them, they might aid 
 him by calling as loud as they could. Therefore, 
 every little while, they stood up and shouted at the 
 top of their lungs ; but the sound seemed to be lost 
 in the damp cushion of the fog, and the rising east 
 wind, blowing in their faces, whirled it away. 
 
 So they sat, Kent talking, Ethel listening ; and the 
 minutes seemed like hours. 
 
 " George," she said softly, when the dull horror had 
 
322 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 distracted even his thoughts, for the moment, " you 
 remember, if I died, the whole of papa s property 
 was to go to Harvey ? Would n t it be odd after 
 all?" 
 
 " Bother ! " answered George. And he resumed his 
 task, not flippantly, but with gentle tenderness, as if 
 he were making love to her in a quiet summer arbor, 
 under the moon. 
 
 And they waited, and the tide rose, and rose. They 
 were sitting on the highest point of the rocks, with 
 some yards of surface still several feet above the 
 water, but the waves were breaking sharply at the 
 eastern end, and once the spray came within a few 
 inches of their feet. Kent had ceased talking. They 
 stood up and shouted yet again, wildly, despairingly, 
 and their hoarse voices were drowned at once in the 
 dark depths of the mist. Then they crouched down 
 once more, Ethel s face buried on her lover s shoulder. 
 
 Suddenly Kent thought he heard the dim echo 
 of a horn and a faint halloo. " Ethel ! " he cried. 
 " Ethel ! Oh, my God ! Harvey s coming." 
 
 They both jumped up, both shouted again, louder 
 than before then listened. Yes, there it was, nearer. 
 "Halloo! Halloo! Halloo!" 
 
 Back and forth the shouts echoed, in spite of the 
 rising water ; and in a few moments the Windflower s 
 white boat came looming through the fog, with Har- 
 
THE COMING OF THE TIDE 323 
 
 vey rowing a pair of oars, as he had never rowed 
 before. 
 
 When they were safe in the boat, Harvey grasped 
 a hand of each and there were tears in his eyes. But 
 he coughed a little and said, in his ordinary tone : 
 " A very close call. Where s the launch ? " 
 
 " Up the bay," Ethel answered ; and wrapping 
 herself in the thick cloak which Harvey had brought, 
 she took her place in the stern sheets opposite Kent. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 MILLY 
 
 DURING the night the weather changed, and in the 
 morning the Windflower set sail for home, with a 
 clear north wind that had swept every shred of mist 
 from the sky. 
 
 Ethel did not come on deck till late. Harvey was 
 at the wheel. Milly and Miss Phelps were sitting in 
 the sun amidships. Kent was below, writing ; per 
 haps, as Milly suggested, making a record of yester 
 day s experiences. 
 
 Ethel seated herself near her cousin, for a while, 
 and drank in the splendor of the clear sky and bright 
 air, without speaking. Once or twice a little shudder 
 shook her solid frame. 
 
 " Harvey," she began, at length, " you saved my 
 life last night. It was odd it should happen so, was n t 
 it?" 
 
 " I don t know about the oddity. It was fortunate, 
 rather, I think." 
 
 " I wish I could ever have done something for you," 
 she went on. " You are one of those people who are 
 
MILLY 325 
 
 always doing something for others and don t seem to 
 give any opening for returning the obligation." 
 
 He swung the wheel slightly, as the wind struck 
 more from the west. " I had n t noticed anything 
 like that," he said. " My idea was that everybody 
 you included had always been doing for me." 
 
 Again she turned her attention to the view, for a 
 considerable space. Then she began abruptly : " Har 
 vey, I m going to marry George Kent." 
 
 "Do you know, I suspected as much," he an 
 swered, with mild irony. " You could n t do a bet 
 ter thing. George is a square, straightforward, 
 honorable gentleman, worthy of you, and will make 
 you happy. And Ethel uncle Amos liked him. 
 He will go into the business and do all I ought to 
 have done." 
 
 She seized the opportunity, with an eagerness, 
 which showed how nearly he had touched her heart : 
 " Oh, Harvey, if you would go into the business with 
 him ! That would be so splendid. You two would 
 work so well together. How that would have pleased 
 papa. Do say you 11 think of it, Harvey ! " 
 
 Harvey smiled at her enthusiasm. " It s too late 
 for that now," he replied. 
 
 " No," she urged, " it is n t a bit too late. It is just 
 the time and just the thing. It would make me so 
 happy. I shall get Milly to talk to you." 
 
326 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 Then Kent appeared in the companion-way and 
 general congratulations were extended. 
 
 That evening, under the tranquil moon, the two 
 lovers were seated together aft, and it was quite 
 evident that they had no need of any other society. 
 Harvey and Milly, therefore, strolled forward where 
 they could watch the flash of the spray in the moon 
 light and hear the sweet, continual fall of the drops 
 upon the water. 
 
 Milly was dressed all in white, a thick, soft white 
 cloak protected her from the fresh breeze, a Tarn 
 o Shanter half covering her face with shadow, yet 
 leaving the lower part of it, the fine, mobile, laughing 
 lips to be touched by the quivering splendor of the 
 moon. 
 
 Harvey seated himself close to her, his arm brush 
 ing against the folds of her cloak. Ethel s urgency 
 of the morning kept running in his thoughts ; and 
 when Milly began to talk, her words seemed ger 
 mane to the matter. 
 
 " Don t you envy those two ? " she asked. 
 
 " Perhaps," was his answer, meaning much or little, 
 as you read it. 
 
 " When you think," she went on, " that it might 
 have been all yours all all ? " 
 
 "I didn t want it all." 
 
 " Ah, but you did you should." She looked up 
 
MILLY 327 
 
 at him, so that the light crept under the edge of her 
 cap and filled her eyes, more earnest, more tender 
 than he had ever seen them. " Do you know, Mr. 
 Phelps, this critical situation of yours has taken hold 
 of me so very, very much. It has almost changed my 
 nature, driven the laughter out of me. Think what it 
 means. Think what you might do with life. You are 
 or seem to be deliberately choosing obscurity, 
 inefficiency, uselessness in the world. I won t say 
 that. Your power won t be wasted anywhere. But 
 think what is put within your grasp. I am not speak 
 ing now of the sweet of life, though I believe in that, 
 don t you ? I believe it is our duty to open our lives, 
 all our senses and our souls, to what is fine and lovely, 
 as only wealth and opportunity can give it to us. But 
 put that aside. Think of the good you might do. 
 With the money that is offered you still, with 
 the position that is offered you still, what noble 
 causes you could forward, what broad, wise useful 
 ness you could attain, increasing and increasing, as 
 long as you live. Now is the time to decide now. 
 You have hesitated. You have tried different paths. 
 I believe, in your inmost soul, you feel as I do." 
 
 She waited for him to answer her ; but he did not. 
 The swift vessel bounded on, with a long roll over 
 the waves that was like the sway of organ music. 
 The light drops fell ceaselessly, with their silver echo 
 
328 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 in his ears. And the echo of her words was as clear 
 and silvery as that of the falling water. 
 
 " Mr. Phelps," she said very softly, with her face 
 turned from him, so that he could see hardly more 
 than the tip of her ears in the moonlight and the 
 golden flutter of her hair, " Mr. Phelps, this means a 
 great deal to me. I have thought of it day and night. 
 If I if you if I could do or be anything 
 there was a time or I should n t speak" 
 
 Her voice was lost in the magical murmur of the 
 sea. But he understood. She was telling him that 
 things were not as they were that April day, a year 
 and a half ago. If he would ask her again if he 
 would ask her again ! But all that he saw, all 
 that he heard, was a pair of earnest, dark eyes, and 
 a voice that thrilled with an intensity Milly s had 
 never known. And he answered not. 
 
 Minute after minute sped away. At length Milly 
 rose. " It s cold. I think I ll go in," she said. And 
 as he rose to accompany her, she added shortly : 
 " No, no ; stay where you are." 
 
 So she made her way aft, unsteadily, as it seemed 
 to him, and he stayed. And, as he sat there alone, 
 feeling the glorious bound of the free ship under him, 
 a great sense of freedom and large contentment pos 
 sessed his soul. For one moment her witchery had 
 tempted him. For one moment she had seemed to 
 
MILLY 329 
 
 embody all the beauty, all the charm, all the unend 
 ing grace of the view of life she was contending for. 
 Then the charm broke and he saw that, for him, at 
 any rate, there was no beauty and no grace in the 
 life that was lived for self, that took no account of 
 sacrifice or sympathy, that did not place the good of 
 others higher than one s own. Yes, as she said, this 
 was the crisis, the now when everything must be 
 settled. And with that before him, he did not feel a 
 moment s hesitation. Already he looked forward to 
 immense possibilities of usefulness along the lines 
 which his summer s work had suggested. There was 
 so much bungling in the management of such things, 
 so much was left to the handling of those who under 
 took charitable work after they had been unsuccess 
 ful in everything else. A clear, business head, a 
 strong practical grip and these qualities he was 
 really beginning to hope he had, in some measure 
 could be so useful, so endlessly useful. It was too 
 much for him, perhaps for any one, to attempt to 
 settle the great problems of modern life in the ab 
 stract, the right and the wrong of things, of capital 
 and labor, of the adjustment of wealth and what was 
 honest and dishonest in the acquirement of it. But 
 there was always work, always the patient effort to 
 give one s very best towards diminishing the inequal 
 ities, lifting up the down-trodden ; there was always 
 
330 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 love. Yes, love ; and with love came the thought of 
 Diana, never far away. Ah, if he could but have her 
 sight, her insight always with him to guide and gov 
 ern his brute strength ! At least, her inspiration he 
 could always have and Marcus s also those two 
 who had brought into his life so much trouble, indeed, 
 but [so much that was divinely beautiful and that 
 made the trouble seem a mere trifling shadow, soon 
 to pass away. 
 
 Then, as he sat there, under the vast tranquillity 
 of heaven, with the splendid might of the salt ocean 
 all about him, the thought of love went broader still 
 to the broadest, deepest, mightiest love of all. Ever 
 since that evening in Marcus s chapel, his life had 
 been more open to God than before, the divine pre 
 sence had hovered near him, the white wings had 
 brushed his forehead. But he had been busy, hurried, 
 pressed with outward thoughts and material occupa 
 tions, driven by day and full of heavy sleep at night. 
 Then on the yacht had come at first a complete reac 
 tion, the lethargy of voluptuous ease had kept his 
 inner eyelids drooping, drooping. And always at the 
 spirit s gentle summons he had hesitated, unwilling 
 to make the final surrender, unwilling to bind himself 
 to any, even the highest service. But now, suddenly, 
 as he shook the fetters of the world s servitude for 
 ever from his limbs, as he let Milly go from him, 
 
MILLY 331 
 
 carrying with her the last vestige of temptation, the 
 last possibility of compromise with what he knew to 
 be beneath him and unworthy of him, his soul seemed 
 to sweep up and out into its native element, like 
 some unpinioned eagle of the sea. There was no 
 question of surrender, no thought of giving up or 
 looking back. The bonds were burst, the walls were 
 faded, the bars were shattered. The life in God, the 
 love of God seemed not to be a giving but an im 
 mense acquiring of light, of power, and of joy, some 
 thing to be held, something positive, to be imparted 
 to others, to be spread broadcast, as far as one s in 
 fluence would reach. Overhead, beyond the moon 
 and stars, is love, everywhere love. And underneath 
 are the everlasting arms. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 DIANA 
 
 ON his desk at home Harvey found a note from 
 Diana. " Dear Mr. Phelps : I shall be glad to see 
 you as soon as convenient. I have something to 
 tell you." 
 
 It was all settled then so soon. Somehow, in 
 spite of everything, just a little doubt had lingered ; 
 but clearly there was no room for doubting now. 
 
 He went the same evening and found Diana alone, 
 dressed quietly, in simple black. She greeted him 
 with cordiality, yet, as he thought, with some em 
 barrassment. " You got my note ?" she asked. 
 
 Then she changed the subject and inquired about 
 his trip. Where had he been ? What stops ? What 
 incidents? Of course he had enjoyed himself. 
 
 He answered civilly, but briefly. What could she 
 want with all this ? In a moment he found out. 
 " I did n t know," she continued, with a little hesi 
 tation, a little tremble of her lips, which Harvey may 
 not have seen, " I thought perhaps we should con 
 gratulate you when you returned." 
 
DIANA 333 
 
 Then he found words to speak to her, as he had 
 never spoken before, eager, tumultuous words, elo 
 quent from the passion which gushed through them. 
 He told her how he had sunk at first into the delight 
 of that luxurious life, sunk almost up to the heart ; 
 then, at the end, how all the vanity had fallen off 
 from him and the pure light had come. He could 
 convey only a part of what he had felt, yet he him 
 self was astonished that he could convey so much ; 
 and she listened with tears in her eyes. 
 
 But all at once her note occurred to him, and what 
 he was there for. "You had something to tell me?" 
 he asked, almost roughly. 
 
 She started and took a moment to collect herself. 
 " Oh, yes, to be sure," she answered. " I am so glad 
 I wrote, now. You know Mr. Franklin Richard 
 Franklin?" 
 
 Harvey looked at her bewildered. What had Mr. 
 Richard Franklin to do with him and her? Was he 
 another candidate? "Yes, I know him," he replied 
 at length. 
 
 " He died two weeks ago. Perhaps you noticed ? " 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " You know what he was," she went on. " Trea 
 surer of the Settlement Association and a great 
 many other things beside. I want you to succeed 
 him." 
 
334 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 When Harvey had adjusted himself to the situa 
 tion, he answered : " I m not fit, not equal to it." 
 
 " Yes you are," she urged, with absolute convic 
 tion, " you re more than equal to it. You re just the 
 one for it, and through it you ll get into work that 
 will fill your life to overflowing." 
 
 But just now Harvey was not ready to talk about 
 his work. A new, sudden hope was making his 
 heart quiver and his brain turn. " Was that all you 
 had to tell me ? " he asked, in a strange, trembling 
 voice. 
 
 She looked at him in wonder, for a second. Then 
 her voice also trembled, as she answered : " Yes, all. 
 What else ? " 
 
 "And Marcus?" he asked, almost in a whisper. 
 
 She, too, spoke low, and turned her face away. 
 " He told you, then ? Poor Mr. Upham ! I was so 
 sorry." 
 
 Harvey loved Marcus, but he had no room in his 
 heart for sorrow now. Instinctively he rose, moved 
 towards her, uncertain, trembling, bewildered, in 
 stinctively held out his arms. She, too, rose. Her 
 eyes were shut. Her breath came quickly. Then, be 
 fore she knew it, his arms were about her. At first 
 she held back, resisted, pitting her splendid will 
 against the enfolding might of his embrace. Then, 
 all at once, with a little sigh, she yielded utterly, and 
 
DIANA 335 
 
 the sweetness of that submission was so mighty, so 
 overpowering, that it seemed hardly to leave his 
 muscles strength to hold her up. 
 
 "Diana," he whispered, "I don t understand it. 
 Are you mine?" 
 
 " Yours," was her answer, almost inaudible, " yours, 
 yours, always yours." 
 
 The first v/cek in April George Kent and Ethel 
 Harper were married in the Old South, with all the 
 gorgeousness appropriate to such an occasion ; but 
 a month earlier Diana had become Mrs. Phelps, in 
 the quiet home church where she had first learned 
 love and worship and in which Harvey had been con 
 firmed a few weeks before the wedding. The mar 
 riage was performed by Diana s old pastor and friend ; 
 but he was assisted by Marcus, now frailer and more 
 ethereal than ever, but also more transfigured than 
 ever by an unearthly light and joy. The weeks of 
 suffering, of intimate contact with the deepest and 
 strongest of human passions, and the mighty effort 
 which had been requisite to overcome that passion, 
 had touched his ascetic nature with just that crown 
 ing grace of tenderness which it had sometimes 
 seemed to lack. 
 
 Kent and Ethel of course sat side by side during 
 the service. Some way apart from them sat a small 
 
336 BETWEEN TWO MASTERS 
 
 figure in a dark, inconspicuous suit, with a face that 
 showed very little sign of nuptial joy. 
 
 " Poor Milly ! " said Kent to his betrothed after 
 wards. " Harvey has chosen God and I Mammon." 
 
 " Thank you, so much," suggested Ethel. 
 
 " Milly used to say she wanted both, and she gets 
 neither." 
 
Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. 
 Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
The following pages are devoted to notices of some 
 successful fiction published by Houghton, Mifflin & 
 Company, Boston and New York. 
 
The 
 
 PRIVATE TUTOR 
 
 By GAMALIEL BRADFORD, Jr. 
 
 The love story of an Italian countess and a wealthy 
 young American " cub." An amusing comedy. 
 
 "It is a readable, pleasant story, sprinkled with criti 
 cism of art and bright conversation, and bound to hold 
 the interest of the reader." Chicago Eve. Post. 
 
 " It narrates directly, and with just enough philosoph 
 ical reflection to show the author s personal touch and 
 feeling, the experiences of a party of Americans visit 
 ing and living in Rome." Boston Transcript. 
 
 "A book which has the distinction of intellectuality." 
 
 St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 
 
 Crown 8vo, $1.50 
 
 HOUGHTON /\b^ BOSTON 
 
 MIFFLIN /^>\ AND 
 
 & COMPANY vAra NEW YORK 
 
REBECCA 
 
 of SUNNYBROOK FARM 
 
 By KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN 
 
 " Of all the children of Mrs. Wiggin s brain, the most 
 laughable and the most lovable is Rebecca." 
 
 Life, N. Y. 
 
 " Rebecca creeps right into one s affections and stayg 
 there." Philadelphia Item. 
 
 "A character that is irresistible in her quaint, hu* 
 morous originality." Cleveland Leader. 
 
 "Rebecca is as refreshing as a draught of spring 
 water." Los Angeles Times. 
 
 " Rebecca has come to stay with one for all time, and 
 delight one perpetually, like Marjorie Fleming." 
 
 Literary World, Boston. 
 
 With decorative cover 
 
 HOUGHTON /< BOSTON 
 
 MIFFLIN JbSHk AND 
 
 & COMPANY R\KI NEW YORK 
 
THE REAPER 
 
 By EDITH RICKERT 
 
 "So impressive are Miss Rickert s accounts of the 
 Shetland character, so vivid her pictures of their 
 alternating happy and sordid lives, so faithful her 
 study of the racial and personal influences that move 
 them, that we may accept The Reaper as one of the 
 notable books of the season. It is something more 
 than fiction it gives a realistic, poetic, imaginative 
 view of a wonderful and curious people." 
 
 Boston Transcript. 
 
 "A powerful story, fresh, vivid, and of unusual char 
 acter and tone." Chicago Record-Herald. 
 
 Crown 8vo, $1.50 
 
 HOUGHTON r\Z BOSTON 
 
 MIFFLIN /^?L AND 
 
 & COMPANY fcUra NEW YORK 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Fine schedule: 25 cents on first day overdue 
 
 50 cents on fourth day overdue 
 One dollar on seventh day overdue. 
 
 
 y 
 REC D T.D 
 
 JUN5 65 -11 AM 
 
 -100m-12, 46(A2012sl6)4120 
 
H- 
 
 Bradford, G 
 
 Between tiro masters 
 
 B799 
 
 be 
 
 YC145S91