AV I D 
 
 POTTER
 
 f I 
 
 r- 
 
 '
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 SECOND 1 EDITION
 
 BY DAVID POTTER 
 
 One of the prettiest gift-books of the season 
 
 An Accidental Honeymoon 
 
 A sparkling and breezy gift romance of modern 
 times, the scenes laid in Maryland. The plot is re- 
 freshingly novel and delightfully handled. The hero- 
 ine is one of the " fetchingest" little persons in the 
 realms of fiction. The dialogue of the story is re- 
 markably good, and through it all runs a vein of 
 delightful humor though the author can be serious 
 enough when he tries. 
 
 Eight Illustrations in Color by George W. G&ge. Border 
 Decorations on each page by Edw. Stratton Holloway. 
 Large 12mo. Beautifully designed cloth, $1.35 net. 
 
 The Lady of the Spur 
 
 " Ferriss Dayton is a delightful novelty, belonging 
 on one side to the odorous freedom of the pine woods 
 and on the other to the haughty Morvans. The tale 
 has a masterly swing and moves with briskness and 
 ease." Philadtlfhia Prtit. 
 
 Third Edition. Colored Frontispiece by C. F. Underwood. 
 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.
 
 IT WAS MORE NEARLY A HANDCUFF THAN A BRACELET. 
 IT AND DROPPED THE KEY INTO MY POCKET. 
 
 I LOCKED 
 fage 4&
 
 I FASTEN 
 A BRACELET 
 
 BV 
 
 DAVID POTTER 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE LADY OF THE SPUR," 
 "AN ACCIDENTAL HONEYMOON," ETC. 
 
 WITH A FRONTISPIECE BY 
 MARTIN JUSTICE 
 
 PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 1911
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BT J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHED SEFTEMBEB, 1911 
 
 PRINTED BT J. B. MPPINCOTT COMPANT 
 
 AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 
 
 PHILADELPHIA U.S.A.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. NELL POURS COFFEE 7 
 
 II. INVITATIONS ARE DECIDED UPON 16 
 
 III. A GIRL DISOBEYS ORDERS 24 
 
 IV. APPLE-PIE WITH CREAM 32 
 
 V. I FASTEN A BRACELET 41 
 
 VI. THROUGH THE DARKNESS 51 
 
 VII. A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 57 
 
 VIII. A DINNER ENFORCED 68 
 
 IX. A SHARPENED SPOON 84 
 
 X. A POINT OF HONOUR 95 
 
 XI. I SURPRISE A PURITAN 106 
 
 XII. A PROPOSAL is MENTIONED 115 
 
 XIII. THE BLOODHOUND 130 
 
 XIV. THE PRINCESS LETS DOWN HER HAIR 144 
 
 XV. WE TALK OF SUMATRA 154 
 
 XVI. ALECK EXPLAINS 162 
 
 XVII. OVER A GRAVE 179 
 
 XVIII. NORAH is PUZZLED 190 
 
 XIX. LETTERS FROM REX 197 
 
 XX. ASHES OF THE STARS 207 
 
 XXI. A COLD BATH 219 
 
 XXII. EAVESDROPPING 231 
 
 XXIII. I DEMAND PAYMENT 245 
 
 XXIV. THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 262
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 NELL POURS COFFEE 
 
 " Miss ELLEN won't be down to breakfast, sir," 
 said Theresa, humbly enough. 
 
 I stared at her. "Won't be down?" 
 
 " No, sir. She says for you not to wait break- 
 fast for her, if you please." 
 
 " Tell her I am waiting," I rejoined. " And 
 ask her to come at once." 
 
 " But, sir " 
 
 " Ask her to come at once," I repeated. 
 
 The maid hurriedly withdrew. I turned to the 
 window and gazed out across the valley to the roll- 
 ing Berkshires. The mist of the autumn morning 
 still hid the Westbrook place on the opposite slope, 
 and the gravelled walks in front of " Red Cedars " 
 were a little cracked by the frost. The day prom- 
 ised to be clear. The early crimson of the trees 
 along the walks accorded with the violent color 
 of my thoughts thoughts as conflicting as they 
 were violent. 
 
 " If you please, sir," said the maid behind me, 
 " Miss Ellen begs you to excuse her. Mrs. Sut- 
 phen will be down at once to pour coffee, sir." 
 
 7
 
 8 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I faced her abruptly. " Tell Mrs. Sutphen, Miss 
 Ellen and I will breakfast without her," I said with 
 emphasis. " Say to Miss Sutphen I wish her to 
 come immediately. Say I order her to come order 
 her, do you understand? And you needn't come 
 back we'll wait on ourselves." 
 
 For a moment Theresa's eyes met mine defiantly. 
 " Miss Ellen says she " 
 
 " That will do," I interrupted. " Carry my 
 orders at once. And look here, Theresa! Don't 
 think I don't see through you. You'd better not 
 get in my way about here. I know very well you're 
 as deep in this game as any one." 
 
 At my chance shot the girl's stubbornness van- 
 ished. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her chin 
 trembled. She fumbled in her apron pocket for 
 the handkerchief she could not find. A half sob 
 escaped her. 
 
 " Oh, sir, if you please " She fled from the 
 
 room. 
 
 Again I strolled to the window and gazed across 
 the valley, yet I had to pinch myself to realize that 
 I was not dreaming. 
 
 This was Bannocks, there swelled the yellowing 
 Berkshires, and it was the Year of Grace nineteen 
 hundred and ten. These things were real. It was 
 equally certain that I stood in the breakfast-room 
 of " Red Cedars," master not only of the house, 
 but also of Mrs. Constance Sutphen and, above all, 
 of the much-admired Ellen Sutphen. I was master
 
 NELL POURS COFFEE 9 
 
 and determined to take advantage of my mastery 
 no matter how ungenerously. 
 
 The whole situation gratified the underlying in- 
 stinct of the savage inherent in every man. 
 
 I felt a sense of proprietorship as I glanced 
 about. The room was one of the pleasantest in 
 Bannocks. It jutted from a wing of the house in 
 such fashion as to admit light and air on three 
 sides of it. Windows, broad and low, ran about it, 
 and through them the sight of the valley below and 
 the slopes above gave one a mild feeling of floating 
 in space, as in a balloon. 
 
 The breakfast table, its snowy doilies and spark- 
 ling silver most alluring to a healthy man, had 
 been drawn cosily near a window. The New York 
 Herald, duly unfolded and warmed, was spread 
 at my place. 
 
 There was a light step in the hallway. I faced 
 about as Ellen Sutphen entered. Without lifting 
 her eyes to meet my glance, she crossed the room 
 and sank into her seat behind the coffee-urn. 
 
 " Good-morning," I said. 
 
 She made no answer. Her hands, busied with the 
 breakfast things, shook as they moved. The lids 
 of the eyes she held resolutely on the cups and 
 saucers were rimmed with red. 
 
 " Good-morning," I repeated. 
 
 Still she did not reply a cup rattled against 
 a saucer. I looked from cup to saucer with a 
 surprised air, and spoke for the third time.
 
 10 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Perhaps you didn't notice that I bade you 
 good-morning, mademoiselle." 
 
 Her long lashes were lifted at last scorn and 
 protest showed in the eyes that met mine an instant. 
 
 " Good-morning," she said faintly. Again the 
 lashes swept the white cheeks. 
 
 "That's right," I said. "Very well done, in- 
 deed. And now that the Sphinx has spoken, I want 
 you to talk naturally, Nell. No sulking, you know. 
 Play the game." 
 
 " It's a poor game for us, Mr. Schuyler." 
 
 " Craig," I corrected. 
 
 She was silent. I leaned a little forward. 
 
 " Craig," I insisted. 
 
 " Craig." Her voice was hardly audible. 
 
 " Good. Don't let's forget all the past. Will 
 you pour me some coffee? Thank you." 
 
 I watched her without speaking until she had 
 handed me my cup her eyes did not meet mine. 
 I stirred my coffee with an unconcern that was only 
 apparent. 
 
 " Yes," I went on, " I want you not only to be 
 natural, but I want you to be good-humored." 
 
 " Good-humored? " she protested. 
 
 " Certainly. Merry, debonair." I smiled amia- 
 bly. 
 
 She shivered I guessed that her hands were 
 clasping each other beneath the table. 
 
 " Debonair ! " she said almost in a whisper. " Oh, 
 what a mockery! Merry? Debonair? How can 
 I ! Be a little reasonable, Craig."
 
 NELL POURS COFFEE 11 
 
 " You must be reasonable." I rested an elbow on 
 the table, and assumed a manner of frank argu- 
 ment. " When one owns a girl, body and soul, 
 he has a right to expect her to behave decently, 
 hasn't he? " 
 
 She raised her head with something of her old 
 hauteur the chin a little forward, the hazel eyes 
 steady, the neck drawn proudly back. It was the 
 famous " Sutphen look." 
 
 " Own me ! " she said. " No never." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," I returned. " I didn't 
 mean that, of course it was only a figure of 
 speech. And yet, Nell, I do own you, too, in a way. 
 Not the Greek hetaera way, of course not Eliza 
 and Simon Legree style but as Aladdin owned the 
 genii, you know. You'll do as I say you under- 
 stand me? " 
 
 " Yes." Her eyes fell. 
 
 " You'll obey me as long as I like, mind ! Laugh 
 when I order you to, and cry, if I prefer it? Will 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yes if I must." Her lips barely framed the 
 words. 
 
 " Oh, you must," I said. " There isn't any 
 way out of it for you, really. I don't mind saying 
 I'm enjoying the situation, Nell. I've waited a 
 good while for my turn I dare say you don't 
 blame me for making good use of it now that it's 
 come." 
 
 " I don't suppose my blame matters to you 
 nor my approval."
 
 12 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Since you suggest it perhaps not." 
 
 Beneath the girl's white linen gown I could see her 
 bosom rise tremulously. Her lips parted. The 
 dainty collar about her throat swelled with the 
 pulse that beat suffocatingly there. These things 
 I saw and understood shame or fear, or both, 
 held her silent. She was in my power, and helpless. 
 I eyed her critically. 
 
 She had changed much during the four years I 
 had been absent from the country. Her figure 
 was not quite the same as that which had haunted 
 my dreams by a hundred campfires, yet it was fully 
 as beautiful more rounded, if not so willowy, more 
 graceful, if not so ethereal. 
 
 Her face looked older. Not that a single line 
 marred the texture of the cheek or drew the corners 
 of the rather wide mouth not that the dark-brown 
 hair had lost one touch of its sheen. These charms 
 were unaltered. But a look of unutterable care 
 stamped the whole face. The slumberous glance 
 of the eyes was gone, and in its place was an 
 anxious questioning. 
 
 The indifferent smile that had so put me on my 
 mettle in days gone by that had so piqued and 
 spurred me had changed to a droop of the mouth 
 almost pathetic in its wistfulness. The girl's spirit 
 was broken, or at least near the point of breaking. 
 
 " Why so silent ? " I said aloud. " I'm ready 
 to have you sparkle a little, if you please." 
 
 " Only a Nero could fiddle while Rome was burn- 
 ing," she returned.
 
 NELL POURS COFFEE IS 
 
 " Joan of Arc laughed when they set fire to the 
 fagots that burned her." 
 
 " But I'm not a Joan of Arc I wish I were." 
 
 " You mean you'd find a way to oust the enemy?" 
 
 " Yes." Her tense attitude relaxed a little. 
 "May I ring for Theresa? There's probably an 
 egg and toast for you." 
 
 " Yes, certainly, ring. Please don't think I 
 want to interfere with your management of the 
 household at any rate, under ordinary circum- 
 stances. It's your goings-out and comings-in I 
 must be consulted about. It will be ah rather 
 satisfying to refuse you permission to make a call, 
 if I like." 
 
 She pressed the bell without replying. Theresa 
 responded with a promptness I found amusing. As 
 the pretty Swede placed the toastrack and egg-dish 
 on the table, I watched her covertly. 
 
 She moved about me as if she were intruding on 
 a tiger or treading near a powder magazine. When 
 her eyes met mine, they were full of a sort of admir- 
 ing submission. I knew I would have no more 
 trouble with Theresa her defiance was crumbled 
 once for all. 
 
 I glanced over my newspaper until the maid had 
 served us and departed her eyes lingered on me 
 as the door swung behind her. I chipped my egg. 
 
 " Now then," I said expectantly, " you can go 
 on, Nell." 
 
 "Go on?" 
 
 " Yes you can sparkle."
 
 14 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 She rested her chin on her hands, her elbows on 
 the table, and looked at me. Her eyes were start- 
 lingly large in contrast with the dead-white of her 
 cheeks. 
 
 " I'm afraid I can't." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you can, really. Tell me something 
 about yourself. One moment you aren't eating 
 anything." 
 
 "Eat?" she said with loathing. "No, no- 
 please don't make me do that. I simply can't eat 
 please, Craig." 
 
 " All right only I don't want you to be ill." 
 
 " No such luck for me." 
 
 " Come, don't be gloomy. If you would eat a 
 little breakfast, I'm sure it would help the blues 
 materially. Never mind ! Tell me about yourself." 
 
 " Myself? " For the first time a ghost of a 
 smile twitched her lips. " I'm not a very interest- 
 ing subject of conversation." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you are to me. What have you been 
 doing with yourself all these years? " 
 
 " What do we all do ? " she answered. " A little 
 of Paris a good deal of New York more of New- 
 port and here. The same old round teas, and 
 all the rest." 
 
 " Late dinners, and morning cocktails ? " I sug- 
 gested. 
 
 " Late dinners, yes, but morning cocktails, no. 
 I despise them." 
 
 " Good so do I. But what about the human 
 side of the same old round? Personalities are
 
 NELL POURS COFFEE 15 
 
 what count in this sad world. Who have been your 
 friends since I went over the horizon? " 
 
 A faint color crept into her cheeks. " My 
 friends? I fancy the list would bore you." 
 
 " Your men friends I mean, of course." 
 
 " I haven't had any not the sort you mean. 
 Tom Bullitt and Harold Winston have been here 
 occasionally and and " 
 
 "And who?" 
 
 "And Aleck Westbrook." She smiled faintly. 
 " He's too young to count, though." 
 
 " A nice boy," I commented. " At any rate, he 
 promised to be, when I last saw him. Is that all? " 
 
 " Ye-es, I think so." 
 
 " Not quite," I said. " I've read the news- 
 papers, if I have been in Sumatra. Haven't you 
 left out somebody, Nell ? " 
 
 This time the color in her cheeks grew to a real 
 blush. 
 
 " Well, Carlos Beauchamp was over last year." 
 
 " Carlos Beauchamp? " I repeated. It was only 
 what I had expected to hear, yet I liked it none 
 the more for that. I eyed her with an insolence 
 that might well have reminded her of the gentleman 
 in question. 
 
 " There's an acquaintance you're better with- 
 out," I said. 
 
 " In your opinion." 
 
 *' Certainly and my opinion prevails here. 
 Please understand you're through with him," I 
 concluded rather savagely.
 
 n 
 
 INVITATIONS ARE DECIDED UPON 
 
 A LONG silence followed my announcement anent 
 Mr. Carlos Beauchamp a silence doubtless painful 
 enough to one of us, at least. Presently she made 
 an effort to seem at ease. 
 
 " What about yourself? " she asked. " It's fair 
 you should confess a little, isn't it ? You can a tale 
 unfold?" 
 
 " I don't mind," I said, " but it's too long to tell. 
 Six months on the Continent three in Africa 
 two years or so in the far East, and the last part 
 of the time back on the boulevards again." 
 
 " You really explored things, didn't you ? " 
 
 " A little. Here ! The eagle-eyed and always- 
 truthful Associated Press has had its eye on me 
 apparently. See it for yourself." 
 
 I handed her the Herald, my finger on the pas- 
 sage that had attracted my attention. She read it 
 aloud her voice was always soft and low an Eng- 
 lish voice: 
 
 " Among the notable arrivals on the Lusitania yesterday 
 morning were Count Nakimura, the Japanese general, Mr. 
 Carlos Beau " her voice faltered an instant " Beauchamp 
 of London and Havana, and Mr. Craig Schuyler of New 
 York. Mr. Schuyler's presence will be particularly welcomed 
 by his friends in this city, his long absence abroad having 
 given rise to the rumor that he had intended to become 
 
 16
 
 INVITATIONS DECIDED UPON 17 
 
 a regular expatriate. As has been several times stated in 
 these columns, Mr. Schuyler has been engaged in extensive 
 travel and exploration in the Far East. It is said he has 
 penetrated parts of Sumatra never before reached by a white 
 man, and that he has participated in some of the battles 
 between the Achinese and the Dutch." 
 
 Ellen looked up from her reading. " Did you? " 
 she asked. " Were you really in the fighting ? I 
 hadn't heard that before." 
 
 " Yes. I fought all through one of their cam- 
 paigns, such as they are. The war there is per- 
 petual, you know." 
 
 She read on: 
 
 "We have the best authority for stating that there is no 
 truth in the rumor extensively circulated in New York and 
 Newport some months since, to the effect that Mr. Schuyler's 
 prolonged stay in Sumatra has been due to the fascinations 
 of a certain native princess. One who is close to Mr. Schuy- 
 ler positively denies any knowledge of such a state of affairs." 
 
 " Good for Dirck ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 She laid down the paper. " Who is Dirck ? " 
 
 " Dirck DuBois, my man-of-all-talents my 
 hunter in Sumatra, just at present my chauffeur, 
 and I'm not ashamed to call him my friend. He 
 drove the car up last night. Probably you didn't 
 know how I got here in the excitement." 
 
 She evaded my allusion. " The Sumatran prin- 
 cess sounds interesting. Is she as interesting as 
 she sounds ? " 
 
 " If she is, she's ten thousand miles away." 
 2
 
 18 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 "Then you won't confess about her?" 
 
 " No, thank you. Let bygones be bygones." 
 
 She let a long sigh escape her, as if she found 
 it difficult to keep up a pretence of good-humored 
 interest. She leaned her cheek on her left hand so 
 that I could see only part of her face, and gazed 
 out the window. It was a movement of dejection 
 almost of resignation. Her slender figure drooped 
 a little the girl was tired tired not in body but 
 in mind. 
 
 For a while I, too, was content to sit in silence. 
 My eyes, roving the slope of the hill outside the 
 window, hardly saw the tall elms that hedged 
 " Westbrook Place," nor the grocer's electric de- 
 livery-wagon climbing the grade below it. They 
 saw a stream slipping between reedy banks, green 
 and gold sunbirds flashing above it, and where the 
 river curved below a forest of feather-bamboo, a 
 girl, black-haired and slim, waiting, waiting. 
 
 Our eyes roved absently from the window. We 
 gazed blankly at each other, each striving to come 
 back to the real world. She was the first to arouse 
 herself. 
 
 " A penny for your thoughts," she said faintly. 
 
 " Tuppence for yours. Suppose I should really 
 insist upon them? " 
 
 " ' My mind to me a kingdom is,' " she quoted. 
 
 "Very well," I rejoined. "There are some 
 things I won't demand of you." 
 
 "Will you have another cup of coffee?" she 
 asked.
 
 INVITATIONS DECIDED UPON 19 
 
 " Thank you, no. I wish you felt like eating 
 something, Nell." 
 
 She gave me a look that was almost grateful. 
 My answering smile must have encouraged her to 
 express the thought uppermost in her mind. 
 
 " You won't want me any more to-day, will you, 
 Craig? My services can be dispensed with? " 
 
 I answered her question by another. " Have 
 you a headache honor bright? " 
 
 Her mouth was a little compressed, but she an- 
 swered bravely. " I haven't come to lying yet." 
 
 " I know it," I said quickly. " I beg your par- 
 don, Nell. I didn't mean " 
 
 " You've had cause enough to doubt me, I ad- 
 mit," she returned. " No, I haven't a headache. 
 I suppose on the stage they'd call it a heart- 
 ache." 
 
 " I see. Then I won't want you to-day, but I 
 will to-night." 
 
 " To-night ? " Her eyes widened. Their deep 
 hazel took on a sudden amber glow, steady and 
 strong. Her chin was resolute. 
 
 " To-night at dinner, you know," I explained 
 carelessly. 
 
 "At dinner?" 
 
 " Yes and have some people in, if you will. 
 It needn't be many about three couples will be 
 enough, don't you think? " 
 
 " Three too many ! A formal dinner here 
 to-night ! "
 
 20 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I affected to misunderstand her exclamation. 
 " Oh, nothing formal. It's too short notice for 
 that, isn't it? If you'll write the notes I'll just 
 send Dirck around in the car that'll be easy 
 enough. If it's too sudden to suit anyone, he or 
 she can decline, and we can try the next one. One 
 can always pick up a spare man or girl somewhere." 
 
 " Craig ! " she cried, almost in a wail, " you can't 
 mean it ! You can't be in earnest ! " 
 
 " What ? Certainly I am why not ? A very 
 suitable occasion for a little impromptu dinner, 
 isn't it? It will probably be in the Herald to-mor- 
 row: 'a welcome to the distinguished explorer, Mr. 
 Craig Schuyler ' and all that 'a recherche little 
 affair given by his hostesses, Mrs. Sutphen and her 
 charming daughter.' I can fancy how it will run: 
 6 It will be remembered that, before his abrupt de- 
 parture from America some four years ago, Miss 
 
 Sutphen and Mr. Schuyler ' and so forth, and 
 
 so forth." 
 
 She stretched both hands toward me in a sudden 
 gesture, imploring and passionate. 
 
 " Craig ! Think ! How can we sit at dinner 
 laugh and smile and talk, as if nothing had hap- 
 pened." 
 
 " Nothing has happened," I rejoined, " that is, 
 so far as they're concerned outsiders, I mean. 
 They don't know anything, and I promise you they 
 won't learn anything from what I'll say or do. 
 You needn't be afraid of that."
 
 INVITATIONS DECIDED UPON 21 
 
 " But a dinner with you there ! I'm sure I can't 
 stand it." 
 
 " I'll be the skeleton at the feast? Well, I think 
 you'll have to endure it I fancy you'll survive." 
 
 Her lips quivered ominously, and her eyes were 
 suspiciously bright. She may have imagined that 
 her pleading would move me until the night before 
 she had never had to ask anything of me twice. 
 Now my careless indifference to her wishes crushed 
 her. She put one hand to her cheek I knew she 
 was holding back the tears until she fairly ached 
 with the pain of it. 
 
 " Craig," she said, " please don't make me." 
 
 For a moment I feared for my own resolution. 
 I rose from the table and, walking to the fireplace, 
 faced about toward her. She, too, had risen, and 
 was standing in the middle of the room. The morn- 
 ing sunlight, glancing through the squares of glass, 
 shone on her hair. Her slender figure swayed a 
 little. She strove to keep her teeth from pressing 
 her lower lip. 
 
 " Please, Craig, don't make me," she repeated. 
 
 But I had ceased to waver. " Really," I said, 
 " I thought I'd made my position clear. We ar- 
 ranged it all last night, didn't we? What's the 
 use of fighting the battle over again ! Don't let's 
 have a scene, Nell leave all that to your mother. 
 As she remarked last night, my conduct isn't gener- 
 ous, certainly not even gentlemanly, perhaps in 
 fact, I believe she said I was an out-and-out
 
 22 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 bounder. That wasn't a very judicious remark for 
 a lady in her awkward position, by the way. But 
 let it go I admit I'm playing the bounder and 
 I don't care. I don't want to be brutal at least, 
 not any more brutal than necessary but I've got 
 you both in the hollow of my hand, and I don't 
 intend to let you go not easily. I'm perfectly 
 willing to answer to your brother whenever he comes 
 I suppose you've sent for him, haven't you? " 
 
 "Ned? No!" 
 
 "You haven't had a chance? Well, I'll argue 
 my conduct with Ned if he should turn up. In the 
 meanwhile I want the dinner to come off. I want 
 the pleasure of sitting at your table and feeling 
 that it's really mine. That's my whim, and I'll 
 gratify whatever whim I please just now." 
 
 "Please!" 
 
 " It's no use," I said. " I'll ask you to write 
 the notes at once. Let's see whom shall we ask? 
 Aleck Westbrook and his sister are two I'd almost 
 forgotten poor Rex had a sister she must be 
 quite grown-up. Are the Willy Archers here ? " 
 
 She nodded miserably. 
 
 " That'll make four. And John and Augusta 
 Savarton I saw by the papers they were here. 
 There's our six. Yes, and old General Savarton 
 for your mother. Do you think of anyone better? 
 I'll go in to dinner with you, if you'll allow me 
 the honor." 
 
 She spoke with difficulty, her face very white.
 
 INVITATIONS DECIDED UPON 23 
 
 " I can see you've something back of this. Craig, 
 you didn't use to sneer so terribly ! " 
 
 " I didn't have cause." 
 
 " Surely you don't mean to tell them every- 
 thing to-night." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! I promise you I'll behave de- 
 cently in that direction. It would be no satisfac- 
 tion to me to have them know. I'll be more than 
 polite more than respectful never fear ! " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Wait and see," I said airily. 
 
 She stared at me. Then the tears brimmed her 
 eyes and slipped down her cheeks. 
 
 She did not sob, but stood so for a long moment. 
 Then, not even lifting her hands to her face, she 
 turned and left the room.
 
 Ill 
 
 A GIRL DISOBEYS ORDERS 
 
 I ROUSED myself from the comfortable chair in 
 the library. I had been reading and musing a 
 good hour since breakfast. 
 
 I fumbled through a pile of photographs on the 
 table there was Ellen, in a dozen different cos- 
 tumes at a dozen ages. At another time I might 
 be interested in comparing the innocent looks of 
 the older likenesses with those taken more recently 
 there was more than one of the former that had 
 its memory for me. But now I felt restless, dis- 
 posed to roam about the house, to play the troll 
 with Mrs. Sutphen, or Ellen, or even with Theresa, 
 if I happened to encounter her. 
 
 So presently I wandered into the drawing-room. 
 It was a rather small apartment, for the library, 
 dining-room and wide hall took up more than their 
 share of the lower floor of " Red Cedars." But 
 small as it was, it was well-lighted by broad win- 
 dows, as were all the rooms in the house, and 
 pleasantly garnished with divans, pillows, and a 
 piano. 
 
 I seated myself, and struck a few chords it was 
 long since I had touched an instrument. My mind 
 went back to other days, and I began to sing: 
 
 24
 
 A GIRL DISOBEYS ORDERS 25 
 
 " Here in wind-swept Balabac 
 
 I look from my palm-tree dome, 
 Southward o'er the ocean track 
 
 Eyes and heart together roam 
 Eyes and heart with longing seek 
 
 Your dear boat above the foam. 
 Happy tears are on my cheek, 
 
 Dreaming that my love is home." 
 
 Just outside the window opened for the morn- 
 ing airing a man's subdued voice repeated the 
 chorus of the song his tenor chiming with my bass 
 as it had done a hundred times before : 
 
 " Happy tears are on my cheek, 
 Dreaming that my love is home." 
 
 I struck the final chord, then strolled to the 
 window and looked out. 
 
 Dirck DuBois was polishing my car, humming 
 as he worked. He was a man of twenty-eight or 
 thirty, deep-chested and stocky. On first consid- 
 eration of his straight, fair hair and blue eyes not 
 to mention his tenor voice a stranger might think 
 him a model of peasant simplicity an impression 
 by no means justified by the man's real character. 
 He had been in more than one tight place with me, 
 and had the courage of one of Napoleon's grenadiers. 
 
 While he wrestled with an erring carbureter, 
 Theresa stood as close to him as the imminent 
 danger of soiling her white apron would permit. 
 Her eyes watched him admiringly, and her clever 
 little tongue plied him with flattery.
 
 26 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " You're awful smart to do all that, Mr. Du- 
 Bois. You handle all those those things like I 
 would a needle." 
 
 Dirck was halfway under the car by this time, 
 and only grunted pleasantly in acknowledgment of 
 her compliment. 
 
 " I don't see how you can do it so. My ! I wish 
 I was strong like a man. I wish I was a man 
 anyhow, if I could be like you." 
 
 Dirck took a screw from his mouth. " I prefer 
 you as you are ma'am'selle, if you please. You're 
 far more charming as you are, I assure you." 
 
 "Do you think so really, Mr. DuBois? You're 
 just guyin' me, ain't you? I guess I ain't half as 
 nice as lots of girls you've seen travelling. You've 
 been every wheres, haven't you? " 
 
 " Everywhere except heaven and hell, Ma'am'selle 
 Theresa, and I have no doubt I will visit one 
 
 or the other in good time probably " His 
 
 conclusion was lost in the clatter of his monkey- 
 wrench. 
 
 The maid smoothed her apron. " Have you 
 always been with Mr. Schuyler, Mr. DuBois ? " 
 
 " Not always. I was born, perhaps, two years 
 before monsieur. He failed to employ me during 
 those years such thoughtlessness is not like mon- 
 sieur." The fellow never moved a muscle of his 
 face. 
 
 Theresa dropped her voice insinuatingly, and 
 smoothed her apron afresh. " Is it true what they
 
 A GIRL DISOBEYS ORDERS 27 
 
 say of him, Mr. DuBois? Is he married to one of 
 those savages out there ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, ma'am'selle," returned Dirck deprecat- 
 ingly, " not married." 
 
 " You know what I mean. Did he have was he 
 did he pretend to be married to anybody? Of 
 course, their heathen ways ain't the same as a real 
 wedding. I suppose he called it that, though. 
 They say here he's been real wicked out in in 
 China, wasn't it?" 
 
 Dirck laid down the monkey-wrench and handful 
 of waste, and rose to his knees. 
 
 " Ma'am'selle," he said solemnly, " will you prom- 
 ise never to tell as long as you live?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Theresa eagerly. 
 
 " Ah, you promise, but can a woman keep a 
 secret ? " 
 
 " / can I'll never tell. What is it? " 
 
 Dirck looked about with a great air of caution. 
 " Well, then, monsieur had seven wives." 
 
 " Seven ! " 
 
 " Yes, ma'am'selle all at the same time." 
 
 "Oh, my!" 
 
 " I assure you. And every evening they dined 
 with him, extremely decolletee." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. DuBois ! " 
 
 " It is quite true." His face assumed an ex- 
 pression of pleased recollection. " They were a 
 lovely sight, ma'am'selle. First one would see their 
 seven smooth necks "
 
 28 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 But Theresa waited to hear no more. With a 
 horrified giggle she snatched up her skirt and ran 
 for it. 
 
 Dirck stared after her open-mouthed. I declare 
 the man did not even smile, until I hailed him. 
 
 " Good-morning, Dirck. That's a frightful 
 reputation you've been giving me. Theresa will 
 think I'm a real Bluebeard." 
 
 He faced about and touched his cap, his eyes 
 twinkling, his lips on a broad grin. 
 
 " Good-morning, monsieur. That little piece 
 wants to know more than is good for her, perhaps. 
 I gave you as many wives as a Solomon." 
 
 " You shocked her." 
 
 "Ah, no she was not so shocked as she pre- 
 tended. Hardly, monsieur, I think. Ma'am'selle 
 Theresa has a certain light in the back of her eyes 
 she was not born yesterday. It is well to play 
 the innocent, however, until it is time to do other- 
 wise. I like a woman none the less for that." 
 
 " You're a cynic, Dirck." 
 
 " I have been three years with monsieur." 
 
 " You have me there. Well, we've been here ten 
 hours or so how do you like the place so far? " 
 
 " The chef is French, the butler is English, one 
 of the maids is Irish, and the other is Theresa. I 
 am satisfied." 
 
 " I'm glad of it. I may stay here some time." 
 
 " As monsieur pleases." His eyes lighted and he 
 waved his hand toward the surrounding hills. " The
 
 A GIRL DISOBEYS ORDERS 29 
 
 forest, is it not charming? It is not the jungle 
 we know, but yet charming in its way. Is there 
 game, perhaps? I would like to feel a rifle in my 
 hands again." 
 
 " A few rabbits, I suppose. Maybe a fox or two 
 has escaped the Hunt and the natives' poison. By 
 the way, I think Miss Sutphen and I will take a 
 turn in the hills, after you've delivered some notes 
 she's writing." 
 
 " Yes, monsieur. Theresa brought them to me 
 just now." He touched the pocket of his leather 
 coat. " Where shall I meet monsieur and made- 
 moiselle? Mademoiselle Sutphen went out nearly 
 an hour ago, as monsieur knows." 
 
 "Eh! What?" I exclaimed. "She went out? 
 
 What the devil " I checked myself. " Oh, of 
 
 course, I'd forgotten. Yes, about an hour ago. 
 Which way did she go? " 
 
 Although I tried to control myself, my face 
 must have betrayed my exasperation at Ellen's de- 
 fiance of my orders. I had told her expressly that 
 she was to go nowhere without my permission. 
 
 Dirck averted his eyes and adjusted his wrench 
 with elaborate care. He knew he had touched the 
 nerve of some serious matter, and strove to put me 
 at my ease. He answered carelessly. 
 
 " Mademoiselle went as if for a walk up the 
 hill, I think. I hardly noticed." He stooped and 
 pulled at the emergency-brake. " This clutch it 
 is a little awkward of late."
 
 30 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Well," I said, " deliver the notes as soon as 
 you can." I was about to turn from the window. 
 " Oh, by the way, Dirck, come to my room to-night 
 after dinner sometime. I've a little business to 
 talk over with you." 
 
 " Yes, monsieur. At twelve o'clock? " 
 
 " Thereabouts. Up the hill, you said? " 
 
 " Yes, monsieur." 
 
 I returned to the library to think. Why had 
 Ellen disobeyed me, and how had she dared to act 
 against my wishes even in the smallest degree? 
 Surely she could not have so chafed under my 
 yoke so recently imposed as to have determined 
 to let me do my worst, regardless of consequences. 
 She would shrink from them for her mother's sake 
 if not for her own. Disobedience for the mere 
 sake of defiance was impossible. 
 
 I had told her that she must consult me about her 
 goings-out and comings-in, and that I would refuse 
 her permission to make a call, if I so desired. And 
 yet she had left the house without my knowledge. 
 She had disobeyed me in this little matter, she might 
 do so in a greater it was necessary to call a halt 
 at once. I would find her and punish her forthwith 
 in a way she could not forget. 
 
 To make this resolution was easy, but to carry 
 it out was a different matter. She had gone for a 
 walk, with or without an objective, but whither? 
 into the hills, or simply to make a morning call at 
 any one of half a dozen cottages within the radius 
 of a mile or so ? I would chance it.
 
 A GIRL DISOBEYS ORDERS 31 
 
 In my dressing-room I speedily got myself into 
 my favorite walking togs laced half-boots, flex- 
 ible and fitting like a glove a design of my own; 
 army khaki trousers, not too tight; a loose coat, 
 cut very short, and a soft hat. I had tramped 
 many a mile through the dank Sumatran jungle in 
 that rig. 
 
 From the bottom of my dressing case I drew a 
 certain African curio. It was a bracelet of iron, 
 not very thick but nearly two inches broad. Be- 
 ing native-wrought, the quality of the work was 
 so crude that the ore had retained almost its orig- 
 inal color a dark red. It was quite plain in 
 design, except where it clasped, or rather locked, 
 for the thing was secured by a regular key of con- 
 siderable size. 
 
 The lock was the most curious part of the brace- 
 let. It was shaped into the face of a Nubian. The 
 face, expressive of a thousand years of uncomplain- 
 ing submission, looked up at one as if momentarily 
 expecting to feel the sting of the lash or the blow 
 of the slave-driver's fist. The native smith who had 
 wrought that face must himself have marched many 
 a weary mile yoked in the slave caravan. 
 
 I dropped bracelet and key into my coat-pocket. 
 Then I picked up my gloves, found a stick, and sal- 
 lied out of the house.
 
 IV 
 
 APPLE-PIE WITH CREAM 
 
 AT a sheer venture I struck into the road that 
 wound up the hill. I had gone only a few rods 
 when a slim blonde girl on horseback appeared 
 around the curve, followed by a groom. 
 
 I lifted my hat as she trotted past. She re- 
 turned the bow but so distantly that I knew she had 
 not recognized me. Small wonder ! I had not seen 
 Norah Westbrook for nearly four years, and my 
 face, burned by tropic suns, was well-nigh as dark 
 as a Malay's. 
 
 I glanced after her, admiring the easy swing of 
 her body and the curve of the boot beneath the 
 dark-blue riding habit. Presently she turned her 
 head to look back at me the sight of me had puz- 
 zled her. I could see recognition dawning in her 
 eyes. At another time I would have relished a chat 
 with her, but at present I was too absorbed in run- 
 ning down my fugitive a fugitive from justice, I 
 reflected grimly. 
 
 Yet, as I walked briskly into the hills, my 
 thoughts returned to Norah Westbrook. She had 
 been only a long-legged, rangey girl when I had 
 left home a very fair counterpart of her brother, 
 Aleck, as I remembered him. Now, my brief 
 glimpse had found her a charming woman. I
 
 APPLE-PIE WITH CREAM 33 
 
 reckoned over the time she must be twenty, and 
 probably had been out a year or two. 
 
 She was one of the guests invited for the dinner 
 that night I began to feel impatient to make 
 acquaintance with this new embodiment of a child- 
 ish fancy. I had given Norah toys when she was 
 a baby, and candy as she grew into a schoolgirl. 
 Her older brother, Rex, had been one of my dearest 
 friends. Poor fellow ! typhoid fever had taken 
 him off four years before not long before my last 
 interview with the Sutphens, that interview which 
 had driven me wandering. 
 
 Norah's eyes had fallen on me, blue and clear 
 and steady her face had begun to lighten as she 
 looked. I could swear she would be worth the 
 knowing. 
 
 I wondered what I would read in those eyes if 
 the heart beneath them could know of my attitude 
 toward Ellen Sutphen. Perhaps they would be 
 filled with scorn of me me ungenerous, unkind, 
 lacking in chivalry and decency. Perhaps, how- 
 ever, they would not speak until they had had a 
 chance to see more, to find the just cause of my 
 brutal attitude. Even as a child, Norah had had 
 a certain serenity of judgment, the more conspicu- 
 ous since it was in contrast to Aleck's headlong 
 character. I brought myself up with a jerk here 
 was a pretty to-do over a pair of eyes ! 
 
 It was one thing for me to start out at a venture 
 to find my runaway, but it was quite another to have 
 3
 
 34 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 that venture bring any satisfactory result. That 
 afternoon I found Berkshire Township uncomfort- 
 ably large. 
 
 I tramped to the Halfway House on the road 
 to Mount Airy, and then to Mount Airy Inn itself. 
 Ellen was in neither place, nor had anyone seen 
 her. I had no better luck at the Tollgate along the 
 Stockwell road. 
 
 Oak Leaf Lodge on Tulquam Lake, the only 
 other place I could think of, was destitute of guests. 
 The boathouse keeper complained mournfully that 
 not a single canoe had been launched that day 
 " he reckoned as ha-ow it was a lee-tie cold for 
 boat-tin'." 
 
 I realized at last that I was on the wildest of 
 wild-goose chases, but I did not greatly care. I 
 walked steadily, if at random, until the day was 
 nearly over I had gotten a bite of lunch at Oak 
 Leaf Lodge. 
 
 My exasperation against Ellen, instead of in- 
 creasing with the realization that I was searching 
 for a needle in a haystack, diminished with every 
 mile I walked. I was more and more able to enjoy 
 the crimsoning maples, the red-cheeked apples in the 
 orchards beside the road, and the scarlet banners 
 of the sumac flaming across bits of swampy ground. 
 
 Unless Ellen were really in a frenzy of fear and 
 remorse, I knew she could no longer be roaming 
 about the countryside. She must have returned 
 home and, by this time, was making her household
 
 APPLE-PIE WITH CREAM 35 
 
 preparations for the dinner to-night. I fancied 
 her lips were trembling even as she ordered matters, 
 and her hazel eyes widening as she thought of the 
 inevitable meeting with me. 
 
 My heart softened a little at thought of the 
 appealing glance she would be sure to give me. I 
 promised myself that I would not be harsh with her 
 after all. Perhaps I would even forego the purpose 
 with which I had dropped the iron bracelet in my 
 pocket. If I relented, she might be bound more 
 helplessly than if I carried matters with a high 
 hand. 
 
 She had looked very tired at breakfast. Tired 
 and pitiful, too, I confessed. Well, it was the way 
 I had hoped to make her look hoped it ever since 
 I had received a cablegram from the United States, 
 in Paris a month before. 
 
 The afternoon was nearly spent before I could 
 make up my mind to abandon my idle ramble. 
 Finally a glance at my watch proved that, if I 
 expected to reach " Red Cedars " in time to dress 
 for dinner without hurrying, I must start homeward 
 at once. 
 
 I came to this determination at a point where a 
 sizable river brawled down a gorge whose sides 
 flamed in autumn colors. It was a neighborhood 
 wholly new to me I was rather at a loss to deter- 
 mine in what direction Bannocks and " Red 
 Cedars " lay. 
 
 At the highest point of the road that skirted the
 
 36 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 valley, a cottage peeped from an apple-orchard. 
 No doubt its occupant would be able to point out 
 my homeward course. 
 
 I ascended the road, lured almost as much by the 
 blushing cheeks of the apples in the orchard, and 
 the cozy shyness of the nestling cottage, as by 
 the desire to learn my way. Glancing back as I 
 gained the higher ground, I saw that a village 
 straggled in the hollow below me the cottage in 
 the apple-trees sat like a vidette upon the hill 
 above it. 
 
 A low stone wall surrounded the cottage and its 
 grove. The house white-clapboarded and green- 
 shuttered was set on a tiny plateau close to the 
 edge of the gorge. The wind sighed through the 
 apple-trees, and from far below I caught the cease- 
 less murmur of the river. It was a quiet rustic 
 home, yet I thought not at all relevantly of the 
 Dark Tower to which Rolande came. 
 
 Over the gate swung a little sign, neatly painted 
 in white letters on a black board : 
 
 FRESH APPLE-PIE 
 
 WITH CREAM 
 
 SOLD HERE. 
 
 The sight of this legend cheered me immensely. 
 I would be certain to find a person of some intelli- 
 gence in the house a farmer's wife or daughter 
 who would know where and how far off Bannocks
 
 APPLE-PIE WITH CREAM 37 
 
 lay ; and furthermore, I promised myself a goodly 
 slice of homemade pie, " with cream," to sustain me 
 on my homeward tramp. 
 
 With this pleasing prospect in my mind's eye, I 
 turned through the gateway, mounted the steps, 
 and knocked at the cottage door. 
 
 Silence followed my knock. Then arose a skurry 
 of feet within, and sounds that might have been 
 hurried whispers. 
 
 " A stranger disturbs these rustics," I reflected. 
 " Probably they don't see a customer after their 
 pie and cream more than once a week." 
 
 I repeated my knock with sufficient emphasis. 
 " Come, patient Mariana," I muttered aloud, "your 
 faithless lover is here at last." There was no re- 
 sponse. " Come, Phyllis," I urged, " come, fairest 
 maiden of the wood, and open to your wandering 
 shepherd lad." A door slammed within I beat 
 lustily on the portal. " What, Phyllis, unkind " 
 
 The door opened and a girl stood before me. 
 She was not the usual type of country lass, round- 
 cheeked, plump and rosy. On the contrary, she 
 was thin and rather pale, and her eyes, large and 
 soft, had dark shadows beneath them. She wore 
 a plain muslin gown, but I noticed it was freshly 
 starched. Her hair lay in neat coils about her 
 head. 
 
 " Good afternoon," I said. 
 
 She spoke in a confusion that accorded with her 
 frightened eyes. " Good afternoon sir."
 
 38 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I was at once aware that something beyond mere 
 rustic embarrassment at sight of a stranger had 
 produced the girl's pallor and cramped her tongue 
 she did not look like one to be upset so easily. 
 Instantly I was on edge for a new experience, per- 
 haps for a real adventure. 
 
 I lifted my hat and summoned my most engaging 
 smile. 
 
 " I see you sell apple-pies," I said. " I haven't 
 eaten one since I was a boy, and I feel I need one 
 immediately. Will you " 
 
 " Oh, apple-pie ! " interrupted the girl in what 
 was almost an exclamation of relief. " Is that all ? 
 Pies? Oh, yes, sir. No, sir, I mean." 
 
 " But you have the sign up," I protested. 
 
 She followed my pointing finger as if she had 
 never seen the words before. " Fresh apple-pie, 
 with cream, sold here," I repeated. 
 
 " Oh, I mean we're all out of them." 
 
 " Out of them ? " I answered laughing. " Then 
 you ought to take that sign down. I'd my mind 
 all made up for an apple-pie with cream." 
 
 The girl smiled faintly. " I'm sorry, sir. 
 We're we're all out to-day. We haven't baked 
 this week." 
 
 I stepped quietly past her. " There's one you've 
 overlooked," I said. " You mean you haven't 
 baked any for sale, of course. I see there's a fresh 
 one on the table there." 
 
 The girl had half extended her arm as if she
 
 APPLE-PIE WITH CREAM 39 
 
 would have prevented my entrance. She blushed 
 to the eyes at my inquiring glance. I pointed to 
 the delectable concoction on the table of the small 
 room. Its rich brown surface was still smoking 
 from the oven. 
 
 '* I hope even if you were saving it for your 
 own supper," I went on, " you'll surrender it to me." 
 
 To my surprise she began to wrap the pie with- 
 out a word and in evident haste. While she was 
 thus engaged I gazed about the place. 
 
 We were in the living-room, plainly but neatly 
 furnished. At one side, as I now saw, was a row 
 of shelves fairly-well garnished with pies. A little 
 earlier in the day the room would have been flooded 
 in sunlight, but at that hour, the sun, lowering 
 across the valley, merely touched the shelves, the 
 girl's pale face, and the very apple-pie, with crim- 
 son fingers. 
 
 To my right a door stood a trifle ajar through 
 the crack I caught a glimpse of a sort of gallery 
 that seemed to overlook the gorge. 
 
 I happened to glance at the girl. She was watch- 
 ing me furtively. A sunbeam made a scarlet gash 
 across her cheek. 
 
 I strolled carelessly toward the door ajar. The 
 girl, pretending to devote her whole attention to 
 wrapping the precious pie, could hardly contain her 
 anxiety. 
 
 " Do you want anything, sir? You can get a 
 drink of water at the pump, in the kitchen."
 
 40 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I was wondering what you have here," I said, 
 moving toward the inner door. " It looks like a 
 summer garden." 
 
 " No, sir. The door doesn't lead anywhere." 
 
 "A door that doesn't lead anywhere?" I 
 laughed. " That is unusual, isn't it? " 
 
 " Of course my room," she stammered with 
 increasing agitation. " That's private, sir you 
 can't go there oh ! " I had pushed the door wide. 
 
 Before I could wink a man stepped past me, and 
 crossing the room in two strides, disappeared down 
 a back hall. 
 
 On the balcony, the slender figure and white face 
 of Ellen Sutphen confronted me. I had found the 
 fugitive.
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 FOR a moment Ellen and I faced each other 
 neither moved nor spoke. A door slammed at the 
 end of a passageway her eyes widened. 
 
 No doubt she expected me to assail her with a 
 savage or sarcastic remark. If she had been de- 
 fiant, I might, indeed, have adopted the former 
 tone; if pleading, perhaps the latter but she was 
 neither the one nor the other. 
 
 Her cheeks were very white, but she displayed 
 neither scorn nor fear of me. A sort of h'stlessness 
 held her whole body, like that which pervades a 
 prisoner who has been tortured to the last extrem- 
 ity and is indifferent to further suffering. Utter 
 apathy was all I could read in her pale face. 
 
 Through the open doorway I could see the coun- 
 try girl staring in our direction, her lips parted as 
 if she were straining every nerve to listen, her hands 
 still mechanically wrapping the apple-pie. 
 
 Across the valley, the brilliant colors of the 
 maples and hickories and chestnuts had begun to 
 soften with the declining sun. Far below, the river 
 murmured against its rocks. 
 
 I looked at Ellen. She still stood motionless, 
 her eyes unfathomable, her hands clasping a little 
 swaggerstick she carried. The curve of cheek, neck 
 
 41
 
 42 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 and shoulder was outlined in gold by the sunlight 
 behind her. 
 
 I motioned toward the door she started at my 
 gesture. I held the door open and she passed me 
 with lowered head and faintly-flushing cheeks. I 
 followed close. 
 
 " You needn't mind about the pie," I said to the 
 staring girl. " We won't stop to eat it." 
 
 Her glance swept from me to Ellen. " I suppose 
 you'll be back, Ellen?" 
 
 " I I think not, Mary," answered my captive. 
 " Not to-day." 
 
 " I think not, too," I volunteered. 
 
 The country girl ignored me. " When can you 
 come? " she asked. 
 
 " I don't know when." A look of under- 
 standing passed between the two women. 
 
 It was only when Ellen and I were climbing the 
 rough path up the hill that I remembered I had 
 forgotten to inquire the way home. I spoke to her 
 for the first time that afternoon. 
 
 " It's getting rather late. Do you know the 
 road to Bannocks ? " 
 
 " Yes," she answered in a low tone. " We're 
 going in the right direction. This is a short cut." 
 
 I followed her without further remark. She 
 walked steadily, her body bending from the waist 
 to meet the stiff ascent. I congratulated myself, 
 that in spite of my ever-smouldering resentment 
 against the girl, I was able to appreciate the deli-
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 43 
 
 cate curves of her figure the straightness of her 
 back, the soft slope of her shoulders. 
 
 So we emerged from the woods and followed the 
 path across a down. Only the rustle of the grass 
 and the sound of our footsteps broke the evening 
 stillness. 
 
 Suddenly Ellen whirled about. Her eyes met 
 mine defiantly, and her cheeks were scarlet. 
 
 " Well," she said, " you haven't asked me his 
 name ! " 
 
 " His name? " I answered stupidly. " Whose? " 
 
 " The man you saw " 
 
 " The man I saw with you in the cottage," I 
 finished. " No, so I haven't. What's the use ? " 
 
 The color began to fade from her cheeks. " You 
 mean I'd lie to you?" 
 
 " No, not at all. I'm not afraid of that I know 
 you wouldn't lie. You've already committed all 
 the deception you're capable of. I know that." 
 
 " But I've just deceived you by coming to Mary 
 Finney's cottage." 
 
 Half-whimsically I defended the girl against her- 
 self. " No, I don't call that deception it's dis- 
 obedience, flat disobedience. Not so bad as decep- 
 tion, but bad enough. I told you I didn't want you 
 to leave the house without my permission, but I 
 don't remember that you promised anything." 
 
 " No-o-o. Then you don't know who he is ? " 
 
 " I haven't the least idea I never saw him be- 
 fore."
 
 44 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 She seemed strangely pertinacious of a subject 
 one might have supposed she would be glad to drop 
 as soon as possible. 
 
 " You aren't going to make me tell who he is? " 
 
 " I scorn to force a lady's confidence. I'm not 
 interested in the man it's you I'm after." 
 
 " Oh." 
 
 " Yes. You left the house against my express 
 orders, didn't you? " 
 
 " Yes I did." 
 
 " You'll have to be punished for it then." 
 
 She gave me a quick glance. " Am I not being 
 punished every minute ? " she said. 
 
 " For past offenses, yes. You must have a par- 
 ticular punishment for disobedience. Give me your 
 stick." 
 
 She was quite pale by this time. She yielded me 
 the silver-tipped cane with a singular gesture, half- 
 imploring, half-menacing. 
 
 " If if you " Her voice died away. With 
 
 an effort she began again. " If you strike me with 
 that " 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " I exclaimed. " It hasn't 
 come to that. No, I merely want your left arm 
 free so that I can put my mark on it. A mark 
 you won't soon forget." 
 
 " Not not with the swaggerstick? " 
 
 " I promise you, no. Hold out your arm." 
 
 She obeyed, watching the motions of my fingers 
 as a bird watches the snake that holds it fascinated.
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 45 
 
 li What are you doing? " she said at last. 
 
 I felt in my pocket and drew out the iron 
 bracelet. 
 
 " This," I answered, and slipped the trinket on 
 her arm it was more nearly a handcuff than a 
 bracelet. I locked it with a single turn of the key, 
 and dropped the key into my pocket. 
 
 " You can disobey me, but you'll have to wear 
 the badge to pay for it." 
 
 " The badge? " 
 
 " Yes of servitude. In Africa they put that 
 tiling on slaves." 
 
 She looked at the two-inch band of iron that 
 gripped her arm so lightly yet so irrevocably. The 
 submissive, abject face the face of the Nubian 
 bondsman gazed up at her from the quaint lock. 
 
 I could not see her eyes, but I knew she was 
 watching me through the veiling lashes. 
 
 " So a slave has worn this in Africa ? " 
 
 " I took it from one myself." 
 
 " And a slave is to wear it here? " 
 
 " You have the point exactly." 
 
 " That's fair." 
 
 In spite of myself I felt a thrill of admiration. 
 " By Jove, Nell, you're game ! " 
 
 Again as at breakfast that morning she gave 
 me the little ghost of a smile. 
 
 " Now," I said, " we must hurry, if we want to 
 reach home in good time, in fact in any time at all. 
 Don't forget you've a dinner on to-night."
 
 46 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 She led the way at once, and we hurried across 
 the downs. Her right hand furtively touched the 
 bracelet from time to time. Presently her soft 
 profile was turned toward me as she walked. 
 
 " At dinner to-night how can I explain 
 this? " She held up her left hand. 
 
 " Don't explain it." 
 
 " But someone will be sure to ask me where I 
 got it, and what it means. Dot Archer probes into 
 everything, and Augusta is worse, if possible. This 
 is rather unusual, you know." 
 
 " It is unusual," I agreed. 
 
 " You don't mean to tell them " 
 
 " No, nothing. If anyone inquires about it, 
 say it's a gift from me that's true. They'll 
 probably take it for Grecian hammered copper 
 you see its reddish color." 
 
 " Yes. It isn't a nasty black like most iron. It 
 is iron, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes native manufacture. That's why the red 
 shows so plainly. Leave impertinent questioners to 
 me. I'll tell them it's a bit of Egyptian bronze 
 I received as a love-token from the Queen of 
 Sheba. That ought to satisfy the most exact- 
 ing." 
 
 " You aren't as cruel as you might be Craig." 
 
 " Thank you, ma'am don't count on that, 
 though. I could be worse if I tried. You wear 
 that bracelet for my satisfaction, not for others' 
 that's all."
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 47 
 
 She was silent. I saw only the white neck, and 
 the darkly-shining hair waving to her soft gray 
 hat. 
 
 I wondered what she was thinking about, and 
 could have laughed aloud when presently a defiant 
 declaration floated back to me. 
 
 " At any rate, I vow I won't wear short sleeves 
 to-night." 
 
 " I never could presume to act as arbiter of a 
 woman's gowns," I assured her. " Do you still 
 wear white a good deal, Nell? " 
 
 She gave me a glimpse of her profile the curve 
 of her cheek a little hard. 
 
 " No. I wear black mostly now. It's more suit- 
 able, isn't it?" 
 
 " You're only twenty-three." 
 
 " I'm not thinking of my age." 
 
 " Oh, I see," I returned. " Perhaps you're 
 right." 
 
 By this time we had crossed the upland and 
 were following the path about a hill. The deep- 
 ening shadows made me glance at my watch. 
 
 " It's nearly six o'clock. How far are we from 
 'Red Cedars'?" 
 
 " Nearly five miles, I think. We'll be in good 
 time, but we must hurry." 
 
 " Are you sure you know the way ? " I persisted. 
 
 " Perfectly. I've come this path very 
 often " 
 
 She broke off abruptly. The frightened glance
 
 48 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 she stole at me showed that she was aware she 
 had said too much. I did not fail to take advan- 
 tage of her slip. 
 
 " So you come often to that cottage? Whose 
 is it Mary Finney's? A charming pie-woman. 
 I've a notion to come this path very often myself." 
 
 " Mary is pretty." 
 
 " But not the sole attraction, perhaps," I re- 
 turned airily. " The next time you go to the 
 cottage I think I'll have to get you to take me with 
 you." 
 
 " If you like." 
 
 " Oh, certainly. But will you like it and will 
 folike it?" 
 
 She stopped short. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " It's plain enough. You can't imagine I've 
 forgotten that I found you sitting at a table with 
 a man who ran when he saw me. I don't like a 
 man who runs." 
 
 "He didn't run." 
 
 " Well, walked, then in quick time." 
 
 " You told me just now you weren't interested 
 in him." 
 
 " I thought I wasn't, but he's a hard fact that 
 will obtrude himself. As I say, I don't like 
 cowards." 
 
 " He isn't a coward," she flashed. Her defiant 
 mood changed abruptly. She drew a little shud- 
 dering breath. " You're right he is."
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 49 
 
 " For the present, requiescat in pace," I said with 
 an attempt at jocularity. 
 
 She turned from me impatiently. 
 
 Notwithstanding her assurances that we would 
 reach " Red Cedars " in good time for dinner, I 
 was beginning to have my doubts in the matter, 
 when a familiar sound set my suspicions at rest 
 a quick " chug-chug " that broke out around the 
 curve of the hill. 
 
 " By Jove ! " I exclaimed. " That's my car. 
 Dirck must be out looking for us. Is there a road 
 there?" 
 
 " Yes. Rendezvous Lane runs along the other 
 side of the hill." 
 
 Responding to my impatience she ran lightly 
 down the path, with me in close pursuit. Side by 
 side we sprang into a sunken road. Dirck was 
 driving slowly along between its shaly sides. 
 
 " Hello, Dirck," I called. " Are you lost? " 
 
 He betrayed no surprise. " I was looking for 
 monsieur," he responded. " I thought mademoiselle 
 might have wandered farther than she had intended, 
 and would be tired." 
 
 "Right!" I said. "Thank you, Dirck. We 
 are tired. Home it is, as quick as you can get us 
 there." 
 
 " Yes, monsieur." 
 
 In spite of his admirable composure, he gave 
 slight start as I helped Ellen into the car. He 
 had caught sight of the bracelet on her arm. The 
 I
 
 50 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 carved head peered out from the cuff of her shirt- 
 waist a head peculiar to itself, of a sort whose 
 African significance he well understood. His glance 
 swept like lightning across my face I flatter my- 
 self it was devoid of expression. With a slight 
 smile on his lips as if in contempt of his own folly, 
 he gave his attention to the steering-wheel. 
 
 I tucked a rug snugly about my companion, 
 nodded to Dirck, and away we flew.
 
 VI 
 
 THROUGH THE DARKNESS 
 
 WE covered a mile or two at a good speed. 
 Then the darkness and the intricacies of the by- 
 roads compelled Dirck to slow down. 
 
 The car lamps had not been lighted. I pre- 
 ferred the suggestion of mystery in walls and trees 
 half-glimpsed through the darkness to the raw 
 revelation of them by the glaring cone of light 
 usually projected before the car at night. 
 
 I let myself dream a little Nell and I were back 
 in the old days bound for a supper at Oak Leaf 
 Lodge with Will Archer and poor Rex Westbrook 
 and half a dozen others. Or she and I alone were 
 off for a lark among the country lads and lasses 
 at Tarnsdale a rehearsal of tableaux, with a 
 hearty country dance to follow. Or we were wan- 
 dering in the dusk up the lanes about " Red 
 Cedars," our faces toward the stars, and our 
 hearts in our eyes when we looked at each other as 
 we drew near home. 
 
 I felt her stir beside me. 
 
 " Craig I think I must explain." 
 
 " No, don't. Didn't we agree just now to let 
 the fellow rest in peace ? " 
 
 "The fellow?" 
 
 " Certainly. Aren't you talking about your en- 
 tertainer at Miss Finney's ? " 
 
 51
 
 52 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Oh-h ! He's only a part of it a part of what 
 I want to tell you." 
 
 " Do as you like, Nell, but I don't see that there 
 can be any explanation." 
 
 She was silent. The lap-rug had slipped a little, 
 and I stooped to replace it. She shivered as I 
 touched her through the covering. After a while 
 she spoke again, her voice monotonous but distinct, 
 as if she were forcing herself to a task she abhorred. 
 
 " I thought I could stand it the situation 
 your position here but I can't. It's intolerable ! " 
 
 " Some people who aren't sensitive to dishonor 
 are sensitive to injury." 
 
 " Can't you conceive of a person sacrificing him- 
 self yes, herself for another ? doing a thing she 
 didn't believe in ? " 
 
 " You mean you sacrificed yourself, of course ? " 
 
 " If you like." 
 
 I laughed shortly. " For your mother, to keep 
 her comfortable, to keep her luxurious and for 
 yourself, too ! I>o you call that self-sacrifice ? 
 Good Lord, Nell! to live as you live, to keep up 
 ' Red Cedars ' this minute Jordan and Theresa 
 and the rest to do it by the means you've taken 
 Good Lord ! " I broke off at a loss for words. 
 
 The car still moved cautiously along black lanes. 
 The chug of the machinery shut us off from Dirck, 
 the sound echoing back from the slopes of the hills 
 about us. We seemed to be lost in a strange world 
 of darkness and shadows and mists. 
 
 " You've never been tried in the way I we
 
 THROUGH THE DARKNESS 53 
 
 were," Ellen went on monotonously. " If you'll 
 put yourself in my place a moment, you'll under- 
 stand. I must tell you " 
 
 " You could have worked," I broke in, " worked 
 as thousands of women do, hundreds of them as well 
 born as yourself." 
 
 " You don't understand, Craig." 
 
 " I understand enough too much, I'm afraid. 
 You claim credit for self-sacrifice on account of 
 what you did? Real self-sacrifice would mean that 
 you must be a stenographer, exposed to the famil- 
 iarities of office routine or a shop girl, kowtowing 
 to the floor-walker or a cloak-model, stared at by 
 other women or a governess, annoyed all day 
 long by spoiled children. You preferred to sacri- 
 fice yourself in another and an easier way." 
 
 My bitterness of heart had led me to speak with 
 a brutality I at once regretted. But she clapped 
 her hands applaudingly. 
 
 " Quite a harangue ! I hadn't given you credit 
 for so much imagination." 
 
 My self-reproach vanished. 
 
 " Imagination ! " 
 
 " All that about the stenographer and the shop 
 girl and the governess. Really, it was quite 
 pathetic." 
 
 I tried to make out her face through the dark- 
 ness, but could see little more than the curve of 
 chin and cheek half turned toward me. 
 
 " Nell," I said, " are you incorrigible, or are you 
 only bluffing? "
 
 54 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " You may take your choice." 
 
 " I wish to God I knew what to make of you," 
 I returned, not at all piously. 
 
 We were topping a ridge, and all at once a 
 cluster of lights twinkled into view below us, glim- 
 mering in the velvety blackness of the valley, like 
 a handful of stars reflected in a pool. 
 
 " The lights o' Bannocks Town and home," I 
 said. 
 
 " Such a home ! " Her tone was neither faint 
 nor bitter, but quite grave as if stating a fact 
 accepted beyond question. " Such a home now ! " 
 
 " In my mind's eye I've seen those lights a 
 hundred times during the last four years," I said 
 musingly. " That light there, nearest us isn't 
 that * Red Cedars'?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I've seen that light flare up, glow a while, and 
 then go out suddenly half round the world I've 
 seen it. * Such a home now ' ? The cocoon is all 
 right, Nell, only if the butterfly is sound inside it." 
 
 "A parable?" 
 
 " Something like it." 
 
 " We've given up the motor car, at least mother 
 and I," she said half mockingly. " That's some- 
 thing." 
 
 " Yes, that's something." 
 
 " And Johnson, our chauffeur, too. He was 
 almost as clever as DuBois there." 
 
 Her eyes rested with interest on the square shoul-
 
 THROUGH THE DARKNESS 55 
 
 ders and straight back in front of her. Dirck's 
 leather cap set off his close-cropped head to advan- 
 tage. His ears, placed at the right distance be- 
 tween jaw and crown, were small and well-shaped. 
 The neck was strong but not too thick. He began 
 to hum softly to himself in his pleasant tenor tones 
 the humming grew into words, floating faintly 
 back to us with the rushing wind: 
 
 " ' Vous aurez beau faire et beau dire 
 
 L'oubli me serait odieux 
 
 Et je vois tou jours son sourire, 
 
 Des adieux des adieux.'" 
 
 " Is that your man? " asked Ellen. " He's a very 
 superior-looking person." 
 
 " Oh, yes," I returned, carelessly, " people often 
 say so. Change his get-up a little and he would 
 pass muster anywhere." 
 
 " Yes he really would." She sank back against 
 the cushions with a tired sigh her eyes closed. 
 
 It was quite dark when we descended the winding 
 road above " Red Cedars." Ellen had not opened 
 her eyes nor I my lips the latter part of the way. 
 I was busy going over in my mind the events of the 
 last two days, and was willing to let her rest for a 
 while. Suddenly the lights of the house flashed 
 before us. 
 
 " We're home," I said. " Have you been 
 asleep? " 
 
 Dark as it was I could see the flash of her eyes.
 
 56 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Asleep ? No I've been thinking. It seems to 
 me I can't sleep any more. I wish, one didn't have 
 to think" she added under her breath. 
 
 I swung aside the rug and lifted her gently to 
 the ground. 
 
 " Thinking is one form of Tophet," I said. " / 
 know that, pretty well. I've had my share of it 
 in my time on your account, too, fair lady." 
 
 . The lights under the porte-cochere fell full upon 
 her. She straightened herself proudly as I looked 
 up at her from the lower step. Dirck and the car 
 chug-chugged away toward the garage. 
 
 " You've been in Tophet on my account 
 really?" 
 
 " Yes in my time. That time is long past, I 
 promise you." 
 
 " I know it." Her face, which had been wistful, 
 changed marvellously her brows drawn firmly and 
 her chin a little forward. " Oh ! of all the things 
 you've ever said, that that is the most caddish." 
 
 I endeavored to laugh. " Don't forget you wear 
 my bracelet." 
 
 " Forget it? No." Her breast rose flutteringly 
 and her voice shook. " But don't you forget that 
 sometimes, even in Africa, a master is kind." 
 
 She made me a bow whether scornful or plead- 
 ing I vow I could not tell and slipped into the 
 house. 
 
 She had called me a cad, but if she thought I 
 played the part with any satisfaction she knew me ill.
 
 VII 
 
 A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 
 
 I DRESSED for dinner leisurely. My trunks had 
 arrived in the course of the day, and I found my 
 things laid out for me. 
 
 When I had finished I contemplated myself in the 
 tall pier-glass. I fancied I made a rather formid- 
 able figure, which was precisely what I wished to 
 make. 
 
 My eyes are naturally deep-sunken, and years of 
 outdoor life had somehow accentuated this charac- 
 teristic. My mouth was not encouraging to one 
 who knew herself guilty, and my face, darkly- 
 tanned, had a certain immobility of expression. 
 Altogether, even had there not been good reason, 
 I did not wonder that Ellen Sutphen had shrunk 
 before me from the moment of my re-entrance upon 
 her life. 
 
 I was still viewing myself in the glass when I 
 heard a sound at the door of my dressing-room. It 
 was not a knock but a slight grating noise the 
 faintest of faint noises, but I am keen-eared and 
 knew I could not be mistaken. I wheeled about and 
 waited. 
 
 The sound was not repeated, but as I stood star- 
 ing at the door, the glass knob turned slowly to the 
 reverse position. Someone had tried to enter and 
 
 57
 
 58 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 had found the door locked. There was a moment's 
 silence, then a light footstep went stealing up the 
 hall. 
 
 In two strides I could have crossed the room, 
 flung open the door, and caught the would-be in- 
 truder. But to what end? 
 
 I knew as surely as if I held her, shamed and 
 trembling, in my grasp, that it could only be one 
 of two persons Ellen or Mrs. Sutphen. In my 
 present humor I had no desire to precipitate a scene 
 with either. It was my intention to have the 
 approaching dinner go off smoothly. It would not 
 do to precede it by a stormy interview with my 
 hostesses. 
 
 So I refrained from making any effort to seize 
 the person who had stealthily tried my door. But 
 the attempt reminded me that some precautions 
 were advisable. 
 
 Accordingly I removed my wallet from the dress- 
 ing-table to the inside pocket of my coat. Its 
 contents were necessary to maintain my position at 
 " Red Cedars " it would be safest about my 
 person. 
 
 These preparations being completed, I turned 
 to go downstairs. To reach the door from the 
 dressing-table I had to pass in front of the pier- 
 glass I made a mental note of the fact. 
 
 I turned back and passing from the dressing- 
 room into the bedroom, lifted a window. The 
 lights from an ell of the house shone up at me.
 
 A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 59 
 
 Leaning out I gave a peculiar whistle two or three 
 times then waited. 
 
 In a moment or two, the whistle was answered be- 
 neath my window a man's shadowy form appeared 
 out of the darkness. 
 
 " Can you hear me? " I called in Malayan. 
 
 " Yes," answered Dirck in the same tongue. 
 
 " When you come to my room, after dinner, bring 
 a pair of pincers and a yard or two of soft wire. 
 Keep them out of sight, under your coat under- 
 stand? " 
 
 I did not wait for his answer, but closed the 
 window and sought the drawing-room. 
 
 It was in sole possession of the head of the house 
 Mrs. Sutphen herself. I had not seen her since 
 late the night before. She was sitting languidly 
 in an arm-chair, and inclined her head to me with 
 an attempt at her usual affectionate manner. 
 
 She was a small, pussy-cat sort of woman, re- 
 trousse-nosed and fair-browed. Her rather near- 
 sighted eyes ordinarily met one through, their pince- 
 nez with a sort of confiding affection that had -I 
 reflected savagely long deluded her social world. 
 Her hair rose light and abundant above a com- 
 plexion infantile in its soft pink and whiteness. 
 
 A well-gowned, pleasant-faced, easy-mannered 
 woman, yet when I had last seen her, the night be- 
 fore, one whose poise had completely vanished, 
 whose falsely-gentle mask had been broken through 
 at last, and whose trembling limbs could hardly
 
 60 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 support her body, shaken with fear and anger and 
 shame. 
 
 Her nod, desperate attempt to appear at ease 
 as I knew it to be, set my nerves on edge at once. 
 I made her a gay bow. 
 
 " Good-evening. It's awfully good of you to 
 give this dinner. It's in my honor, isn't it? You 
 oughtn't to have tried to amuse me by asking people 
 in after your nasty headache last night. You 
 and Nell are amusement enough for anyone. I 
 hope the head's better." My tone and manner 
 were intensely sympathetic. 
 
 I could see the eyes narrow behind the pince-nez. 
 The handkerchief, decorously edged with black, that 
 she was holding in her lap, became a shapeless ball. 
 One slippered foot was projected, withdrawn, and 
 projected again from beneath the gray folds of her 
 skirt. 
 
 " I hope the headache's better," I repeated. 
 
 " Craig, you are execrable ! " 
 
 " My dear lady," I answered blandly, " I am ex- 
 pressing my deep interest in your health. Is there 
 anything in my respectful solicitude to cause you 
 to treat me so unkindly ? " 
 
 The black-bordered handkerchief made a dab at 
 the near-sighted eyes with such violence that the 
 pince-nez was precipitated to the floor. I recovered 
 it and handed it to her deferentially. 
 
 " The strain of your household cares is getting 
 to be too much for you. I'm afraid you're a little 
 nervous."
 
 A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 61 
 
 The pink in her cheeks became spots of angry 
 crimson. 
 
 " How a man born a gentleman " she began. 
 
 I interrupted. " For that matter, how a woman 
 born a lady " My pause was full of signifi- 
 cance to her. 
 
 Her foot again tapped the floor while I, smiling 
 politely, awaited her next remark. 
 
 We were in this attitude when Ellen entered the 
 room. The situation her mother and I eyeing 
 each other in a sort of armed truce evidently 
 caused her an unpleasant shock. She halted, glanc- 
 ing from the tell-tale red in her mother's cheeks to 
 my formal smile, and touched her hair with dainty 
 fingers in order to hide her embarrassment. 
 
 I surveyed her. " Nell," I said, " do you mind 
 my saying you are looking exceedingly charming 
 to-night?" 
 
 She gave me a little eager smile, as if imploring 
 me not to jeer, but my earnest glance reassured 
 her, and made her lower her eyes as well. 
 
 " Would any woman mind a man's telling her 
 that ? " she answered. 
 
 She wore a gown of some soft stuff. It was 
 devoid of all glittering lights I hate shimmers in 
 a woman's frock as much as I like them in her hair 
 but fell dull-black from throat to instep. 
 
 As she had threatened, it was not decolletee, but 
 the superb white throat above the black yoke gave 
 promise of the shoulders beneath. The mass of
 
 62 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 chestnut hair swept smoothly from neck to crown, 
 not a lock astray nor yet one devoid of its own 
 iridescent light. 
 
 For some reason perhaps on account of the 
 kindness of my greeting the look of anxiety had a 
 little faded from her face. There was even a faint 
 trace of archness in the turn of her head and the 
 droop of her shoulders. For the moment 'for me 
 she was an exceedingly charming woman. 
 
 My eyes lingered on her hair. 
 
 u ' This is the hair that launched a thousand ships, 
 And burnt the topless towers of Ilium,'" 
 
 I paraphrased. 
 
 " Thank you, sir. I'll try to think of something 
 nice to quote about you" 
 
 " A hopeless effort, I'm afraid." 
 
 " I suppose you aren't fishing? " 
 
 " Certainly not. If you do think of anything, 
 be sure to let me know." 
 
 " Mais oui, monsieur. " 
 
 As we carried on this decidedly feeble badinage, 
 the crimson spots faded from Mrs. Sutphen's 
 cheeks. Such conversation was of a sort to which 
 she had been accustomed until lately. Possibly, 
 as she watched us from the arm-chair, she was try- 
 ing to delude herself into the belief that her own 
 and her daughter's life still ran on normal lines, 
 that my presence was merely a hazy dream that a 
 good dinner would dissipate, or at most that I was
 
 A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 63 
 
 but a casual week-end guest instead of a tyrant 
 and enemy. 
 
 " Won't you sit down, Nell? " I asked. " You 
 must be tired after our tramp." 
 
 " Have you been out walking, Ellen ? " queried 
 Mrs. Sutphen. " I hope you didn't go too far. 
 These autumn days are so trying." 
 
 " It wasn't far." Ellen's reply was evasive. " I 
 met Mr. Schuyler and we came back together." 
 
 " Where did you go ? " said her mother with 
 the dull persistence a weak nature often displays. 
 
 " Only three or four miles, perhaps." 
 
 "But where?" 
 
 " It was only to Mary Finney's." She spoke 
 hesitantly, with a sidelong glance at me, as if beg- 
 ging me to be silent. 
 
 I manifested a great interest in a painting on 
 the wall above the piano. 
 
 "To Mary Finney's?" repeated Mrs. Sutphen 
 querulously. " That girl ! I wish you would pay 
 some attention to my wishes, Ellen." Doubtless on 
 account of our peculiar relations she seemed to be 
 heedless of preserving the amenities before me. 
 " You know I've told you again and again " 
 
 Ellen made a gesture. " Please, mother not 
 now." 
 
 "Why not now? " retorted Mrs. Sutphen, rather 
 raising than lowering her tone. " Craig knows 
 the worst about us, doesn't he? He might as well 
 see our other family skeletons, and "
 
 64 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 "Mother!" 
 
 " Please don't interrupt me. I " 
 
 It was useless for me to pretend any longer that 
 I was oblivious of the discussion. I felt a glow 
 of anger at the older woman's bad taste. 
 
 " Mrs. Sutphen, I don't care to hear anything 
 that Nell doesn't wish me to hear." 
 
 The black-bordered handkerchief promptly hov- 
 ered over the pince-nez, and there was a painful 
 silence in the room. 
 
 " Nell," I said, " this is a quaint picture here. 
 What's the idea? I don't mind telling you," I 
 muttered as she joined me. " I won't have anybody 
 abuse you but myself." 
 
 " Small favors thankfully received," she an- 
 swered in the same low tone. 
 
 We were standing close together, in what must 
 have seemed to an outsider a very friendly attitude, 
 when the Savartons and the Westbrooks were an- 
 nounced together. 
 
 The Savartons John and Augusta and the old 
 general were people without much individuality. 
 The two men, except for the general's white hair 
 and Civil War goatee, looked as much alike as two 
 peas. Augusta was a placid person of neutral 
 coloring, tastes and opinions. 
 
 Norah Westbrook and her brother interested me 
 more. The former held out her hand to me impul- 
 sively. 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler ! I knew it was you. After I'd
 
 A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 65 
 
 passed you this morning, I racked my brains to 
 think who you were. It came to me in a flash, but 
 you were out of sight by that time." 
 
 " Very much offended because you had cut me 
 dead. 
 
 " ' Norah, Norah, of gay Glencora, 
 
 Where did you get the gold in your hair? ' " 
 
 She capped my verse instantly: 
 
 " ' Faith ! it came from the White Witch of Dunmora, 
 The dust o' the stars for me to wear.' 
 
 Oh, do you remember how you taught me that, and 
 the fairy stories you used to tell me and the 
 candy you gave me? Really, the very last of my 
 first teeth was accounted for by a delicious piece 
 of molasses candy you gave me on my birthday. 
 This is my brother, Aleck you remember him, 
 don't you?" 
 
 " Of course." I shook hands with the young 
 fellow heartily. 
 
 Like his sister he was straight and slim, and his 
 eyes were blue. But where Norah's eyes were 
 thoughtful, his sparkled on slight provocation. His 
 cheekbones were rather high, and the skin was a 
 little too tightly drawn along the line of the jaw. 
 The face of an enthusiast, I fancied, yet certainly 
 a very manly one. 
 
 " You were a schoolboy when I saw you last, 
 Aleck," I said. " I suppose you're about finishing 
 college now." 
 5
 
 66 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Out of Princeton last year," he returned. 
 
 " Are you building a bonfire under the world now, 
 or is it plain loaf? You'd better travel than do 
 that." 
 
 " I'd like to be an explorer like you, Schuyler 
 that would be living. But Norah wants me to stick 
 to her a year or two yet there are only aunt and 
 ourselves, you know." His eyes wandered to Ellen 
 Sutphen. 
 
 " Quite right, of course," I declared warmly. 
 " If there were enough Norahs to go 'round, there 
 wouldn't be any explorers." 
 
 " Ha, ha ! very good," said John Savarton. 
 
 " Awfully," agreed Augusta, as she would have 
 agreed if he had said " very bad." 
 
 Just then the Willy Archers arrived, barely in 
 time to escape being late. Dot Archer, with Willy 
 in tow, sailed in as if she were a majestic dowager 
 instead of a decidedly diminutive person of twenty- 
 two or three. 
 
 " I'm here," she cried, snapping her black eyes 
 about on every man present. " I'm not late. Don't 
 say I am or I shall die of mortification. I told 
 Willy to hurry but he Craig Schuyler ! How are 
 you? So you've really condescended to return to 
 civilization at last." She menaced me with a tiny 
 finger. " O-oh, ho ! We know why you stayed 
 so long. I've heard the tales about your doings 
 in the jungles of of where was it, Willy? " 
 
 " The tropical fastnesses of Kamschatka,"
 
 A DOMESTIC DISCUSSION 67 
 
 grinned her husband, who thought everything his 
 wife did delightful. 
 
 " Of course in Kamschatka. Wicked, wicked 
 man! Ellen, we aren't late, are we, dear? " 
 
 " No just in time," smiled Ellen, motioning 
 toward the door. " There's Jordan now." 
 
 " Aleck will take you in, Dot," said Mrs. Sut- 
 phen. " And Willy will you look after Augusta ? 
 Norah and Mr. Savarton, and Craig and Ellen. 
 General, you and I." 
 
 As Ellen and I led the way to the dining-room, 
 I repeated the verse Norah Westbrook and I had 
 quoted: 
 
 " ' Norah, Norah of gay Glencora, 
 Where did you get the gold in your hair? ' 
 ' Faith it came from the White Witch of Dunmora, 
 The dust o' the stars for me to wear.' 
 
 Rather pretty, isn't it? " I said.
 
 VIII 
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 
 
 IT had been upwards of four years since I had 
 sat down to dinner at " Red Cedars " it seemed to 
 be a score. I recalled what my feelings had been 
 the last time I had sat there, and did not find the 
 recollection pleasant. 
 
 I glanced at Ellen. She, too, was thinking of 
 that unhappy time, for she avoided my eyes, and 
 the knuckles of her hands, clasped on the table's 
 edge, showed white. 
 
 I felt a sort of contemptuous pity for the out- 
 raged and overwhelmed young man who, four years 
 before, had found himself so impotent before these 
 women. Now it was they Mrs. Sutphen and Ellen 
 who were helpless before me me, grown im- 
 measurably in coolness, and mercilessly hardened 
 by experience. 
 
 In my grim enjoyment of the change in our 
 situations, I could almost have called aloud : " 7 
 am master here! I can in one instant send this 
 easy hostess, and this girl, for all her apparent 
 hauteur, weeping to their knees before me ! " I 
 found a certain dubious pleasure in the sight of 
 Ellen's straining knuckles and her mother's fre- 
 quent anxious glances in my direction. 
 
 While Dot Archer rattled on, and General Savar-
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 69 
 
 ton dealt in solemn platitudes with Mrs. Sutphen, 
 I stared rather vaguely down the table. My glance 
 rested on Aleck Westbrook his earnest face at- 
 tracted me. 
 
 I became aware that he was gazing in our direc- 
 tion at Ellen. His eyes studied her face, lowered 
 toward her plate, with a strange light in their 
 eager depths. His mouth assumed a peculiar ex- 
 pression, absorbed, tender, protecting. I started, 
 at least mentally. I had seen such a look in other 
 eyes in another land. 
 
 " Good Heavens ! the boy's really in love with 
 her," I reflected. " This is a pretty go ! How far 
 has it gone that's the question ? " 
 
 Too far I was afraid far enough to work woe 
 for one of them at any rate. I studied him again 
 that mouth and eye were not of a spirit to take 
 things lightly. 
 
 Had Ellen read his soul as easily as I? One 
 might trust a woman for that ! Was she leading him 
 on to dizzy heights whence she might cast him down 
 at last as she had cast another? For that matter, 
 it was not unlikely that he had already declared his 
 passion for her. On the surface a right and 
 proper procedure ! they were about of the same age 
 an honorable passion expressed for an honorable 
 woman. I laughed to myself painfully enough. 
 
 Young Westbrook's eye was fixed upon me with 
 a sudden challenge. He had caught my sarcastic 
 smile and, so it seemed, divined my sneering
 
 70 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 thought. No doubt the lad was young and quix- 
 otic enough, perhaps also enough in love, to resent 
 any slight toward his chosen lady, even if the slight 
 were only a twitch of the lips. 
 
 I was ready to like the boy, so I bent gallantly 
 over Ellen. 
 
 " You've an admirer, I see." 
 
 She looked up quickly. " Oh, scores of them. 
 Did you ever doubt it? " 
 
 " But I hope you don't count everything fish 
 that comes to your net. That would be too cruel." 
 
 " That sounds like another parable you'll have 
 to interpret it yourself." 
 
 " Young Westbrook there ! He's absolutely 
 scowling at me because I've had the honor to take 
 you in, perhaps." 
 
 " How absurd ! " She glanced down the table, 
 and, meeting Aleck's eye, smiled frankly. His face 
 lightened and he returned her an eager nod. 
 
 " We were talking about you, Aleck," I said. 
 " Which ear is burning? " 
 
 " Whichever means nice things, of course." His 
 suspicion of me vanished on the instant. 
 
 " No one ever can remember which ear burns for 
 scandal," cried Dot Archer, " or which for praise. 
 Isn't it provoking! I really do believe in signs. 
 I'm awfully interested in all all this this New 
 Thought, you know. I want to belong to the 
 Society for Some-kind of Research. You know 
 what kind of Research? of "
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 71 
 
 " Orthopedic," suggested Willy gravely. 
 
 " Oh, yes, of Orthopedic Research, but you won't 
 let me. Willy says I'd be consulting mediums and 
 spiritualistic old women, and and Circassian 
 princesses and things, until he'd be driven crazy. 
 But it is annoying not to remember which ear ought 
 to burn, isn't it? Norah, which is it? the right 
 or the left?" 
 
 " I suppose you want me to say the right ear 
 always burns," said Norah. " But I scorn such a 
 pun. One of my Irish forebears might have said: 
 'Erin go Bragh!'" 
 
 " Awful," I groaned. " The only proper answer 
 to that is : 'Ear ! 'Ear ! ' " 
 
 " Yes, or ' 'Ere endeth the first lesson,'" quoth old 
 General Savarton, rising unexpectedly to the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 " Schuyler," said John Savarton, " apropos of 
 psychic research, I fancy you must have seen some 
 queer things in the East, haven't you? " 
 
 " I don't recall anything very mysterious. Most 
 of the mystic Oriental is all nonsense, you know. 
 What I mean is that the esoteric East is talked 
 about mainly by the type of mind that would find 
 just as much mystery on Fifth Avenue or the Bow- 
 ery, if it ever bothered to look at it. It's the 
 Cook's tourist who has put an impenetrable haze 
 over half the world. Your savant knows that hu- 
 man nature is about the same in one place as in 
 another "
 
 72 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Meaning, of course " began Ellen slyly. 
 
 "That did sound rather inflated, didn't it?" I 
 laughed. " No, / don't pretend to understand the 
 workings of the East Indian mind, but I could if I 
 could learn to think primitively enough if you 
 see what I mean." 
 
 " You mean as a savage thinks ? " asked Norah 
 Westbrook. " Close to nature raw, as it were? " 
 
 " Precisely. One must think raw bare down to 
 the bone of things, to get a savage's point of view." 
 
 " Sounds a bit barbaric," commented Willy 
 Archer. " Sort of cannibalistic. No doubt savage 
 life is rather bare." 
 
 " Willy! " cried Dot. 
 
 " Craig, of course, you're too modest you're 
 really quite able to think ah raw," said Mrs. 
 Sutphen sweetly. " I'm sure you're a real bar- 
 barian, when you like." 
 
 I smiled at the pince-nez. " I'm learning at any 
 rate. It's really very useful to be a savage some- 
 times. It helps one lift the mask most people wear, 
 and see the secrets underneath." 
 
 " That sounds rather rather scandalous," said 
 Dot Archer. " Like the introduction to one of 
 those delightfully wicked Memoirs everybody used 
 to write in the time of Napoleon or Louis Quatorze 
 or somebody." 
 
 " Not at all," said Norah. " I see what you 
 mean, Mr. Schuyler. You want the truth of life 
 at all hazards."
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 73 
 
 I regarded her appreciatively. " I do in 
 theory, at any rate. When it comes to practice, 
 I'm willing to temper the wind to the shorn lamb, 
 for a while, at least." My glance shifted to Ellen 
 Sutphen. 
 
 She met it steadily. " Aren't you getting a 
 little mixed in your metaphors ? " 
 
 " Perhaps I am." 
 
 "We're getting off the subject, aren't we?" 
 said Augusta Savarton. " Didn't you ever run 
 across any mystery in where was it? Borneo? " 
 
 " Sumatra. Yes, but the mystery was usually 
 connected with the snake-charmer's basket or the 
 conjurer's bag. I've found more strange happen- 
 ings right here in America than I ever did east of 
 Suez." 
 
 " Oh, don't you love Kipling? " cried Dot. " It 
 must be awfully interesting to live where there 
 * aren't no Ten Commandments.' " 
 
 Her husband intervened. " Ah, ha ! Schuyler. 
 Don't you see what Dot's after? She fishing for 
 a chronique scandaleuse. You'd better watch out, 
 or she'll have you confessing all about that ' neater, 
 sweeter maiden, in a cleaner, greener land,' before 
 you know it." 
 
 During the laughter Norah Westbrook spoke to 
 me in an undertone. 
 
 " That's a rather horrid remark of Willy 
 Archer's. What does he mean by it ? " 
 
 " I fancy he's been reading some newspaper gos-
 
 74 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 sip," I returned. " A man who's lived among 
 savages much can't escape slander. They told all 
 sorts of tales about Stanley in Africa, you know. 
 Our glorious press has given Schuyler in Sumatra a 
 few coats of lurid paint, too." 
 
 " Why should they tell tales about some men 
 and not about others? " She crumbled a bit of 
 bread absently. " One couldn't imagine any coats 
 of paint on John Savarton there." Her blue eyes 
 dwelt on me. " Perhaps some men give people 
 cause for tales." 
 
 " Is that a cruel dig at me? " 
 
 " I saw an interesting-looking man in the drive- 
 way, when we came in," she said, evading my ques- 
 tion. " Who was that, Ellen ? He stared at me 
 very hard." 
 
 " Perhaps it was Craig's chauffeur." 
 
 " Yes, probably it was my man, DuBois." 
 
 " Really ? I thought I must have seen he didn't 
 appear to be " 
 
 " He's quite an unusual sort. He's saved my 
 life several times. But the best thing I ever saw 
 
 him do " I stopped. " I beg your pardon. 
 
 Of course, the deeds of my mechanic don't interest 
 you." 
 
 " Oh, but they do," she cried eagerly. " I was 
 
 very much impressed by by " The faint 
 
 color crept into her cheek. 
 
 " By his stare, eh ? " chuckled Archer. " Fine 
 blue eyes the fellow has, Norah I noticed 'em
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 75 
 
 myself. Go ahead, Schuyler, we all want to hear 
 the story if it's exciting." 
 
 " It isn't." 
 
 But I had to yield to the general demand. 
 
 " Well, he happened to get in a railway train 
 full of miserable emigrants on their way to 
 America, you know this was in Austria. The emi- 
 grants were some of those hideous South European 
 hordes that will be the ruin of this land of the 
 free and home of the brave, if we aren't careful. 
 There were half-drunken men, and squalling babies, 
 and dirty, ailing women. 
 
 " The windows in the carriages were shut, of 
 course, although it was a hot summer day. Did 
 you ever see a guard who would open a carriage 
 window of his own accord? The fellow on this line 
 wouldn't do it even when he was asked, though, it 
 was clear the babies were stifling for want of air. 
 DuBois had to get hold of the ruffian, and threaten 
 to report him to the Conductor-General before the 
 windows were opened. 
 
 " Of course, over there, there wasn't any drink- 
 ing-water, much less any ice. DuBois got some 
 pails of water at a town they passed through and 
 by a miracle found some ice. Then he carried a 
 drink to all the babies, and to all the mothers too." 
 
 " Is this a nursery tale? " queried Archer sar- 
 castically. 
 
 Norah gave him an indignant glance. I went 
 on.
 
 76 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Then he took to amusing the children, and chat- 
 ting with the mothers to draw their minds off their 
 miseries. When a lot of the men got to quarrelling 
 among themselves, he took their liquor away from 
 them and it needed a cool hand to do that. 
 
 " When they would come to a station where they 
 were to stop a few minutes, he would take a baby 
 in his arms and walk up and down the platform in 
 the shade of the carriages to give the child a 
 chance to breathe, you know. He must have had 
 half the children in- the train in his arms at differ- 
 ent times before the day was over." 
 
 " Did he tell you all this himself? " interpolated 
 the scornful Archer. 
 
 " No, he didn't. I heard it from one of the 
 women a year or two later. There was one miser- 
 able Bohemian six-months'-old who was really sick. 
 He held her for a couple of hours, fanning her 
 with his hat and keeping the little face cool by 
 wiping it with his damp handkerchief. Then when 
 the child had fallen asleep, he sat and fanned the 
 tired mother for another hour. 
 
 " By and by, he got out a guitar he had with 
 him, and perched himself up on the back of a seat, 
 and sang some little quiet German songs softly 
 so as not to wake the babies those German songs 
 that make you weepy and make you brave at the 
 same time. 
 
 " Well, I know you girls will understand, even if 
 Archer there doesn't. It was the Bohemian woman
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 77 
 
 who told me about it afterward. She said she would 
 always believe he was an angel sent from Heaven, 
 and that she prayed for him every night." I 
 glanced about the table. " Now, really, I think 
 that's better than many a more spectacular per- 
 formance." 
 
 Norah's voice was very soft. " So do I a thou- 
 sand times." 
 
 I turned to Ellen Sutphen. I was startled by 
 the paleness of her cheeks and by the dark circles 
 under her eyes. 
 
 " Are you very tired? " 
 
 " No yes I think I am." 
 
 I leaned toward her, pretending to select the fork 
 for the next course. 
 
 " Nell, I don't want to make you ill. I'm sorry 
 now I insisted upon this dinner." 
 
 " I'll pull through all right." 
 
 " I'm sorry, though. It was downright brutal 
 of me." 
 
 She gave me her ghost of a smile. Her eyes 
 lifted to mine were a misty gray. 
 
 " Have you only just recognized one of your 
 most prominent characteristics? I've known it for 
 some time." 
 
 " Brutality, you mean ? " 
 
 " Yes. You've given it vigorous exercise the 
 last few days." 
 
 " The last few days ? I only came last night." 
 
 " It seems a month to me. You know what
 
 78 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 the little darky said : ' If you goes by what mammy 
 says I'm on'y six, but if you goes by the troubles 
 I been in I'm most a hundred.' ' She gazed up 
 at me mockingly. " I heard you say just now that 
 a man who has lived among savages is bound to be 
 slandered. Does Schuyler certify that Schuyler 
 the explorer is immaculate ! " 
 
 " Oh, no. He isn't as black as he's been painted, 
 that's all." 
 
 "In spite of his seven wives?" 
 
 "Ah, ha! You've heard that dreadful story? 
 Theresa's consternation was delightful." 
 
 " She was still wild-eyed when she came to me 
 with it." 
 
 " You'd hardly expected to hear anything so bad 
 as that, I fancy." 
 
 " Hardly expected? " She spoke with suppressed 
 indignation. " You don't mean that you think I 
 set her to find " 
 
 Augusta Savarton leaned across the table and 
 stared at Ellen's wrist. 
 
 " Nell, where did you get that pretty bracelet ? 
 I don't think I ever noticed it before. What is it 
 the metal? Pull up your sleeve a little, dear." 
 
 Ellen gave me a covert glance. With her right 
 hand she involuntarily twitched down the sleeve 
 of the left. A motion that was checked before it 
 was perceptible to anyone but me. 
 
 " It's just an odd bit," she explained. 
 
 But by this time Dot Archer was interested.
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 79 
 
 " Do pull up your sleeve, Nell. It's awfully cute." 
 
 It was impossible to refuse. She turned back 
 the sleeve, and the reddish band gleamed against 
 her white wrist. The face of the Nubian looked up 
 from a lock of almost formidable proportions. 
 
 " How perfectly fascinating ! " exclaimed Dot. 
 " Oh, what a queer clasp ! And what a lovely shade 
 of red ! Is it some new kind of gold, Nell? Willy, 
 you must get me one just like it. Tiffany's. I sup- 
 pose, Nell, of course." 
 
 "Hardly Tiffany's," I remarked. "The king 
 of Uganda is barbarian enough never to have 
 heard of New York even." 
 
 "The king of " began Dot. " O-o-h, it's 
 
 something you brought her. Isn't it lovely to be 
 an explorer and bring home things like that ! 
 Willy, I wish you were an explorer." 
 
 Mrs. Sutphen settled her pince-nez and peered 
 at Ellen. 
 
 " Take it off will you, Ellen, and let me see it. 
 I can't make it out from here." 
 
 " It isn't worth while, mother," protested Ellen. 
 " After dinner, if you like." 
 
 But Mrs. Sutphen was not one to be thwarted 
 in her least desire if she could prevent it. 
 
 " But I want to see it. Do slip it off, and let 
 Norah pass it up to me." 
 
 " I can't take it off just now." Ellen's reply 
 was rather weak. " I've mislaid the key somehow. 
 Jt locks, you know."
 
 80 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 All eyes were bent upon her, then from her to me. 
 For a barely perceptible instant, a conscious silence 
 fell on the circle one doesn't mislay the key of a 
 bracelet. Norah Westbrook came to the rescue, 
 too clever to change the subject. 
 
 " Those African jewels are puzzling. Augusta 
 don't you remember that Egyptian scarab Evelyn 
 Fleming had made into a brooch? It never worked 
 properly. Mr. Schuyler, isn't there a story about 
 that bracelet? How did you get hold of it. Now, 
 don't tell us you bought it at a bazaar." 
 
 " No, I didn't. It's a captive to my bow and 
 spear. It took some violence to get that piece of 
 native work." 
 
 "Fighting?" General Savarton's professional 
 interest was aroused. 
 
 " Well, sir, you Loyal Legion men wouldn't have 
 called it even a skirmish, but at the time we thought 
 it was rather lively." 
 
 " Begin at the beginning," commanded Archer. 
 " Don't shy, Schuyler. Let's have the whole of it." 
 
 " It doesn't amount to much. Mohammed Akbar 
 Bey of the Upper Nile Egyptian Force, with a 
 battalion of fellaheen soldiers, waylaid a slave cara- 
 van. My man, Dirck DuBois, and I went along as 
 volunteers. It was all over in ten minutes, 
 though a native tribe took a hand in the game 
 against us, and made things warm. That bracelet 
 was part of the loot." 
 
 "Did it belong to a beautiful Arab princess?"
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 81 
 
 asked Dot. " And when you bore her away to your 
 tent in the palm-trees, did she look at you with 
 melting almond eyes and velvety velvety is it 
 velvet lips or cheeks they always have ? " 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know. But it wasn't an Arab 
 princess who was wearing the thing. It was a 
 Uganda slave. As I remember her she looked about 
 like the ogress in Grimm's Fairy Tales." 
 
 " How do you suppose the slave-dealers came 
 to trust a slave with a gold bracelet? " asked John 
 Savarton in his ponderous manner. " You said it 
 was native gold, didn't you?" 
 
 " Perhaps she was somebody's favorite," I 
 evaded. " Their tastes are different from ours, 
 you know. General, it would have made you feel 
 at home to see how those misguided barbarians 
 spearmen, you know tried to rush our breech- 
 loaders. It was a sort of thumbnail sketch of 
 Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. By the way, sir, 
 who was responsible for that assault ? Longstreet or 
 Lee?" 
 
 " Lee, undoubtedly," said the General. " He 
 was the commanding general, present in person 
 on the battlefield. To say he didn't order the 
 charge is simply ridiculous to any unprejudiced 
 military man. The greatest Lee worshipper never 
 dared to raise the question until Lee himself was 
 dead." 
 
 I had steered the conversation away from the 
 dangerous subject of the bracelet, yet not without
 
 82 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 ostentatious effort. Ellen's downcast eyes, her red- 
 dening cheeks and conscious air, had had all the 
 effect I had hoped for. It was strange, indeed, 
 if the entire dinner-circle were not half-convinced 
 that there was something of a romantic nature 
 between Ellen and me. 
 
 Between courses I glanced covertly at Aleck 
 Westbrook. His face was white, and his eyes had 
 a puzzled look when they fell on Ellen, but the lad 
 was game. If he feared I was ahead of him, his 
 frequent laughter and animated talk did not betray 
 him to anyone but me, and possibly to Ellen. 
 
 In a little while he addressed me directly. " Mr. 
 Schuyler, are you too much of a big game hunter 
 to care for a little home sport ? " 
 
 " I'd like nothing better. What sort? " 
 
 " What do you say to a run with my blood- 
 hound to-morrow?" 
 
 " That sounds like strenuous enough' sport for 
 anybody. Bloodhounds? Are the days of ' Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin ' back again ? " 
 
 " I've got a Cuban," he explained, " a real 
 beauty. He's as gentle as a kitten. I'm training 
 him to track, you know. I get someone to make a 
 trail, then I run him down with the hound. It's 
 quite like the real thing." 
 
 " Oh, yes, awfully good sport," said Archer. 
 " Dot and I were the unhappy fugitives one day 
 last week. But Dot can't run the dog drove us 
 to bay in half a mile."
 
 A DINNER ENFORCED 83 
 
 " It wasn't my fault at all," protested Dot. 
 " Willy would sit on a fence to smoke a cigarette. 
 Of course, they caught us." 
 
 " It sounds interesting," I said. " Ellen, what 
 do you say? Will you play Eliza to my Uncle 
 Tom, and let Aleck be Simon Legree? " 
 
 " A runaway slave ? " Her words came slowly. 
 " If you think I can run well enough. I hope I 
 won't quite disgrace you I've been out with Aleck 
 two or three times." 
 
 " Will nine o'clock be too early ?" asked Aleck. 
 
 " Not for me." Her eyes met mine an instant. 
 " I'll be awake early, I fancy." 
 
 "Why, Ellen?" said Norah, "Aren't you 
 sleeping well, dear? " 
 
 " Not very. Mother and I neither of us sleeps 
 well lately." 
 
 Norah nodded sympathetically. " Of course 
 I'd forgotten. You've had a good deal to worry 
 you, haven't you ? " 
 
 I wondered what she was talking about. Per- 
 haps she was alluding to Ellen's affair with Carlos 
 Beauchamp. I wondered if he were really serious 
 in his attentions what was far more important, if 
 she received them seriously. 
 
 Then I remembered something else for one 
 whole hour I had almost forgotten it ! Who the 
 devil was the man I had surprised with Ellen in 
 Mary Finney's cttage?
 
 IX 
 
 A SHARPENED SPOON 
 
 THE ladies rose at Mrs. Sutphen's signal, and 
 left us to our liqueurs and cigars. 
 
 Willy Archer loosened a button of his waistcoat, 
 and crossed his legs with what courtesy might have 
 called a sigh. 
 
 " Now, we can take it easy. If it weren't for 
 the girls, we'd be brutes, I dare say ; but it's mighty 
 comfortable with just ourselves sometimes. Eh, 
 John?" 
 
 " Schuyler can tell us about that," rejoined the 
 younger Savarton. " What do you say, Schuyler 
 would you prefer to be back among your 
 savages? " 
 
 " No, thank you. I'm very well content. Be- 
 sides, they aren't my savages, you know." 
 
 Archer grinned. " Oh, come. One or two be- 
 longed to you, I fancy. How about the Malayan 
 beauties? You've * taken your fun where you 
 found it, you've rogued and you've ranged in your 
 time,' haven't you ? " 
 
 " One doesn't kiss and tell, you know not even 
 among savages." 
 
 " Oh, I beg your pardon of course not." 
 
 " The Malay fighting man's weapon is a kris, 
 isn't it ? " asked the General. 
 
 84
 
 A SHARPENED SPOON 85 
 
 " Yes, that or a heavy, sabre-shaped knife they 
 call a barong. I've seen some frightful work done 
 with that." 
 
 "For instance? " 
 
 " For instance, a head and shoulders cut off at 
 a single blow. That was for roguing and ranging, 
 Archer." 
 
 " Well, somebody had to pay, I suppose." 
 
 " Somebody always has to pay," said Aleck West- 
 brook. " It's generally the woman, though." 
 
 " She paid, too, in this case. A woman more 
 or less doesn't count out there." 
 
 He regarded me steadily. " Do you find it hard 
 to adjust your point of view again to the fact 
 that a woman does count back here? " 
 
 My glance swept over him. " A worthy woman 
 counts. The other kind doesn't, not even in 
 America." 
 
 "What's all that?" cried Archer. "That 
 sounds like an extract from one of Henry James' 
 damnable stories one of those things you think 
 might make sense, only it never can. Come, Schuy- 
 ler, give us an Arabian Nights' Adventure no, by 
 George ! a Sumatran Nights' Adventure." 
 
 " I don't know any." 
 
 " Oh, well, if you won't, I'm going into the draw- 
 ing-room." 
 
 " Let's all go," I suggested. 
 
 I was about to follow the Savartons and Archer 
 when young Westbrook stopped me.
 
 86 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Will you wait a minute, Mr. Schuyler? I want 
 to ask you something." 
 
 I glanced at him. His face was pale, his mouth 
 closed firmly, and his eyes had again their look of 
 challenge. 
 
 " Certainly." I sank back in my chair. " Any- 
 thing you like, Aleck." 
 
 He did not take a seat, but planted himself 
 squarely in front of me. My wilderness training 
 had made me alert to the possibilities of a situation. 
 The latent fire in the boy's eye was apparent enough 
 to me I saw that he stood within easy striking dis- 
 tance of my chin. 
 
 Although eyeing me steadily, he seemed to find 
 it difficult to speak. Once or twice he swallowed 
 painfully. 
 
 " Anything in particular, Aleck ? I don't sup- 
 pose you left any debts behind you at Princeton, 
 did you? if you did, I'll be very glad to " 
 
 " It ifcn't anything of that sort." 
 
 " You don't want to hear a Sumatran Nights' 
 Adventure." 
 
 " Adventure ! " His voice had a sudden harsh- 
 ness. " No, I don't want to hear any of your vile 
 adventures." 
 
 " Hold on ! " I interrupted gravely. " Are you 
 saying what you mean ? " 
 
 " I beg your pardon. I didn't mean that, of 
 course. I beg your pardon, Schuyler." 
 
 " It's all right, then. You were about to 
 say "
 
 A SHARPENED SPOON 87 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler, to-night just a little while ago 
 you and Miss Sutphen " He paused a mo- 
 ment, then went on more evenly. " I don't under- 
 stand your attitude toward her I don't like it. 
 Why should you act as you do toward Miss Sut- 
 phen? " 
 
 " You'll have to be more explicit, Aleck, Have 
 I acted toward Miss Sutphen? " 
 
 His face reddened. " I mean you talk to her and 
 look at her as if as if you didn't respect her. 
 A while ago at dinner you were positively sneer- 
 ing at her." 
 
 " Didn't you imagine it ? " 
 
 " You looked it. And then, just now, what did 
 you mean by that talk about a ' worthy woman ' ? 
 I tell you, Schuyler, I don't like it." 
 
 " I believe you noticed that she was wearing a 
 bracelet I'd given her." 
 
 He stared then his face flushed hotly. " Are 
 you engaged to Ellen ? " 
 
 Then I did a foolish thing. I had meant to 
 create in the minds of the dinner guests the very 
 impression that Aleck's question proved I had 
 created, yet when he put the question so rawly, it 
 stirred my sense of the ridiculous. The bitter 
 humor of it lay not in the lad's eager, defiant de- 
 mand, but in my knowledge of Ellen's real char- 
 acter and of the tragic situation of the household. 
 
 I burst out laughing. Before I could wink he 
 struck me across the mouth with his open hand.
 
 88 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Sneer, will you ! " 
 
 I sprang to my feet. Involuntarily he recoiled 
 before the anger blazing in my eyes his hands 
 clenched. I got a grip on myself in time. 
 
 " You oughtn't to have done that." 
 
 " I'd do it again," cried the young fellow un- 
 dauntedly. 
 
 " Take a look at me, my boy," I said. " I'm 
 two inches taller than you. I'm as much bigger 
 around the chest. I've fought all over the world 
 and you struck me." 
 
 " Yes, I did." 
 
 " I'm quite able to beat you to a pulp," I went 
 on, " but I'm not going to do it. Do you know 
 why?" 
 
 " Because you're in the wrong ! " 
 
 " No. It's for Rex's sake and Norah's. But 
 I warn you, Aleck, next time I won't be so patient 
 with you." 
 
 He stuck to has point with a courage for which 
 I admired him. " You haven't answered my ques- 
 tion. Are you engaged to marry Miss Sutphen, 
 Mr. Schuyler? " 
 
 " Don't let what you imagine to be righteous 
 anger carry you away," I returned. " Do I un- 
 derstand that, in the absence of her brother of 
 Ned Sutphen you're asking me that question on 
 Mrs. Sutphen's authority?" 
 
 " No-o. What do you mean? " 
 
 " Then the fact that you ask at all shows you 
 have no right to ask."
 
 A SHARPENED SPOON 89 
 
 " No right ? " he faltered, seeing my drift. 
 
 " No. Whether or not Miss Sutphen and I are 
 engaged only concerns ourselves, and her mother." 
 
 He was silent, his eyes fell before mine. " I 
 I beg your pardon," he said at last. 
 
 " That being clear, I don't mind telling you that 
 Ellen and I are not engaged." 
 
 " You aren't ! " He stepped toward me, his 
 hand half outstretched. But my lip still smarted 
 I shoved back my chair, and made my way into 
 the drawing-room. 
 
 Mrs. Sutphen and the three Savartons were 
 already lost in a game of bridge. The catch- 
 phrases of the players as solemn as if a divine 
 revelation harassed my ears as I entered the room. 
 
 Ellen was at the piano, the Archers hovering over 
 her. I joined Norah Westbrook, for the moment 
 alone on the window seat, her hands toying with a 
 bronze paper cutter. She brandished it at me play- 
 fully as I drew a chair beside her. 
 
 " Woman-hater ! The other men have been here 
 for mvnutes. Were you fighting your battles 
 over with my baby brother? " 
 
 " You may caU it that." 
 
 "Isn't he a boy? He enjoys all that sort of 
 thing so. By the way, where is he? " 
 
 " In the dining-room. He'll be here pretty soon, 
 I fancy." 
 
 " I do hope you haven't been stirring him up to 
 go into exploring. He admires you so much I'm 
 afraid he'll want to follow your example."
 
 90 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " No fear," I returned, so dryly that her eyes 
 sought my face. 
 
 " Don't you think so ? " I felt her searching 
 glance rest on my mouth. " Mr. Schuyler, do you 
 know your lip is bleeding? " 
 
 I was annoyed. " No, I didn't." 
 
 I pressed my handkerchief to my mouth hastily 
 it held a stain or two of blood when I drew it away. 
 " It's nothing. The edge of that coffee spoon was 
 as sharp as a razor. I'll tell Mrs. Sutphen so 
 when I get a chance." 
 
 My desire to pass the matter over was too evi- 
 dent. The girl was quick-witted besides, she 
 knew her brother's impetuous character. Her 
 troubled eyes questioned me insistently. 
 
 " Is Aleck's lip cut, too ? Perhaps that's why he's 
 staying so long over his cigar it isn't like him." 
 
 " I think I had the only sharp spoon," I rej oined 
 as carelessly as I could. 
 
 " Oh! You say Aleck isn't cut or bruised? " 
 
 " No. Why should he be? " 
 
 I regarded her calmly her eyes cleared. 
 
 " Thank you," she said softly. 
 
 Just then Theresa entered and stood near Mrs. 
 Sutphen's chair. Mrs. Sutphen looked up from 
 her cards. 
 
 "What is it, Theresa?" 
 
 The maid arched her blonde eyebrows. Hier 
 mistress gave her a sharp glance, then quietly laid 
 down her cards.
 
 A SHARPENED SPOON 91 
 
 " Will you take my hand, Norah? This being 
 housekeeper, you know " 
 
 She resigned her place to Miss Westbrook, and 
 followed Theresa from the room. General Savarton 
 glared after her, mildly contemptuous. 
 
 " To abandon bridge in the middle of a deal 
 for a household matter ! Well, well ! And yet she 
 aspires to be a devotee a real pundit ! I was 
 afraid she had something on her mind when she led 
 from the short suit on the third round and finessed 
 for the ace. It's your play, Norah." 
 
 As I strolled toward the group at the piano, 
 Ellen detached herself and moved toward the door. 
 Her glance went past me Theresa was standing in 
 the doorway, her eyebrows again arching signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 " Now what the devil's up ? " I mused, as Ellen 
 left the room. " Does it take all three to see if 
 the carriages are ordered for the right time, or to 
 make sure the servants have had enough dinner? " 
 I felt for my wallet ana was relieved to find it in my 
 pocket. " That's safe, at any rate." 
 
 As the Archers and I clustered at the piano, try- 
 ing to badger each other into singing, Aleck West- 
 brook joined us. Norah glanced at him as he came 
 in, frank relief in her eyes. 
 
 " We're trying to get Craig to sing a Hindoo 
 song," explained Dot Archer. " He's an awfully 
 obstinate man. I'm sure he must sing beautifully 
 he's s>o indifferent about it."
 
 92 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I don't know any Hindoo song," I protested. 
 
 " A Sumatran song then." Norah was oblivious 
 of General Savarton's sniff of protest. 
 
 " Yes, yes," cried Dot. " Sing the one you used 
 to sing to her" 
 
 I started. " To her? " 
 
 " Yes, there must have been a Her, sometime 
 in the East." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " 
 
 " Sing it, at any rate." 
 
 I felt Norah's eyes upon me, and the demon of 
 mischief woke within me. 
 
 " Very well." I sang to my own accompani- 
 ment: 
 
 " The keenest spears that warriors own, 
 The bright gems in a Raja's throne, 
 Twin stars that shine for me alone 
 Her eyes to me. 
 
 " A golden sunbeam in the sun, 
 Sweet-scented dusk when day is done, 
 More luscious night when night's begun 
 Her hair to me. 
 
 " The white moon peeping through a cloud, 
 A lily-bud, serenely proud, 
 But cold as snow that drapes a shroud 
 Her breast to me." 
 
 It -was a song I had sung to Her. But she had 
 not been cold. Thank Heaven ! she had not been 
 cold! 
 
 Perhaps, as I sang on, I had put more feeling
 
 A SHARPENED SPOON 93 
 
 into my voice than I had intended, for Norah's 
 eyes fell before mine when I looked up, and the 
 blood came and went in her cheek. 
 
 I was finishing when Ellen reentered. She mur- 
 mured some apology to Augusta and Norah for her 
 mother's absence I caught the words: "mother" 
 and " very sorry." 
 
 A moment later she joined me at the window seat. 
 
 " Craig, mother wished me to say she's been 
 taken with a headache," she began timidly. " I 
 hope you'll let her off." 
 
 For once I found no pleasure in her deprecatory, 
 not to say fearful, tone. I had a sudden desire to 
 meet her on equal ground again to cast off for a 
 moment the attitude of mastery I had thus far 
 revelled in. 
 
 " My dear girl, you don't need to apologize." 
 
 To my astonishment she flashed out at me. " I 
 will ask you to keep your adjectives to yourself. 
 Endearments I won't stand." Her voice was low 
 but shaking with anger and' shame. 
 
 " I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to be pre- 
 sumptuous, Nell. It wasn't a term of endearment 
 only a facon de parler, on my honor." 
 
 I think the humility of my reply astonished her 
 even more than her sudden spirit had surprised me. 
 The passion died out of her voice. 
 
 " Of course. I oughtn't to be so foolish. But 
 but I never quite know what you mean, Craig." 
 
 " I'm not sure I know myself. By the way, do
 
 94 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 you realize that Westbrook is your ardent cham- 
 pion, as well as admirer? He breaks a lance for you 
 in reckless style." 
 
 " Does he ? What do you mean ? " 
 
 I leaned toward her. " Do you see anything 
 unusual about my mouth? " 
 
 She studied me curiously. " Yes. Your lip 
 looks bruised. It's been bleeding, hasn't it? " 
 
 " A little." 
 
 Her eyes widened she questioned me mutely. 
 
 " Yes," I nodded. " Aleck has been breaking 
 lances." 
 
 "Why did he strike you?" 
 
 " I laughed at the wrong time." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " We were discussing you and I laughed." 
 
 I received another surprise. If I expected any- 
 thing, I expected her to blush with shame and im- 
 potent anger perhaps to press her teeth against 
 her trembling lower lip. But she did neither. She 
 spoke in an even tone. 
 
 " Did you strike back ? " 
 
 " No he's only a hot-headed boy." 
 
 " I I wish you had." 
 
 "What!" 
 
 " I can fight my own battles," she flashed. Her 
 look, proud, disdainful, haughty, lingers yet in 
 my mind.
 
 A POINT OF HONOR 
 
 I WAS bidding Norah good-night under the porte- 
 cochere when Dirck passed us on his way to the 
 garage. His eyes lingered persistently on Norah 
 and I caught the color mounting to her cheeks. 
 She moved toward him, holding out her hand impul- 
 sively. 
 
 "DuBois!" 
 
 He stopped and bowed profoundly. " Made- 
 moiselle? " Her hand was swallowed up in his. 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler has been telling us about you," 
 she said sweetly. " What you did for those women 
 and babies in the Austrian railway train." 
 
 He gave me a quick glance. " Yes, made- 
 moiselle ? " 
 
 She seemed suddenly to realize that he still held 
 her hand she withdrew it with a touch of hauteur 
 that left him quite unembarrassed. 
 
 " I just wanted to tell you I think it was 
 very fine of you." By this time the crimson had 
 mounted to her hair, for his admiring eyes never 
 left her face. 
 
 " Mademoiselle ! " His voice was a murmur. 
 
 For a moment they looked at each other she 
 with her lips parted, he with his white teeth show- 
 ing in a faint smile. Then he bowed again and 
 moved away. 
 
 95
 
 96 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " What a strange man," she said. 
 
 After the guests were gone I exchanged good- 
 nights with Ellen her pale face glanced back at 
 me over her shoulder as I stood watching her up 
 the stairway and proceeded to my room. 
 
 The day had been a busy one. I was well content 
 to get myself into dressing-gown and slippers, and 
 to lounge idly in an armchair while waiting for 
 Dirck. 
 
 I wondered what Aleck Westbrook's thoughts 
 were that night, and what Norah's, and what Nell's. 
 I took it for granted Aleck would not care to carry 
 out his project of running with his bloodhound the 
 next day. I laughed to think that, perhaps, he was 
 that moment wishing the dog had been trained to 
 attack man. 
 
 I stretched myself out luxuriously, my mind 
 dwelling upon Ellen. How haughty she had been 
 when she declared herself able to fight her own 
 battles ! And how pale she had turned when I 
 clasped the iron bracelet on her wrist; and again 
 how she had flushed when I found her with the 
 shabby-looking man at Mary Finney's ! There was 
 a problem that chafed me more every minute. It 
 was absurd to suspect impossible that she yet 
 who the devil was the fellow ! 
 
 I craned my neck to see my watch on the dress- 
 ing-table. Nearly midnight. It was hardly 
 twenty-four hours since I had arrived in my car at 
 " Red Cedars " like a thunderbolt from a clear
 
 A POINT OF HONOR 97 
 
 sky. " Deus ex machina," I chuckled, ** an aveng- 
 ing god at that." 
 
 It had been late for a call only Theresa had 
 been awake when I rang the bell peremptorily, 
 Dirck in the meanwhile finding his way unconcern- 
 edly to the garage. 
 
 I amused myself with the recollection of Theresa's 
 frank astonishment when I had insisted upon see- 
 ing the ladies at once. 
 
 " They aren't at home." 
 
 " I think they will be to me." 
 
 " But they've retired, sir." 
 
 " No matter wake them up." 
 
 " Perhaps, if you can give me the message, it 
 will do as well." 
 
 " I must see them personally it is absolutely 
 imperative." 
 
 " Please, sir, it's nearly twelve o'clock." 
 
 To cut short discussion I had given her my name, 
 previously withheld, and marked how she had re- 
 turned one long stare, then had fallen a-trembling 
 through all her plump, pretty figure. It was this 
 shakiness that had first led me to suspect that she 
 shared her mistress's guilty secret. 
 
 A wait of half an hour I could picture the 
 consternation above stairs and then had followed 
 the interview stormy on Mrs. Sutphen's part, 
 coldly contemptuous and emphatic on mine, dis- 
 tressed and miserable on Ellen's. 
 
 In the end I had been left the master, as I had 
 7
 
 98 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 known I must be. My position was impregnable to 
 all assault. Mrs. Sutphen's alternate pleadings 
 and reproaches had dashed themselves in vain 
 against the wall of my indifference. 
 
 And Ellen? She had not pleaded had hardly 
 spoken only faced me palely, as much in wonder 
 as in fear wonder that the man whom she had last 
 seen almost literally at her feet could now loom 
 so bitterly dominant. 
 
 Norah Westbrook? There was a different sort. 
 One might go a four years' journey without find- 
 ing anything to compare with her hair " the dust 
 o' the stars for her to wear." Dirck had stared 
 at her outrageously, yet I was not sure that he 
 dreamed of impertinence. 
 
 As I sat musing I heard his knock at the door. 
 I bade him come in. 
 
 "Is that you, Dirck? By Jove! I believe I 
 was nearly asleep. What time is it? " 
 
 " Only twelve o'clock, if you please, monsieur." 
 
 " Drop it, man ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 " I am monsieur's servant." 
 
 " Oh, all right, confound it ! Lucky it isn't a 
 hundred years ago, or I'd give you a caning while 
 I was about it ! Well, the dinner was over sooner 
 than I'd expected it to be. Something or other 
 went wrong Mrs. Sutphen withdrew on the plea 
 of a headache and then, of course, everybody 
 melted away a little later. Strange! I wonder 
 what it really was."
 
 A POINT OF HONOR 99 
 
 I was thinking aloud rather than talking to my 
 man. The good fellow understood my mood and 
 made no answer. 
 
 " Sit down, Dirck. I want to talk to you a bit. 
 You brought the wire and pincers?" 
 
 " Yes monsieur." He seated himself without 
 diffidence. " You wish me to repair something? " 
 
 " We'll get to that pretty soon. First I want 
 to discuss my affairs with you a little personal 
 affairs." 
 
 He touched his close-cropped moustache with 
 powerful fingers and fixed his innocent blue eyes 
 upon me. 
 
 I hesitated, rather at a loss where to begin. What 
 I wanted to say did not come so easily as I had 
 thought. 
 
 " You remember where you picked up Miss Sut- 
 phen and me this evening? in the sunken lane?" 
 
 "Returning from your walk? Of course." 
 
 " Over that hill and across a meadow on the 
 brink of quite a gorge is a farmhouse where they 
 sell apple-pies. You follow me ? " 
 
 " Without doubt." 
 
 " A few minutes before you met us I'd surprised 
 Miss Sutphen in that farmhouse." 
 
 The shrewd fellow caught the vital word. " You 
 surprised her? " 
 
 " Yes. She'd gone out walking without my 
 knowledge in fact against my wishes. So, as I 
 say, I stumbled on her quite unexpectedly in a
 
 100 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 sort of outdoor gallery of this farmhouse and 
 there was a man with her." 
 
 Dirck's eyes snapped. " Ah ! " 
 
 " A man brushed past me as I entered the place 
 and Miss Sutphen was standing by a table as if she 
 had been talking to him. The fellow was evidently 
 scared away by my unexpected appearance." 
 
 " Truly, it would seem so." 
 
 " Now I want you to go out there the first thing 
 to-morrow and see if you can get track of the 
 fellow. Mary Finney's cottage is the place. You 
 can't very well miss it. Just follow the road up 
 from the village to where you'll see an apple- 
 orchard over the river gorge. Find out, if you 
 can, who the man is and what the devil he was 
 doing there." 
 
 Dirck's fingers ceased to smoothe his moustache. 
 They now tapped the arm of his chair and his 
 eyes avoided mine. I felt vaguely that something 
 was wrong. 
 
 " You understand what I want? " 
 
 " Certainly. Of course, you wish me to discover 
 who the man is in order that you may send him a 
 challenge. Is it not so? " 
 
 " No, that's not it. One can't fight a duel in 
 America, you know one can only murder a man 
 when he becomes intolerable nothing so uncivilized 
 
 as a duel. I simply want you to learn who " 
 
 Then I saw his point. " Oh ! " I muttered, and 
 was silent.
 
 A POINT OF HONOR 101 
 
 " Dirck," I went on after a moment, " you're 
 right as usual. I don't know what I'd do without 
 you." 
 
 " Monsieur " 
 
 " What could I have been thinking of? To spy 
 deliberately on a woman or a woman's friends of 
 all the caddish ideas ! " 
 
 " Ah," he said deprecatingly. 
 
 " Let's try to forget it." 
 
 I was silent so long that Dirck finally aroused 
 me with a question, 
 
 " Is there anything else, monsieur? " 
 
 " Yes. Have you noticed anything peculiar 
 about my visit here? the attitude my hostesses 
 have toward me, and that I have toward them? " 
 
 He studied me shrewdly. " Monsieur seems to 
 be very much at home." 
 
 " Precisely, Dirck. I am at home I'm master 
 here, against their wills. I mention this so you 
 won't come to any wrong conclusions from what 
 you see going on. Thank Heaven ! they are above 
 reproach in that direction, at any rate." 
 
 " In other directions then ? " 
 
 " They aren't that's it. I hold a sword over 
 them, Dirck I'm using it mercilessly, too, because 
 they used me mercilessly years ago." 
 
 " That was the reason monsieur went to Su- 
 matra? I have seen monsieur gaze into the fire 
 hours at a time." 
 
 "Yes, that's the reason."
 
 102 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Is it permitted to ask the shape of the sword 
 monsieur carries? Madame and mademoiselle are 
 women of the great world not easily alarmed. 
 Monsieur's sword must be as sharp as a barong." 
 
 " So it is. Just give me that wallet, will you? 
 Look here." 
 
 From its inner fold I produced a narrow slip of 
 buff -colored paper. " There you are look that 
 over." 
 
 He scanned it with open interest. " A cheque 
 a cheque for twenty-five thousand dollars on your 
 bank." 
 
 " Yes, but look at the signature." 
 
 " It is your name, and ah ! " In spite of his 
 self-possession I saw his eyes widen. 
 
 "You see?" 
 
 " The name is yours but the handwriting is " 
 
 " Is not mine, most emphatically." 
 
 " Ah? " he breathed slowly, then : " Impossible ! " 
 
 " Read the endorsements." 
 
 He studied the back of the slip, then handed it to 
 me. " Impossible but true." 
 
 " Oh, yes, it's true it's true. God knows I 
 wish it weren't " I grew bitter " but since it is, 
 I'll get my pay for it." 
 
 " But the prefecture the law it would act for 
 you." 
 
 " No, no. I don't want that for them. I'll get 
 better pay than putting a delicate woman behind 
 bars."
 
 A POINT OF HONOR 103 
 
 He nodded comprehendlngly. " Monsieur is 
 right, of course." He gave a sigh of almost per- 
 sonal regret. " Yet, I would have believed it im- 
 possible. So charming, so gentle ! " 
 
 " You and I have seen fair faces go with bad 
 deeds before this." 
 
 " True." He stroked his blonde moustache, his 
 eyes thoughtful. 
 
 I replaced the cheque in the wallet and tossed 
 the latter onto the dressing-table. Dirck's eyes 
 glanced from it to the door. 
 
 " They're not far apart." 
 
 " True enough. That's why I got you to bring 
 your tools. You see that pier-glass? Anybody 
 trying to reach the wallet would naturally pass in 
 front of the glass." 
 
 " Without doubt." 
 
 " You'll notice the thing has a firm base solid 
 mahogany. You can use that as an anchor." I 
 proceeded to explain to him what I had in mind. 
 
 He drew his tools from his pocket and went to 
 work. A few twists of the wire between his strong 
 fingers, a clenching here and there with the pincers, 
 and the thing was done. 
 
 " Are you sure it will work? " 
 
 " My life on it, monsieur. And yet I would not 
 leave the paper in the wallet, if I were monsieur." 
 
 " Right, you are ! " I slipped the cheque into the 
 pocket of my dressing-gown and replaced the wallet 
 on the table. " Now, if anyone does get past the
 
 104 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 pier-glass, she'll he'll only make a few dollars by 
 it. Well, that's all, I think, Dirck." 
 
 He bade me good-night, but turned at the door. 
 
 " Monsieur was wondering why it was that 
 Madame Sutphen left the drawing-room suddenly." 
 
 " Yes something was said about a headache." 
 
 " To-night, while I was talking to Theresa in 
 the kitchen, someone knocked at the outside door. 
 Theresa opened it a man was there. She stepped 
 out at once, and when she came back she said it was 
 only a vagrant she had sent away. I thought noth- 
 ing of it then, but I remember now her face was 
 flushed and she did not meet my eyes. A little time 
 after, also, she went toward the front of the house 
 and was gone a quarter of an hour." 
 
 " You think the man brought a message for Mrs. 
 Sutphen?" 
 
 " I don't know I mention it only." 
 
 " What did he look like? " 
 
 " I saw only that he was mean-looking and young 
 as young as monsieur." 
 
 " Hum ! all right. Thank you, Dirck." 
 
 He lingered, his eyes held away from me, a faint 
 color showing in his bronzed cheek. 
 
 " One thing more. The girl the blonde she 
 who spoke to me in the porte-cochere who is 
 she? " 
 
 " That's Miss Westbrook Miss Norah West- 
 brook, who lives across the valley there." 
 
 " She has been in France? "
 
 A POINT OF HONOR 105 
 
 " I'm not sure I think it's likely though. But 
 every charming girl hasn't necessarily acquired her 
 charm in France, you know. You're a provincial 
 of Paris, man, in spite of all your travels." 
 
 " She is very lovely." 
 
 " I noticed that you thought so you showed it 
 pretty plainly when she spoke to you." 
 
 " Good-night, monsieur." 
 
 I finished my preparations for the night, wrap- 
 ping the buff -colored slip of paper in a little jewel- 
 bag I happened to discover in a drawer, and hang- 
 ing the bag about my neck. 
 
 I turned off the lights, left open the door between 
 my bedroom and the dressing-room, and in gown, 
 slippers, and pajamas, stretched myself on the bed. 
 
 I meant to keep awake, but while I was wonder- 
 ing why Norah had blushed when Dirck stared at 
 her, I fell asleep.
 
 XI 
 
 I SURPRISE A PURITAN 
 
 MY sleep, although heavy enough, was rather a 
 troubled dream than restful slumber. 
 
 I thought I was again in the smoking-room of 
 the Lusitania, homeward bound. The smooth- 
 faced, insolent-eyed man I had known a few years 
 before " Mr. Carlos Beauchamp of London and 
 Havana," as the Herald put it renewed acquaint- 
 ance with me, and joined our game of cards. 
 
 Beauchamp's appearance was particularly in- 
 teresting to me because of the fact that I had 
 lately seen his name connected in the newspapers 
 with that of Ellen Sutphen. 
 
 I dreamed over what had actually happened on 
 the steamer. The first day I had tolerated him, 
 half-amused by his easy flow of talk about himself 
 the second day I was not so sure that I was being 
 amused. The third day his talk everlasting, 
 damnably perpetual talk about himself had again 
 made plain to me the utterly selfish soul of the 
 man. 
 
 By hearsay and reputation by the naked truth 
 men learn at their clubs and women never hear 
 or, if they do, never believe, provided the man 
 concerned is personally charming by these things 
 I knew Carlos Beauchamp was a cad, unfit to look 
 at Ellen Sutphen. 
 
 106
 
 I SURPRISE A PURITAN 107 
 
 Nor was my dislike based on hearsay alone 
 my personal experience included at least one damn- 
 ing fact against him. Yet this was long past, and 
 I was aware that a man may err greatly, and later 
 live .greatly may sin, and afterward grow to 
 higher manhood. 
 
 I dreamed, but I could in reality have slept only 
 a few minutes, when into my dream broke a sudden 
 rasping sound, then a low exclamation, followed 
 by a noise of dragging. 
 
 I was off my bed, into the dressing-room, and 
 had pressed the button of the electric lights in no 
 time. 
 
 Blinking in the raw glare, but still struggling 
 with Dirck's wire trap that held her to the pier- 
 glass, was a girl. Her face the face of a trapped 
 creature turned half toward me in terror, half 
 away in shame. Once her hand made a little flut- 
 tering gesture, then fell at her side. Once she 
 stooped and wrenched desperately at the clutching 
 wire. Then she straightened up and stood, her 
 head drooping, her lips trembling. 
 
 All this was only what I had expected. But 
 I had expected to see, caught in the spring wire, 
 either Mrs. Sutphen or Ellen. I had even pic- 
 tured the latter, cowering, her kimono drawn close 
 about her. 
 
 But who was this? The slim body was plainly 
 clad, although the gown was very dainty. The 
 hair was coiled in braids about her head, and the 
 dark-brown eyes entreated me from under lashes
 
 108 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 whose length was added to by the shadows beneath. 
 
 She stood before me, her head still hanging I 
 stared at her. Then I remembered. 
 
 "Well, Fllbe hanged!" 
 
 She made no answer, except to draw in her lower 
 lip like a frightened child. 
 
 " Miss Mary Finney, isn't it ? " I asked politely. 
 
 Still she said nothing. 
 
 " May I ask what in the world you are doing 
 here ? Are you walking in your sleep ? " 
 
 Her silence persisted, but I noted the involuntary 
 straying of her eyes toward the dressing-table. A 
 light broke upon me. 
 
 " Ah, ho ! I think I understand to what I owe 
 the honor of your visit. Miss Sutphen called at 
 your cottage this afternoon to engage the services 
 of a thief wasn't that it? Strange that you 
 should have accepted her offer, Miss Finney ! If 
 it had been the fellow who ran away when I came in, 
 it would have seemed more reasonable he looked 
 the part." 
 
 The girl in the trap flushed darkly. She raised 
 her head and faced toward me as if about to make 
 a sharp retort. 
 
 "Well?" I urged affably. 
 
 " I shall say nothing." Her voice if husky was 
 soft and well-toned. 
 
 " You'd better. Is there any reason why I 
 shouldn't turn you over to the police? I fancy 
 your visit would look odd even to the town con- 
 stables. You came here to steal, didn't you ? "
 
 I SURPRISE A PURITAN 109 
 
 I paused, but she kept an obstinate silence. 
 
 " I could hardly expect you to admit it, but one 
 doesn't go into a stranger's room late at night for 
 the fun of the thing. Isn't that so? Look here! 
 did you need money so much that Miss Sutphen 
 could bribe you for a few dollars to be a thief? 
 It's enough to make your ancestors turn in their 
 graves. You're of honest Puritan stock, aren't 
 you, Miss Finney?" 
 
 Still she preserved her marvellous silence. I 
 moved past her to the table and took a bill from 
 my wallet. 
 
 " Here ! " I held it out to her. " I won't be hard 
 on you, if you need money so badly that you have 
 to steal. Take this, if that's what you're after." 
 
 For a moment she stared at me. " Keep your 
 your hateful money! Oh," she went on tremu- 
 lously, " it's true, what they said you are hard 
 a man that's always sneering." 
 
 Drawing in her trembling lip, she pulled so fran- 
 tically at her captured foot that the heavy pier- 
 glass fairly tottered. 
 
 " Don't, don't," I said. " You'll hurt yourself." 
 I leant and released her foot from the wire. 
 " That's better. Now you're free." 
 
 She repeated the word. " Free? " 
 
 "Yes. Not only your foot, but you're free to 
 
 go-" 
 
 Beneath the dark eyelashes I caught the gleam of 
 unutterable amazement. I went on. 
 
 " You deserve freedom for your masterly silence.
 
 110 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Only a police judge could get anything out of you, 
 and the police sha'n't have anything to do with 
 this." 
 
 Although the wire no longer held her and I took 
 care to stand clear of the door, she made no effort 
 to escape. The thoughts of a hopeless animal 
 suddenly released from a fatal trap would be inter- 
 esting to the hunter. 
 
 " Before I let you out of the back door, let me 
 give you some advice, Miss Finney, if that's really 
 your name. The advice is keep clear of matters 
 that don't concern you." 
 
 The girl wrung her hands a despairing gesture 
 I had supposed unused since the Middle Ages. 
 " Oh ! but they do, they do ! " 
 
 " In what way? " 
 
 She was on her guard again. " I'm sorry, Mr. 
 Schuyler. I can't answer you." 
 
 ** Very well. I suppose you know the way to 
 the back door you aren't staying in the house, are 
 you ? " She shook her head. " Then lead the way, 
 Ill see you safely out." 
 
 I followed her from the room, closing the door be- 
 hind me. Thence we traversed the hall, descended 
 a rear stairway, threaded a passage or two and 
 paused at a back door. The key was ir the lock 
 I turned it and swung the door softly open. 
 
 We looked out on a night rather dark and with 
 a hint of frost in the air. If there was a moon, 
 it was overcast. A few stars glittered here and
 
 I SURPRISE A PURITAN" 111 
 
 there the red claw of Scorpio curling brilliantly 
 against the black sky. 
 
 " Here we are. Where you are going now? " 
 
 " Home," she answered huskily. 
 
 " It's several miles part of the way through 
 woods. Even in peaceful New England that won't 
 be very pleasant for a woman. If you'll wait a 
 moment I'll rouse my man, DuBois, and have him 
 take you in the car." 
 
 " No, no please ! It's perfectly safe. There's 
 I'm " Her distress was evident. 
 
 " All right," I hastened to assure her. " Just as 
 you like." 
 
 She lingered half in, half out, the door. I 
 waited for her to speak. 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler, please don't think I don't know 
 that you've treated me a thousand times better 
 than I deserve. You aren't so hard as they 
 said." She was lost in the darkness before I could 
 answer. 
 
 I stared up at Scorpio's crimson claw. " Now, 
 isn't this a go ! Doesn't this fairly beat the Dutch ! 
 A little Puritan country girl like that breaking 
 into my room at night! And silent? General 
 Grant was positively garrulous compared to her." 
 
 Red Scorpio returned no answer to my amazed 
 appeal. I shut and locked the door, and started to 
 make my way back to my rooms. 
 
 The passageways through which I had to find my 
 way, were only dimly lighted, and I had followed
 
 112 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Mary Finney so intent on the problem her pres- 
 ence presented that I had hardly observed the 
 course we took. I was feeling my way toward my 
 room, with due caution of a wrong turn or a lurk- 
 ing chair, when I noticed a strange thing. 
 
 The door of my room was ajar and the light 
 from within was streaming into the hall ! 
 
 Without a sound I pushed it wider until there 
 was space to intrude my head. 
 
 My wallet, wide open, lay on the floor where it 
 had been flung in exasperation, and at the dressing- 
 table a woman was rifling the drawer with frantic 
 haste. 
 
 She whirled about as I stepped quietly into the 
 room. It was Theresa, the pretty Swede. 
 
 She gave a gasping cry, and made as if to rush 
 through me and the door I had shut behind me. I 
 held up my hand. 
 
 " Not so fast." 
 
 "Oh!" she cried. "Let me out! Please, sir, 
 I didn't mean any harm. I just came in because I 
 saw the door open and " 
 
 " The door wasn't open." 
 
 " Oh, sir, if you'll please let me go I only 
 wanted to see " 
 
 " Tut, tut, my dear. You don't need to explain 
 why you came," 
 
 I spoke so easily that perhaps the maid took me 
 for another sort than I was. A portion of her 
 terror seemed to vanish. Her clasped hands parted.
 
 I SURPRISE A PURITAN 113 
 
 " Did you find what you were looking for, The- 
 resa? " I asked. " Probably not, judging from 
 the careless way you've thrown things about. Per- 
 haps you'll have a chance to think it over for a 
 year or two in the Massachusetts Penitentiary." 
 
 She began to whimper at once. " Oh, Mr. Schuy- 
 ler, please, sir, I didn't mean any harm. I came in 
 here because " 
 
 Again I interrupted her, in disgust of what I 
 knew her about to say. I had no desire to hear 
 her disclose her mistress's plot. 
 
 " Never mind. I'm not blaming you. But The- 
 resa, if I ever catch you at this sort of thing 
 again, I swear I'll send you to jail. Understand? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," she whimpered. 
 
 " Then clean up that mess you've made, and 
 clear out I want to go to bed." 
 
 Her tears vanished on the instant. I seated 
 myself in the armchair and watched her while she 
 put the drawer in order and restored the wallet 
 to its place on the table. 
 
 " Here's another situation to beat the Dutch," 
 I mused. " They're having a regular succession 
 of defeats. If any of my friends could look in here 
 on this highly hum ! domestic scene, they'd be 
 rather shocked, I fancy. Imagine, if Norah West- 
 brook should hear of this just this scene without 
 any of its reasons or causes ! No doubt she'd cut 
 my acquaintance in short order." 
 
 Something of my enjoyment of the situation 
 8
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 must have showed in my smile as I watched the 
 pretty Swede. She began to move more slowly at 
 the work of straightening my ties and shirts and 
 glanced at me over her shoulder. 
 
 " It seems awful funny me being here, don't it, 
 Mr. Schuyler? " 
 
 " It certainly does," I agreed. 
 
 She smiled at herself in the glass. The little 
 watch saw I saw her, and smiled mischievously at 
 my reflection. 
 
 " Mirrors are funny things, aren't they, sir? " 
 
 " Very almost as funny as your being here." 
 
 She pretended to hang her head, but I could see 
 her watching me from the corners of her eyes. 
 Now and then she stole a glance of satisfaction at 
 herself in the mirror. 
 
 " Have you finished? " I demanded peremptorily. 
 
 " Yes, sir. Everything looks fine now." 
 
 " Then you can go. And, Theresa, tell ah 
 tell the person who sent you here that I say the 
 business would be a little less wretched if she would 
 do her own robbing." 
 
 " Sir? I don't think I know what you mean, sir." 
 
 " Nonsense. Tell her I said that. Now, run 
 along." 
 
 In another moment I had shut and locked the 
 door behind her. 
 
 I switched off the lights, but before slipping into 
 bed, went to the open window. The scorpion star 
 waved a red claw at me through the frosty air.
 
 XII 
 
 A PROPOSAL is MENTIONED 
 
 IT was morning when I was awakened by Dirck's 
 knock on the door. I hastened to respond to it. 
 
 " Good-morning, monsieur. It is half-past eight, 
 and Mademoiselle Sutphen wishes to say Monsieur 
 Westbrook sends word he will start with his hound 
 at nine." 
 
 " So Aleck isn't in the sulks after all." 
 
 " What, monsieur? " 
 
 " I say it's all right, Dirck. I'll be there in a 
 jiffy. No half -past eight already, you say? I'll 
 never make it. Ask Miss Sutphen please to send 
 word to Mr. Westbrook to hold off half an hour or 
 so. Give her my apologies and say I'll be down 
 as soon as I can. And then hustle back and help 
 me dress, Dirck." 
 
 As he hastened away I reflected on his mes- 
 sage. " By Jove ! she's cool ! She must know by 
 this time that her brace of burglars failed last 
 night, yet she has me called as serenely as you please. 
 She can't possibly imagine that I believe they acted 
 of their own accord. Humph! for the time being 
 I'm perfectly willing to ignore their attempts." 
 Dirck's return interrupted my meditations. 
 
 In forty minutes, with his able assistance, I had 
 bathed, shaved, and donned my walking togs, had 
 
 115
 
 116 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 had my eggs and coffee in my room, and descended 
 to find Ellen awaiting me on the lawn. 
 
 She greeted me gaily I searched in vain for 
 any trace of embarrassment in her eyes. " Good- 
 morning, Uncle Tom." 
 
 " Whah, good-mawnin', Eliza. Ah d'clah, I's 
 'bliged to ast yo' to 'scuse me fo' sort a keepin' yo' 
 waitin' this mawnin'." 
 
 "Sut'nly Ah'll 'scuse yo', Unc' Tom," she 
 laughed. " Ain't we all got a fine mawnin' fo' 
 ouah 'scape ! " 
 
 " Glorious ! I don't wonder Legree is about to 
 pursue you with bloodhounds. I'd run you down 
 with an airship if necessary just to see you this 
 morning." I swept the grass with my cap in a 
 low bow. 
 
 Indeed, I had very good grounds for my heroics. 
 Her Adirondack running costume became her won- 
 derfully. Coat, knickerbockers, and stockings were 
 not of the usual gray tweed, but were made of some 
 black stuff, quite as serviceable and infinitely more 
 charming, I thought. The little half-boots were 
 black as was the cap that crowned her closely-coaled 
 hair a cap that reminded me of nothing so much 
 as the bonnet of one of Robin Hood's merry men. 
 
 The only spots of color in her costume were 
 touches of white at wrists and neck, and at her 
 throat a soft scarlet tie, loosely knotted. 
 
 Her face, pricked by the morning air, or possibly 
 by the flavor of genuineness in my bit of gallantry,
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 117 
 
 had a tinge of red in each cheek. Cheeks curved 
 to throat, and throat swelled to lines beneath, as 
 delicate as a wood-pigeon's. Her hazel eyes 
 laughed back at me as I continued to gaze at 
 her admiringly. 
 
 " You didn't really think I'd come prepared to 
 run to the last gasp, did you? You thought I'd 
 only be able to take a few languid steps." 
 
 " To tell the truth, I didn't expect much in the 
 running line from you, Nell, but I can see I totally 
 misjudged your powers more shame to me. 
 Hum-m, it's hard to tell." 
 
 "Hard to tell what?" 
 
 " Whether you look more cherub than boy, 
 or " 
 
 " Oh. You can make up your mind as we go 
 it's high time for us to be miles from here. Aleck 
 will be bringing over the hound in a few minutes 
 it would be disgraceful to be caught before we were 
 fairly started." 
 
 " Very good, ma'am. Which way? " 
 
 " Right over the hill, and then au large." 
 
 "Good!" 
 
 At the last moment Dirck slipped a lunch-pouch 
 over my shoulder. " If monsieur and mademoiselle 
 need refreshment." 
 
 " Right, Dirck. Now, then, Nell. Off and away 
 by the light of the moon, straight across the border 
 where the Fugitive Slave Law doesn't count." 
 
 " It seems to count nowadays." She broke into
 
 118 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 an easy trot, and together we began our cross- 
 country run. 
 
 We made our way smoothly up the hdll and 
 through the open grove of oaks along its crest. 
 At its end a few score shafts and slabs of marble 
 huddled within a square of evergreens. It was a 
 country graveyard I remembered it well. 
 
 Beyond this we were out of sight of both " Red 
 Cedars " and " Westbrook Place," and what was 
 even more to the point, came at once upon a stone 
 wall, extending diagonally right and left. 
 
 " Let's go along the top," said my leader. " It 
 runs quite a distance in that direction." 
 
 She pointed with her left hand, and a ring of 
 iron showed suddenly beneath the white of her 
 sleeve. I started I had forgotten the bracelet I 
 had locked on her arm, 
 
 " On the wall? " I asked stupidly. 
 
 " Yes. The scent doesn't lie well on rock, you 
 know. The hound will lose the trail a while very 
 likely that'll give us a good start. Dear me, if 
 he doesn't lose it, we're ' gone coons ' in five min- 
 utes." 
 
 Disdaining to make use of my proffered arm, she 
 leaped upon the wall and began to walk rapidly 
 along it. I followed. 
 
 It must have carried us four hundred yards be- 
 fore we came to a corner. Here she paused. 
 
 " We must jump off here jump as far as we 
 possibly can to make a break in our trail. But if
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 119 
 
 Aleck is feeling really clever to-day, he'll just make 
 the hound circle about a little and he'll find us in 
 no time I mean, after he's made up his mind which 
 way we've gone, right or left from the evergreens 
 there. Hark! what's that?" She clapped her 
 hands excitedly. " Oh, they've started. Listen, 
 Craig! Isn't it music! " 
 
 It was music. A single note of a deep-toned 
 bell sounded far behind us then another. Then, 
 slowly drawing nearer, ravishingly deep and clear, a 
 cadenced peal of bells, the voice of the bloodhound 
 rang in the autumn air. A thrill went through us. 
 We stared at each other, our eyes wide with the 
 wonder of it and on me, at least, the gooseflesh 
 fairly rose. 
 
 "Wonderful! Terrible! Is my hair on end?" 
 
 " Not quite. Oh, I'm all prickly ! Isn't this 
 fun, and aren't you glad you came, Uncle Tom? 
 Jump now, as far out as you can." 
 
 " One minute," I exclaimed. " Can you step 
 onto that hickory the one with the branch that 
 runs straight out from the wall? That's it good ! 
 I'm right behind you. That's five yards cleared 
 without a trail. Let me see." I glanced about for 
 more worlds to conquer. 
 
 "Ah, ha,! into the next one just like it. Swing 
 yourself into the sapling never mind if it does 
 bend I won't get on till you're off it. You see it 
 lets you right onto that upland gumb^^-ty. They 
 always have long branches."
 
 120 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Jolly ! Here is a great long limb, Craig." 
 
 "What did I tell you? Follow it out. That's 
 another fifteen yards clear again. And by Jove! 
 there's a wild grapevine hanging right across that 
 path! If we were only monkeys now but it's too 
 much for you. We're several rods from the wall, 
 at any rate." 
 
 Ellen, imbued with the spirit of the game, had 
 been working her way through the lower branches 
 of the trees as easily as a boy, and far more grace- 
 fully. Now her exclamation stopped me as I was 
 about to drop from the gumberry bough into the 
 path. 
 
 " Wait, Craig ! I can do it hand over hand 
 voila! " 
 
 As good as her word, she swung herself out from 
 the gumberry and hand over hand, her body sway- 
 ing like a charming pendulum, cleared the path and 
 dropped into the copse beyond. In a moment I 
 was beside her. 
 
 We crouched breathless against the trunk of an 
 oak. 
 
 " Great ! " I chuckled. " We'll make Aleck think 
 we've escaped in a balloon. Listen ! They've lost 
 our trail." 
 
 Sure enough, the chime of bells broke its perfect 
 time, jumbled doubtfully once or twice, then ceased 
 to sound. 
 
 " They've reached the wall," declared Ellen. 
 " Of course Aleck will have the dog upon it in a
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 121 
 
 minute, but I'm sure the scent won't lie. We ought 
 to gain thirty minutes on them, at least." 
 
 But instead of making use of our hard-earned 
 half hour to throw a mile or two between ourselves 
 and " Legree," " Eliza " and I sat chatting in the 
 copse. 
 
 It was a thicket of sapling oak and ash, down 
 whose slender shafts the sun's rays here and there 
 stretched a finger of light. In the little open space 
 where we sat the rays seemed to focus, making 
 a pleasant warmth about us. 
 
 " * Under the greenwood tree,' " I began. 
 
 " Please go on." 
 
 " I like the second verse best ; you remember? 
 
 " ' Who doth ambition shun, 
 And loves to lie i' the sun, 
 Seeking the food he eats, 
 And pleased with what he gets, 
 Come hither, come hither, come hither; 
 Here shall he see 
 No enemy 
 But winter and rough weather.' " 
 
 She glanced sidelong at me. " ' No enemy, but 
 winter and rough weather.' " I fancied she spoke 
 a little plaintively, but it may have been fancy 
 only, for she went on brightly enough. " Does 
 your coming back to America mean that you do 
 ambition shun? Exploring is your ambition, 
 isn't it?" 
 
 " Exploring is my resource. I'm not here be-
 
 128 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 cause I'm giving up travelling not at all. I came 
 back expressly for that delightful interview we 
 had you and I and your mother. Otherwise, I 
 would have been on the Bois this very minute." 
 
 Again her voice was plaintive. " It doesn't look 
 as if we mother and I would get to Paris this 
 year." 
 
 " No, it doesn't." 
 
 A golden-brown oak leaf fluttered waveringly 
 down to her knee. She blew it gaily away. " Fly 
 away, Dull Care ! Are you rested enough to go on, 
 Craig?" 
 
 I crossed my legs and linked my fingers behind 
 my head in luxurious content. 
 
 " Not quite. Why hurry? Haven't we ages be- 
 fore us? " 
 
 " Ages before, but a bloodhound close behind." 
 
 Never mind. We'll lie perdu here in this 
 this yew copse, and I'll shoot the bloodhound 
 through and through with my clothyard shaft." 
 
 " Then I'll wind your horn for you of course, 
 you'll be too proud to do it yourself and Little 
 John and Allan-a-Dale " 
 
 "And Friar Tuck." 
 
 " And Friar Tuck, of course, and Will Scarlett, 
 and seven score tall fellows in Lincoln green, will 
 come leaping through Sherwood to overwhelm 
 Legree." 
 
 " Well said, Maid Marian Eliza." 
 
 We laughed together. I, for one, would have
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 123 
 
 been well content had the hound been ten miles be- 
 hind us instead of where he was. 
 
 Ellen's eyes ran over me, from the smooth-fitting 
 leather of my boots to the hair of Tiy bared head. 
 " She held him with her glittering eye," I laughed. 
 
 " You're thinner, Craig." Her face was sober. 
 " And there's really a trace a tiniest shadow of 
 gray over your temples." 
 
 " Hundreds of miles of tramping through 
 jungles! Tropic miasma! What little fighting I 
 saw in Sumatra, too! War always saddens a man, 
 I fancy if it doesn't hopelessly harden him." 
 
 " I think it has done both to you." 
 
 " Perhaps it has that and other things." 
 
 "As for myself, I'm afraid I'm like Falstaff, 
 growing old and waxing fat." 
 
 I straightened up to express my protest. " You ? 
 Nonsense! Nell, you're prettier a hundred times 
 than you were four years ago. You were only a 
 child then, and a woman is always lovelier than a 
 child. That's an artist's axiom." 
 
 "Is it?" 
 
 " Certainly. In Paris, the other day, I saw the 
 picture that took the Grand Prix this year a por- 
 trait. I give you my word you might have sat 
 for it yourself it gave me quite a start when I 
 saw it. The face had the same delicate coloring 
 as yours the cheeks just a shade thin, like yours. 
 And the curves of the throat and shoulders melted 
 into each other in the same way yours do."
 
 124. I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " And the hair? " she insinuated very demurely. 
 
 " Oh, it's impossible to put the sheen of your 
 hair onto canvas. The picture was gloriously done, 
 but, of course " 
 
 Her laughter interrupted me, and I sat back 
 against the tree conscious that I had been led to dis- 
 play an enthusiasm I should have preferred to hide. 
 
 " I'm much obliged to you really and truly," 
 she said. " I'll look at myself with a little satis- 
 faction in the next mirror I come to. I wanted 
 something like that from somebody, even if I did 
 have to fish for it. I need all the self-respect I can 
 muster." 
 
 A cricket marched into view from its fortress in 
 a patch of moss at Ellen's heel, and climbed to the 
 toe of her boot. Thence, pausing a moment to 
 collect its powers, it leaped the mighty four-inch 
 chasm to my foot, and so into its mossy fastness 
 again. Its paean of victory rang valiantly forth 
 while Ellen gave me a smile as merry as the cricket's 
 song. "It hasn't a care in the world." She broke off, 
 and turned her head to listen. 
 
 " Did you hear anything? I'd quite forgotten 
 that we are supposed to be panting fugitives." 
 
 " I thought I heard a faint crashing perhaps 
 not. * Gomez ' would certainly bay as soon as he 
 found the trail again." 
 
 " The bloodhound's name? " 
 
 " Yes. He's a poor finder, although he follows 
 well enough."
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 125 
 
 " You know a deal about bloodhounds, Nell." 
 
 My words seemed to cause her some confusion. 
 She glanced at me as if to detect any hidden signifi- 
 cance in my remark. I could see the color creeping 
 to her cheek. 
 
 " Where did you learn your bloodhound lore ? " 
 I urged. 
 
 " I've been out with Aleck before, you know." 
 She hesitated palpably, then went on. " And Mr. 
 Beauchamp taught me a little, too." 
 
 "Ah! Mr. Beauchamp?" 
 
 " Yes. * Gomez ' belonged to him. He sold 
 him to Aleck last spring." 
 
 " Beauchamp was here last spring, was he ? " 
 My tone was cold. 
 
 She felt the approaching rending of the veil 
 that had thus far separated the day's delights 
 from the hard facts of yesterday. She spoke with 
 effort. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Staying at your house, I suppose? " 
 
 " He'd been looking after his sugar plantation, 
 you know, and mother asked him to stop over for 
 the week-end on his way back from Havana. 
 * Gomez ' followed him about like a kitten, and " 
 
 I rent the veil with sudden violence. " Nell, I 
 won't let you have anything to do with a scoundrel 
 like Beauchamp." 
 
 She deliberately pulled up her left sleeve until 
 the red of the Nubian bracelet showed about her 
 wrist.
 
 126 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I thought I felt a pain coining here," she said 
 flippantly. 
 
 For a moment I was amazed then I detected 
 the hint of tears behind the flippancy. " A brute 
 like Beauchamp isn't fit for you to put your foot 
 on." 
 
 " He seems very agreeable." 
 
 " Certainly he seems so if he didn't he wouldn't 
 be dangerous. I wish I could tell you things, but 
 one can't tell a girl even for her own good." 
 
 " Thank you for nothing. Are you aware that 
 you may be spoiling my chances ? " 
 
 "Very likely." 
 
 " Mr. Beauchamp is substantial ; and, as you 
 have proof, mother and I were badly pinched last 
 year in stocks. If you keep him away " 
 
 " I don't care. Look here, Nell ! I'm not going 
 to let you have anything to do with him hereafter." 
 
 " Do you mean to stay here ' hereafter ' for- 
 ever to make sure your order is obeyed? " 
 
 " I'll stay long enough, I fancy." 
 
 Her eyes widened. " What do you mean ? " 
 
 I meant nothing it was a wholly chance shot, 
 but I smiled grimly. " Never mind ! " 
 
 She studied me, her lips a little apart, a latent 
 fire in her hazel eyes. The sunlight crept through 
 the saplings and made golden lights in her hair. 
 As I gazed I felt myself softening she looked like 
 an innocent and beautiful boy. 
 
 The copse where we sat concealed was separated
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 127 
 
 from the main grove by a woodland path. Reclin- 
 ing against a tree, but screened by the dense under- 
 growth, we could see without being seen. 
 
 Into the path, from the opposite side, suddenly 
 broke a tremendous hound. 
 
 Never in my life had I seen such a creature! 
 He stood as high as Ellen's waist, and must have 
 weighed a hundred and fifty pounds. As he snuffed 
 up and down the path, his forehead, profoundly 
 wrinkled, his hanging ears and dewlapped muzzle, 
 and his tawny skin, showed the best Cuban breed. 
 
 " The bloodhound," I whispered quite need- 
 lessly. 
 
 Ellen nodded, laying a finger on her lip for 
 silence. 
 
 Aleck Westbrook's voice sounded in the grove. 
 " Come on ! the dog's got away from me. He's 
 as strong as a bull. He can't have gone far 
 though. Ah ha, here he is." 
 
 Aleck stepped into the path as he spoke, and 
 turned to hold aside the bushes for a companion. 
 
 " Willy Archer must have gotten up his cour- 
 age," I murmured. " He's stopped smoking cigar- 
 ettes long enough to " 
 
 Ellen's intent look made the words die on my 
 lips. The man who entered the path behind Aleck 
 was Carlos Beauchamp. 
 
 He was a clean-limbed, active man of about 
 thirty. His Spanish mother she to whom he owed 
 the sugar estates in Cuba showed in his black hair
 
 128 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 and long nose, but his English father had given 
 him his blue eyes and fresh-colored face. Clad in 
 a gray walking costume, immaculately correct, he 
 bounded into the path beside Aleck I had to admit 
 to myself that he made an attactive figure. 
 
 " Hello ! Sure enough, there's old * Gomez ' now. 
 Smell 'em out, old fellow. No go, Westbrook < 
 they've called the turn on us this time." 
 
 Ellen, her finger still on her lip, looked from our 
 pursuers to me, and back again. Her breast rose 
 slowly. 
 
 " They can't have flown," said Aleck. 
 
 *' Oh, of course not. Let's get back to the wall 
 and have a try in the other direction. We're 
 bound to pick 'em up somewhere. Here, old 
 fellow." 
 
 He whistled to the great hound it came fawnr 
 ing about him. All three plunged back into the 
 grove. 
 
 Ellen and I got to our feet. For a moment 
 neither spoke. 
 
 " Did you know he was here ? " I asked at last. 
 
 " Yes since last night, but I didn't dream he 
 would be with Aleck this morning not after 
 after " 
 
 " Nell, are you engaged to be married to Carlos 
 Beauchamp ? " 
 
 Her chin was tilted a little forward in her old 
 defiant attitude, but she spoke hesitantly. 
 
 " Craig, I want to tell you I'm trying to be 
 
 honest with you, you see . You're master, 
 
 you say, so perhaps you'll have to know."
 
 A PROPOSAL IS MENTIONED 129 
 
 " Out with it, Nell. I'm not going to bite you." 
 
 " Not with your teeth, perhaps. I wanted to 
 say Mr. Beauchamp is at the Westbrooks' waiting 
 for my answer." 
 
 " Your answer? " 
 
 " My answer to his . Well, this morning he 
 
 sent me a letter asking me to marry him." 
 
 We eyed each other steadfastly for an instant 
 then a single deep bay sounded in the opposite 
 wood. She whirled about. 
 
 " Quick ! Let's run for it ! " 
 
 Instinctively I obeyed.
 
 XIII 
 
 THE chase was now on in earnest. I took the lead 
 in half a dozen strides. 
 
 " Speak, if I go too fast," I cried in Ellen's 
 ear as I sprang in front of her. 
 
 She nodded, the excitement of the game, and the 
 fear of my displeasure struggling in her sidelong 
 glance. 
 
 With her at my heels, I broke through the copse 
 for several rods in a line parallel to the path. 
 Then, turning a corner, we sprang into the path 
 and ran along it for a hundred yards or more. 
 I conjectured others farmers rabbit-hunting or 
 their daughters carrying milk might have gone 
 that way earlier that morning, in which event the 
 hound might confuse our scent. As we learned 
 afterward, I was right, and it was this manoeuvre 
 only that saved us from being overhauled within 
 the next five minutes. 
 
 After running a hundred yards we turned into 
 the woods again they were more open here and 
 we trotted briskly through them. Beyond the 
 woods lay a meadow that we crossed at top speed. 
 Over the shoulder of a hill we fell into a trot along 
 a cow-path. 
 
 All this time the baying of the hound, muffled 
 130
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 131 
 
 first by the woods and then by the intervening 
 hill-crest, sounded behind us. 
 
 I glanced back at my companion. She was run- 
 ning easily. Her cheeks were a little flushed, but 
 no more than my own. Her shoulders and head 
 were held well forward, her mouth closed without 
 effort and most wonderful in a woman! she was 
 running on the balls of her feet. 
 
 " I see you're holding your own." 
 
 " Yes. You can go faster, if you like I have 
 my second wind." 
 
 " Steady does it. The dog has stopped again 
 I can't hear him now." 
 
 " The wind may be the other way. Besides, 
 sometimes * Gomez ' runs mute." 
 
 The cow-path dipped down a rocky slope to a little 
 valley where the grass had withered to a lawn-like 
 shortness in the autumn air. We fairly raced 
 along this bottom-land for a good quarter mile, 
 then we jog-trotted up the opposite hill. On a 
 plateau beyond we dropped to a fast walk. 
 
 The weather was glorious. The sun was dis- 
 persing the frosty net work from the grass. The 
 sky domed blue as steel. All along the tops of 
 distant ridges lay a shimmering mist the haze of 
 Saint Martin's Summer as mysterious as the 
 lights in Ellen's eyes. 
 
 We were walking side by side the mist on the 
 mountains, the film in the grass, and the lights 
 in her eyes were all of the same color and as false,
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I reflected ; one as trustworthy as the other but no 
 more so. 
 
 The rushing wind had loosened a little strand of 
 hair just over her ear. She felt it and tucked it in 
 with a quick turn of her fingers. Her wrist, curv- 
 ing against her cheek, showed again the badge of 
 her servitude. 
 
 Her breast rose and fell evenly. Her feet, slim 
 and not too short, held her well-poised body without 
 stumbling. The mental fatigue that I knew pos- 
 sessed her intolerable fatigue of my presence 
 had no physical counterpart in her motions. I 
 doubted if one I had known among the bamboos of 
 Sumatra would have endured our run as well as this 
 twentieth-century product of a very different civil- 
 ization. 
 
 A late bit of golden-rod peered from a tussock 
 of grass. I plucked it as we passed and held it 
 out to her. She took it, smiling doubtfully. 
 
 " A flower in your cap. A golden staff for the 
 staunchest runner I ever saw." 
 
 " Are you making fun of me? " 
 
 " I mean it I never saw a woman run so well, 
 not even in the East. I'll wager you're less 
 breathed than I am now." 
 
 " Thank you, sir." 
 
 Beyond the plateau we struck a winding road 
 and, as the country was growing hillier, we held it 
 for a mile or more, covering the ground at a smart 
 trot. We met only one man a white- whiskered
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 133 
 
 farmer driving a market wagon. He eyed us as we 
 drew near as if he thought us quite mad. I noticed 
 the plain bronze of the G. A. R. button in the lapel 
 of his coat. 
 
 " If the bloodhound happens to strike the road 
 just as he's passing," I chuckled, " the old fellow'll 
 think war times are come again." 
 
 When we were abreast of the horses' heads, the 
 farmer pulled in. We stopped to answer his 
 friendly hail. 
 
 " Say, you folks, what are you up to? " 
 
 " S-sh ! " I returned dramatically, " we're being 
 pursued by bloodhounds." 
 ~ 
 
 " Bloodhounds are on our trail." 
 
 " You don't say ? You're f oolin', boys." 
 
 " No, I mean it." 
 
 He eyed us, his shrewd glance resting on Ellen. 
 He started, stared again, then broke into a chuckle. 
 He lifted his felt hat. 
 
 " 'Scuse me, ma'am. I didn't see at first you 
 was a ma'am." He chuckled again, so heartily that 
 I feared he would fall from his seat. " Say, you 
 two folks is elopin', I reckon eh? " 
 
 Ellen blushed, and I laughed with the old man. 
 
 " 'Scuse me sayin' so, ma'am," he went on, " but 
 you make a mighty purty boy you cert'ny do so." 
 
 " She certainly does." 
 
 " Yes, o' course, you think so," retorted the old 
 farmer. "I jings! boy, if I was forty years
 
 134, I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 younger I'd git out and run you a few miles myself. 
 You folks from Bannocks, I reckon eh? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " There ain't nothin' you ain't up to down there. 
 Say, they ain't after you with bloodhoun's sure 
 enough ? " 
 
 " Yes with one bloodhound, sure enough." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " Down the road a mile or so." 
 
 " I jings ! I ain't seen a bloodhoun' since I got 
 away from Andersonville in '63. G'long there ! " 
 He clucked to his horses. " Good-momin', ma'am. 
 I want to see that houn', sure." His last words 
 floated back half smothered by his hearty chuckle. 
 " A mighty purty boy she makes eh? " 
 
 We ran on down the road for another half mile. 
 Then I noticed a path issuing from a gully almost 
 hidden by a dense growth of laurel. Up this we 
 went for a furlong or more, following the bank of 
 a little stream. 
 
 A rocky bluff split the gully abruptly into two 
 parts. The path went straight up the dividing 
 hill. Right and left, a branch of the main stream 
 came tinkling down toward us. Over each branch 
 the tangled laurel made a tunnel. 
 
 " Are you game for a wade, Eliza? " 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " It'll mean wet boots and stockings, you know." 
 
 For answer, she leaped fair into the left hand 
 stream. A tiny shower was thrown up about her.
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 135 
 
 Standing mid-calf deep in the tinkling brown water, 
 she looked up at me roguishly. 
 
 " Come on ! Are you afraid, Uncle Tom? There 
 isn't any ice." 
 
 I was beside her at the word, though with caution 
 lest I should splash her. 
 
 Stooping beneath the overhanging laurel, we 
 began to ascend the stream, moving in a half twi- 
 light. From the country road, came the deep 
 baying of the bloodhound my mind dwelt on Car- 
 los Beauchamp and his abominally good form. 
 
 Ellen stumbled and I caught her arm. " Shall 
 we climb out, Nell? The water's rather deep for 
 you." 
 
 " No. I'm all right. * Water leaves no trail ' 
 Legree will " 
 
 " The two Legrees." 
 
 " Yes. They'll never catch us now." 
 
 I still held her arm. My grip must have re- 
 minded her of my dominance over her, for she 
 twitched away with evident resentment. 
 
 " I didn't mean to hurt you." 
 
 " No you simply can't help it, I suppose." 
 
 " Perhaps not." My tone had a sadness that she 
 may have taken for indifference. 
 
 The brown water sang about our feet. A black- 
 bird called sweetly from a patch of cat-tails. We 
 waded side by side, now shadowed by the overhang- 
 ing thicket, now speckled by the sunshine filtering 
 through.
 
 136 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Suddenly she flared out at me. " I'll marry 
 whom I like." 
 
 I was taken aback, and only stared. 
 
 '* I'll marry Carlos Beauchamp, if I like," she 
 went on hotly. " My husband will protect me 
 yes, even from you." 
 
 " He'll protect you from everyone except him- 
 self." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " When a woman marries she gives everything 
 but her soul, you know and sometimes that, if 
 she marries the wrong man." 
 
 " Mr. Beauchamp is a gentleman." 
 
 " Externally, yes." 
 
 " I'll marry him, if I wish." 
 
 " I suppose by marrying Beauchamp, you are 
 defying me to do my worst." 
 
 " You may put it that way, if you like. What 
 will you do ? turn me over to the Law ? " 
 
 " No. If you marry Beauchamp, you'll be pun- 
 ished enough, Nell too much." 
 
 My gravity, my certitude, impressed her. She 
 stood stock-still and stared at me, the water rip- 
 pling against her little black boots. We would 
 have made a strange picture for an onlooker. 
 
 " Why shouldn't I be punished? " she said. " I'm 
 a a thief." 
 
 " I've never said so." 
 
 " A forger, then that's the same thing, or 
 worse. If I suffer by my marriage, won't it be 
 only what I deserve ? "
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 137 
 
 " I hate to think so." 
 
 " But you do think so." 
 
 " I don't think you deserve a man like him." 
 
 " What do you know against Mr. Beauchamp ? " 
 
 " I can't tell you what I know but I know a 
 brute when I see him." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 " I'm truly sorry you're going to marry Beau- 
 champ, Nell. But what must be, must be! Shall 
 we move on ? " 
 
 She held her ground. " I didn't say I intended 
 to marry him. I never said so." 
 
 " But you said " 
 
 " I said I will if I like, but I certainly don't 
 like." 
 
 "What!" 
 
 " He's been coming to ' Red Cedars ' for two or 
 three years. I'm glad he's asked me at last any 
 woman would want that, for her own self-respect. 
 But I sent back his messenger this morning 
 promptly declining the honor of becoming his 
 wife." 
 
 "You did?" 
 
 " Yes, I did. I've never liked him much. I 
 wrote him * no ' this morning before you were up. 
 That's the reason I was so surprised to see him 
 on our trail with Aleck. One would think a man 
 a man who " 
 
 "A man who has just been rejected." 
 
 " Well, yes. One would think he wouldn't care 
 about thrusting himself in on on "
 
 138 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " On the girl who'd just rejected him," I finished. 
 " Nell, will you shake hands ? " 
 
 The red crept slowly into her cheeks. " Shake 
 hands? Why?" 
 
 " In token of my approval of your conduct." 
 
 " No. Your approval is nothing to me, is it?" 
 She resumed her wading. 
 
 There seemed to be nothing for me to do but to 
 follow her example. 
 
 By this time, the slope of the hill was steadily 
 increasing, and both the undergrowth and the 
 stream grew thinner and thinner. After a little 
 we came to the beginning of things a pool no 
 bigger than a dinner table, and an oak growing 
 over this nest of springs. The one made a varie- 
 gated reflection in the other. 
 
 We climbed out of the stream's bed, and shook 
 the " dust of the water," as Ellen expressed it, 
 from our dripping feet. 
 
 " I believe we've thrown off the dog for good," I 
 said. " If he can track us up half a mile of moun- 
 tain burn, he deserves to get us. Nell, I'm almost 
 sorry I dared you into this. You look rather wet 
 I hope you don't catch cold." 
 
 " No-o." 
 
 "Do you feel cold?" 
 
 " No. A little, perhaps." 
 
 I consulted my watch, and then the sun. *' It's 
 nearly noon that's north and we're within half a 
 mile of a chance to get dry yes, and of apple-pie, 
 with cream."
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 139 
 
 Ellen started. " Apple-pie? " 
 
 "Yes. Don't you know where you are? That 
 down up there looks familiar even to me." 
 
 She stared about her, paling. " Well? " she said 
 at last. 
 
 " Half a mile from Mary Finney's cottage." 
 
 " Why have you brought me why have we come 
 here?" 
 
 " For some of Mary's pie. Besides you ought to 
 get on some dry things as soon as you can I can 
 see you're shivering." She was shivering, but I 
 thought it was not from cold. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Come on. I fairly yearn for some of that 
 apple-pie with cream." 
 
 " Oh, of course, with cream," she echoed, faintly- 
 satirical. 
 
 We gained the top of the down, and followed 
 along the edge of a gully that led toward the river 
 gorge in the distance. Mary Finney's cottage 
 peered from its perch among the apple-trees above 
 the river. 
 
 " I should think Miss Finney would be afraid to 
 live there alone. It's a good distance to the village. 
 Somebody might annoy her a tramp or " I spoke 
 deliberately " or a sneak-thief. It wouldn't be 
 pleasant if she woke up and found someone plun- 
 dering her wardrobe." 
 
 Ellen shivered again the wind blew a bit stiffly. 
 " I don't think she's afraid."
 
 140 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 We held our course along the gully. On our 
 side was only the down, bare save for the crisp, 
 autumn-nipped grass; on the other, a forest of 
 second-growth hemlock and pine grew to the edge 
 of the cliff. 
 
 I stopped and peered down into this ravine. 
 Forty feet below a stream, similar to the one we 
 had just been wading, hurried to join the river in 
 the gorge. 
 
 I heard a sound behind me, and turned about 
 sharply. " Nell, you are cold. You're getting a 
 chill." 
 
 " I I think not." 
 
 " You surely are, child. Let's get to Mary Fin- 
 ney's and there you can " 
 
 She was looking at me, smiling bravely and try- 
 ing to keep her teeth from chattering. Suddenly 
 she gave a little scream. 
 
 " Oh, Craig ! Look ! Behind you ! " 
 
 Even as I wheeled, I heard the deep bay of the 
 bloodhound. 
 
 The great dog, " Gomez," was coming along the 
 brink of the gully at a swift lope. His nose was 
 well up as if the scent were too hot to doubt. 
 Now and then he bayed profoundly. 
 
 " He looks as big as a mountain. A regular 
 rhinoceros ! I've a strong inclination to climb a 
 tree, only there isn't any on this side." 
 
 " No," she laughed, although the excitement of 
 the situation showed in her eyes. " Shall we run ? "
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 141 
 
 " I fancy it's too late he'll see us in a minute." 
 
 " Isn't it thrilling ! When one thinks what that 
 enormous creature could do " 
 
 "WhatwiZZhedo?" 
 
 " He usually stops and gambols about or fawns 
 like a puppy." 
 
 The tawny head and chest, the dewlapped muzzle 
 and wrinkled forehead, were now within a few yards 
 of us. As " Gomez " threw up his head to bay, 
 he caught sight of us. 
 
 Planting one lion-like paw in front, he brought 
 himself to a halt. For a moment he eyed us, 
 amiably enough Ellen and I were already advanc- 
 ing with outstretched hands to make his acquaint- 
 ance, when a singular interruption occurred. 
 
 As I have said, the other side of the gully was a 
 mere wilderness of hemlock and pine. Thence a 
 peculiar noise sounded the crack of a rotten twig, 
 the cry of a wild bird, the flat note of a human 
 voice. 
 
 " Gomez " had been striding grandly toward us 
 as if willing to meet our " good dogs " and " here, 
 old fellows," half way. 
 
 Now, coincident with the peculiar sound, his man- 
 ner underwent an appalling change. He gave 
 a thrilling bay, the lips fell away from the muzzle, 
 disclosing a frightful array of fangs before I 
 could believe my horrified senses, he took one tre- 
 mendous stride and leaped at Ellen. 
 
 One instant she was down. The next I had the
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 dog furiously by the throat and had whirled him 
 clear. 
 
 He rose on his hind-legs to meet my attack, his 
 dripping muzzle on a level with my eyes. He 
 snapped at me as my fingers worked for a hold 
 through his folds of skin an inch farther and I 
 would have had no face. His enormous paws 
 weighed like lead on my shoulder as he wrestled 
 with me like a man. We were both growling I as 
 much of a beast as he both furious, both raving. 
 
 Through the red mist of the struggle a voice 
 sounded, very far away. 
 
 "Craig! The cliff!" 
 
 I understood the gully yawned behind me. With 
 what strength and resolution I had left I stood 
 fast within six inches of the brink. Then inch 
 by inch I swung the great dog's head and shoulders 
 to the right. I flung him from me. 
 
 He fell grandly, without a struggle or a sound, 
 to the rocks below. 
 
 Ellen stood beside me. " Nell " I did my best 
 to repress my heavy breathing, " are you hurt ? " 
 
 She was very pale and trembling excessively, but 
 she shook her head. " No he only struck me with 
 his paw. I was hardly down before you dragged 
 him off. But, Craig, it was frightful to see you 
 and - " 
 
 " I always feel ashamed of myself after a row, 
 Nell. I'm afraid I'm a real savage at bottom." 
 
 " I didn't mean that. Craig, you saved - "
 
 THE BLOODHOUND 143 
 
 Her voice died away and she stared fixedly across 
 the narrow gully. 
 
 " Don't think of it, Nell. I'm mighty glad you 
 aren't hurt. It's all over now." 
 
 She turned toward me. Her face was slow in 
 regaining its color. " * Gomez ' do you suppose 
 it killed him?" 
 
 A mournful bay reassured us. In a bush at the 
 bottom of the gully the late-ferocious bloodhound 
 struggled and bayed disconsolately. 
 
 I could not help laughing. " He's all right. 
 Aleck will be along pretty soon no doubt he'll get 
 him out somehow." I dusted my hands on the sides 
 of my coat. " Now, Nell, what do you say ? Let's 
 get to Mary Finney's. Now for apple-pie." 
 
 " With cream," she said a little hysterically.
 
 XIV 
 
 THE PKINCESS LETS DOWN HER HAIR 
 
 WHEN Mary Finney opened her cottage door 
 to my peremptory knock, her face turned even 
 paler at sight of me than it had the night before. 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler ! " Her glance shifted to my 
 companion. " Ellen ! " 
 
 I did not give her time to voice her fear, what- 
 ever it may have been. 
 
 " Good-morning," I said breezily, half support- 
 ing Ellen into the room. " Here we are, Miss 
 Finney two weary wanderers. Miss Sutphen has 
 gotten rather wet and needs some dry things 
 yes, and a warm fire." 
 
 The girl looked eagerly at Ellen who was stoutly 
 endeavoring to still her chattering teeth. " I've 
 a good fire in the kitchen. Why, Ellen, you've got 
 a real chill, surely. Poor dear! And your feet 
 are that wet ! How in the world ? n 
 
 " We were running across country from Mr. 
 Aleck Westbrook's bloodhound," I explained. 
 
 " Oh ! Come right out to the kitchen, Ellen, 
 and sit right down by the stove it's nice and warm 
 out there. I'll give you some dry clothes and make 
 you a fine hot cup of tea. Poor dear ! " 
 
 " I don't feel the least bit badly," insisted Ellen 
 as Mary led her away, " but it is rather nice to 
 be fussed over." 
 
 144
 
 THE PRINCESS'S HAIR 145 
 
 I found myself gazing at the closed door of the 
 kitchen, whence not even the voices of the two girls 
 reached me. It was not for me to intrude on the 
 mystery of " dry clothes." For a moment I felt 
 a bit disconsolate. 
 
 Then the experience of an old campaigner came 
 to my rescue. Taking in the situation at a glance, 
 I made a foray on the little table and the shelves 
 behind it. Results : one delicious apple-pie, not ten 
 minutes from the oven; one pint of cream in a 
 yellow crock ; item a paper bag half full of pow- 
 dered sugar ; item one pewter tablespoon. 
 
 Equipped with these fruits of my raid, I was look- 
 ing about for the best place in which to begin an 
 onslaught on the same, when Mary opened the 
 kitchen door a few inches. 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler." 
 
 I whirled at the word and involuntarily tried to 
 conceal my loot behind me. " Miss Finney " 
 
 Notwithstanding her aversion toward me, the 
 shadow of a smile flickered in her eyes at my school- 
 boy fright. 
 
 " Mr. Schuyler, Miss Sutphen will be ready in a 
 few minutes. She says you're as wet as she is and 
 must change your clothes too, and " 
 
 "Change?" I laughed. "You'd have a hard 
 time fitting me out in this house, wouldn't you?" 
 
 " No, sir. Oh ah ! " She stopped in embar- 
 rassment, and blushed faintly. " I think I could 
 
 find find an old pair of of -" 
 
 10
 
 146 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I came to her relief. " I don't need a change. 
 I'm nearly dry now I'll finish off by the kitchen 
 stove when Miss Sutphen is out of the way. You're 
 putting her to bed, aren't you? " 
 
 " No, indeed, she isn't," called Ellen's voice 
 within. " What an idea ! I'm not such a baby as 
 that, Craig. Wait a minute. Mary, Mary come 
 here, will you? " 
 
 The girl hurried to her, luckily leaving the door 
 an inch or two ajar. I could hear their voices. 
 
 There were murmurs, interspersed with much soft 
 laughter and the noise of scraping chair and table- 
 legs. Snatches of sentences came to my ears: 
 " Tuck it in carefully, Mary " " now, you see, the 
 screen'll go all across " " a man never notices 
 things anyway " " you certainly do look pretty 
 Ellen " " now I'm all ready." And then in a hor- 
 rified whisper : " Mary, Mary, come back ! I know 
 one of my toes is peeking." 
 
 The obstinate member must have been satisfac- 
 torily disposed of, for after a brief interval Mary 
 opened the door and invited me to enter. I did 
 so, pie and all. Ellen hailed me merrily. 
 
 " Ah ha, naughty boy ! You've been in the j am- 
 pot." 
 
 " Sweets to the sweet." 
 
 " Egotist ! " 
 
 " No, altruist ! I'm bringing pie and sugar to 
 
 you." 
 
 " Schuyler was a Welshman, 
 Schuyler was a thief,"
 
 THE PRINCESS'S HAIR 147 
 
 She chanted. I broke in: 
 
 " Schuyler brought an apple-pie 
 To soothe sweet Ellen's grief." 
 
 The kitchen was the real living-room of the house 
 a room in which everything sparkled with clean- 
 liness in genuine New England fashion. Ellen sat 
 in a rocking-chair at a table close to the stove. 
 She was wrapped from feet to waist in a rose- 
 colored " down " quilt that effectually concealed 
 any toe that might have been inclined to " peek." 
 
 Her cap had been removed the braids of her 
 hair were as smooth as Mary Finney's own. Her 
 teeth had ceased to chatter, and the color had 
 crept back to her cheeks. Her fingers were drum- 
 ming a gay little tune on the table. 
 
 On the other side of the stove a screen, placed at 
 a crafty angle, concealed whatever may have been 
 hung on the clothes-rack behind. 
 
 "Are you feeling better, Nell?" 
 
 " Fine. It was silly of me to get a chill. Don't 
 you want to shift your tilings, really? " 
 
 " No. They'll dry on me perfectly well. It's 
 too much trouble besides. I'll just put my plunder 
 on the table and Hello ! the table's set ! " 
 
 She laughed at my shout of discovery. " Yes. 
 Was there ever a man in this world who didn't cheer 
 at the sight of food? That's your place there. 
 There's the tea in the pot, but Mary says she 
 hasn't another thing in the house. She's going 
 down to the village now to get something."
 
 148 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I can't wait." I sank into my seat. " Let's 
 see what's in my lunch-pouch Dirck usually shines 
 in a case like this." I turned toward the door. 
 
 " Miss Finney, please don't bother about Hello ! 
 
 she's gone." 
 
 " Yes she's probably halfway down the hill by 
 this time." 
 
 " Well, then, we'll open Pandora's box." 
 
 " All the troubles are already out," she said 
 with a little sigh. " Even Hope isn't left." 
 
 " Nell, I admit I'm revengeful, but let it all go 
 for this afternoon. Hope is in the box Hope 
 in the way of deviled eggs " I produced them 
 as I spoke " lettuce-sandwiches, cold chicken, 
 and what's this in this thermos-bottle? Ah, pip- 
 ing-hot chocolate ! Now, do you recognize Hope 
 when you see her? " 
 
 " Yes. Everything looks simply delicious, 
 doesn't it? And don't forget the tea, too, Craig. 
 Don't burn yourself." 
 
 " Never fear." I swept the teapot from the 
 stove and poured Ellen a cup with a skill that made 
 her clap her hands in mock admiration. " Do you 
 prefer tea to chocolate? The thermos has held it 
 just as hot, you know. Well, then, here's to you, 
 Nell, and may you never be attacked by another 
 bloodhound." 
 
 She sipped her tea in acknowledgment of my 
 toast. Her eyes were full of hazel lights, lights 
 that dimmed a little as the grateful tea warme^ 
 her body and made her a wee bit drowsy.
 
 THE PRINCESS'S HAIR 149 
 
 " The bloodhound, ugh ! What do you suppose 
 made him fly at us so ? " she asked. 
 
 " I don't know natural bloodhoundishness, per- 
 haps unless it was that odd sound from the 
 woods." 
 
 "Did you hear that, too?" 
 
 " Yes. It seemed to drive him quite wild, didn't 
 it? I never saw such automatic action in my life. 
 From his eyes I thought he meant to attack me 
 I was the stranger and he naturally would go for 
 me but you were a step nearer and perhaps he 
 confused us." 
 
 " What sort of noise did it seem to you? " 
 
 " All sorts any sort. A breaking tree-limb, 
 perhaps, as much as anything. Possibly a plough- 
 boy happened to call at his horse on the other 
 side of that strip of woods." 
 
 When we had finished the deviled eggs and 
 chicken, I moved the table away. Then I turned 
 Ellen, chair and all, until she faced the fire, manag- 
 ing to do so without disturbing the delicate 
 arrangement of the rose quilt. I raked down the 
 stove until the red coals winked between the grate- 
 bars. Then I moved my chair beside hers. 
 
 She had watched all my motions with quiet 
 amusement. " * You're a' 'andy man to 'ave about 
 the 'ouse.'" 
 
 " Am I not? Dirck and I used to keep house in 
 Sumatra keep bungalow rather. That's a good 
 deal easier, I admit. I learned to do things almost 
 as well as Dirck."
 
 150 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " He's a very intelligent man, isn't he? I don't 
 think he's at all servant-like." 
 
 " I hope he hasn't been impertinent in any way." 
 
 " Oh, no, not in the least. He has a rather 
 attractive way about him, I think. What I mean 
 is he looks at one quite frankly, as if he were 
 an equal, but not at all impertinently." 
 
 " Dirck does respect himself profoundly, there's 
 no doubt about that in fact, he has a distinctly 
 good opinion of himself. I don't mind it, though 
 I hate cringing." 
 
 " So do I. His face reminds me of one of those 
 in Meissonier's battle pictures the Guards' faces, 
 you know self-possessed and haughty-looking." 
 
 She propped both elbows on one arm of the 
 rocker and, putting her hands together, leaned her 
 cheek against them. The firelight threw quaint 
 patterns on the rose quilt. 
 
 It was a moment of lassitude, even of weakness, 
 for both of us. Her lashes swept her cheek as her 
 eyes fell before the softening light in mine. In 
 spite of myself I felt a dryness come into my throat 
 and a pulse beat heavily there. My hand shook as 
 I affected to smooth a wrinkle of my coat. 
 
 " You look like a little girl." 
 
 She smiled dreamily. " Do I? I feel like one 
 almost like the little girl in a fairy story." 
 
 " The be-yew-tiful princess captured by the 
 ogre." 
 
 " Not such a bad ogre always."
 
 THE PRINCESS'S HAIR 151 
 
 " The ogre's glad he isn't utterly hateful. Yes, 
 you're the beautiful golden-haired princess lost in 
 the wood in a dark and dismal Dore wood and 
 beguiled by the ogre to his castle. Do you remember 
 the cry of the rescuing prince : * Rappunzel, Rap- 
 punzel, let down your hair ' ? " 
 
 "Yes, that was it." 
 
 " Well will the princess do it ? " 
 
 "Doit? What? O-oh, you mean " 
 
 " Yes. Will the princess let down her hair 
 please? " 
 
 " Really Craig? " 
 
 " Do ! " 
 
 " You funny man. What a thing to ask ! " 
 
 " Please ! " I urged again. 
 
 She gave me a shy glance then, sweetly sub- 
 missive, busied herself with the braids of her hair. 
 In a moment a shining mass fell all about her. 
 
 I held back my eager hands. Her hair, as 
 smooth and bright as the skin of an October chest- 
 nut, went shimmering to the rose quilt. Little 
 lights and sparkles played over it. Fays danced on 
 moonlit lawns; thrushes peered between fallen 
 leaves; stars glimmered in the dusk of a winter 
 twilight. 
 
 " Lovely," I said in a hushed voice. " It's lovely, 
 Nell." 
 
 Her answering smile was as wistful and kind as 
 that of a pleased child. 
 
 " You know I've never seen it that way be-
 
 152 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 fore. I've often wished I might see you like this. 
 I knew it you would be charming. I think I've 
 never told you I once wrote some verses about your 
 hair, long ago: 
 
 "'Oh, to be swung 'twixt the envying stars, 
 In the folds of her glorious hair ! ' " 
 
 " The prince is satisfied then ? " 
 
 I leaned forward, staring at her. " Nell, you 
 and I oughtn't to be enemies. There's something 
 unnatural, something monstrous, about our treat- 
 ing each other so." 
 
 " I'm glad if you're beginning to feel that at 
 last." 
 
 " I've felt it all along. Is it too late to be 
 friends again ? " 
 
 Her hand pressed her cheek. " Craig, if you 
 really think if you're sure that what's hap j 
 pened " 
 
 " The flood of your hair can sweep away what's 
 happened. I don't know that anything in the world 
 matters but beauty your loveliness." 
 
 My hands had taken the strands of her hair, very 
 reverently, and had pressed them back until her 
 face was clear before me, small, rosy, appealing. 
 
 " Nell," I said huskily. 
 
 The sense of profound intimacy induced by her 
 loosened hair, the influence of our reawakened emo- 
 tions, had brought our physical powers of resist- 
 ance, perhaps our moral as well, perilously near
 
 THE PRINCESS'S HAIR 153 
 
 the breaking-point. There is a temptation in 
 physical contact beyond the will and inclination, 
 beyond all the strength of reason. 
 
 A slow tremor went through her body my 
 hands shook as they slipped from her hair to her 
 shoulders I leaned slowly toward her. 
 
 As if awakening from a dream, she shrank from 
 my outstretched arms. She laughed uncertainly, 
 yet with evident determination to thrust back her- 
 self as well as me to a normal plane. 
 
 " What a pair of actors we are ! " she said. 
 
 I could only nod. Her fingers were again busied 
 with her hair, I watching her silently, until it had 
 been made to resume its usual place and fashion. 
 
 I made a gesture. " I hate to see it go back." 
 
 " But it must." 
 
 That she might not read my thoughts my eyes 
 went quickly from her to the fire.
 
 XV 
 
 WE TALK OF SUMATRA 
 
 AFTEB, a long while Ellen spoke, studied indiffer- 
 ence in her tone. 
 
 " Craig, you said something about Sumatra, 
 while we were running through the woods tell me 
 about it." 
 
 " That's a large order. Sumatra is quite a siza- 
 ble island." A certain earnestness behind the 
 dreamy lights in her eyes caught my attention. 
 " Anything in particular about Sumatra, Nell ? " 
 
 " About your keeping house there." 
 
 " Well, Dirck and I kept house together. You 
 see, out there, he and I were nearer friends than 
 we were master and servant." 
 
 " Just you two ? " 
 
 " Just ourselves and Mina. I made a song about 
 her." I hummed a verse: 
 
 " Don't you mind the honey-bear 
 
 Little Mina used to drill 
 The parrot that we taught to swear, 
 
 In the hut on Landak hill? 
 Mina, too, I wonder where 
 
 Now she keeps her bungalow. 
 Has she still the honey-bear? 
 
 Let's go back to Borneo ! " 
 
 " I had to say * Borneo,' instead of * Sumatra,' for 
 the sake of the rhyme." 
 
 154
 
 WE TALK OF SUMATRA 155 
 
 "Who was Mina?" 
 
 " Mina? She was a native Sumatran an Achi- 
 nese, you know." 
 
 " It's a pretty name was she pretty ? " 
 
 " Heavens ! no. As ugly as sin ! She looked 
 about like one of those awful little images they put 
 at one's place for a dinner favor. She was about 
 forty years old, too that corresponds to sixty or 
 seventy here." 
 
 " Was it Mina whose daughter was so charm- 
 ing? ' 
 
 " Mina's daughter? " Suddenly a light broke 
 upon me. " What are you driving at, Nell? Have 
 you heard some of the fool yarns about me? " 
 
 She nodded without lifting her eyes from the 
 coals that winked between the grate-bars I could 
 not tell whether her listlessness were real or affected. 
 
 " Are they fool yarns, Craig? " 
 
 " Certainly. At least they the conclusions 
 people always come to are fool ones." I knew my 
 own conclusion was lame. 
 
 " I see." She was silent a moment. " No, I 
 think I don't see." 
 
 She lifted her cheek from her folded hands and 
 regarded me deprecatingly. " Would you mind 
 please, don't be angry, Craig. People say such 
 nasty things sometimes. We've heard something 
 about you about you and a Sumatran beauty 
 a princess or duchess who " 
 
 " I know. That story was spread by a con-
 
 156 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 temptible German trader I drove out of my district 
 for well, for trying to buy up girls for the Sul- 
 tan of Brunei. That's what that silly ass, Archer, 
 was referring to last night, I suppose. He was 
 urging me to tell him a Sumatran Nights' Adven- 
 ture. Confound his drivelling mind ! " 
 
 " Craig I'd like to hear the truth about it 
 one way or the other. Are you angry ? " 
 
 " No, no. I'll tell you. I'd like you to know 
 about Tawa, Nell." 
 
 " Tawa. Was that her name ? " 
 
 " Yes. She was a datu's daughter about what 
 you would call a native princess. You won't 
 think me a cad? It's not a thing I'd care to tell 
 most people." 
 
 " Please go on." 
 
 " It's not a very long tale. I'll skip the hows 
 and the wherefores as much as I can." 
 
 " I'd like to hear everything." 
 
 " The Datu of Larang Medac was his name 
 had a big bamboo stockade on the river. I met 
 Tawa there at a supper the old fellow gave me. 
 His wives waited on us he had three or four regu- 
 lar ones. They aren't very strict Mohammedans 
 and don't make a fuss about their women going 
 about unveiled and all that. Old Medac had half a 
 dozen sons but only one daughter he was im- 
 mensely proud of her." 
 
 "That was Tawa?" 
 
 "Yes. She didn't wait on us but she came in,
 
 WE TALK OF SUMATRA 157 
 
 unveiled, when the meal was half over and sat down 
 on the cushions between her father and me. The 
 old man made her feed me sweetmeats out of a 
 brass jar." 
 
 "Was she pretty?" 
 
 " For a Sumatran, yes, very she would have 
 passed muster anywhere. Clear, olive skin, large, 
 dark eyes, and all that. She didn't chew betel-nut 
 either, so her mouth was as sweet and well-shaped 
 as anybody's. I was attracted to her at once all 
 the more because she spoke to me in English." 
 
 " In English? Wasn't that unusual? " 
 
 " Yes, almost unique. You see, she'd made sev- 
 eral long visits to Singapore, and then she had a 
 Chinese maid who spoke English very well, real 
 English she'd learned it at a mission school in 
 Hongkong." 
 
 " I see." 
 
 " That was the way of it. She laughed and 
 joked like an American girl we took to each other 
 at once Tawa and I. I was a white man and 
 therefore a great lord from the native point of 
 view, and as for her well, I was lonely, Nell, des- 
 perately lonely you know why." 
 
 She said nothing, nor would she meet my glance. 
 I went on. 
 
 " Old Datu Medac was rather pleased than other- 
 wise by Tawa's by our taking such a fancy to 
 each other. In fact, I suppose I may say he did 
 all he could to encourage it."
 
 158 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 "It?" 
 
 " Our fondness for each other, you know." 
 
 " Oh." 
 
 " After that night we saw each other every day 
 usually on the slope of a hill overlooking the river. 
 There was a shady place there in a clump of 
 feather-bamboo the slopes below us and on both 
 sides were covered with white-plumed grass. The 
 river wound along at the foot of the hill dark 
 and with something sinister about it, the way tropi- 
 cal rivers have." 
 
 " Wasn't it dangerous for her to meet you like 
 that? Don't those natives carry dreadful knives? 
 her father and brothers ? " 
 
 " I didn't make myself clear. Old Medac was 
 willing to let us get acquainted, and two or three 
 women always came with Tawa the Chinese maid 
 for one, and I've no doubt one of the others was 
 her mother. I never got Medac's wives straight. 
 Tawa and I would sit down on a little knoll, and 
 the others would stroll off a few yards." 
 
 " It sounds as if you had to to make love under 
 difficulties." 
 
 " I couldn't call it that, although I suppose it 
 was that in a way. At any rate, I never saw her 
 alone for a second up to the very last." 
 
 I was silent, my mind crowded with images of 
 that time the darkly-glancing river, mysterious 
 and sinister below the white-plumed grass the 
 setting sun driving a column of crimson through
 
 WE TALK OF SUMATRA 159 
 
 the shafts of feather-bamboo the bronze-colored 
 faces of the attendants and, above all, Tawa's 
 large eyes fixed earnestly on my face as I talked. 
 
 " Well," I went on, " in spite of what you hear 
 about the apathy of the East, matters move fast in 
 some ways. Anger and hate are swifter than 
 anywhere else and so is love, perhaps. I don't 
 know why it is probably because the spirit of the 
 country gets into one's veins the hot-blooded peo- 
 ple, the climate, the gorgeousness of the jungle, 
 and all that. And then people expect violence and 
 hurry in those things just as they expect slowness 
 and unchangeableness in everything else it's what 
 they're used to. I don't want to philosophize the 
 point is, it wasn't more than a month after I met 
 Tawa that the date was set for our wedding." 
 
 " O-oh ! You were married ! " 
 
 ** The wedding was to be at the end of the next 
 month. The night after old Medac and Tawa and 
 I had talked it all over, I couldn't sleep for think- 
 ing. Do you remember we agreed yesterday that 
 thanking is one form of Tophet ? " 
 
 " I remember." 
 
 " Two days afterward, I told Tawa I was going 
 on a hunting trip. I said I was simply bound to 
 give her a rhinoceros horn for a wedding present 
 you know a rhinoceros horn is supposed to bring 
 good luck. 
 
 " At first Tawa only laughed, then when she 
 saw I was in earnest, she begged me not to go.
 
 160 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 But I felt I must get away for a while or I'd go 
 crazy. I thought if I could hunt, and hunt, and 
 hunt, I could wear off the thinking and come back 
 to her contented. 
 
 " At last she cried she said she knew some harm 
 would happen to me, if I left her. But somehow 
 I couldn't give way even when she was so pitiful 
 about it. I told her my jinn that's what they call 
 their personal guardian spirit my jinn had put 
 it into my heart that I must get the horn or our 
 marriage would be unfortunate. 
 
 " We'd been sitting at our favorite spot on the 
 knoll by the river when I told her that about my 
 jinn, she stopped trying to persuade me at once. 
 * Go then, Tuan,' she said Tuan means lord in 
 Malayan * Go, Tuan, and I will stand here, every 
 night, and look down the river for you.' 
 
 " Well, I went the very next day, with Dirck and 
 thirty of Medac's best hunters and three or four 
 of Tawa's brothers you see, they thought my 
 idea of getting a present for Tawa was very 
 natural. 
 
 " We'd been gone only five days when one night 
 a runner came into our camp from Larang Tawa 
 was very ill with fever. 
 
 " I travelled night and day. But those tropical 
 fevers run like wildfire when I got back to her she 
 was dying. At sunset, every night, she'd looked 
 for me from the hill above the river. The worst 
 of it is she'd probably caught the fever from the
 
 WE TALK OF SUMATRA 161 
 
 river mists waiting for me. The harm had come 
 to her, not to me as she had had a foreboding. 
 
 " I got to her in time for her to recognize me 
 I've always been thankful for that. She was able 
 to talk to me a little before the end. She rested 
 in my arms at the very last." 
 
 I was leaning forward, my chin in my hands, 
 staring at the red coals between the grate-bars. 
 I sat so for a long time. Ellen, too, was silent, 
 and I did not look at her. 
 
 At last a door that slammed faintly in a distant 
 part of the house recalled me to the present its 
 own problems and difficulties. Ellen knew the truth 
 of the story that had filled more than one column 
 of German and American papers after all, the 
 truth was nothing to be ashamed of. I was not 
 sorry I had told her all. I glanced at her silent 
 figure. 
 
 The firelight wrought quaint patterns on the rose 
 quilt. Her head was still propped on her folded 
 hands she looked very small and rather pitiful. 
 Her eyes were closed and she sat without percept- 
 ible motion. Tired out by the day's experiences 
 and lulled by the sound of my voice, it seemed she 
 had fallen asleep. 
 
 I got to my feet and slipped quietly from the 
 room. 
 
 11
 
 XVI 
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 
 
 THE outer room was devoid of occupants, but I 
 was sure I had heard a door slam. There had been 
 a peculiarly incisive quality to that slam, as if 
 there had been more strength behind it than Mary 
 Finney would have been likely to employ. 
 
 I stepped quietly to the door that led onto the 
 gallery above the gorge, and pushed it open. As 
 I had half expected, a shabby-looking man was 
 sitting talking to Miss Finney. At sight of me he 
 sprang to his feet it was the same fellow I had 
 surprised with Ellen the day before. My blood 
 pounded in my throat! 
 
 Without a second glance at me, the man took 
 a couple of hasty steps toward a door farther down 
 the gallery. Then I had him by the shoulder, 
 dragged him sharply back, and flung him into a 
 chair. 
 
 " I want to see you, my friend," I snapped. 
 
 He made no resistance, apparently overwhelmed 
 by the fierceness of my attack. Not so Mary 
 Finney. 
 
 "Mr. Schuyler! Mr. Schuyler!" Her face 
 flushing and paling, her tears starting, she pulled 
 at my hands like a dove defending her young. 
 " Let go of him ! You sha'n't do it. You sha'n't 
 take my Ned!" 
 
 162
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 163 
 
 I released the man my coolness returned and 
 looked down at him. He sat crouched in his chair, 
 without lifting his eyes. 
 
 He was a thin, almost cadaverous fellow of 
 twenty-eight or thirty. His hair was brown and 
 wavy, and his face was smooth-shaven. I noticed 
 the hands, lifted to straighten the worn tie, were 
 not those of a workingman. There was something 
 vaguely familiar about the lines of his face. 
 
 Mary Finney hovered distressfully about him. 
 "So this is your Ned, is it?" I said. "I don't 
 congratulate you on your Ned he oughtn't to 
 run every time he sees me." 
 
 She wrung her hands in her mediaeval gesture of 
 despair. " Oh, don't be hard on him. He didn't 
 mean any harm." 
 
 I stared, then my eyes going abruptly to the fel- 
 low, surprised his own fixed upon my face. They 
 were gray eyes, with hazel lights in them. 
 
 Catching my glance, he threw back his head with 
 an air half haughty, half indifferent. 
 
 "Ned Sutphen!" 
 
 " Well, what of it ? " The man's voice was infin- 
 itely sullen. " Who did you think I was? " 
 
 " You sha'n't hurt him ! " cried Mary again. 
 " You sha'n't have him ! " 
 
 " Good Lord ! Who wants him? If he hadn't run 
 I wouldn't have laid hands on him. Ned, what are 
 you doing here? like this." 
 
 " I've only been home a month from Nevada."
 
 164 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I turned to the girl. " Miss Finney, I want to 
 talk to Mr. Sutphen. I left Miss Sutphen asleep 
 by the fire suppose you see if she's in need of 
 anything." 
 
 " Go ahead, Mary," said Ned. " I'm all right." 
 
 I waited until Miss Finney had closed the door 
 behind her, then I faced Sutphen. 
 
 I saw the deep lines from nostrils to mouth- 
 corners, the eyes a little reddened by hard living, 
 and the weak contour of the jaw. This was not 
 the well-groomed, self-possessed man of the world 
 I had expected to see in Ellen's brother. The mys- 
 tery of the situation was beyond all comprehension ! 
 I moved a chair and sat down square in front of 
 him. He started, and eyed me uneasily. 
 
 " Why was Miss Finney so afraid I would harm 
 you? You don't look as if you'd been kept in a 
 china-closet all your life." 
 
 " What? Oh, I don't know. Women are fools 
 foolish, I mean." 
 
 " If women weren't foolish, it would be bad for 
 us men in the next world, wouldn't it?" 
 
 " Are you going to preach, Schuyler? " 
 
 "Preach? Far from it." I groped for a 
 further explanation of the scene I had just wit- 
 nessed. " What in the world is all this about ! 
 She called you * Ned ' rather familiarly." 
 
 " She has a right to -I'm her husband." 
 
 I gasped a little. " What ! 
 
 " We've been married a month," he returned
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 165 
 
 " You needn't apologize I'm mighty glad of it, 
 Sutphen I was afraid it was something else. Does 
 your sister know it? " 
 
 " Of course. Nell was a witness she and Norah 
 Westbrook." 
 
 " A-ah, I see. What about your mother? " 
 
 " She didn't know until last night didn't know 
 I was home even." 
 
 " It was you who called her out from the draw- 
 ing-room last night? " 
 
 " Yes. I made up my mind to tell her about 
 my marriage and all and have it over with." 
 
 " Very thoughtful of you." 
 
 " Look here, Schuyler," he made a feeble 
 attempt to browbeat me, " what are you putting 
 me through this damned cross-examination for? " 
 
 " Because I want to know. Because I choose 
 that's why, Sutphen. I'm staying at your mother's 
 house you know that." 
 
 He nodded sullenly. 
 
 " Very good. I'm a guest of the family and I 
 find the son of the family has become a scapegrace. 
 That fits you, I suppose ? " 
 
 " I don't say it doesn't." 
 
 " The scapegrace son of the family dodging in 
 and out a country girl's cottage. Furthermore, 
 he declares he has married the country girl." 
 
 " It's true." 
 
 " I believe you. Well, I'm interested, and if 
 you ask me why, I'll tell you."
 
 166 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 His lips barely framed the word. 
 
 " Because you helped to persuade your wife to 
 try to burglarize my room last night. Do 3 ou 
 wonder I'm interested? " 
 
 He had seen what was coming so could turn no 
 paler than he was. 
 
 " Never mind," I continued. " I'm quite capable 
 of taking care of myself. Let all that go. Ned, 
 I'd never heard of it, but you've evidently been down 
 on your luck for a while you look the part, at 
 any rate. What's the matter, man? You can't 
 be thirty yet." 
 
 " Twenty-seven," muttered the other. 
 
 " How far down are you ? " I demanded. " And 
 how did it happen? " 
 
 He gave a short laugh. " Oh, I'm not kicking. 
 It happened as it always does, I suppose because 
 a man's a fool. I was, at any rate." 
 
 "But how?" 
 
 " Do you really want to know? Well, after I 
 left Yale fired in my Sophomore year, you know 
 I tried stocks a little with Sheepshead and 
 Gravesend and Saratoga on the side. The same 
 old story. From that it was only a step to Haly's 
 and Danfield's one of Nell's friends, a chap named 
 Beauchamp, first started me ihere" 
 
 " I know him." 
 
 " He's a smooth article, isn't he? But if it 
 hachi't been Beauchamp, it would have been some- 
 body else for me I'm not kicking. Everywhere
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 167 
 
 Wall Street and all I lost I kept on losing." 
 
 "You did?" 
 
 " You see, I was supposed to be a business man 
 I had the greater part of Nell's and mother's money 
 in my charge." He drew a long breath, and went 
 on painfully. " It went they have hardly enough 
 to get along on this minute it went and then I 
 had to tell them then I went West." 
 
 He talked, his eyes half shut, but his face held 
 steadily toward me as if he found relief in going 
 over his sordid story. I nodded at the closed door. 
 
 " How about ? " 
 
 "Mary? I don't suppose that was different 
 from other cases you've heard about. She's pretty 
 you can see that for yourself, and I I was a 
 brute, as a man always is when he sees the girl cares 
 for him." 
 
 " You're married, you say." 
 
 " Yes. That's why I'm here now. She went to 
 Nell and and told her everything. Nell's a brick ! 
 She wrote me to come home at once she sent a 
 cheque to cover my fare, too. When the letter 
 reached me I was knocked out with typhoid in Tona- 
 pah they didn't even tell me about it for weeks. 
 Then I started home." 
 
 " Were you in time ? " 
 
 " When I reached here the baby had been born 
 and and had died. Mary and I were married the 
 day I got here. The baby is over there, in the 
 old graveyard."
 
 168 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 He drew another long breath. 
 
 " Well," I said, " you did right to come home. 
 You acted like a man, there." 
 
 " It was about time I should," he returned bit- 
 terly. " I've done enough of the other thing." 
 
 His reference to the old graveyard stirred my 
 memory. " Sutphen, you weren't about here at the 
 time, but did you ever hear of Kitty Willetts ? " 
 
 He gave me a sharp glance. " Yes, of course 
 we all remember that affair." 
 
 " What became of her child, do you know? " 
 
 " Died two or three months after the mother, 
 I believe just about the time you sailed." 
 
 " Did it ever come out who the father was ? " 
 
 " No-o. That is, most people never knew some 
 guessed." 
 
 I nodded. " Ned, give me time to think your case 
 over a couple of days, say. Perhaps I can help 
 put you on your feet again." 
 
 " You ! " he exclaimed. " Oh, yes, I suppose so 
 you ! " His manner underwent a sudden change. 
 " Look here, Schuyler, don't you sit there and sneer 
 at me. Damn it ! I won't stand it not if you 
 kill me for it!" 
 
 " What the devil are you talking about ? I say 
 I'll help you, if I can if I can think out a way 
 to do you any good. You're your own worst 
 enemy, but as long as drink isn't the trouble, and 
 you don't look far gone enough for that, I fancy 
 I can find a way out for you."
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 169 
 
 " You don't mean it," he faltered. 
 
 " Yes, I do." I rose to my feet, and shook 
 hands with him, vastly to his surprise. " Give my 
 good wishes to your wife. I'll see you in a day or 
 two." 
 
 " Is Nell ready to go? Mary was telling me she 
 got wet " 
 
 " Yes. She was dreaming by the kitchen stove 
 a little while ago. I won't disturb her. Please tell 
 her I'll send my car over for her by five o'clock. 
 That'll get her home comfortably." 
 
 " All right. I'm sure, Schuyler, I'm much 
 obliged for " 
 
 I cut short his thanks. " And, Ned, let Ellen 
 know I won't appear at dinner to-night. I'll get 
 my man to bring me up a bite, and then, I won't 
 have to dress I'm feeling lazy." 
 
 He saw through my little subterfuge. " You're 
 a good sort, Schuyler." 
 
 I left the house without more ado, and started 
 briskly homeward across the downs. I glanced into 
 the gully as I passed the bloodhound was no- 
 where visible and I knew young Westbrook or 
 Beauchamp must have rescued the brute. It 
 made me shudder to picture how Ellen had lain, 
 if only for an instant, beneath his enormous paw. 
 I desired to punish her in my own way, with all 
 the refinements of torture that our positions made 
 possible, not to see her mangled by a mad hound. 
 Strange how he had leaped at us so abruptly !
 
 170 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 It was not yet three o'clock the afternoon was 
 still young. I stepped out merrily, whistling to 
 myself, and half wishing I had the morning's run 
 to go over again. I thought of a wily trick or two 
 whereby we might have thrown our pursuers off the 
 scent. How innocent and boyish Ellen had looked 
 as we waded the stream. 
 
 Thus meditating, the miles slipped behind me 
 unawares I almost stumbled over Beauchamp and 
 young Westbrook at that same corner of the stone 
 wall from which Ellen and I had taken to the trees. 
 
 " Hello, Schuyler," said the Englishman. 
 " Awfully glad to see you again, old chap. Schuy- 
 ler and I came over together, the other day," he 
 explained to Aleck. " We had some capital bridge 
 in the smoking-room. Wot cheer, matie ! " 
 
 We shook hands with, on his part at least, a 
 semblance of cordiality. I tried in vain to detect 
 in his face or bearing any chagrin over Ellen's 
 rejection of him that morning he was too much a 
 man-of-the-world to betray himself. 
 
 " You've been on our trail with Aleck ? " I asked. 
 
 " Yes. You and Miss Sutphen made proper 
 duffers of us ! " His eyes had been searching the 
 grove behind me. " By the way, old man, where is 
 Miss Sutphen?" 
 
 " She was pretty well done up. She's resting? 
 at a cottage back there. Aleck, what's become of 
 Gomez'?" 
 
 " We let him find his own way home. He's a
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 171 
 
 good deal knocked about, too. I'll be hanged if we 
 didn't find him at the bottom of a thirty-foot gully. 
 How in the world the idiot fell into that I don't 
 know. Have you any idea, Schuyler? " 
 
 " I threw him there." 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " Come, that's good," said Beauchamp. " Do 
 you mean it really? " 
 
 I gave them a brief account of our contretemps 
 with the bloodhound. Aleck was visibly distressed. 
 
 " Good Heavens ! he might have killed her ! Sup- 
 pose he had scarred her for life ! " 
 
 " It was a close call," I agreed. 
 
 Beauchamp, however, was inclined to scoff at 
 the danger. " Don't you fancy the brute was only 
 trying to be playful, Schuyler? Bally poor style 
 of play, of course, but that's about it." 
 
 " Hardly. It wasn't a mere idle gambol, I 
 promise you, Beauchamp I've seen wild animals 
 charge, you know. * Gomez ' was in earnest." 
 
 " Come, old chap ! You don't mean to say an 
 owl hooting, or whatever that sound was, could have 
 set him on so. That's rather stiff, don't you 
 think?" 
 
 " I don't say it was that but he certainly 
 charged for us at that time. He'd been good- 
 natured enough before that." 
 
 " I fancy it was only his play really. * Gomez ' 
 wouldn't hurt a fly." 
 
 He had hoisted himself to a seat on the stone
 
 172 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 wall, and sat softly drumming his heels against the 
 side. I noticed that his forehead sloped almost in 
 the Hapsburg manner. His eyes regarded me with 
 the characteristic British aloofness. 
 
 Aleck stood near, idly beating his dog-leash 
 against his leg, apparently in a taciturn mood. 
 
 By an indefinable air of embarrassment about the 
 two men by Beauchamp's unusual talkativeness 
 even more than by Aleck's moroseness I knew they 
 had been discussing me just before I stumbled upon 
 them. I was not the more disposed to hurry away 
 on that account. 
 
 " Wot cheer, matie ! " Beauchamp rattled on. 
 " Let the dogs go to the dogs ! I say, Schuyler, 
 it's been a long while since we chivied the girls to- 
 gether about here, hasn't it, now ? " 
 
 I did not like his tone. " I wouldn't call it chivy- 
 ing. Squired them a little, if you like, but chivied, 
 no. It has an unpleasant sound." 
 
 " Oh, come, now. Why so high and mighty ! 
 Women are fair game, aren't they? To hunt one 
 down now and again that's living. You ought to 
 know that, old fellow they say you were a real 
 Bashaw in the East, you know." 
 
 "Who says so?" 
 
 He waved his hand expansively. " The world, 
 my boy Berlin, Paris, London, New York and 
 Bannocks." 
 
 " Nonsense ! I don't claim to be a saint, Beau- 
 champ, but I'm not a Bashaw. You can set down
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 173 
 
 any such tales you hear about me as downright 
 lies." 
 
 " Really ? Oh, come ! It's no disgrace to own 
 up all strictly entre nous, you know. Besides, 
 you won't shock us you left a bit of a trail behind 
 you here, I remember before you started for the 
 wild and woolly East." He laughed relishingly. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " He did not realize the 
 significance of my increasing quiet. 
 
 " No post mortems, old fellow." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " I repeated. 
 
 " Wliy everybody knows about that little affair, 
 you know. I don't blame you." 
 
 " What affair? " 
 
 " Oh, come ! Kitty Willetts, of course." 
 
 His barefaced effrontery amazed me. " Kitty 
 Willetts? " I repeated stupidly. 
 
 " Yes. Pm not saying anything, you know, but 
 it's a strong on dit that it was you who looked out 
 for her comfort." 
 
 I glanced at Aleck Westbrook. He was listen- 
 ing with averted face. 
 
 "I did," I said, "afterward after the child 
 was born." 
 
 " Afterward ? " repeated Beauchamp. " Oh, of 
 course very properly managed, too. Of course a 
 girl like that wouldn't accept anything from you 
 except for the child's sake." 
 
 "Why should she? I was almost a stranger to 
 her."
 
 174 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " A stranger? " he smiled. " Now, that's ab- 
 surd, Schuyler." 
 
 Then at last I saw the point of all this. More, 
 I understood Ned Sutphen's scarcely-veiled surprise 
 at my question about poor Kitty Willetts. I un- 
 derstood the meaning of half a dozen innuendoes 
 of the last thirty-six hours Willy Archer's insist- 
 ence upon a Sumatran Nights' story, Aleck West- 
 brook's reference to my " vile adventures," Dot 
 Archer's admonitory forefinger and her : " Wicked, 
 wicked man ! " It was not only the German harem- 
 supplier's slander of me that had inspired these 
 thrusts. It was, also, the devil's page that the 
 Englishman had just turned for my perusal. 
 
 The shamelessness of the man woke a red rage 
 within me. I took a step forward. 
 
 " Get off that wall." 
 
 He was on his feet in an instant, facing me with 
 perfect coolness. " Wot cheer, matie ! What's the 
 row? " 
 
 " Damn you ! " I said. " Do you think I don't 
 know the truth f " 
 
 With my left fist I struck at his eye. He back- 
 stepped, bringing himself up short against the wall, 
 as I had calculated. On the instant I uppercut 
 him smartly with my right. 
 
 He tottered, hung for a breath, then slid weakly 
 down against the wall. It was a clean knock-out. 
 
 Aleck Westbrook started forward. I whirled 
 upon him like a flash, my fury unabated. He re-.
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 175 
 
 coiled before my set face, throwing up his arms 
 to ward off the expected blow. Utterly disregard- 
 ing his motion, I gripped him by the collar with my 
 left hand my right threatened him. 
 
 " What do you know about this ? " I shook him 
 to and fro furiously. " I let you off last night, 
 but you've got to speak up now or I'll put you be- 
 side him." 
 
 His boyish pride struggled with his fear and 
 shame. " I you I'm not afraid of you, 
 Schuyler." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you are. And you're afraid to lie 
 you wouldn't be Norah's brother, if you weren't." 
 I let go his collar and stood squarely before him. 
 " You've heard what he said heard it said 
 before?" 
 
 " Yes it's an old story," he muttered, now be- 
 ginning to be awed by my resolute behavior per- 
 haps, also, by a glimpse over my shoulder of the 
 still unconscious Englishman. 
 
 " An old story, Js it? How old? " 
 
 " I first heard it three or four years ago I sup- 
 pose it must have been about the time you left the 
 United States." 
 
 " Did you ever hear your brother did you ever 
 hear Rex speak of it?" 
 
 " I don't remember. No-o, I don't think I ever 
 did." 
 
 '* I don't think you ever did either. Did Norah 
 ever hear of this? "
 
 176 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 His eyes fell. " I I think so. I'm sure of it." 
 
 "Who told you? who told Norah?" 
 
 " I don't know no one in particular it was in 
 the air." 
 
 " I see. Did she believe it ? " 
 
 " I I'm afraid she did." He gathered assur- 
 ance at my silence. " Why, look here, Schuyler, 
 everybody believed it except Rex, may be. I 
 don't think he ever knew. You were such great 
 friends, and he was so fond of you, nobody ever 
 dared tell him about it it was near the end, you 
 remember. Everybody believes it Norah, and the 
 Archers, and Ellen and " 
 
 "What!" 
 
 " Of course. We all guessed that you and she 
 quarrelled over that is, that you left the country 
 because " 
 
 His voice died away before my stricken stare. 
 He shrank a little as if he again thought I was 
 about to strike him. But I hardly saw the boy. 
 
 What I saw was the drawing-room at " Red 
 Cedars," four years before. I felt again Mrs. Sut- 
 phen's hot indignation and Ellen's coldly-hurt con- 
 tempt. I knew again my maddened groping for 
 the reasons they had so contemptuously refused to 
 give. 
 
 My eyes, staring stonily about, swept over Beau- 
 champ, now partly aroused and sitting with his 
 aching head in his hands, and came back to young 
 Westbrook.
 
 ALECK EXPLAINS 177 
 
 " Aleck," I said thickly, " do a man's own friends 
 believe such a thing as that when his whole life has 
 been decent? " 
 
 He was moved by my evident distress. " But 
 everything looked so dead against you, Schuyler," 
 he explained eagerly. " I remember myself, when 
 I was just a boy, seeing you go in and out of the 
 Willetts' house. And then the night the the 
 baby was born, you roused up Willy Archer and 
 made him get out his car to go for the doctor. 
 Isn't that so?" 
 
 " Yes. Rex was already down with typhoid 
 and " 
 
 "Rex?" 
 
 " I mean that explains my excitement that 
 night." 
 
 " Hum-m. Then you were almost the only 
 mourner at the funeral at any rate, so I've heard 
 you and old Mr. Willetts." 
 
 I nodded. " I helped him carry the coffin." 
 
 " And you placed five thousand dollars to Wil- 
 letts' account in the Bannocks National Bank 
 after the funeral. General Savarton is a director, 
 you know," he explained ingenuously. 
 
 " Ellen Sutphen learned all this and believed 
 the worst ? " 
 
 " How could she help It? We all did." 
 
 " You all do? " I demanded. 
 
 He moved uneasily. " I suppose so." 
 
 To his amazement and, I think, to his horror, 
 I burst out laughing. 
 12
 
 178 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Thanks for your frankness, Aleck. I wish 
 someone had been as frank four years ago. You've 
 explained several things to me. Look after your 
 friend, Beauchamp he's in need of kind treat- 
 ment, I fancy. Much obliged to you. Good-by, 
 I'll be going." 
 
 I laughed again, and turned away, leaving Aleck 
 gazing after me as if he thought me mad. For the 
 moment, perhaps I was.
 
 XVII 
 
 OVER A GRAVE 
 
 FBOM the corner of the stone wall, where I had 
 left Aleck Westbrook and Beauchamp, to the line 
 of evergreens that marked the point where my 
 route diverged toward " Red Cedars " was fully 
 four hundred yards. I covered the distance rap- 
 idly, my mind in an angry maze. Now and then I 
 felt the knuckles of my right hand with infinite 
 satisfaction. 
 
 When the evergreens reared stark before me, I 
 came to a halt, seized by a sudden impulse. I 
 glanced back along the wall Aleck was helping the 
 Englishman to his feet. Neither's eyes were for 
 me. I shouldered aside the low trees and stood in 
 the graveyard. 
 
 It was a pitiful place enough, covering only a 
 few acres and those for the most part unkempt and 
 neglected. It had changed not at all since I last 
 saw it. 
 
 On all sides it was hedged with trees the side 
 opposite the one I had entered being pierced by a 
 narrow gateway. The high board gate was 
 closed now, and this, together with the sharp fall 
 of the ground beyond, hid the shabby road that 
 climbed to the place. How interminable the drive 
 up that road had been long ago ! 
 
 The tangled grass was mown only by the autumn 
 frosts the thrift or poverty of the country folk 
 
 179
 
 180 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 prevented the employment of a caretaker. Oak and 
 ash trees stood irregularly here and there as if the 
 graves were those of pioneers, dug in a virgin 
 wilderness and left to take care of themselves. A 
 few rusty rosebushes trailed naked and thorny 
 limbs across half-levelled mounds. 
 
 Yet in spite of these signs of indifference, the 
 old graveyard had a dignity of its own. The sun- 
 shine lay in yellow patches on the moss-covered 
 slabs, the wind sighed through the cedars, the mys- 
 tery of the ragged acres spoke of peace. The place 
 filled my moment's need I felt grateful for the 
 brooding hush and the restfulness. 
 
 But I had not come to moralize rather to revive 
 old memories. 
 
 In the far corner, screened by its own line of 
 evergreens, slept the one whose grave I had come 
 to see once more. I sought the spot, picking my 
 way across forsaken memorials, my feet stumbling 
 now and then over broken tombstones hidden in the 
 weeds and grass. 
 
 I stepped between the two cedars that formed the 
 entrance of the enclosure I was seeking. It was 
 there her father had stumbled and, for a moment, 
 I had borne the whole weight. 
 
 A woman was arranging some flowers on the 
 grave by which she knelt. At the sound of my 
 footsteps she spoke without looking up. 
 
 " Is that you, Aunt Caroline? Sec how the sun 
 brings out the colors on those asters."
 
 OVER A GRAVE 181 
 
 " It's I, Norah Craig Schuyler." 
 
 She looked up with a low : " Oh ! " of surprise 
 and alarm. Then the fear died from her voice and 
 eyes. " Mr. Schuyler ! " 
 
 She half arose from her knees, spilling lilies-of- 
 the-valley and asters all about her in a shower of 
 white and gold. As if fearful of bruising the scat- 
 tered blossoms she sank slowly back, one hand 
 steadying herself by the stone at the head of the 
 grave. My eyes mechanically read the inscription 
 beneath her fingers, then returned to her vivid face. 
 
 " You here ? " she said. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Her eyes showed the surprise it may be the 
 disapproval her training forbade her to express 
 in words. I met her look gravely. 
 
 " Do you supply the flowers for the cemetery? " 
 
 " Only for this grave." 
 
 " You know whose it is? " 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 I read aloud the words carved on the stone where 
 her hand rested. " ' Katharine Willets. Born 
 August 15, 1882 died October 12, 1906.' Just 
 four years ago to-day." 
 
 " Yes." She did not lift her eyes. 
 
 " Only four years it seems four hundred since 
 we carried her in that gate. It was a day about 
 like this, too. Her father and I were the only 
 mourners." 
 
 " I have heard."
 
 182 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " We were the only pall-bearers, too. Her 
 father wouldn't let anyone else touch her. Poor 
 Kitty! she was light enough. Did you know her, 
 Norah? " 
 
 " Very slightly." 
 
 " Yes, you were too young, at the time, to have 
 known her well, even if the Willetts hadn't been 
 rather different. The Willetts family have stood 
 still all the years the rest of us were going on." 
 
 She did not answer. Her eyes were still fixed on 
 the scattered flowers, but as yet she made no move 
 to collect them. Her averted face, her flushed 
 cheeks in the light of my talk with Beauchamp 
 and Aleck enabled me to read only too well what 
 was passing in her mind. 
 
 She was thinking me a hard-hearted, ice-brained 
 flaneur in the world a reformed gallant, at best, 
 who had come, perhaps not to gloat over but, at any 
 rate, to view with indifference the grave of one 
 he had ruined. 
 
 I knew that her first impulse must have been to 
 fly from my contaminating presence, her second to 
 repulse me indignantly from the grave. Only the 
 trained repression of a woman of the world was 
 enabling her to endure the situation quietly. Those 
 blue eyes of hers could hold a bitter scorn I would 
 have given much had they not held it when they 
 were bent upon me. 
 
 I looked at the grave, neatly turfed and kept, 
 at the tiny mound at its foot.
 
 OVER A GRAVE 183 
 
 At last my eyes went back to Norah. She was 
 watching me, and blushed from chin to brow. I 
 eyed her, deliberately and gravely, until her head 
 drooped again. 
 
 I had seen not only scorn but pain in those blue 
 eyes. I felt a sudden desire to tell her everything, 
 but what use to go over the story ! Why attempt 
 to explain away so miserable an episode! It was 
 not a thing one could talk over freely with a girl 
 and besides she would not believe me. What was 
 my unsupported word against a score of damning 
 facts Aleck Westbrook had proved me guilty by 
 my own testimony. 
 
 Above all, a profound melancholy possessed me, 
 the result not of the day's revelations only but of 
 the conflict so long waged within me between my 
 sense of what was due to justice and a still more 
 poignant feeling. 
 
 The blonde head drooped as if in sorrow that it 
 must believe me such a scoundrel. I longed to 
 know if the swelling breast held a hope of my re- 
 pentance and contrition if the heart beat heavily 
 for my shame. 
 
 The cedars drew a green curtain behind the yel- 
 low of the asters and. of her hair, behind the gleam- 
 ing white of the headstone and of the heaped-up 
 lilies-of-the-valley. A picture for a man to dream 
 of! Projected against the evergreens, I must have 
 loomed to her a dark and repellent figure. 
 
 I spoke at last. " No doubt you're surprised to 
 see me here, Norah."
 
 184. I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I was but I don't know why I should have 
 been. I suppose it's natural, after all, that you 
 should want to see the grave again." 
 
 " She had a sad life." 
 
 " You know best about that." 
 
 " You think me a scoundrel? " 
 
 " I'm trying not to judge you, Mr. Schuyler. I 
 think you've judged yourself." 
 
 " Judged and condemned, you mean? " 
 
 " It seems to me there can be only one verdict 
 even with yourself as judge. I'm trying not to 
 condemn you more harshly than you've probably 
 condemned yourself." 
 
 " I haven't condemned myself. Things aren't as 
 you think, at all. Norah, there's a lot to be said 
 about this. You can't condemn a man without a 
 hearing even a woman can't do that and I want 
 to tell you " 
 
 " Stop ! " She drew herself up, her face flush- 
 ing but very firm. " I don't wish to hear you. 
 Not not because I'm afraid to listen to things, but 
 I don't care to hear a confession." 
 
 " You're taking it for granted I'm guilty." 
 
 " You don't deny that, do you? Oh, I know the 
 other side the woman often deserves her share 
 of the blame, too. But she " her hand fluttered 
 over the headstone " she has paid already, and it 
 would be cowardly for you to tell your side 
 now." 
 
 In all my life, never but once had I received so
 
 OVER A GRAVE 185 
 
 cutting a blow. Her cruel stab pierced to my very 
 soul. A woman's blow, often delivered without due 
 consideration and even without aim, as it is, never- 
 theless wounds terribly 'the question of sex has a 
 thousand subtleties and intensifies the agony of all 
 unkindness. I could have wept with sheer pain of it. 
 
 " Norah you're young and intolerant. I think 
 you'll realize, sometime, the intolerance of good 
 women has ruined many a man." 
 
 " Men don't need tolerance they're so big and 
 strong and evil. I feel sorry for her." 
 
 " So do I God knows I do. But, Norahl, think 
 how men are think of the wild thoughts that come 
 smashing into our minds every hour of the day. 
 When I remember that, I think the harm we don't 
 do when we could do it, makes up just a little for 
 the harm we do do. That terrible story of Steven- 
 son's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that isn't fiction 
 it isn't even a parable. It's the plain everyday 
 truth that exists in every man you ever knew." 
 
 " I don't understand." 
 
 " I suppose not. A girl's life of our sort is 
 usually so sheltered that she hardly ever meets a 
 cad who's determined to do things he thinks he'd 
 like to do yet there's one visiting you now." 
 
 " You mean " 
 
 " Yes, Carlos Beauchamp. He's not a good 
 friend for you, Norah." 
 
 " Mr. Beauchamp is Aleck's friend, not minr 
 Besides, he isn't here to answer for himself."
 
 186 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I made a hopeless gesture. " I see you're con- 
 vinced I'm the cad." 
 
 " Oh, no, no, Mr. Schuyler. I don't think so I 
 don't want to think so." 
 
 " I'm glad of that, at least." 
 
 " I don't, really. Please believe me." Her 
 armor of scornful judgment seemed to fall away 
 from her. Her eyes shone as she looked up at me, 
 the flower-strewn grave between us. " Perhaps I've 
 been too hard with you. But I didn't start in 
 that way I wasn't yesterday, you know that. Last 
 night, at dinner, I took you at your face value. 
 But just now when I saw you here at her grave 
 I was I felt " 
 
 " Shocked." 
 
 "Yes, I did. But I'm trying not to feel so." 
 Her eyes and voice were wistful. " I don't want 
 you to think I'm preaching or or interfering, but 
 I know people honestly do repent sometimes." 
 
 She finished with a little eager catch of the 
 breath. I was silent. When she found I meant to 
 return no answer the light died out of her face, 
 and her hands began to gather the scattered flowers. 
 The sunlight formed little pools of gold in her hair 
 and in the asters. 
 
 " Just four years ago to-day," I said absently. 
 " That's a curious coincidence. It's mighty good 
 of you to come here like this, Norah." 
 
 She made no reply I went on. " You said 
 you'd brought flowers only for this grave, didn't 
 you? "
 
 OVER A GRAVE 187 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " You've come before? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " I don't understand," I said frankly. 
 
 "Does it matter?" 
 
 " A little. It's mighty good of you." 
 
 She blushed vividly. " Oh, no, it isn't I. I see 
 I'd better tell you. It's Ellen Sutphen." 
 
 " Nell? What's she to do with it? " 
 
 " I brought them to-day for her. Every year 
 on the anniversary of Kitty's death Ellen puts 
 flowers here. She has the lot kept trimmed all the 
 year round, too. This morning she wrote me a 
 note, asking me to attend to it for her. She knew 
 she'd probably be with you all day and wouldn't 
 get a chance to see to things herself." 
 
 She had not lifted her eyes as she spoke, and now 
 busied herself with the flowers. 
 
 " Let me help you," I said after a moment's 
 silence. 
 
 " You may sort the asters, if you like." 
 
 I knelt opposite her, and she handed me the asters 
 without looking at me. Once when her fingers 
 touched mine, she drew them hastily away. 
 
 By and by we had them all arranged the lilies- 
 of-the-valley at the head close to the white marble, 
 and the yellow asters at the foot. I placed a clus- 
 ter of each on the smaller mound. Each received 
 the sun into itself and took a more vivid color 
 the asters a delicate gold and the lilies a cream-and- 
 ivory.
 
 188 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Our task done, we rose to our feet. 
 
 "Did you walk up?" 
 
 " No. Aunt Caroline is waiting for me in the 
 carriage outside the gate." 
 
 " May I see you that far? " 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 We left the little enclosure to the warm sunlight 
 and the flowers. Half-way to the gate we came to 
 a halt as if by mutual consent. 
 
 " I hope I haven't been intolerant." She must 
 have been engaged in argument with herself. 
 
 " It isn't your fault. Someone was saying 
 something last night that hit the nail on the head 
 about tales being told about some men and not 
 about others. I suppose I must have a lurking 
 devil in my eyes or a fling in my walk or a sneer on 
 my lips something of the sort, haven't I, that lets 
 everyone know I'm a moral leper? " 
 
 " No," she said seriously, " you haven't. You 
 oughtn't to talk so about yourself." 
 
 " It's bad enough to have other people doing 
 it, you mean? You're right. Poor Kitty Wil- 
 letts, there it was the biting gossip that killed 
 her, not what she did or didn't do. It always 
 takes a third person to make a thing a sin, and 
 the third person is generally the world sometimes 
 it's a father or mother or another lover, but usually 
 it's only the leering old world. Isn't that so ? " 
 
 " It seems so. Until just now, or yesterday, 
 perhaps, I thought sin was sin and goodness was
 
 OVER A GRAVE 189 
 
 goodness I thought they didn't depend upon cir- 
 cumstances. But now oh, it's all so uncertain 
 in my mind. I don't know what to think." 
 
 Her seriousness the puzzled, wistful look she 
 bent upon me gave me a strange sensation. As 
 if for the first time, I took in the thoughtful eyes, 
 the small, oval face, and the girlish bosom, just 
 now very still so still that all at once I under- 
 stood it must take a conscious effort to keep it 
 so. My own seriousness fell from me instantly. 
 
 " Life itself is uncertain," I said lightly. 
 " That's what gives it spice. Change, relief, un- 
 certainty that's what I live for that's an ex- 
 plorer's reward." 
 
 We had resumed our course toward the gate 
 she eyed me curiously as I went on. " You know 
 someone said the other day that only two kinds of 
 Greek philosophy appeal to the modern man Stoic 
 and Epicurean. But Stoicism is only grim endur- 
 ance, so I go in for the live-while-we-live creed." 
 
 She made no answer in a moment we reached 
 the gate. I held out my hand. 
 
 " Good-by, Norah. Will you shake hands ? " 
 
 " Of course." She gave me a little hand whose 
 fingers felt warm against my own. " Au revoir" 
 She slipped through the gateway, leaving me the 
 memory of a shy smile. 
 
 I struck back across the graveyard, shouldered 
 my way through the outer line of evergreens, and 
 walked moodily homeward.
 
 XVIII 
 
 NORAH is PUZZLED 
 
 As I made my way toward " Red Cedars " two 
 things became clear in my mind. One by far the 
 more important in my present mood was the 
 reason Ellen and her mother had dismissed me with 
 such peremptory contempt four years before. My 
 talk with Aleck Westbrook and Carlos Beauchamp, 
 reinforced by my conversation with Norah, had 
 explained what I had long since come to regard as 
 inexplicable. I smiled grimly as I thought how 
 Norah, striving to be just, had yet taken the worst 
 for granted. Such was the way of the leering old 
 world ! 
 
 The other fact that I at last understood was 
 the reason for the forgery. Ellen's fortune had 
 been wasted by her scapegrace brother she herself 
 had admitted casually that they had been badly 
 pinched in Wall Street. Driven by what seemed 
 to her approaching poverty, she had taken advan- 
 tage of the easy opportunity afforded by my pro- 
 longed absence in the East to bah! I disdained 
 even to formulate the thought in my mind. 
 
 So much for my two important discoveries. 
 Other matters filled in the background of my medi- 
 tations: Beauchamp's contemptible and astounding 
 effrontery I thought with infinite satisfaction of 
 
 190
 
 NORAH IS PUZZLED 191 
 
 how I had left him tottering wretchedly between 
 Aleck and the stone wall ; Mary Finney's I begged 
 her pardon! Mary Sutphen's attempted recovery 
 of the incriminating check she must have been 
 induced to undertake the theft by her husband, 
 instigated in his turn by the guilty sister. The- 
 resa's effort in the same direction puzzled me 
 unless, indeed, it was genuine devotion to her mis- 
 tress that had led her on. 
 
 I came back to poor Kitty Willetts and my own 
 blackened name. Thanks to the force of unhappy 
 circumstances circumstances damning enough on 
 the surface, I had to admit my reputation was 
 hopelessly ruined. I thought with gratitude of 
 the shy smile Norah Westbrook had given me as I 
 left her and of the lingering warmth of her fin- 
 gers. She had been kind to me notwithstanding 
 her opinion of my early peccadilloes. 
 
 It was probably Beauchamp's sly suggestions 
 that had helped to make the proof against me 
 unassailable. Only one man's evidence could have 
 helped me, and that man was dead. I cursed the 
 fever that had carried off my faithful friend, Rex 
 Westbrook he would have stood by me. But, 
 thank Heaven ! I had knocked Carlos Beauchamp 
 senseless. 
 
 A chipmunk, suddenly whisking into view from 
 under a cedar hedge, gave a whimsical and welcome 
 diversion to my thoughts. If one might be as 
 carefree as the squirrel! Yet, perhaps it was only
 
 192 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 seeming. To gather his store of nuts against the 
 winter, to guard his home from weasel and snake, 
 must be serious matters enough. Possibly he 
 frisked about so gaily to hide beneath that sleek 
 pelt the beating of an anxious heart. 
 
 The hedge served to arouse me to the fact that 
 I had wandered a little from my homeward course. 
 Instead of bearing down the slope to the lawn of 
 " Red Cedars," I was at a point near the road 
 that led to " Westbrook Place." 
 
 Emerging from the hedge above the highway, I 
 came upon an odd scene. 
 
 The carriage containing Norah Westbrook and 
 her aunt had outstripped me a little on the home- 
 ward route, and was now moving along the road 
 below me. The horses were held to a walk by the 
 coachman, and beside the carriage-step paced my 
 man, Dirck, hat in hand and talking earnestly. 
 
 This in itself did not excite my wonder, for 
 Norah might have signalled him in order to make 
 some inquiry as to Ellen or her mother. But from 
 the roadside slope upon which I stood I looked fair 
 into the faces of the three, and what I saw in each 
 puzzled me not a little. Miss Caroline Westbrook 
 was eying Dirck with an amused smile the man's 
 blue eyes were dancing, and Norah sat listening as 
 he talked, her lips parted as if in a dream. 
 
 Whether or not Dirck saw me I do not know, but 
 while I stood motionless a few rods beyond them, 
 he bowed profoundly and fell back from the car-
 
 NORAH IS PUZZLED. 193 
 
 rlage-step. Then he faced about and tramped 
 away toward the house. 
 
 By this time the horses, still moving at a sedate 
 walk, had come opposite my position. Norah, 
 glancing up suddenly, recognized me with a blush, 
 I fancied and signalled the coachman to pull up. 
 
 I quitted the slope and, in my turn, approached 
 the carriage, hat in hand. 
 
 " * Like master, like man,' " I said. 
 
 " A very interesting man as well as master." 
 Norah's smile was frank, although I was now sure 
 of the blush. " But I don't understand him at all. 
 He he positively burns one." 
 
 " * Look at his independent air, 
 And his penetrating glare ! ' " 
 
 I hummed. 
 
 " Well, he has," she declared. " I don't under- 
 stand him." 
 
 Miss Westbrook laughed easily. " It's not at 
 all hard to understand, my dear. Mr. Schuyler 
 will bear me out." 
 
 " If I may hear the details," I said with curi- 
 osity. " I don't quite know what this is about." 
 
 " He overtook us appeared f romi nowhere 
 and asked about you," explained Norah. " He 
 asked if Aleck and Mr. Beauchamp had overtaken 
 you. He seemed much interested for a moment." 
 
 " Very naturally. Dirck is a sportsman through 
 and through." 
 13
 
 194 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Yes, but in the same breath he asked me if I 
 hadn't once been run over by a fiacre in Paris. I 
 once was, you know, but how in the world did he 
 know that!" 
 
 " Oh, he didn't," smiled Aunt Caroline. " Norah, 
 if I must say it to your face, you're very pretty 
 and attractive even to a chauffeur. He wanted an 
 excuse to talk to you, that's all. Very impertinent 
 of him, but very natural." 
 
 " But about the fiacre? You remember, Aunt 
 Caroline, how " 
 
 " Of course I do. Goodness, child ! Can I ever 
 forget it? I was never so frightened in my life! 
 DuBois simply happened to hit on that. It's easy 
 to guess by looking at you that you've been in 
 Paris in your time." 
 
 "But why?" 
 
 " Why, indeed ! " laughed the older lady. 
 " What do you think, Mr. Schuyler? " 
 
 " Oh, the vanity of this daughter of Eve ! 
 Why, indeed, Norah! That hat that coiffure 
 under that hat the heels of those shoes, those little 
 devils of shoes, as Dirck might say that chic air 
 of yours ! Norah, I stand amazed that you should 
 dare to fish for compliments in such a brazen way ! " 
 
 " Oh, well " 
 
 " You found Dirck interesting even if ah 
 peculiar, didn't you? You rather encouraged his 
 natural forwardness the other night, you know, 
 when you praised him about that emigrant matter.
 
 NORAH IS PUZZLED 195 
 
 So you must forgive him now, if he has annoyed 
 you." 
 
 " He hasn't not in the least. A strong clean- 
 looking Frenchman is is " 
 
 " Is one of the finest types of men in the world," 
 I finished for her. 
 
 Ye-es." 
 
 " Dirck would be charmed to know you think so." 
 
 " You won't tell him ! " she exclaimed in dismay. 
 
 " Norah ! " said Miss Westbrook rather severely. 
 " Of course he won't. What are you thinking of, 
 child ! Can't you see he is only teasing you ? " 
 
 " Oh, of course. How silly of me." Norah's ex- 
 planation seemed a bit forced. " I I think I'm 
 so silly because it's hours since luncheon, and I 
 didn't eat much then. The tea and sandwiches 
 will be ready at home. Sha'n't we go on, Aunt 
 Caroline? You'll come with us, won't you, Craig? " 
 
 " Thank you. I must be getting to ' Red 
 Cedars '." 
 
 " Good-by, then." She turned toward me as the 
 horses began to move off. " He is rather burn- 
 ing, you know. You must have noticed it your- 
 self." 
 
 The two women were whirled away. I watched 
 the turnout up the hill the carriage, the horses, 
 the harness, and the coachman's livery, very black 
 and very smart. 
 
 Was it possible that Norah Westbrook had 
 allowed her equanimity to be disturbed by Dirck?
 
 196 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I had never seen her so fluttered. She seemed 
 a different girl from the one who had gravely re- 
 proached me among the cedars not twenty minutes 
 earlier. 
 
 The look in her eyes that had stirred me so 
 strangely the shy smile that even now lingered 
 in my memory were they really not meant for me, 
 for my own personality, but merely for a fellow- 
 being evidently unhappy and therefore to be pitied 
 and soothed? 
 
 At the top of the slope a handkerchief fluttered 
 above the carriage-back Norah was waving me 
 good-by. Or could her signal be an involuntary 
 answer to 
 
 I whirled about but there was no one in sight !
 
 XIX 
 
 LETTERS FROM REX 
 
 ARRIVED at the house, I promptly sought the 
 garage. 
 
 Dirck was sitting at its entrance, polishing the 
 lens of a searchlight to a marvellous brightness, 
 and, incidentally, chatting easily with the fair 
 Theresa, who was ensconced on a nearby bench. 
 She stood up at my approach. 
 
 " Don't go away, Theresa. Dirck, I feel that 
 I can put your shoulders on the mat two times out 
 of three in ten minutes." 
 
 " Ah ha ! " said the Frenchman, grinning with 
 pleasure. " Monsieur feels himself a Samson this 
 afternoon. We shall see we shall see! I myself 
 am a Hercules." He proceeded to divest himself 
 of his coat. 
 
 As I removed my own, I saw Theresa gazing in 
 genuine fright at our formidable preparations. 
 Her Northern-blue eyes were big and round. 
 
 " Sit down, Theresa. You shall be referee 
 Dirck and I often wrestle like this we don't in- 
 tend to hurt each other." 
 
 Dirck laughed outright at Theresa's relieved face. 
 
 " What, ma'am'selle, did you really think mon- 
 sieur and I were about to fight? If we were to 
 box, I would not stand long before monsieur. 
 Wrestling? Sometimes it is I who win. You shall 
 see." 
 
 197
 
 198 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Stripped to our undershirts and trousers, we 
 faced each other across a blanket spread on the 
 garage floor. True to the traditions of her race 
 Theresa had athletic tastes and she now entered 
 into the duties of a referee with great zest. No 
 Brunhild or Gudrun of the North could have been 
 more interested in a feat of arms than she was in 
 our modern combat. During our three bouts she 
 flitted about our intertwined forms very knowingly, 
 the respect she thought due me vying ludicrously 
 with her ardent desire to see Dirck win. 
 
 " Oh, gracious ! " she cried as I gave Dirck a very 
 pretty " hip " that threw him to the mat with me 
 on top. " That's too bad fine, sir ! " Dirck 
 evaded my attempt at a half-Nelson and gripping 
 my arm nearly rolled me under. " Good, good, 
 Dirck ! Oh, that was hard on you, sir, I do think." 
 
 At the end of twenty minutes Dirck had thrown 
 me twice out of three times, and what was more 
 to the point, I had wrestled myself to exhaustion, 
 if not altogether to contentment and happiness. 
 
 " There you are, Theresa," I said as I put on my 
 coat, " you see what you've done. Hercules has 
 beaten Samson. Dirck could never have thrown 
 me if you hadn't been here to inspire him." 
 
 She blushed very prettily. " I'm sure I tried to 
 be fair to both of you, sir." 
 
 " You were fair enough, but I don't think you 
 looked at me as you looked at Dirck. It was your 
 looks that made him win. Eh, Dirck?"
 
 LETTERS FROM REX 199 
 
 Dirck grinned placidly. 
 
 I gave him instructions to go for Miss Sutphen 
 with the car at five o'clock, and sought my room. 
 
 A delicious bath and vigorous rub-down, followed 
 by a good nap, put me in a frame of mind to appre- 
 ciate the dinner Dirck brought up to me at seven. 
 
 " You brought Miss Sutphen back all right? " 
 I asked as he spread the cloth on a little table and 
 set out the dinner things. 
 
 " Yes, surely, monsieur. We were in the house 
 an hour ago." 
 
 "How is she?" 
 
 " She seemed well, monsieur a little tired, per- 
 haps." 
 
 " We had a fairly hard day of it. It's lively 
 work having a bloodhound on one's trail." 
 
 " Yes, monsieur." 
 
 He poured me a cup of the strong coffee I had 
 asked for, and watched me thoughtfully as I sipped 
 it. 
 
 " No one can make coffee like yours, Dirck. Do 
 you remember how you had to teach Mina how to 
 brew a decent cup? " 
 
 " Yes, yes. Are the old days gone forever? " 
 
 " I don't see why they should be they're there 
 waiting for us. You're willing to go back, I sup- 
 pose? " 
 
 " If you are." 
 
 " Speak up, Dirck. I can see you've something 
 weighing on your mind."
 
 200 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Yes. Monsieur was wondering last night what 
 it was that called Madame from her guests." 
 
 " I've heard since. The man you thought The- 
 resa sent away from the kitchen door was young 
 Mr. Sutphen." 
 
 " Ah, you have heard the truth, then. Theresa 
 carried a message from Monsieur Edouard Sutphen 
 to Madame his mother." 
 
 " Hum, just so. Did you learn anything else? " 
 
 He twisted his blonde moustache, and looked as 
 knowing as only a Frenchman can. 
 
 " I hear Monsieur Sutphen is a gay boy." 
 
 " I hope that's over with, Dirck, and that he's 
 ready to settle down. He's sown wild oats 
 enough." 
 
 " Yes." His blue eyes met my questioning 
 glance. " Also, I heard that monsieur had a 
 charming visitor last night." 
 
 " The deuce you did ! You mustn't believe all 
 you hear, Dirck." 
 
 " Monsieur keeps silence, but, Theresa herself 
 told me that she visited your room last night." 
 
 " She said that ! " 
 
 " Mais oui, monsieur." 
 
 " It was a crazy thing for her to do, Dirck. 
 Did Theresa tell you what she was after ? " 
 
 Laughter shone in my man's eyes. " Theresa 
 has told me her soul." 
 
 " Dirck, are you up to your old tricks ? You've 
 gone pretty fast in two days."
 
 LETTERS FROM REX 201 
 
 He gave his moustache a final satisfied twist. 
 " I find Theresa amusing. She is more spirituelle 
 than I had thought her at first. She is one to be 
 counted on." 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 " Theresa tried to obtain the cheque from your 
 room only because of her devotion to Mademoiselle." 
 
 " You believe that, do you? If that's so, it cer- 
 tainly speaks well for her loyalty." 
 
 " Without doubt. She has been with Mademoi- 
 selle Sutphen several years and she loves her. 
 Mademoiselle confides everything to her." 
 
 I noted the conviction in his tone. " Look here, 
 man. Be careful how you carry on with Theresa. 
 You don't want to break a susceptible heart, you 
 know." 
 
 *' No fear. She thinks she is breaking my heart. 
 Hers has been broken a thousand times already. 
 To tell the truth, I think that she and the good 
 Jordan are fiancee. She makes a pastime of me 
 and I am but devoted enough to make her talk." 
 
 " All right but don't burn your fingers or 
 hers." 
 
 " Impossible ! " 
 
 When he had removed the dinner things, I had 
 him bring up a book from the library I wanted 
 to keep from thinking of my own affairs. I drew 
 up an easy chair close to the little table and had 
 Dirck shade the electric reading-lamp to a proper 
 softness.
 
 202 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Who was at dinner to-night ? " 
 
 " Only Madame and Mademoiselle, I believe. 
 Monsieur Westbrook called just now he stayed 
 but a few minutes. Theresa says he brought a 
 note for Mademoiselle." 
 
 I let him go reluctantly has presence was at 
 least a partial distraction. When he had gone 
 at last, I sat down in smoking jacket and lounging 
 shoes to read. 
 
 Although I was determined not to think of what 
 I had learned that day, yet in spite of the charm- 
 ing pages of " The Last of the Mohicans," the 
 great fact persistently presented itself Ellen Sut- 
 phen had thrust me from her life, four years before, 
 because she had believed me unworthy the love of 
 a pure woman. 
 
 Hawkeye's faithful Killdeer might pour its fatal 
 contents on the Mingo knaves, Le Cerf Agile might 
 come bounding like a deer, Cora's dark tresses 
 might arouse the passion of all the redskins of the 
 Horicon, yet I could not escape the conclusion that 
 my life had been distorted it was no use mincing 
 matters! ruined! because of the hasty judgment 
 of a high-spirited girl. And that judgment that 
 headlong conclusion could not be altered for 
 what was my bare word against the fatal logic of 
 circumstances ! Nothing, and worse than nothing. 
 
 Three times I read doggedly that stirring chap- 
 ter where Hawkeye and his companions hold the 
 island against Magua and the Iroquois. On the
 
 LETTERS FROM REX 203 
 
 third reading the words at last conveyed some mean- 
 ing to my mind I read on triumphant. 
 
 I had dived with Chingachcook through the 
 rapids below the island, waddled with Hawkeye in 
 the bear's fur to the rescue of Alice, and bounded 
 with Uncas amid the wigwams of the enemy, when 
 I heard a light tap at the door. 
 
 As I laid down my book in response, I glanced 
 at my watch it was past ten o'clock. The knock 
 was repeated. 
 
 " Is that you, Dirck? " I called. " Come in." 
 
 No one came in, but again the tap sounded 
 gentle, insistent, appealing. I had the door open 
 in an instant Ellen Sutphen was standing in 
 the dim light of the hall. 
 
 Her eyes met mine, but it was too dark for me to 
 make out their expression. The band of light from 
 my opened door illumined only the lower part of her 
 face her lips were parted, and her breath came a 
 little pantingly. One of her hands held something 
 to her breast, the other was outstretched as I swung 
 the door wider. 
 
 " Craig, I only wanted to " 
 
 I caught her extended hand. " Is anything the 
 matter, Nell?" 
 
 An instant her fingers touched mine, then flut- 
 tered away from me and fell to her side. 
 
 " Craig I couldn't sleep without giving you 
 these" She thrust a couple of letters into my hand 
 and was gone before I could speak.
 
 204 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 At the far end of the hall, she stood an instant, 
 looking back. Something in her attitude the in- 
 clination of the neck, the foot not yet firmly planted 
 told me that she had half a mind to return. The 
 doorway of her room framed her the white neck, 
 the delicate curve of the cheek. Then she moved 
 forward and the closing door shut off my view. 
 
 I examined the letters under the reading-lamp. 
 One was addressed in a man's handwriting, simply : 
 " Norah." The other bore the direction : " Miss 
 Ellen Sutphen, Red Cedars." I chose to open the 
 latter first. 
 
 ELLEN: 
 
 " This afternoon Aleck came home with Mr. Beauchamp 
 from the run after you, and after that gentleman (?) was out 
 of the way, Aleck told me the strangest thing indeed, several 
 strange things. Did you know Craig Schuyler knocked Mr. 
 Beauchamp senseless this afternoon? But of course you 
 don't, for he would never tell you. Aleck says Craig struck 
 him a terrible blow and it served him right. But that's 
 what I'm trying to tell you about. Aleck told me all about 
 how it happened and what Craig said to him afterward 
 Craig was splendidly angry. Something Aleck told me Craig 
 said to him set me thinking about dear Rex. 
 
 " You know since Rex died we've never had the heart 
 to disturb any of his private papers his writing desk in his 
 ' den ' has always stood just as it was the last time he sat 
 there I mean it did until two hours ago. Well, what Aleck 
 said set me thinking. Nell, I went straight to Rex's desk 
 and in the very first drawer I opened I found a letter ad- 
 dressed to me it had been waiting for me all these years, 
 and oh! how sorry I am I didn't find it long ago. I send 
 you the letter it's for you to read more than anyone else, 
 dear. To think how we've wronged Craig, in our thoughts,
 
 LETTERS FROM REX 205 
 
 at least, all these years, and he's been so silent about it all. 
 Aunt Caroline has already had a talk with Mr. Beauchamp, 
 and he left the house and our acquaintance half an hour 
 ago. How fine Craig has been. I feel so very, very humbled. 
 
 " NORAH." 
 
 My mind in a whirl, I opened the other letter 
 addressed in Rex's handwriting to Norah. It read 
 as follows: 
 
 " DEAR LITTLE SISTER: 
 
 " I've felt rather mopey for several days and Dr. Hudson 
 has just told me that I've got a touch of fever. I could see 
 by his manner that it's going to be more than a touch, so 
 I'm writing you this in case anything happens. I'm writing 
 you because it's a queer world and sometime people may say 
 unpleasant things about the finest chap that ever lived I 
 mean Craig Schuyler. 
 
 " You're still in school, Chicken, but I think you know 
 who Miss Katherine Willetts is the daughter of Mr. Elwood 
 Willetts. Will you be surprised when I tell you I was once 
 in love with Kitty Willetts? Perhaps I am yet I'm not 
 sure. The Willetts aren't quite our sort, but Kitty is the 
 sweetest; most lovable girl in the world I mean she used to 
 be. Well, I won't talk about that. 
 
 " Three years ago I asked her to marry me. She flatly 
 refused she talked about a difference in our social position 
 and all that. I asked her again and again but she always 
 refused me besides, she would never admit she cared for 
 me at all. So I gave her up, and we haven't even been 
 friends for a long time. 
 
 "It isn't easy to tell a schoolgirl like you but a year 
 ago a man named Carlos Beauchamp an Englishman got 
 to be friends with Kitty. Chicken, he got to be too friendly 
 do you understand me? and then he deserted her like the 
 scoundrel he is. If you don't quite understand, get Aunt 
 Caroline to explain to you.
 
 206 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Here is where dear old Craig Schuyler coines in. I 
 was a good deal cut up when I heard about Kitty and 
 Beauchamp, but I couldn't do anything. I hadn't any claim 
 on her besides, after what had happened I felt as if I never 
 wanted to see her. I spoke to Craig about how I felt and 
 he's been true blue. He's seen old Mr. Willetts and Kitty 
 for me he's made things comfortable for them, and I know 
 if anything happens he won't let Kitty suffer. 
 
 " I can see now that what Craig's done for me may put 
 him in a bad light, if it ever comes out. That's the reason 
 I'm telling you all this so you'll know that what Craig has 
 done he's done because he's a real friend the most loyal one 
 that ever breathed. Chicken, I've been glad so often that 
 you and he are such chums. When you grow up, if Craig 
 ever wants you to be more than his chum, I hope you'll give 
 him a chance. 
 
 "Your just-now-rather-droopy 
 
 " but always-affectionate 
 " ma gnus f rater, 
 
 " REX." 
 
 Below this was pencilled a single line in a differ- 
 ent handwriting: 
 
 "If Norah is humbled, what am I? 
 
 " ELLEH." 
 
 I read through both letters again, and sat staring 
 long at the line in Ellen's handwriting. Then, my 
 mind still in a whirl, I slowly undressed. I went to 
 bed, but not to sleep.
 
 XX 
 
 ASHES OF THE STARS 
 
 AFTER tossing for an hour or more, with sleep 
 as far from me as ever, I resolved to make a raid 
 on the library and read myself into a comatose 
 condition, if not into a somnolent one. 
 
 Acting on the thought, I arose, got into some 
 clothes, and slipped downstairs. A single light 
 was burning in the hallway, my shadow danced 
 weirdly on the wall, the house was very still. I had 
 somewhat the feelings of a burglar as I stole from 
 step to step. 
 
 The light shed a yellow glow over a small marble 
 Venus a copy of one of Benvenuto Cellini's set 
 on a table in the wide hall. The figure seemed to 
 shrink from the bold eyes of the stranger who came 
 stealthily down the stairs. I smiled to think how 
 much the redoubtable Benvenuto would have felt at 
 home in my situation, with all its suggestion of gal- 
 lant adventure. Doubtless he would have made 
 brisk use of the stillness and the night, perhaps, 
 also, of his power had he had such means to en- 
 force his will as I had. 
 
 As I entered the library my eye was caught by 
 the red glow from the open fire-place. A fire of 
 oak logs had been laid earlier in the evening, and a 
 goodly pile of embers was still left from the slow- 
 
 207
 
 208 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 burning wood. It turned a ruddy face invitingly 
 toward me. 
 
 Two or three armchairs, deep-seated and high- 
 backed, stood about the hearth where, perhaps, they 
 had been drawn during Aleck Westbrook's call. 
 Here was a place to muse and drowse. 
 
 I approached and was about to sink into a seat 
 when the shifting embers threw a sudden light on 
 the chair next mine. I stared the rosy glow was 
 reflected from what seemed a curtain. As I gazed 
 the curtain took shape I recognized Ellen 
 Sutphen. 
 
 At the same instant she must have seen my shadow 
 dancing grotesquely on the wall she glanced up. 
 Her low cry of terror was changed into a gasp of 
 consternation as she realized I was not a burglar. 
 She sprang to her feet. 
 
 I saw the firelight sparkle upon neck and arms, 
 and upon little feet all as hot with blushes as the 
 embers with flame. 
 
 " Sit down, sit down ! " I cautioned. " That big 
 chair will make your best hiding-place. If you 
 run, Nell, I vow I'll watch you every step of the 
 way I'm human enough to take advantage of what 
 the gods throw in my way, you know. I ought to 
 let you stand there where the light can shine on 
 you, but I'm honest enough to tell you the chair 
 will make you a regular tent." 
 
 She had already sunk into her seat, consternation 
 in every motion.
 
 ASHES OF THE STARS 209 
 
 " If if you have any decency, you'll go away 
 at once, and you won't look back." 
 
 " Decency isn't supposed to be my strong point. 
 No, no, if you will wander about the house late at 
 night in fluffy negligee you must abide the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 " It isn't very late," she returned defensively. 
 " I couldn't sleep, so I just came down here to get 
 a book, and then I saw the fire and " 
 
 " Precisely my case ! Lucky we met ! Now we 
 can entertain each other that's ever so much nicer 
 than being alone, isn't it?" 
 
 " Will you go away? " 
 
 " Quite impossible." 
 
 " Well, then, will you shut your eyes and promise 
 not to open them for five minutes ? " 
 
 " Eyes are for use. You know what the old wolf 
 said to Red Riding-Hood : * The better to see you 
 with, my dear.' ' 
 
 " You are a wolf ! " She caught her breath 
 sharply. " Oh, no, Craig, I don't mean that, in- 
 deed I don't!" 
 
 " So you withdraw the accusation that I'm a 
 wolf? You're thinking about those letters 
 Rex's?" 
 
 " Ye-es. I was only nineteen, Craig." 
 
 " Don't bring the matter up yet. I don't know 
 what to think. Four years of torture on account 
 of a shameful " 
 
 " Craig, I want to tell you " 
 
 14
 
 210 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I think we'd better let it drop, for the present, 
 at any rate. I might say something desperate 
 something that would disgrace me in my own eyes 
 as well as in yours and I want to be half-way 
 decent if I won't close my eyes." 
 
 I could hear her settling herself more snugly into 
 her chair. " I don't believe you can see me, at any 
 rate." There was a note of defiance in her voice. 
 
 " Well, not you, exactly." 
 
 " Not What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing. ' This little pig went to market,* r 
 I quoted gravely. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " * This little pig stayed at home.' " 
 
 " I never heard such nonsense." 
 
 '* * This little pig had rare roast beef this little 
 pig had none.' ' 
 
 " Are you crazy, Craig? " 
 
 " * This little pig cried ' " 
 
 " O-o-h ! " It was a horrified gurgle. Her foot 
 scrambled desperately under cover. " Craig ! you 
 didn't see them really ? " 
 
 " I was merely quoting some poetry acquired in 
 my early youth." 
 
 " These Turkish sandals haven't any tops to 
 them," she said plaintively. " It isn't my fault." 
 
 " I should say not not even your misfortune. 
 I assure you they looked very pretty." 
 
 " Please I wish you wouldn't tease me so." 
 
 " It's too good a chance to lose. It isn't every
 
 ASHES OF THE STARS 211 
 
 day night, I mean I can catch a charming girl 
 in ah evening dress, sitting by the light of the 
 library fire." 
 
 " It's very improper for us to be here this way. 
 You know it is." 
 
 " Madam Grundy is asleep upstairs, I fancy 
 110 disrespect to your mother." 
 
 " Yes. But what about Mademoiselle Grundy? " 
 
 " You don't mean the fair Theresa? " 
 
 " Of course. What would she think if she should 
 find us? She's as formal as anyone and " 
 
 My laughter interrupted her. " Theresa in the 
 role of Miss Grundy ! " I paused long enough to 
 let the significance of my tone sink into her mind. 
 " Nell, don't you imagine Theresa has floated 
 around in airy costume in her time? Mind, I say 
 * imagine ' of course, you don't know anything 
 about it." 
 
 " She has never been in any such situation as this, 
 I hope." 
 
 If I could have seen her face, doubtless I would 
 have detected a telltale flush or pallor, but save for 
 an elbow and forearm, she was hidden in the recesses 
 of the great chair. I would have defied the most 
 acute ear to detect in her words any knowledge that 
 Theresa had ever invaded my room. Her duplicity 
 was of a consummate sort. 
 
 A few drops of sap surviving in an oak log 
 hissed as the heat parched it at last. A piece of 
 bark fell away with a purring crackle, and was
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 received into the fiery embrace of the embers below 
 it. A white line, where the ashes had cooled, began 
 to form on the fire's periphery. 
 
 I leaned forward and took the poker from the 
 brass stand. 
 
 " Craig ! " she said, indignantly slewing round 
 her chair. " Don't be mean ! " 
 
 " What's the matter? I really want to poke up 
 the fire." 
 
 " It's quite bright enough." 
 
 " All right," I said resignedly. I drew idle 
 figures in the widening rim of ashes. " The Malays 
 believe one can find out things in the ashes, you 
 know the future and all that." 
 
 " That's very interesting, but if you don't mind 
 waiting till to-morrow - " 
 
 " Oh, don't go." I glanced around far enough 
 to make her cower back in her chair. " Hum-m ! 
 as I was saying, the Malays think Truth lies in the 
 ashes." 
 
 " Poor thing ! I should fancy she would smother 
 there or perhaps sneeze." 
 
 " I sha'n't be put off by sarcasms. I'm trying 
 to tell you what a Sumatran anting an anting is 
 a sort of ' conjure woman ' what she prophesied 
 about me and you." 
 
 " About me ? What nonsense, Craig ! " 
 
 " You can judge for yourself. You won't slip 
 away, if I go on ? " 
 
 No-o I think I won't."
 
 ASHES OF THE STARS 
 
 " Well, then, this anting wasn't a hideous old 
 hag yellow as clay, shaggy eyebrows, eyes like 
 pieces of coal, face all seamed with wrinkles such 
 as you read about. She wasn't that sort at all. 
 She was very pretty in her way, not more than 
 eighteen or twenty, and lived in a palmleaf hut on 
 a mountain." 
 
 " It sounds very romantic. No wonder you con- 
 sulted her about your fortune." 
 
 " Naturally. A friend of mine and I made a 
 pilgrimage to her hut to learn what we could." 
 
 " A girl? " 
 
 " I said she was a young woman of twenty or so." 
 
 " I mean the friend who went with you." 
 
 " Yes Tawa and her attendants." 
 
 " Oh." 
 
 " When we got to the hut, it was night. The 
 anting built a little fire of dry sticks, and let it 
 burn to ashes like these." 
 
 I made a smooth surface to the ashes with my 
 poker, and drew some lines on it. " There. Can 
 you make that out, Nell ? " 
 
 She lifted her head cautiously, her feet tucked 
 well in. "What is it? a triangle?" 
 
 " Yes. She told me to look along one side of 
 the triangle and continue the line right out into 
 space until it reached a star we were on a moun- 
 tain, you remember. I did as she told me and my 
 line struck the evening star." I paused a moment. 
 " The evening star, Nell."
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Ye-es I remember," she said faintly. 
 
 " I pointed out the star to her, and she care- 
 fully examined it. Then Tawa followed out her 
 side of the triangle, but it didn't touch any star at 
 all I could see that puzzled the anting girl. She 
 smoothed out the ashes and drew another triangle 
 and made Tawa try again. But it turned out the 
 same way her line simply reached into space." 
 
 " It must have been a queer scene. I can see 
 it the starlit valley, and the dark faces over the 
 fire. Didn't they wear the most fascinating cos- 
 tumes? " 
 
 " Hum ! They were dressed even a trifle more 
 lightly than you are now." 
 
 "Dreadful!" 
 
 " Not at all. It was strictly the custom, and 
 the costume, of the country. Anything more would 
 have been rank affectation." 
 
 " I see. What happened? " 
 
 " The anting pondered a long time. Then she 
 said something about like this : * The Tuan ' that 
 was I, you know * the Tuan has had one great 
 sorrow in his life he will have another very soon. 
 After the Tuan's second sorrow he will return 
 whence he came, and there his first sorrow may be- 
 come his third no one knows, not even the ashes 
 of the stars.'" 
 
 " The ashes of the stars ! What a pretty idea. 
 I suppose you are making up all this as you go 
 along, Craig? "
 
 ASHES OF THE STARS 215 
 
 " I give you my word everything happened ex- 
 actly as I'm telling it." 
 
 " But what did the woman say about Tawa? " 
 
 " At first she refused to say anything, but when 
 we insisted she led me aside and said : ' I have told 
 the Tuan he would have a second great sorrow very 
 soon.' That was all I could get out of her." 
 
 Ellen gave a long sigh. " And it turned out just 
 as she said. Poor Tawa ! " 
 
 I demolished the triangle of ashes by a sweep of 
 the poker. *' At any rate, the first sorrow can't 
 become a third sorrow that's already proved." 
 
 " The prophecy was silly, of course." 
 
 " The third sorrow meant you. Well, you're in 
 a position I mean I'm in an attitude of mind 
 where " 
 
 " It'll sound better if I say it," she interrupted 
 sweetly. " You mean anything I may say or do is 
 totally indifferent to you." 
 
 " Not that at all. I only mean that I'm enjoy- 
 ing so much grinding you down that the first sor- 
 row has become a pleasure. The ashes of the stars, 
 do you see? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 We were silent for a while, both sunk in the 
 depths of our chairs and gazing absently at the fire. 
 
 " Craig," she said at last, " how long do you 
 intend to keep me here. It's dreadfully late if 
 anyone should come down I don't know what I'd 
 do."
 
 216 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I don't believe it's twelve o'clock yet ridicu- 
 lously early." 
 
 "But I'm cold, Craig." 
 
 " Honest and true, now! Are you? " 
 
 " We-ell, perhaps not so very." 
 
 Again we were silent. Into the silence stole a 
 faint sound. My hearing, from years of outdoor 
 life, is unusually acute what I heard, or fancied 
 I heard, was a scraping outside one of the long 
 windows. 
 
 "What's that?" I asked carelessly. "That 
 noise? " 
 
 "What noise? I didn't hear anything. Good- 
 ness ! I hope mother isn't prowling about." 
 
 " No, it seemed to be on the porch out there." 
 
 " Maybe it was a cat." 
 
 " Of course," I assured her. " I don't hear 
 anything now, at any rate." 
 
 Nor did I at the moment, but a little later, listen- 
 ing intently, I heard the sound again, unmistakable 
 to my trained senses the fall of a stealthy foot on 
 the porch just outside the long window. 
 
 Sinking deeper than ever into my chair, and 
 turning my head with the utmost caution, I stared 
 at the window. The long curtains left a triangle 
 of dark pane exposed. Although there was no 
 moon the stars were out and the night was clear. 
 
 Between the stars and the window-pane a dark 
 bulk loomed or did I only imagine it? Was there 
 or was there not a white smudse a human face
 
 ASHES OF THE STARS 217 
 
 set close against the glass in an effort to peer into 
 the room? I could not have sworn either way. 
 The shadow of the porch hid what the starlight 
 might have revealed. 
 
 If there were a face, it could see nothing the 
 fire was only a red eye that made the room darker 
 by contrast Ellen and I were concealed by the 
 high backs of the chairs. A footstep or the wind 
 sounded as if moving away from the window. 
 
 By and by Ellen spoke softly she could have 
 heard or seen nothing. " Are you asleep, Craig? " 
 
 " Not quite. On the way, though." 
 
 " If only you'd been dreaming, I would have 
 escaped." 
 
 " I thought you were suspiciously quiet." 
 
 " Yes perhaps. I was thinking of your anting 
 girl and the ashes of the stars." 
 
 " We climbed toward the stars in our time, 
 Nell." 
 
 " Do you remember? how we vowed we'd find 
 the little gold ball that lies under the evening 
 star?" 
 
 " Per aspera ad astra, you know but our aspera 
 have come since after we had reached the stars, 
 or thought we'd reached them, I mean." 
 
 " Yes. What a long time ago ! " 
 
 " That night? Do you remember how we walked 
 for hours and somehow we couldn't get fairly under 
 the one star? On top of that hill near Tarnsdale 
 we had to give it up."
 
 218 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " That was in another world, Craig." 
 
 " We gave it up, but we didn't care. When we 
 were through laughing over it, our faces were very 
 close together. We leaned toward each other, 
 and " 
 
 "Don't! Oh, don't!" 
 
 "The ashes of the stars, Nell." 
 
 We were silent a long time. At last I heard a 
 rustle, and then cautious footsteps. I waited, and 
 when I looked around her chair was empty.
 
 XXI 
 
 A COLD BATH 
 
 WHEN I had allowed Ellen time to reach her 
 room, I hurried to my own. There I pressed the 
 bell that communicated with Dirck's quarters at 
 the rear of the house, and pending his arrival, I 
 rummaged through my things. 
 
 Dirck did not appear, and I rang for him again 
 and again. I was drawing my pair of Colt's re- 
 volvers from their case, when I heard his discreet 
 knock. I opened the door. 
 
 " Gad ! you must have been sleeping like a log," 
 I said. " I've been ringing ten minutes, more or 
 less." 
 
 " I am sorry, monsieur." His eyes fell on the 
 blued steel in my hand. " You clean your pistols 
 late." 
 
 I waved the barrel toward the table. " There's 
 the other for you. Don't clean it load it. It 
 may be more useful that way." 
 
 " Ah? " He spun the cylinder with a skilful 
 thumb, and deftly slipped the cartridges in place. 
 " Is there a hope of using these perhaps a chance 
 of something of interest in this peaceful country? " 
 
 " There's a bare possibility." 
 
 His delighted eyes questioned me. " Without 
 doubt, Monsieur Beauchamp has sent his challenge 
 for the breaking of his jaw this afternoon." 
 
 219
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Where did you hear about that? " I asked curi- 
 ously. 
 
 " Theresa heard it from Mademoiselle West- 
 brook's maid, monsieur and she heard a discussion 
 between the aunt of mademoiselle and Monsieur 
 Beauchamp. But surely the meeting cannot be 
 before dawn." 
 
 " You're on the wrong tack, Dirck. It isn't 
 Beauchamp we're going after. I saw a man lurk- 
 ing about the front of the house a few minutes ago. 
 I was in the library and caught a glimpse of him 
 on the porch, or thought I did." 
 
 " Ah, a robber? " 
 
 " It looks that way. Now, if you're ready, 
 we'll see what we can see. Let's try the library 
 first he seemed to be interested in a window 
 there." 
 
 As quietly as if we ourselves had been a pair of 
 burglars, we stole downstairs and into the library. 
 Here even the red eye of the fire had faded to 
 blackness. I almost stumbled over the armchair, 
 empty of the white-robed figure that had lately 
 occupied it. 
 
 We listened and peered by the long window. No 
 shape shut off the starlight, and no sound dis- 
 turbed the night except the sighing of the chill 
 autumn wind about the corners of the house. The 
 loneliest sound in the world ! 
 
 " I wonder if I could have been mistaken. What 
 do you think, Dirck?"
 
 A COLD BATH 
 
 " I do not think so. Monsieur's eyes and ears 
 are good." 
 
 " I hardly think I could myself. We'll try the 
 other rooms." 
 
 Holding our breath, our revolvers ready, we 
 searched the drawing-room without result. Then 
 we slipped across the hall and felt about the other 
 rooms, penetrating every alcove and shaking every 
 window curtain. Still no sign of any night 
 marauder. 
 
 " I think there isn't any use trying the back 
 of the house. One of these long windows would be 
 the natural thing to use a jimmy on or a dia- 
 mond." 
 
 " Yes, monsieur. Even if not, to climb a col- 
 umn of the porch would be easy it would need 
 but a short ladder." 
 
 " The second story ! I hadn't thought of that. 
 By Jove! suppose some thug with a mask and 
 blackjack and red pepper is poking about up there 
 now!" 
 
 " If we go outside the house we can soon tell. 
 If the robber has entered an upper window, with- 
 out doubt he has left a ladder so that he can escape 
 if anything should alarm him. The stars are out 
 we can soon see." 
 
 We went back to the library, unlocked and 
 opened a window, and stepped out on the porch. 
 In another minute we were on the gravelled walk in 
 front of the house.
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 The night was clear and the stars twinkled in 
 frosty aloofness. My ruddy-faced friend, Scorpio, 
 waved a jovial claw at me. Obeying his motion 
 I turned until I saw, very pure and bright, the 
 evening star at an infinite distance Nell and I 
 had once sought the little gold ball beneath it. 
 The midnight wind suddenly bit keenly through my 
 somewhat scanty attire. 
 
 The house was sunk in slumber. The windows 
 of the upper stories looked darkly down, everyone 
 plain enough in the clear starlight the length of 
 the porch was bare of ladder or pole. For the 
 first time I began to have serious doubts that I had 
 heard footsteps on the porch, or had seen the white 
 smudge of a face against the window-pane. 
 
 We moved cautiously along the grassy border 
 of the walk to the corner of the house. There we 
 halted in the shadow of a blue spruce, and exam- 
 ined the north side. 
 
 Dirck touched my arm and pointed upward. A 
 light was burning behind the closed curtains of a 
 second-story room Ellen's. Perhaps she was 
 slowly preparing for bed, her mind running over 
 our adventure in the library and I liked to think 
 brooding over the ashes of the stars. 
 
 As on the other face of the house, there was no 
 indication of any would-be violator of its sanctity. 
 I was about to continue our patrol when I felt 
 Dirck's earnest pressure of my arm. He was nod- 
 ding emphatically toward a box hedge a few paces
 
 A COLD BATH 223 
 
 from us something was stirring its stiff foliage. 
 
 A man broke deliberately through the box, and 
 stood in the gravelled walk beneath the lighted 
 window. 
 
 We shrank deep into the shadow of the blue 
 spruce. Then the barrel of Dirck's revolver crossed 
 the line of my vision. I gripped his wrist. 
 
 " No, no, man," I muttered. " We must see 
 who he is. He may be only some harmless strag- 
 gler from the town." 
 
 The night-walker, having stood a moment in the 
 path, now began an extraordinary performance. 
 Facing toward the house he moved a step to the 
 right, then to the left, backward and forward. 
 Had it been a schoolgirl and on the street I would 
 have called it skipping. His arms, too, fluttered 
 about his head in an ascending and descending calis- 
 thenic. For the time and place it was truly bewil- 
 dering behavior. 
 
 " What the devil ! " I muttered in Dirck's ear. 
 His returning " Que dlable! " expressed an aston- 
 ishment as great as my own. 
 
 " It may be he signals a confederate." 
 
 " But he's facing toward the house." 
 
 " Truly, and looking up to the window the 
 one with the light." 
 
 We stared at each other. 
 
 The strange pantomime still continued. The 
 man would place both hands to his mouth as if he 
 were about to call up to Ellen. Then he would
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 apparently think better of it, for the hands would 
 be flung up and outward in what seemed almost a 
 gesture of despair. 
 
 " Can it be Ned Sutphen, trying to attract his 
 sister's attention? But why should he make such 
 a secret of it, now? " 
 
 "Ah, the gaillard? It must be the one." 
 
 " He must be throwing gravel at the window." 
 
 " But he takes it from has mouth." 
 
 " No, he probably has his hands full of pebbles 
 and happens to find it easiest to toss them up in 
 that style. He certainly never played baseball, 
 though and I don't hear anything rattle against 
 the pane either." 
 
 Again the intruder applied his hands indubita- 
 bly to his mouth, and flung them upward. I gasped. 
 
 " Kisses ! by Heaven ! Kisses! " 
 
 "Kisses!" 
 
 " It can't be Sutphen, after all. He wouldn't 
 throw kisses to his sister at one o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. Yes, by Jove ! the damned idiot is skipping 
 and throwing kisses! Humph! he's stopped at 
 last." 
 
 The fellow had, indeed, come to a halt fair in the 
 little patch of light that fell from Ellen's window. 
 For the first time his face was illumined. I looked 
 rubbed my eyes and stared with all my soul. 
 
 " I say, Ellen," called a drawling voice, " you 
 ought to give a chap back his kisses you ought, 
 you know, really. It isn't fair to keep them."
 
 A COLD BATH 225 
 
 " Beauchamp, by Gad ! Drunk ! " 
 
 The light fell on the hither side of his face, and 
 I saw it clearly. His prominent nose showed 
 ridge-like against the blackness behind it, and his 
 insolent mouth was directed upward as he renewed 
 his appeal. 
 
 " Don't keep a chap waiting here forever it's 
 deuced cold out here." 
 
 The light in Ellen's room suddenly diminished, 
 yet did not go out. Involuntary fear must have 
 led her to switch off the lights, then pride had come 
 in time to prevent their complete extinguishing. 
 
 " That's right, my dear," called Beauchamp. 
 " Turn 'em out ! Turn the little sparkly devils out. 
 We don't need the 'lectrics while the stars are so 
 bright." 
 
 " Drunk ! cold drunk," I muttered again. 
 
 As I learned afterward, he had spent half the 
 night at the Club, going there direct from the 
 Westbrooks'. In the Club he had proceeded to take 
 one drink on another, doubtless to drown his rage 
 and chagrin over the day's occurrences. When at 
 last the steward had given orders that he should 
 be served nothing more, Beauchamp was in the 
 state men of his cool temperament sometimes reach 
 his brain on fire, but his speech coherent, and his 
 limbs fairly steady. 
 
 He began to sing: 
 
 " ' Under your window I play my guitar, 
 
 Play my guitar, play my gui ' 
 
 15
 
 226 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Gad ! I don't remember the rest. It's a bally poor 
 song, at any rate." 
 
 " Shall we rush upon him? " whispered Dirck 
 eagerly. " We can send him to a hospital in three 
 minutes' time. You can again break his jaw." 
 
 The prospect was enticing, but I was in a cold 
 fury that impelled me to endure the drunken cad a 
 while longer. 
 
 " No, not yet. I want to give him rope enough 
 to hang himself." 
 
 He was paying out the rope fast enough, there 
 was no doubt about that. 
 
 "'Little Tommy Tucker 
 Sang for his supper,' " 
 
 he chanted. " I say, Nell, it isn't my supper I'm 
 singing for, though it's just you, my dear." He 
 chuckled. " Had my supper at the Club. By 
 Gad! I didn't either. Their chow wasn't fit to 
 eat, you know. I had something to drink instead." 
 
 He paused and shook his head at the window as 
 if he had received an interrogation thence. " Too 
 much to drink? Oh, no, my dear, I promise you 
 just a few refreshers I needed 'em, really, after 
 the nasty way old Miss Westbrook talked to me. 
 A real cat I never had such a wigging in my life. 
 And then your letter, my dear, this morning that 
 was a blow. You want to know what I had to 
 drink? Let's see, I'll tell you." 
 
 He checked them solemnly on his fingers. " First
 
 A COLD BATH 227 
 
 I had some of your American cocktails. Then I 
 had a Scotch and an Irish. After that I tried a 
 gin-ricky no, it was a silver fizz. By Gad ! I don't 
 know which was first had 'em both, at any rate. 
 Then a little more usquebaugh, I think. I don't 
 suppose you ever drank a shandy-gaff, did you, 
 my dear? I did, and next to that a whiskey-sour. 
 Your American drinks are delightful. Nell, are 
 you listening, my dear? You ought to listen, 
 really." 
 
 The dim light burned steadily above. The wind 
 moaned about the corners of the house. The 
 frosty stars twinkled on the ridiculous and sad- 
 dening spectacle of a man reduced to the verge of 
 the lachrymose. 
 
 " I say, Nell, you ought to take me in. What's 
 the use of being nasty about it ? " He paused and 
 a new idea seemed to strike him. " Oh, is it on 
 account of the row I had with that fellow, Schuyler? 
 The chap has a fist like a blacksmith's. No gentle- 
 man ought to have a fist like that, by Gad ! " 
 
 He stared up at the window, holding his head 
 at a comical side-cock, as if he again had a com- 
 munication from above. " Oh, on account of little 
 Kitty Willetts, is it? That's the same thing 
 the row with Schuyler was over her, you know. 
 I tried to be * slim ' about that, and by Gad ! how 
 he did bowl me over. Come now, don't be stiffish 
 over a thing like that. I'm no worse than any 
 other chap, I fancy. If Rex Westbrook a good
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 old chap he was, too if Westbrook was such an 
 ass as to give her up, why shouldn't " 
 
 " Come on, Dirck," I growled. 
 
 We were on him in an instant so quickly that he 
 was only half able to face my rush. But this very 
 unpreparedness helped him, for I checked my blow 
 at his jaw and it fell heavily on his shoulder. 
 Nevertheless, he went down full-length on the grav- 
 elled walk. Dirck dealt him a kick in the ribs as 
 he lay. 
 
 " Go easy ! " I said. " He's down, worse luck. 
 I wish he'd kept his feet a minute longer." 
 
 " Wot cheer, maties ! " came from the figure at 
 our feet. " Do you mean fight? I'll take you on, 
 if you like." 
 
 "That's what I want," I returned. "Help 
 him up, Dirck." 
 
 With some difficulty, Beauchamp was restored to 
 an upright position. However, one look at him as 
 he threw himself into a grotesque attempt at a box- 
 ing attitude was enough. A fight with him would 
 be only a slaughter desirous as I was of punish- 
 ing him I could not take such an advantage. 
 
 " The brute's too drunk to fight." 
 
 "By Gad! is that you, Schuyler? You lie, 
 Schuyler." 
 
 " Do I ? I've a notion to beat you to a pulp 
 you drunken blackguard ! " 
 
 "Craig!" 
 
 My name floated down from midair. I glanced
 
 A COLD BATH 
 
 up. The curtain of the window above was parted 
 ever so slightly. Through the crack a sentence 
 was thrown like bits of ice. 
 
 " Craig there's a pond across the road ! " 
 
 The icy voice ceased the curtain showed an un- 
 broken surface the light was abruptly extin- 
 guished. 
 
 A pond across the road! In a flash I remem- 
 bered that a recent rain had washed away an edge 
 of the road in front of " Red Cedars." The local 
 roadmaster had neglected to repair it promptly, 
 and it now lay a black and nauseating pool, not a 
 hundred yards from where we stood. 
 
 I shouted directions to Dirck. We whirled 
 Beauchamp about in spite of his energetic : " Wot 
 cheer, matk ! " and one on each side of him, hustled 
 him across the lawn. Although probably he did 
 not divine our intentions, he struggled vigorously. 
 But he was a child in the grasp of two men, either 
 one of whom would have been more than his match 
 even had he been sober. As it was, his drunken 
 condition made him well-nigh helpless. 
 
 In a trice we had rushed him over the lawn, 
 had crossed the road, and halted on the edge of the 
 filthy water. 
 
 " I say, you chaps, what the devil " 
 
 " In you go ! " 
 
 We flung him headlong into the pool a thin 
 scum of ice crackled as he went down. 
 
 There was a tremendous splashing in the freez-
 
 230 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 ing fluid a storm of curses as a figure, face, hair 
 and shoulders grotesquely plastered with black clay, 
 found a footing in four feet of water. Then 
 Carlos Beauchamp, shivering, filth-marked, sobered, 
 furious but impotent, made his way to the farther 
 bank of the pool, and out of my life. 
 
 As we returned past the house, I studied Ellen's 
 window. All was dark. 
 
 By the blue spruce I halted and looked back. 
 The evening star, very bright and pure, gleamed 
 coldly at me from an infinite distance.
 
 XXII 
 
 EAVESDROPPING 
 
 DIKCK was awaiting me when I gained the porch- 
 steps. We regarded each other with the sober 
 satisfaction of men who have done their plain duty. 
 
 " How he splashed, monsieur ! " 
 
 " Fairly wallowed ! I hope he gulped down a 
 good mouthful of mud." 
 
 " It was impossible not to." 
 
 Above our relishing laughter I heard the crunch 
 of gravel behind me. Dirck peered over my shoul- 
 der as I turned. 
 
 " Some one is coming up the path, monsieur." 
 
 " Beauchamp would never have the nerve unless 
 he's ready to shoot." 
 
 " He walks too steadily for a drunken man." 
 
 From where we stood, the path followed the curve 
 of the house in one direction, and in the other 
 wound away beneath a row of elms to the public 
 road. Just now the elms formed a tunnel, so 
 shot with stars that the ground mist was kicked 
 up in silvery sparkles about the feet of an advanc- 
 ing man. 
 
 Whoever he might be, he was making no effort 
 to conceal his approach. On the contrary he came 
 forward boldly until within a few yards of us. 
 My greeting apprised him of our presence. 
 
 231
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Good-evening. A fine night." 
 
 He threw up his head and came to a halt. 
 "Hello! who's that?" 
 
 " Is that you, Aleck? " I returned. " Have you 
 lost your way, my boy ? " 
 
 "Oh, Schuyler! No, I'm all right. You're 
 just the man I want to see, Schuyler." 
 
 " Good-night, monsieur," murmured Dirck behind 
 me. 
 
 Aleck stared over my head as the Frenchman 
 slipped into the house through the open window. 
 
 "Who was that with you DuBois?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " He's out late." 
 
 " So am I. For that matter, so are you, aren't 
 you ? " My question was superfluous, and I went 
 on. " Dirck and I have been rounding up a man 
 we took for a burglar, at first." 
 
 "A tramp?" 
 
 " No, only a trespasser Carlos Beauchamp." 
 
 "The devil!" 
 
 " Pretty nearly. We sobered him up by giving 
 him a swim in the pond over there." 
 
 " Good ! " Although his exclamation of satis- 
 faction was genuine yet, to my surprise, he dis- 
 played no further interest in Beauchamp's fate. 
 He went on in a significant tone. " Is that every- 
 thing your man DuBois has been up to to- 
 night?" 
 
 "Hello! what's up, Aleck? I don't flatter my-
 
 EAVESDROPPING 283 
 
 self you came over here at this hour simply for the 
 pleasure of a call." 
 
 " No-o, that's true. Can I have a talk with you, 
 Schuyler about something confidential ? " 
 
 " If you want to say anything about Kitty Wil- 
 letts and Beauchamp and me, I'd rather not Aleck 
 I've seen Norah's letter, and Rex's. I'll take 
 your apologies for granted." 
 
 " It isn't that though the Lord knows I feel 
 like apologizing. You could kick me from here 
 home and I wouldn't complain. But it isn't that. 
 It's something about well, about Norah." 
 
 " Norah? " I turned matters swiftly in my 
 mind. " Ought you to talk to me about your sis- 
 ter, Aleck? You're young I beg your pardon, 
 but you are! and perhaps you think offhand it's 
 your duty to talk to me about her. I don't know 
 what it's about, of course, but, at a venture, I 
 should say don't try to handle your sister's affairs. 
 Sleep on it, at any rate." 
 
 We were standing close together, and even in the 
 darkness I could make out his puzzled face. He 
 shifted his weight from one foot to the other as 
 a schoolboy might have done. 
 
 Behind him a star or two twinkled through the 
 top of the blue spruce. A rabbit a mere fluffy 
 ball of gray leaped the box-hedge and landed 
 within six feet of us. One horrified stare, then it 
 sprang frantically down the path, its cotton-tail 
 flickering like a meteor in the dark.
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " I think if you don't mind, Schuyler I'm 
 the only man in the family it's a point of honor." 
 
 My mind groped for his meaning I tried to re- 
 member what word or deed of mine might have been 
 construed amiss by Norah. His next words bewil- 
 dered me more than ever. 
 
 " You're the cleanest-minded man I know, Schuy- 
 ler. I can follow your advice you'll know what 
 I ought to do what's right for me to do." 
 
 I resigned myself to the issue. " Come in. We 
 can talk better inside." 
 
 He followed me across the porch and through the 
 window into the library. Here lie stood motionless 
 until I had stirred the half-smothered embers of the 
 fire. Presently I had a cheerful blaze going. 
 
 "Sit down, Aleck." 
 
 He sank into a chair the one where Ellen had 
 lately crouched. The firelight revealed his face 
 I saw that it wore a troubled look rather than a 
 puzzled one. As he leaned forward, his elbows 
 propped on his knees and his chin in his hands, 
 the skin over his temples seemed more tightly drawn 
 than usual the sparkle in his blue eyes was a little 
 quenched. 
 
 " I don't know what to think," he began. " If it 
 were anyone else I mean if it were any other 
 man's sister I'm afraid I would feel out-and-out 
 disgusted. But Norah! She couldn't do anything 
 a girl of our sort isn't supposed to do." 
 
 "Never!" I sni^ emphatically. "That's cer- 
 tain."
 
 EAVESDROPPING 235 
 
 " But girls are queer," he returned with all the 
 cynic philosophy of youth and inexperience. 
 " After all, I don't suppose my sister is so very 
 different from any other fellow's." 
 
 "What's the point, Aleck?" 
 
 " I beg your pardon I'm a bit upset, I suppose. 
 
 You see " He leaned still further forward, his 
 
 fingers tight about his rigid jaw. " Well, it's like 
 this. About eight o'clock I brought those letters 
 over here to Ellen from Norah." 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 " We're all mighty sorry, Schuyler, and ashamed 
 of ourselves " 
 
 " Never mind ! " 
 
 " Well, then, when I got home, I lay down on 
 the lounge in the library. Do you remember? 
 it's next to the ' den ' each has a door onto the 
 porch, a good deal like this." 
 
 " I know." 
 
 " I lay down and got to thinking about things 
 until the place seemed so stuffy I put up a window 
 for air." 
 
 I felt inclined to smile, but managed to nod 
 gravely. 
 
 " I could see a light shining from the * den ' onto 
 the porch. Norah was in there going over Rex's 
 papers." 
 
 "One minute, Aleck. Is all this material?" 
 
 " Oh, yes. You'll see in a minute. I I over- 
 heard something. I don't want you to think I'm 
 a cad, so I have to explain "
 
 286 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Go ahead." 
 
 " I stared at Norah's light, and thought about 
 her and and so forth, until I fell asleep." 
 
 "Hum-m!" 
 
 " The next I knew I woke up feeling mighty cold 
 the open window let the wind blow across me. 
 Before I was really awake I heard voices outside 
 the window. When I did get awake, it was too late 
 to move. Do you see? " 
 
 " I understand perfectly. You thought you 
 would make more of a mess of things by moving 
 than you would by keeping quiet." 
 
 "That's it exactly." 
 
 My apprehension of his dilemma seemed to re- 
 lieve his mind of a heavy load. His rigid attitude 
 relaxed. He lifted his face from his hands. 
 
 " I knew you'd understand. Well, of course, I 
 recognized Norah's voice soon enough, but it took 
 me a minute or two to make out whose the other's 
 was, and when I did, it gave me a start, I can 
 tell you." 
 
 " It was Beauchamp, of course." 
 
 " Beauchamp ! Good Lord ! no I wish it had 
 been. I would know where I stand then. It was 
 your man DuBois." 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 I had not been in the least prepared for this 
 revelation, yet I did not doubt its truth. After 
 my one exclamation of surprise, I fell back on 
 silence to conceal my thoughts.
 
 EAVESDROPPING 237 
 
 I remembered that Norah had been struck by her 
 first sight of Dirck. At dinner she had been deeply 
 interested in my little story of his kindness to the 
 Hungarian emigrants. He had returned without 
 embarrassment her impulsive hand-clasp that same 
 night she had blushed beneath his glance. Later, 
 too, he had asked me about her. And that very 
 afternoon he had contrived to speak to her at her 
 carriage step his heart in his eyes. I knew that, 
 under certain conditions, there might be no limit 
 to his audacity. But was it possible that there 
 could be such a thing as love at first sight between 
 a lady and a chauffeur between Norah and Dirck ! 
 
 Aleck continued, his voice deliberate as if he were 
 conscientiously trying not to be hasty in his judg- 
 ments. 
 
 " They must have been talking a few minutes 
 before I woke up long enough for Norah to have 
 gotten over the first shock of the man's * nerve,' 
 at any rate. I made out somehow that he'd seen 
 her through the window tapped on the pane and 
 beckoned her to come out, you know. The Lord 
 knows why she'd come ! I wonder she didn't scream 
 instead." 
 
 " She isn't the screaming sort." 
 
 " That's true. She'd come out to see what in the 
 world the fellow wanted, I suppose perhaps she'd 
 thought he had a message from Ellen. Once out, 
 she'd been fascinated before she knew it." 
 
 " He's a good talker when he tries."
 
 238 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Aleck struck his fist on the wide arm of his chair. 
 " Schuyler, I give you my word, I didn't dream a 
 man could talk so so charmingly, I mean outside 
 of a book." 
 
 "What did he say?" 
 
 " Oh, it wasn't what he said but the way he said 
 it his voice and manner and all that. I'm a man, 
 but by George! hearing that damned Frenchman 
 talk, I felt as weak as a woman as weak as Norah, 
 maybe. I'd never understood before how it was 
 Napoleon could handle men the way he did I see 
 now. It was in him, that's all there was to it. 
 And it's the same with DuBois." 
 
 " What were they talking about? " 
 
 " He was yes, confound him ! he was telling her 
 he loved her. Think of it ! And she was standing 
 there listening as if she were a statue at least, she 
 didn't seem to be making any protest that I could 
 hear not for some time." 
 
 He shook his head amazedly at me, as if even 
 yet unable to believe what he himself had heard, or 
 failed to hear. 
 
 " It doesn't seem possible, does it? " he went on, 
 " but it's true. Of course, he didn't say : * I love 
 you,' flat out like that, but he might as well have 
 said it except that his way was a good deal better. 
 
 " The first words I really got into my head Norah 
 was saying she was trying to keep herself from 
 sinking, so to speak. ' It can't be true,' she said. 
 ' Perhaps you're walking in your sleep, DuBois. 
 This is absurd.'
 
 EAVESDROPPING 239 
 
 " * Mademoiselle,' he said You ought to have 
 heard his voice, Schuyler ' Mademoiselle, it may 
 be absurd to you, but it is life and death to me.' 
 
 " * This it's all impossible ! ' she said. 
 
 " ' You only think so because you think we have 
 known each other so short a time,' he told her. ' If 
 it had been a year ago you gave me that look in- 
 stead of a day, would it seem to you so impossible? ' 
 
 " I don't know what they were talking about, 
 Schuyler, but she gave a little gasp and said : * I 
 didn't I didn't not the way you mean ! Be- 
 sides, it isn't the time that's wrong it's you.' 
 
 " He only laughed at that. ' You mean to re- 
 mind me that I am a servant,' he said as cool as ice. 
 ' But, mademoiselle, that is nothing to me nor to 
 you.' 
 
 " That's what he said, Schuyler he acknowl- 
 edged he was a servant, and told her to her face 
 that he knew she didn't care if he was. And by 
 George ! she didn't she didn't. Mind you, instead 
 of ordering him off the place, she was arguing with 
 him she was lost already, if she'd only realized it. 
 Can anybody understand a woman ? " he finished 
 ruefully. 
 
 " One man apparently," I returned. 
 
 " DuBoiis himself? Yes, he does no doubt 
 about that. And Lord ! how fast he went it took 
 my breath away to listen to him. By this time 
 he'd asked her no, he'd told her he was going to 
 kiss her. It's true, though you may not believe it.
 
 240 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Fancy my sister, standing there arguing with a 
 French chauffeur about whether or not she should 
 give him should let him take whew ! " 
 
 " Rather," I agreed. 
 
 " And the point is, she wasn't arguing about the 
 kiss itself. No, she was objecting because he wasn't 
 her equal." 
 
 " That was reason enough." 
 
 " Of course. But that was the only reason that 
 occurred to her. Don't you see, that was as good 
 as telling him she cared for him. He was sharp 
 enough to see that." 
 
 " I'm afraid he was." 
 
 " Well, when he told her he knew she didn't care 
 if he was a chauffeur, she didn't say a word just 
 as if she were frightened at herself as if she 
 really understood herself for the first time. 
 
 " When she couldn't answer him, he said to her : 
 1 Do I look like a servant, mademoiselle? ' 
 
 " * You look like a gentleman,' she told him. 
 And he does, Schuyler, that's a fact, isn't it? 
 
 " * Do I talk like a servant? ' he asked her. 
 
 " ' No,' she said. 
 
 " ' Then what does it matter, if I am a servant? ' 
 he said, very quietly, you know. 
 
 " Neither of them said anything more for a 
 second, then she made a little sound in her throat. 
 * Why are you with Mr. Schuyler,' she said, * as a 
 chauffeur, when you are a gentleman ? ' 
 
 " ' I have not said so,' he told her.
 
 EAVESDROPPING 
 
 " ' But I know you are,' she said." 
 
 Aleck crossed one leg over the other and sank 
 back in his chair. His eyes sought my face as if 
 to make sure of my sympathy. 
 
 " Women are sort of appealing, aren't they, 
 Schuyler? Have you ever noticed that? A girl 
 believes in a man, if she likes him, no matter what 
 he is. I suppose that's real faith, isn't it? It's 
 rather touching, I think." 
 
 The firelight lit his earnest face as he aired his 
 re-discovery of woman's faith in man. 
 
 " After that," he went on, " DuBois began to 
 talk in French. I don't know it any too well, but 
 Norah is rather clever at it the year after you 
 left home, Aunt Caroline and she spent in France 
 Xorah went to school there. 
 
 " From what I made out, DuBois asked Norah if 
 she remembered how a lovely, blonde ' jeune fille ' 
 was nearly run over by a drunken cabman one day 
 on the Champs Elysees. Did she remember how a 
 stranger a passer-by had dragged back the 
 young girl just in time to save her, and how he 
 had carried her to the sidewalk out of harm's way? 
 
 " Of course the girl was Norah and DuBois said 
 he was the man who'd saved her. Norah remem- 
 bered the affair who wouldn't? but, as near as I 
 could follow their talk, she couldn't reconcile her 
 recollection of her hero as he was then with the man 
 as he is now. But she believed in him she had 
 to believe in him. 
 16
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " He told her he'd loved her ever since that day 
 he'd had the memory of her in his heart in his 
 dreams he was always carrying her just as he had 
 three or four years ago, her arm about his neck. 
 
 " And then all at once, his voice began to sound 
 fierce and tender at the same time. I suppose he 
 was very close to her, for her answers were muffled, 
 and grew weaker and weaker. She was trying to 
 tell him that he must leave the house that she 
 would never let him kiss her but she was giving 
 way. 
 
 " Schuyler, I couldn't stand it any longer I sat 
 up suddenly the whole lounge creaked like the 
 very devil! I just had one glimpse of Norah's 
 white dress, then she slipped out of sight. Your 
 Frenchman and I were within two feet of each other, 
 he standing outside the window, and I kneeling in- 
 side on the lounge, ready to leap out. 
 
 " I'd meant to knock the man down, to thrash 
 him within an inch of his life if I could. But 
 when he looked at me, I couldn't move. It wasn't 
 funk, Schuyler I'm sure of that. No, there was 
 something about that look of his that seemed to 
 say he had a right there. Not the least bit threat- 
 ening or sullen not that at all, thoroughly self- 
 possessed and indifferent, and as cool as ice. 
 
 " He waited for me to move or speak and I 
 couldn't. Then he walked quietly down the step* 
 and and the next I saw of him he was here with 
 you."
 
 EAVESDROPPING 
 
 Through the latter part of young Westbrook's 
 story I had sat silent, my brain busy. Now as he 
 softly pounded the arm of his chair, I spoke. 
 
 " Are you here after Dirck ? " 
 
 " I don't know. That's why I want your advice, 
 Schuyler. Oughtn't I to be after him? It seems 
 to me I ought to have him out here on the lawn 
 and pound him to pieces, if I can. If he were an 
 ordinary sort, I'd ask you to discharge him, and 
 then I'd horsewhip him. But he isn't an ordinary 
 sort anybody who looks at him twice can see that. 
 What do you know about him, Schuyler? Who is 
 he? or what is he? or is it only a case of damn- 
 able impertinence? " 
 
 I regarded him gravely. " You say you'll take 
 my advice, whatever it may be? " 
 
 " Yes," he returned eagerly. " Whatever you 
 say I'll do, Schuyler. I know you won't stand for 
 anything disgraceful happening to Norah." 
 
 " To any of you nor to myself either. It 
 would be a disgrace to me if I allowed a man in 
 my employ to misbehave. But he isn't misbehaving 
 precisely." 
 
 Aleck almost leaped from his seat. " He isn't ! " 
 
 " No. Misbehavior is a matter of intention. 
 I'm sure Dirck doesn't have any such intention." 
 
 " At midnight on the front porch with my 
 sister ! " 
 
 " It's the only chance and place he had to see 
 her."
 
 244 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " But good Lord ! Schuyler, you're missing the 
 point altogether. He's your chauffeur a common 
 servant." 
 
 " Look here, Aleck, this is my advice this isn't 
 the time for a row with DuBois. You can go back 
 home and sleep on that. You won't be compromis- 
 ing your honor or anyone's by waiting by let- 
 ting matters take their course." 
 
 " Are you sure ? " 
 
 " Absolutely. You say you can trust me? Then 
 don't follow this thing any further for the pres- 
 ent, at any rate." 
 
 In spite of himself he let go a long breath of 
 relief. " I'll do whatever you say." We rose and 
 shook hands. " I won't keep you up any longer, 
 then, and and I'm much obliged to you, Schuyler. 
 I'm glad you ducked Beauchamp we were a lot 
 of blind moles about you and her." 
 
 " All that's to be forgotten." 
 
 I held aside the curtain and he stepped through 
 the open window. Outside he came to an abrupt 
 halt. 
 
 " Good Lord ! " he groaned. " I wonder if 
 Norah is waiting up to interview me for med- 
 dling? " His feet lagged like a schoolboy's as he 
 moved away. 
 
 Laughing to myself, I closed and locked the long 
 window.
 
 XXIII 
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 
 
 WHEN I entered the breakfast-rooir* the next 
 morning, Ellen was standing by a window, looking 
 out over the valley. She turned at my footstep. 
 
 " Good-morning, Little Nell. Here comes Quilp, 
 the dwarf, you see in a moderately good humor, 
 though, so you needn't run yet." 
 
 Her smile seemed to thank me for the lightness 
 of my greeting. Possibly she was half-regretful 
 of her apologetic attitude in delivering me the let- 
 ters the night before. Or again, she may have 
 been relieved that I did not bring up the subject of 
 Carlos Beauchamp's antics it is not pleasant to 
 think of a lover, even though a rejected one, in so 
 pitiable a light. 
 
 " You don't look as if you would beat and pinch 
 me this morning," she returned. 
 
 " We shall see. Besides, it wasn't Little Nell 
 Quilp pinched, was it? It was his wife." 
 
 " That's true." With a wave of her hand she 
 invited me to the view across the valley. " It's 
 a glorious day. Just see how those clouds pile up 
 above ' Westbrook Place,' real castles in the air." 
 
 " It's a day for a good long ride in the car," I 
 suggested. " Let's go aroaming by the light 6* 
 the sun. After breakfast what do you say?" 
 
 245
 
 246 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " The ayes have it unanimously. A ride will be 
 rather restful, after our strenuous time yesterday." 
 Her glance swept hastily from me to the window as 
 if she repented the opening she had given me. 
 
 I did not take advantage of it. Her morning 
 gown of brown linen fitted her perfectly her brown 
 boots matched it. The broad collar with its knot 
 of brown ribbon gave her an almost schoolgirlish 
 appearance. 
 
 She gazed absently out the window and I could 
 not see her eyes nor guess what was in her thoughts. 
 Was she profoundly contrite for her years-long 
 mis judgment of me, or was she only overpoweringly 
 afraid of me? Last night, before the library fire 
 with her, I had been content to forget the real prob- 
 lems of life in the glamor of our position, but now, 
 as she must be aware, life was to be faced again. 
 
 "Are we waiting for your mother?" 
 
 She turned to the breakfast-table, laughing up at 
 me as I drew back her chair. " Oh, I was dream- 
 ing. No, mother won't be down. How naughty 
 of me to keep a man waiting for something to eat. 
 I might easily have had my head bitten off." 
 
 " Yes a perilous performance." 
 
 We sat down and she began to pour my coffee. 
 " I hope you aren't any the worse for wear yes- 
 terday, Nell the wetting and the hound, and all 
 that." 
 
 " Not the least bit, thank you. Two lumps, 
 Craig?'"
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 247 
 
 " Please. You didn't have another chill? I 
 didn't reflect when I dared you into that stream 
 that you are a foot or two shorter than I am." 
 
 " I'm not so very small, sir ! No, I didn't feel 
 cold after Mary Finney's." She handed me the 
 cup, and grasped the handle of the coffee-pot as if 
 to pour for herself, but the motion died there. 
 " Craig, I think I'm only just beginning to realize 
 you saved my life from that dreadful dog." 
 
 " Dee-lighted if I did." 
 
 " You saved me from being frightfully bitten, 
 at any rate." 
 
 " You're forgetting your breakfast." 
 
 She drew a long breath and the hazel lights be- 
 gan to sparkle in her eyes. She spoke through 
 teeth that were almost clenched. 
 
 " It's an intolerable obligation. Any obliga- 
 tion to you is intolerable." 
 
 " I'm glad to hear you say so I shall put you 
 under every obligation I can," I returned, only 
 half in jest. 
 
 As she filled her cup at last, she gave me a queer 
 little smile. 
 
 *' About * Gomez *," she said after a little. 
 
 " The dog has had his day." 
 
 " But I think I know why he attacked us." 
 
 "That's interesting. Why?" 
 
 " That sound we heard in the woods you re- 
 member, we both heard it the other side of the 
 ravine ? "
 
 248 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I think I'm almost sure it was Carlos Beau- 
 champ's voice." 
 
 I stared. " By Jove ! you don't mean it ! " 
 
 " Yes. ' Gomez ' used to belong to him, you 
 know. He could always control him much better 
 than anyone else. Aleck thought ' Gomez ' hadn't 
 been trained to attack people, but perhaps he had 
 when he heard the right signal." 
 
 " By Jove ! " I exclaimed again. " But why ? " 
 
 She was silent and I was forced to answer my 
 own question. " Hum-m ! he's certainly a big 
 enough scoundrel for anything a crafty devil, too. 
 He'd just received your note giving him his conge 
 and he knew from Aleck I was here and would be 
 with you yesterday morning. He put two and two 
 together and added up wrong thought I was re- 
 sponsible for his dismissal, I suppose. Yes, a 
 crafty devil ! " 
 
 Ellen's face was a delicate pink. " You aren't 
 very resentful." 
 
 " I knocked him down twice and ducked him 
 once." 
 
 " I wonder you had him at your mercy such a 
 beast I wonder you didn't kick him." 
 
 " I believe Dirck did attend to that in a casual 
 way. Besides, time is a great healer of old 
 wounds." I glanced at her stealthily as I spoke 
 the pink in her cheeks grew to a deep red that was 
 long in dying out.
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 249 
 
 "You'll go for the ride?" I asked, when we 
 had finished breakfast. 
 
 " Yes, of course. I'll put on my hat and be 
 down in five minutes." 
 
 When she had gone I sent Theresa out with in- 
 structions to Dirck. By the time I was ready, he 
 had the car waiting under the porte-cochere. 
 
 " I'll drive, Dirck. You needn't come." 
 
 He whipped out his monkey-wrench and knocked 
 about the emergency-brake a little. " It is stiff," 
 he explained, " if monsieur will wait a few min- 
 utes " 
 
 " Oh, never mind. I can manage it well enough 
 as it is." 
 
 " Very well, monsieur." 
 
 He drew a step nearer and spoke in an under- 
 tone. 
 
 " Last night I learned from Theresa the last word 
 of a matter that has troubled us." 
 
 I knew that the shrewd fellow was not easily 
 misled. " What is it now ? " 
 
 I heard the front door open behind me as Dirck 
 pretended to test the steering-wheel. " There is 
 Mademoiselle. Do not look round. Theresa told 
 me last night Ah, Mademoiselle is coming! 
 Another time." He removed his cap and stepped 
 back as Ellen ran down the steps. 
 
 "All ready?" I asked. 
 
 " All ready. Where are we going ? I hope it's 
 to be a good long ride."
 
 250 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 " ' Over the hills and far away,' " I chanted. 
 
 I helped her in while Dirck took a last turn or 
 two at the emergency-brake. " Monsieur will bear 
 in mind it works badly," he cautioned. 
 
 " We're not likely to have any use for it. Ex- 
 pect us when you see us, Dirck. All ready, Nell? 
 Away we go." 
 
 As we slid smoothly off, a messenger boy turned 
 his bicycle into the driveway. I slowed down. 
 
 " A telegram boy ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." He touched his cap to Ellen, his 
 wheel barely turning. " For Monseer Somebody 
 some dago name." He was passing us with skil- 
 ful slowness. " He stayin' here ? " 
 
 " Monsieur DuBois," I suggested, jerking my 
 head back toward the house. " That man by the 
 porte-cochere there." 
 
 " 'Taint DuBois ! " cried the lad, a trace of re- 
 sentment in his tone. " Guess I can read all right, 
 all right." 
 
 Guiding his bicycle with one hand, he snatched 
 off his cap with the other, and peered into its re- 
 cesses, where doubtless the telegram was reposing. 
 
 " The boy must have made a mistake," said Ellen. 
 
 We were pounding up the hill at a leisurely pace. 
 " Where would you like to go, Nell ? " 
 
 "Anywhere it's such a glorious day any- 
 where in the world ! " 
 
 I shoved throttle and spark to a thirty-mile 
 speed, and away we flew.
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 251 
 
 For a long time neither of us spoke. The wind 
 rushed against our faces, tugging in vain at Ellen's 
 trim veil and shining hair. On the perfect New 
 England road hardly any dust was disturbed by our 
 flight. Trees, stone walls, and houses flitted by 
 like images in a dream. 
 
 A rock-crowned hill I well remembered loomed 
 on our left. It was there Nell and I had aban- 
 doned our search for the golden ball that lies be- 
 neath the evening star. A little farther on we 
 flashed past the familiar white-painted meeting- 
 house. Beyond, a quaint hamlet straggled down 
 an elm-shaded street. I slowed down to the legal 
 ten miles. 
 
 " We don't want the village ' constabule ' to 
 stretch a chain across at the other end of the 
 street." 
 
 " No," she agreed. " This is Tarnsdale, isn't 
 It?" 
 
 " You saw the old Unitarian Church? Do you 
 remember that Sunday night when we sang ' Softly 
 now the light of day ' in the gallery with the 
 village boys and girls?" 
 
 " Yes. Are we going anywhere in particular, 
 Craig? " 
 
 " Right down to the Sound, if you like. We can 
 cross Connecticut in short order, you know." 
 
 " Good ! The seashore and the air will be per- 
 fect to-day." 
 
 We were almost clear of Tarnsdale when a man,
 
 252 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 wearing a sort of uniform, ran out from an official- 
 looking building, and held up his hand peremp- 
 torily. 
 
 " Hey, there, mister ! Hey, stop ! " 
 
 Protesting energetically, I obeyed. 
 
 " Look here, officer ! This is an outrage ! My 
 wheels were barely turning over. If you arrest us, 
 it'll be sheer robbery. You can walk faster than 
 we were going. Now, I'll be hanged if I'll 
 stand " 
 
 " Hold on, hold on ! " he interrupted, grinning. 
 " I ain't an officer. I'm the operator." 
 
 " Oh, you are." For the first time I noticed the 
 yellow paper in his hand. "What is it?" I 
 asked. 
 
 " Party o' the name of Schuyler? " he demanded. 
 
 "Yes. I'm Mr. Schuyler Craig Schuyler." 
 
 " You're the one. I got a call from Bannocks 
 not five minutes ago said you was heading this 
 way and to stop you. Telegram for you." He 
 handed me the yellow slip which he had not even 
 had time to enclose in the usual envelope. 
 
 I took in its contents at a glance, thanked the 
 man, then to his evident disappointment started 
 the car. 
 
 " No answer, eh? " he asked. 
 
 " No thank you." 
 
 When we were again rolling slowly along in the 
 open country, I banded the telegram to Ellen. She 
 read it aloud :
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 253 
 
 " ' Bannocks, Massachusetts, October 13, 1910. 
 "To Craig Schuyler, Esq., in an automobile near Tarnsdale. 
 " ' News Luisne's death received. Accept my resignation. 
 You win. Am en route this instant to ask Mademoiselle W. 
 to become countess. 
 
 "'H. deTV" 
 
 "What does it mean?" she asked. "I don't 
 understand a word of it." 
 
 " It means that Henri de Trouville has fallen 
 heir to a title and estate by the unexpected death 
 of his uncle and that he is ' this instant ' on his 
 way to ask Norah Westbrook to become the 
 Countess de Luisne." 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " Also, it means I've lost the best chauffeur I 
 ever had." 
 
 " What it isn't possible " 
 
 " It's true. Exit Dirck DuBois. Enter no, re- 
 enter Henri de Trouville, cadet of his house and 
 recently without expectations, but just now made 
 Count de Luisne." 
 
 She clasped her hands excitedly. 
 
 " Tell me, tell me, Craig ! Don't be mean. Tell 
 me everything. Oh, you must be joking!" 
 
 " It isn't so very wonderful. Henri and I had 
 a bet that's about all there is to it." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " He and I have been chums for years in Su- 
 matra and everywhere. But he'd never been in 
 America, and he had some of those confounded Con-
 
 254 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 tinental notions about our American girls the 
 worst of it is they're true often, although I'd never 
 admit it to him." 
 
 " You mean " 
 
 " He thought all our girls were mercenary 
 tuf'thunters and all that. He believed no foreigner 
 without a title had a chance with one of our sort 
 at any rate, he pretended to believe that. We 
 argued over it so much that finally I badgered him 
 into coming over here disguised as my chauffeur 
 just to see if he could find an American girl who 
 would consider him on his merits. It was part of 
 the bargain that I should treat him as a servant in 
 every way it hasn't been easy to keep up the farce 
 sometimes. How he did * monsieur ' me until all 
 was blue, didn't he? Of course, it was only a lark. 
 Now that he's * resigned ' I want to get at him 
 and find out how he's been enjoying life in the ser- 
 vants' quarters. Anybody but Henri would have 
 found it rather difficult to conduct a campaign from 
 there but he's nothing if not resourceful." 
 
 " It wasn't a fair test at all." 
 
 " No, so it wasn't. But I see now the sly dog 
 had some particular one in mind all along." 
 
 "Norah?" 
 
 " Yes I think he was captivated from the start." 
 
 " But how did he meet her, Craig? Do you 
 think she's in love with him? She wouldn't allow 
 herself to be, surely. She didn't know he wasn't 
 really a servant ? "
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 255 
 
 " I think she'd begun to suspect it." I related 
 the story I had heard from Aleck the night before. 
 " Any young woman might jump at the chance of 
 becoming the Countess de Luisne," I ended. 
 
 *' I suppose so." She gave me a sidelong 
 glance. " But what do you say about it? " There 
 was the slightest possible accent on the personal 
 pronoun. 
 
 " I say : ' God bless you, my children,' of course." 
 
 She was silent. Dirck's I begged his pardon 
 Henri's affairs seemed disposed of. 
 
 I put speed on the car thirty, forty, fifty miles 
 an hour! Too fast for safety, but I was reckless. 
 The exhilaration of it got into my blood, and I 
 shouted and sang like a madman. Ellen>, too, 
 caught the contagion of the motion she sang in 
 broken snatches, or uttered little cries as wild as 
 my own. 
 
 So we flew steadily southward. Like Ellen I 
 had a craving for the salt air and the far stretches 
 of the sea we had been too long in the hills. 
 
 When I next glanced at the clock dancing at my 
 feet, it was one o'clock. The speedometer showed 
 we had covered nearly ninety miles. 
 
 We ran up a long hill and all at once the ocean 
 shimmered before us. I marked a noble oak on a 
 cliff, and turning the car off the unfenced road, 
 drove slowly across the downs toward it. 
 
 The salt grass crunched crisply under the wheels. 
 The air blew fresh but not too keen. Here and
 
 256 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 there the sail of a swordfish hunter shone almost 
 white against the blue. It was a day in a thousand. 
 
 " Glorious ! " said Ellen, and I echoed the word. 
 
 She regarded me with clear eyes from, which all 
 trouble had disappeared, at least for the moment. 
 Her smile was as frank and innocent of guilt as a 
 child's. She even laid a friendly hand on my arm 
 to attract my attention to a soaring fish-eagle. 
 
 I brought the car to a halt under the oak, rather 
 jerkily. I looked about. The downs stretched a 
 mile behind us and twice that in either direction 
 without a break. In front was the sea, the surf 
 beating at the foot of a forty-foot cliff. The 
 drooping boughs of the oak shielded us from the 
 sun, and broke the force of the strong sea wind. 
 No living soul, other than ourselves, was visible on 
 land or sea. 
 
 I sprang to the ground. Ellen lifted her veil 
 and pinned it clear of her face. 
 
 "Shall I get out?" 
 
 " Not yet." 
 
 I watched her fingers playing over her hair with 
 light touches now and then the red bracelet 
 showed below her cuff the pathetic face of the 
 Nubian looked dumbly out at me. 
 
 " The grass looks very inviting," she suggested. 
 
 " If you don't mind keeping your seat a while, 
 I want to talk to you. I've a good deal to say 
 and I think it'll be easier to say it if I can look 
 up to you."
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 257 
 
 She gave me her curious sidelong glance. I 
 thrust my hands in the pockets of my short coat 
 I did not care that she should see how they trembled 
 and began to walk up and down the length of 
 the car. Her eyes followed me, wistful and per- 
 plexed. The red blood crept into her cheek as I 
 began to speak. 
 
 " Are you getting used to that bracelet, Nell? " 
 
 " I shall never get used to it." 
 
 " You can't expect to get rid of it so long as 
 you let things go on as you do so long as you per- 
 suade people to burglarize my room." 
 
 " To burglarize I don't understand." 
 
 She gazed at me with a blankness that, if 
 assumed, was a masterpiece of acting. I met her 
 eyes an instant, then continued my slow pacing. 
 
 " You don't ? Come, Nell didn't you persuade 
 Ned's wife to search my papers night before last, 
 when she thought I was asleep? " 
 
 " What ! Certainly not ! " 
 
 " Didn't you get Theresa to have a try for the 
 same thing only a few minutes later? " 
 
 " No." Indignation and astonishment vied in 
 her tones. " I never heard of it. She didn't 
 dare!" 
 
 " Oh, yes, she did I caught her in the act. And 
 I caught Mary Finney in a wire trap ! " I gave 
 a short laugh. " You never heard of it? I know 
 you don't lie, Nell." 
 
 " I'm glad you believe that. Did you think for 
 17
 
 258 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 a moment I would stoop as low as that to rob 
 your room? I haven't lost all self-respect, Craig." 
 
 " I didn't suppose you had." 
 
 " Mary must have done it because she's Ned's 
 wife. They told me they'd told you about their 
 being married, but they didn't tell me that. And 
 Theresa ! I'll have a talk with her." Her indignant 
 tones died she sighed, hopelessly. " She's a loyal 
 soul I think she really loves me. I suppose she 
 only did what she thought would help me." 
 
 I had come to her side of the car and planted 
 myself square in front of her, my hands gripping 
 the top of the closed door. I looked up she 
 shrank visibly before my burning eyes. 
 
 " Nell the letters last night Norah's and 
 Rex's." 
 
 She was aware that some crisis was at hand. 
 " Yes," she said almost in a whisper. 
 
 " You know you have misjudged me all these 
 years, don't you ? " 
 
 " I know it now but, Craig, I was only nine- 
 teen." 
 
 " You were old enough to pretend to love me. 
 You ought never to have believed it. You ought 
 to have given me a chance to explain." I struck 
 the top of the door with my clenched fist in a sud- 
 den rage. " You didn't even tell me your reasons 
 I never dreamed, until yesterday ! " 
 
 She nodded miserably. 
 
 " Nell, you were abominably cruel to me."
 
 Her eyelashes were suddenly wet. Her lips 
 parted, but only an inaudible whisper came from 
 them. I went on. 
 
 " You're sorry for all this ? " 
 
 " Desperately sorry Craig. It's a poor excuse, 
 but I was so young. I didn't really understand 
 a man's love." 
 
 " You owe me every reparation a woman can 
 make a man isn't that so ? " 
 
 " Ye-es." 
 
 " Remember, I've the cheque too I'll use it if 
 you make me. Whatever I ask of you, you're 
 bound to do you admit that ? " 
 
 My eyes frightened her, telling her more than my 
 words. She buried her face in her hands. 
 
 For a moment I looked up at her exultant 
 exultant of the tips of the ears and the neck that 
 burned like fire exultant of the tears that slipped 
 between her close-pressed fingers. Then something 
 snapped within me. I extended a shaking arm 
 toward her. 
 
 " Nell," I cried, " I want you to marry me ! " 
 
 " I can't believe " 
 
 " Yes. Will you marry me, Nell? " 
 
 She stared at me a long time so long that I 
 heard the roar of the surf at the cluT foot, and the 
 very wind sighing through the oak-leaves overhead. 
 The tears slipped unnoticed down her burning 
 cheeks. 
 
 " I love you, Nell," I said. " I've loved you
 
 260 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 every minute since you broke our engagement. 
 That was cruel! You've haunted me all these 
 years, wherever I've been in Sumatra, and every- 
 where. I've been so brutal to you the last three 
 days because I love you. Do you think I'd have 
 threatened you over that cheque business if I hadn't 
 cared for you? I don't say I came home to your 
 home with any idea of winning you back again. 
 I admit I only meant to get revenge. But I 
 wouldn't have cared about revenge, if I hadn't 
 loved you. Can't you see that? You yourself 
 had smashed my ideal of you an ideal I'd cherished 
 above everything else in the world. I've been try- 
 ing to make you feel some of the pain I've felt ever 
 since I learned you weren't what I had thought 
 you were for so long the loveliest and best in the 
 world. Dear, when I saw you again the other day, 
 I knew I loved you more than ever. Will you 
 marry me, Nell? " 
 
 I had not dared to look at her as I spoke. Now, 
 as I did so, I saw that her face had lost its burning 
 color, and her eyes were veiled by their long lashes. 
 Her self-possession had returned. 
 
 " Are you aware that you are asking a thief 
 to become your wife? " 
 
 " Oh, don't ! Let all that go. What's the cheque 
 to me ! It's nothing compared to you." 
 
 " Craig, you are doing me a great honor, 
 but " 
 
 Something in the studied monotony of her tone 
 alarmed me. " What do you mean ? " I began.
 
 I DEMAND PAYMENT 261 
 
 She made an imperious gesture for silence. " A 
 forger could never be your wife." 
 
 " Why not? " 
 
 " A wife must have respect." 
 
 " I don't understand what you're driving at," I 
 said doggedly. 
 
 She gave me a little whimsical smile. " Ah, yes, 
 you do, Craig. Listen! You say you love me?" 
 
 " Yes, with all my heart." 
 
 " You think you do, perhaps now. But on 
 your honor do you respect me? " 
 
 "Oh come! Let all that go! What's all this 
 got to do with " 
 
 Again she made her imperious gesture. " Do 
 you respect me ? " 
 
 I met her gaze stubbornly only for a moment, 
 then my eyes fell before hers. 
 
 " Of course not," she said softly. " How could 
 you? No, Craig, I'll never marry you without re- 
 spect." She gave a little laugh. "Besides I 
 don't love you."
 
 XXIV 
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 
 
 I LEFT her sitting in the car, her eyes veiled by 
 their inscrutable lashes, the half-whimsical smile on 
 her lips. The shadow of the oak fell behind me 
 like a curtain. 
 
 I walked to the edge of the cliff, and stared over 
 the Sound. Some distance out, a dazzling point of 
 light darted from a swordfish hunter's harpoon. A 
 steamer trailed a line of smoke along the horizon. 
 A flock of kildees fluttered and called where a sandy 
 point, running tongue-like from, a little coomb, 
 afforded a hunting ground. At my feet the surf 
 roared sullenly distinct. 
 
 Although Ellen's refusal had given me a heavy 
 blow, yet I had had some premonition of it. The 
 Sutphen pride had been famous for eight genera- 
 tions it had been my fear that her high temper, 
 rebounding from its submission of the last few 
 days, might spur her to desperation, that had led 
 me to lay such stress on the obligations she owed 
 me. I fancied that if I could make her feel the 
 enormity of the injustice she had long done me, she 
 might be willing to recompense me by herself! 
 
 Her spirit completely baffled me. Her contempt 
 of herself in one light was overwhelmed by her de- 
 sire for respect in another. " Besides," she had 
 
 262
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 263 
 
 said, " I don't love you." There was the explana- 
 tion. My hands crumpled the lining of my pockets. 
 
 I remembered that, after all, our relative posi- 
 tions were absolutely unchanged. She still wore 
 the slave's bracelet on her arm, I still held the 
 cheque slung about my neck. She was as much in 
 my power as ever, and I could exercise that power 
 as ruthlessly as I liked. Or would it be better to be 
 a good loser? 
 
 I stared gloomily before me. I felt resentful of 
 the monotonous roar of the surf its relentlessness, 
 its implacability annoyed me. 
 
 Half-unconsciously I noticed a little drama of 
 the sands. A kildee, at the mouth of the coomb, 
 had lifted a shrimp in his bill. At that distance the 
 shrimp, waving helpless antennas, looked startlingly 
 like a tiny human form, imploring mercy of its 
 destroyer. As I watched, the capricious kildee 
 dropped his victim, apparently uninjured, and flew 
 calling derisively above the foam. At the same 
 time, well out on the Sound, I saw a harpoon flash 
 downward a predatory swordfish must have been 
 struck through and through. 
 
 When I returned to the car, the oak threw its 
 heavy shadow over it. Coming into its circle from 
 the brilliant sunshine without, I saw Ellen with diffi- 
 culty a figure mysterious and dim. When at last 
 our eyes met, it would have been hard to tell whose 
 were the more defiant. She fared me with the same 
 tantalizing half smile.
 
 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 I spoke abruptly. " Hold out your hand." 
 
 She obeyed me silently. " No, the left," I said. 
 " That's it. Don't think I want to put another 
 bracelet on you." My fingers fumbled in my 
 pocket. " I fancy that iron has weighed a good 
 many more pounds than its weight sometimes, 
 Nell." 
 
 " Sometimes," she said. 
 
 The sleeve, falling back from the outstretched 
 wrist, let the perplexed, submissive face of the 
 Nubian appear. 
 
 " Here's the key to the thing." I produced it 
 as I spoke, and fitted it in the lock. " I'll unlock 
 it." My lightness began to return to me and I 
 was able to smile up at her with an indifference 
 equal to her own. " I can't control your soul 
 you've just made that plain to me so I won't iron 
 your body." 
 
 I unlocked the trinket and let key and all fall into 
 her lap. She stared from it to me. 
 
 " What shall I do with it? 
 
 " Do with it? I don't care. Throw it away if 
 you like. I fancy it hasn't any pleasant memories 
 connected with it, has it? You might give it to 
 Dot Archer for a dog collar. You don't suppose 
 I'll let you put it on me, do you ? " 
 
 " Turn about is fair play." 
 
 Her words, mechanically soothing, suchi as one 
 tosses to a fretful child, warned me that I was in 
 danger of becoming ridiculous. I drummed on the
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 265 
 
 tonneau with my fingertips as gay a rataplan as 
 I could muster. 
 
 " Well, Nell," I said, " there's nothing but a sea 
 in front of us we can't go any farther in this 
 direction." 
 
 She took my meaning. " Then there's nothing 
 to do but go back. It's hard to travel the back- 
 road, though, Craig." 
 
 " Yes. It'll be all the harder on you after a 
 glimpse of the open." 
 
 She took off her hat and veil and dropped them 
 on the bracelet in her lap. " I think the wind will 
 be soothing." A little sigh escaped her. " I'm 
 all ready." 
 
 I cranked the car, tucked in the rugs about her, 
 and jumped into my seat. Yet once there I felt 
 in no hurry to move. To do so was to go back to 
 the period of tyranny and submission we had 
 escaped for a while. I did not yearn for my 
 former masterful position. For a moment, I was 
 inclined to temporize. 
 
 I gazed straight before me. " Nell, if we go 
 back, I sha'n't have any mercy on you." 
 
 " Do you intend to abuse us indefinitely? " 
 
 " I don't see why I shouldn't if there isn't any 
 other way." 
 
 I looked at her boldly. Her eyes fell before 
 mine and her lip trembled. 
 
 " You're sure you can't agree to the other way, 
 Nell?"
 
 266 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 "I'm sure." 
 
 " On your own head be it, then." 
 
 With a half-articulate curse at my folly, I 
 started the car. I had put on at least three quar- 
 ters power, and absorbed in my chagrin, had headed 
 out toward the cliff. 
 
 The car was unpleasantly near the brink when I 
 brought it about with a swoop, and held a course 
 parallel to the sea. The hazard we had escaped 
 acted on me like a heady wine I was suddenly able 
 to take a cheerful view of life. 
 
 " Another two seconds and our troubles might 
 have been over," I laughed, slowing down to half- 
 speed. 
 
 " A dreadful way to die." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. I never could agree with the 
 prayer-book : * From battle, murder, and sudden 
 death, good Lord! deliver us.' A sudden death is 
 the kind I pray for." 
 
 " Yes but to die without explanations ? 
 Wouldn't that be horrible?" 
 
 " You evidently think so. But it would be a 
 good deal more horrible to linger on, a burden 
 to one's friends and a horror to one's self. I can't 
 imagine anything more ghastly. In fact, I'm all 
 for euthanasia." 
 
 " But not to explain ! " 
 
 "Explain? Explain what?" I glanced at her 
 sharply. " Are you speaking generally, or do you 
 mean to apply it to you and me? "
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 267 
 
 She lifted roe a pair of eyes so dewy, so mys- 
 teriously tender, that I fairly caught my breath. 
 
 " There is something in particular," I began, but 
 got no further. 
 
 My eyes had been on her rather than on our 
 course. Now I felt the car take a sudden dip as 
 a duck squatters for a flight. I glanced up. 
 
 A break in the downs, half slope, half crevasse, 
 lay right across our path. The coomb, at whose 
 mouth I had seen the kildees playing, ran inland 
 far enough to have set a deadly trap for us. 
 
 We had been moving at a fair rate of speed 
 already we were swooping down a slope that ended 
 in a sheer thirty-foot drop. 
 
 I threw off the power, stamped down the foot- 
 brake and, knowing this would not check our im- 
 petus in time, half turned in my seat and with both 
 hands dragged at the emergency-brake. It refused 
 to work! 
 
 I gave a cry half curse and half groan and 
 threw one arm about Ellen my other hand 
 clutched despairingly at the accursed brake-handle. 
 But I knew we would be in mid-air in a breath. I 
 leaned far forward in a frantic effort to break her 
 fall with my own body. 
 
 Then with a heavy jolt, the car stopped at the 
 very brink of the cliff. An arc of the wheels was 
 actually suspended over the steep. The brake had 
 acted at the last possible fraction of time, and the 
 tragedy had become a comedy.
 
 268 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 We stared at each other, both a little pale. A 
 slow shiver ran through her from head to foot. 
 
 " I think you'd better get out," I said gently. 
 " Well, well it was nearly too late for explanations 
 that time." 
 
 She slipped from her seat to the ground. There 
 she stood swaying. She tried to steady herself 
 by a hand against the side of the car but, even as 
 I sprang down to help her, she sank on the running- 
 board. 
 
 I bent anxiously over her. " Are you faint? " 
 
 "No, no. Oh, Craig!" 
 
 To my amazement, she put her arms against the 
 curve of the mud-dasher, buried her face in their 
 hollow, and broke into pitiful weeping. 
 
 " Nell ! Nell, did it frighten you so ? I ought 
 to have been more careful." 
 
 " No no. It isn't that. I'm not frightened 
 not for myself." 
 
 In her position on the running-board she was 
 very close to me. In the broad collar and brown 
 tie, with her tear-wet eyes and shining hair, she 
 looked like a child lost on the moor. The brown 
 hat and veil had slipped from her lap when she had 
 sprung out and now lay where they had fallen. 
 The red bracelet, the key still in the lock, twinkled 
 in the grass nearby. 
 
 I sat down beside her and touched her hair 
 softly. "What is it, Nell? Tell me." 
 
 " If if we had gone over without a chance to 
 explain ! "
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 269 
 
 I slipped my arm about her shoulders. " Look 
 at me, Nell." 
 
 She started, half arose, then sank to her knees 
 in front of me, her eyes very wide. I put both 
 hands on her shoulders and looked at her sternly. 
 
 " Nell listen to me ! I understand one thing 
 at last. I know you never forged that cheque." 
 
 She turned very white. The lashes hid her eyes, 
 and her voice when she spoke was barely audible. 
 
 " What makes you say that? How do you 
 know? " 
 
 " Because I do. When a man loves a girl when 
 he loves her truly he knows her. I know you, 
 Nell. I don't know the how or the why of things, 
 but I know you didn't touch that cheque. Now, I 
 think of it, you've never really said you did. I 
 dare you to say so." 
 
 Her face was buried in her hands the tears 
 'stole between her fingers. I undid a button of my 
 coat and drew out the packet. 
 
 " There it is. Let it all go. Tear the vile thJng 
 up." 
 
 She made no move to do so. On the contrary, 
 she gave me her quaint smile and to my surprise 
 proceeded to open it. She paused to dash away 
 her tears. 
 
 " If if I hadn't lost my handkerchief, I I 
 wouldn't look so silly." 
 
 " Tear up the the confounded mischief- 
 maker," I repeated. " I never want to see it 
 again."
 
 270 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 Still she did not obey, but slowly unfolded the 
 buff-colored slip of paper. 
 
 " So this is it? " She stared at it as if she had 
 never seen it before. " ' First National Bank of 
 New York, ' " she read. " May 12, 1910.' " 
 
 "Oh, don't," I interrupted. "Let it all go, 
 Nell. What's the use!" 
 
 She read on serenely in an even tone. " ' Pay 
 to the order of Ellen Sutphen twenty-five thousand 
 dollars. Craig Schuyler.' ' She reversed the 
 cheque, and went on. " Endorsed : ' Ellen Sut- 
 phen.' ' She drew a long breath and looked at me. 
 " You don't believe I wrote it ? " 
 
 " No, I don't," I declared doggedly. " I don't 
 believe a word of it." 
 
 Suddenly her face was very close to mine, full 
 of the laughing, wistful light I had seen a few 
 moments before. 
 
 " Craig Schuyler," she said a little brokenly, 
 " do you know, sir, you're a very noble person? 
 Don't interrupt me please! You believe in me 
 now and and I'm going to tell you everything. 
 I've been wicked not to tell you long ago, but you 
 were so violent you fell on mother and me like 
 a whirlwind. You didn't give us a chance. Craig, 
 I never saw that thing before and I didn't write it 
 neither did mother. No, no don't interrupt ! " 
 
 She snatched up the packet and drew out another 
 paper I had carried in it Rex's letter to Norah. 
 
 " Craag, compare the last line here the one I
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 71 
 
 wrote, and my name with the writing on the 
 cheque. Yes please do. Do you think they look 
 alike?" 
 
 I gave a triumphant shout. " No, no, they 
 aren't the same ! If I'd seen your handwriting any 
 time these four years, I would have known that sig- 
 nature wasn't yours. Hallelujah!" I scrutinized 
 letter and endorsement. " Somebody was imitat- 
 ing your hand pretty closely, Nell." 
 
 She nodded. The light died out of her eyes and 
 she blushed painfully. " Craig, mother and I 
 didn't know anything about the cheque until it was 
 too late but Ned did." 
 
 " O-o-h ! " I said in long-drawn enlightenment. 
 " It was Ned ! " 
 
 " Yes. The wretched boy took advantage of 
 your being in Sumatra. It was easy enough for 
 him to see your signature it's on the fly-leaves of 
 several books in the library. He did it. He 
 thought, of course, you wouldn't know about it for 
 months, away off there in the East. And of course 
 he meant to make it up somehow, before you got 
 back. Then he saw by the papers that you were in 
 Paris on the way home." 
 
 " The cashier of the First National sent me a 
 cablegram there in Paris about the cheque," I 
 said. " I cabled him it was all right, although, of 
 course, I knew something was all wrong." 
 
 " When Ned saw you were so near home, he came 
 and confessed to mother and me. Then he went
 
 272 I FASTEN A BRACELET 
 
 West he went into hiding out there. He would 
 have been there yet if I hadn't written him about 
 Mary." 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 " Ned ran away, but we couldn't undo the harm 
 he'd done. You see, he'd had the money placed to 
 my account he thought he'd use it to make up 
 the money of mine he'd lost, you know. After 
 we'd found out after Ned had gone we didn't 
 dare put the money back to your credit it would 
 have looked so queer. Besides, we didn't know how 
 to go about it, and we were afraid to ask any one 
 horribly afraid to move. Of course you know 
 we've never touched a cent of it." 
 
 " You poor child ! " 
 
 " That's all, I think. Except that when you 
 appeared, mother was determined to shield Ned 
 and I I " 
 
 " Well, why did you pretend to be guilty ? " I 
 demanded. " Surely Ned wasn't worth that." 
 
 " Because because you hurt me so by believing 
 for a minute " 
 
 " But you hurt me by believing that I was a 
 Carlos Beauchamp." 
 
 She gave a little sob. " Oh, Craig ! when you 
 asked me a little while ago when you asked me 
 to marry you, you admitted you couldn't respect 
 me, and so so I said I didn't love you." 
 
 I turned my face against the side of the car. 
 " Nell," I said huskily. " You're right how can
 
 THE CHURCH AT TARNSDALE 273 
 
 you love me ! I'm a beast ! I'm not fit to associate 
 with anybody but savages I'll go back where I be- 
 long. Dear heart, can you ever forgive me for 
 making you wear that? " I pointed to the bracelet 
 in the grass at her knee. 
 
 She gave me a look, marvellously dewy and be- 
 wildering. With a quick motion she picked up the 
 bracelet and locked it on her wrist. She tossed the 
 key into a wave that broke just below us. Her 
 eyes were deep and her lips were very tremulous. 
 
 " If you wish we'll never unlock it," she whis- 
 pered. 
 
 " Nell ! " I cried. " Do you mean it? " 
 
 I put both hands on her shoulders and drew her 
 to me. Our lips met with a passion that shook us 
 through and through. 
 
 After a little she held me from her. " Oh, how 
 cruel I've been to you, Craig all these years." 
 
 " You're making up for it now. Poor Aleck ! I 
 can almost say, poor Beauchamp ! " 
 
 She blushed adorably. " Poor Norah ! " she 
 whispered, " even if she does become a countess." 
 
 " The church at Tarnsdale would do," I said 
 irrelevantly. 
 
 "Oh, Craig!" 
 
 The surf roared at the mouth of the coomb. 
 The kildees called above it. The shrimps swam in 
 the little pools. And Nell and I rested contentedly 
 against the car, the grass whispering about us.
 
 A NEW SPARKLING ROMANCE 
 
 The Woman in Question 
 
 By JOHN REED SCOTT 
 
 Autbvr of"Tbe Colonel of the Red Huzzart," "The Princest Dekr*' 1 
 and "Beatrix of Clare" 
 
 THREE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR 
 BY CLARENCE F. UNDERWOOD 
 
 ismo. Decorated cloth, $1.50 
 
 " The Woman in Question" is a romance, but not of 
 Valeria nor mediaeval England. Mr. Scott has remained 
 home in America, and the scenes are laid in the Eastern 
 United States. The story is distinctly modern in tone and 
 theme, and centers in and around Fairlawn Hall, an old 
 mansion with a marvellous garden, lying on the outskirts of 
 Egerton, where the new master has come with a party of 
 friends to find mystery, misfortune, and love awaiting him. 
 
 Mr. Scott shows steady improvement in each succeeding 
 novel, and he has planned this latest story well, filling it 
 with many surprises and dramatic moments. 
 
 " The story has dash and verve." 
 
 New York Times Saturday Review of Books. 
 
 "There are few heroines in latter-day American fiction comparable 
 with charming Mildred Gascoyne." Philadelphia North American. 
 
 " The dialogue is bright and sparkling, the characters interesting, and 
 the plot sufficiently exciting. The woman in question, young, beautiful, 
 and spirited, is involved in mystery, the unfolding of which introduces 
 ome thrilling episodes." Boston Evening Transcript. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT CO. KSiSSffi
 
 ROBERT HICHENS* GREATEST NOVEL 
 
 Again Robert Hichens has taken his reader to Northern 
 Africa. This time to the Nile Valley and its sands, its 
 rocky wilderness and the ruins of millenniums. Here his 
 rich imagination has developed one of those Anglo-Oriental 
 romances in the weaving of which he has proved himself 
 a past-master. Again the reader may enjoy the vivid 
 coloring of his pen pictures of the desert. His descriptive 
 powers have lost none of their force. 
 
 As in "The Garden of Allah," we have in Mr. 
 Hichens' new novel the mystery of the Orient, idealism, 
 romance, the great expanse of the desert. Northern Africa 
 is the scene of " Bella Donna" the valley of the Nile, its 
 rocks and ruins and sandy wastes, form its background. 
 The story deals with the conflict of an earthly woman and 
 a man of ideals a woman who loves the material pleasures 
 of the earth and knows nothing about " conscience " and 
 "soul," while the man, her direct opposite, looks into 
 material matters for the spiritual and ideal. 
 
 "It is Egypt as 'Kim' is India." New York Times. 
 
 " A remarkable piece of work, as noteworthy in its way 
 
 as ' The Garden of Allah ' or The Call of the Blood.' " 
 
 San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
 " Such a novel substantial, powerful, overwhelming 
 in its inevitable climax as comes to the public only once 
 or so in a decade." St. Louis Globe- Democrat. 
 
 " This is one of the best novels we have ever read, and 
 quite the best that Mr. Robert Hichens has written. It 
 combines the two elements of which every good novel 
 ought to be composed, subtle analysis of character and an 
 exciting plot" Saturday Review, London. 
 
 I2mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA
 
 A SPIRITED TALE OF OLD ANNAPOLIS 
 
 THE IMPOSTOR 
 
 By JOHN REED SCOTT 
 
 jtuthor cf " Tbi Colonel tf the Red Huxxari" " Tbt (Toman in Qutstitn," 
 " The Prineesi Dtbra" *te. 
 
 THREE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR 
 By CLARENCE F. UNDERWOOD 
 
 1 2 mo. Decorated Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 Mr. Scott has already written fiction, romantic and realis- 
 tic, medieval and modern, native and alien, and in his latest 
 book, The Impostor, cleverly blends all these elements. It 
 is a story of Annapolis in the days of 1766, of a young English 
 lord who comes there under an assumed name, and of a dash- 
 ing pirate who sails into society incognito. Love and fighting 
 and keen repartee diversify the book and show Mr. Scott's 
 cleverness. 
 
 " A novel of gay spirit and sprightly movement." 
 
 New Orleans Picayune. 
 
 " Enlivened by sprightly dialogue and with an occasional scene 
 in which a gentleman pirate plays a leading r61e, the romance 
 ranks with its author's best works." Chicago Daily News. 
 
 " A well-told tale, graceful in its style, pleasing in its texture, 
 and stirring in its episodes. It shows, in every way, a broadening 
 of the powers of the author, whose previous novels were suffi- 
 ciently scintillant and dashing for every reader of whatever taste." 
 
 Philadelphia Record. 
 
 " A rattling good story describes the story well, but it is also a 
 story told with infinite delicacy and grace. The airy compliments 
 between man and maid in those leisurely days, the coquetry of 
 the women fostered by their scarcity in the colony, the rivalries 
 of the men for the favor of the few eligible ladies of quality who 
 graced the large estates surrounding the capitals, the atmosphere 
 of the place, and the stately dignity of members of the Colonial 
 Council are all skilfully depicted. The writer has caught also 
 the warm personal interest and affection existing between families 
 and men dependent wholly upon one another for official and 
 social companionship. Altogether, Mr. Scott has written a spirited 
 and vivid book. The illustrations are also delightful." 
 
 Baltimore Sun. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT CO.
 
 AN ENGROSSING MTSTERT-DETECTI^E TALE 
 
 The Scales of Justice 
 
 By GEORGE L. KNAPP 
 
 Three illustrations in color by tht Kinneyi. I2mo. Cloth, 
 
 JUDGE BEN B. LINDSEY 
 of Denver, writes 
 
 " George L. Knapp's book, 'The Scales of Justice,' is one 
 of the very best contributions thus far made to that class of 
 literature dealing with the abuses of our police departments. 
 Besides being a story of intense mystery, cleverly and won- 
 derfully well written, it is a book with a purpose, which gives 
 it a double value and an added interest. It possesses all the 
 fascination and interest of our best detective stories, which 
 should attract the average reader and, at the same time, be- 
 cause of its wonderful portrayal of that political combination 
 between big business and vice in the cities of this country, 
 makes it equally appealing to every good citizen interested in 
 our modern political and economic problems. It ought to 
 be one of the best sellers." 
 
 "A tale that is startling enough to make one forget that startling 
 deeds have been done and written of before." Chicago Tribune. 
 
 " Virile and glowing. It will satisfy the desire of the reader for 
 something to keep him awake." Seattle Post- Intelligencer. 
 
 "A detective mystery story which really sustains its ntytery to 
 the finish and provides a novel denouement." 
 
 Pittsburg Gazette- Times. 
 
 " This is a strong, well-written, interest-gripping romance, full 
 of action ; the best mystery story of the year and unique in that 
 its claim to public approval as an absorbing story of present-day 
 life is equalled by its appeal to the humanitarian sentiments and 
 finer instincts of the reader, for it is the most impressive expos6 
 of the essential infamy of the modern police method known as 
 1 the third degree ' that has been written." 
 
 Twentieth Century Magazine, Boston. 
 
 " Not until the very last chapter does the reader even guess the 
 identity of the murderer, and then the surprise is great and the 
 story takes an entirely novel and unexpected turn. It would be 
 unfair to author, publisher, and reader to print this remarkable 
 denouement, but it is so strong and logical as well as unexpected 
 that it is worth reading the book to enjoy the thrill that it supplies 
 at the end." New York Herald. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT CO.
 
 "-EASILY THE BOOK OF THE DAT" 
 
 San Francuu Argonaut 
 
 Routledge Rides Alone 
 
 By WILL LEVINGTON COMFORT 
 
 COLORED FRONTISPIECE BY MARTIN JUSTICE 
 12MO. CLOTH, WITH INLAY IN COLORS, $1.50 
 
 HERE is a talc indeed big and forceful, palpitating with 
 interest, and written with the sureness of touch and the 
 breadth of a man who is master of his art. Mr. Comfort 
 has drawn upon two practically new story-places hi the world of 
 fiction to furnish the scenes for his narrative India and Manchuria 
 at the time of the Russo-Japanese War. While the novel is dis- 
 tinguished by its clear and vigorous war scenes, the fine and sweet 
 romance of the love of the hero, Routledge a brave, strange, 
 and talented American for the "most beautiful woman in Lon- 
 don " rivals these in interest. 
 
 The story opens hi London, sweeps up and down Asia, and 
 reaches its most rousing pitch on the ghastly field of Liaoyang, in 
 Manchuria. The one-hundred-mile race from the field to a free 
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 war correspondent, is as exciting and enthralling as anything that 
 has appeared hi fiction in recent years. 
 
 "A big, vital, forceful story that towers giant-high a romance to hire the 
 hours away in tense interest a book with a message for all mankind." 
 
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 " Three such magnificent figures as Routledge, Noreen, and Rawder nerer 
 before have appeared together in fiction. Take it all in all, ' Routledge Rides 
 Alone ' is a great novel, full of sublime conception , one of the few novels that 
 are as ladders from heaven to earth. ' ' San Francisco Argonaut. 
 
 "The story unfolds a vast and vivid panorama of life. The first chapters 
 remind one strongly of the descriptive Kipling we once knew. We commend the 
 book for its sustained interest. We recommend it for ha descriptive power." 
 
 Boston Evening Transcript. 
 
 Here is one of the strongest novels of the year ; a happy blending of 
 romance and realism, vivid, imaginative, dramatic, and, above all, a well told story 
 with a purpose. It is a red-blooded story of war and love, with a touch of th 
 mysticism of India, some world politics, love of country, and hate of oppression 
 a tale of clean and expert workmanship, powerful and personal." 
 
 Pittsburg Dispatch. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA
 
 A FASCINATING DRAMATIC NOVEL OF ACTION- 
 
 The Winning Chance 
 
 By ELIZABETH DEJEANS 
 Colored Frontispiece. I2mo. Cloth, 
 
 <D 
 
 'E HAVE no hesitancy in pronouncing this 
 powerful story one of the most impressive 
 studies of our highly nervous American life 
 that has been published in a long while. It is written 
 with enormous vitality and emotional energy. The 
 grip it takes on one intensifies as the story proceeds. 
 
 A young Southern girl becomes stenographer to a 
 hard, wilful financier, and the story of her life of sacri- 
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 the financier, is a most masterful and dramatic character. 
 His strength of will and intellectual power are irresistible. 
 The way he handles his big problems and pays his 
 "heavy toll" is unforgettable. 
 
 CRITICAL OPINIONS 
 
 " A book which will arouse as much discussion as Eugene Walter's 
 play, "The Easiest Way." St. Louis Times. 
 
 " The theme of the book involves one of the deepest and darkest 
 tragedies of civilization a tragedy that should arouse a nation to action." 
 
 Edwin Markham. 
 
 " The story is an absorbing one. The conflict between the self-made 
 man, with his insurgent vitality and egotism, and the appealing figure of 
 the girl is convincingly set forth." N. Y. Times Saturday Review. 
 
 "A story of compelling interest, but handled to such purpose that 
 while the hearts of all who read it will be moved to sympathy, the book 
 carries an uplift." San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
 " Elizabeth Dejeans carries her readers irresistibly into the hearts and 
 lives of her story's people. There is a depth of human interest in 'The 
 Winning Chance ' that causes one to turn back to certain chapters after the 
 book has been more than once carefully read." 
 
 Boston Btidget and Beacon. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
 
 A 000128255 7