Janet of the Dunes

his shoulders, and laughed lightly. "Katharine and I have had a sneaking desire

m my chess training. When a child begins that pastime, as you might say, in h

r, Dick; it's beastly

in my hut on the Hills. Being al

d. A fire of driftwood crackled on the hear

e right that says all is fair in love and war. I admit that I was shaking in my boots that day for fear you migh

complaint. Good Lord! a doctor's wife might quite as well feel hers

ughed; "it's carrying the thing too far when you lik

I mean. It belongs to the art and need not be dragge

gh was gone from the

the depths of the rich glow upon the grate and too

model gave

y drew himself togethe

ld you? It must have given the little

leasant for me to witness, but, thank God, the woman in her saved her soul from u

You have tol

ow night. I waited for her to speak first to me; I hoped she wo

rous enough to forgive you

such a case, if she suspects what Katharin

rine thought, Dick?" The ol

ow, Mr. Devant. The effect of the blow upon the object was proof e

us of you and your dissecting room. You must realize she had cause for surprise that day? Why, the little devil looked like a siren and the bare

ferent, dete

ic

This means much to me. I have never had but one ideal of womanhood that

as an unusual

s what I have

young to be s

to forego my id

ay of glasses and a bottle. After he was go

the one thing needful to make your success in life secure. Her fortune will place you above the necessity of struggling. You can paint as genius moves and give the public only your best

t comes to me just as Davy's Light comes of an early morning when

he answered. "I own I was in rather a mist

nce? You see I am presuming upon old f

ght train!" Thornly gave ven

t but for me this might not have occurred.

am sure she will ask me to release her from

n the deep voice,-"a fool, and something worse. Gentlemen do

th this between us would be sheer folly. To refer to it must in itself bring about the result I expect. I have no desire to enter Katharine's world and she has no

he girl l

she loved me, she must ha

about the room, then he came back a

glass of my-wine?

to decline, but

d instead. And the two s

d man; I can claim certain privileges on that score, and if life means anything past forty, it means sharing its

e your friendliness, but please do not give yourself pain. If life means anything under forty, it means getti

id some Quixotic idea of defending this little pimpernel of ours moves you to take this step. Believe me, nothing y

s, but the proud uplift of the head

on a very small foundation, providing the soil is good. But the mother in no wise accounts for the daughter. She was a simple, uneducated woman, with rather an unpleasant way of shunning her kind. James B. Smith, my gardener, permitted me to wring this from him. He doesn't fancy Captain Billy Morgan, thinks him rather a saphead. He hinted at a necessity for the marriage of this same Billy and the girl's mother. It's about the one sin the Quintonites know as a sin. They come as near going back upon each other fo

uld reply to this man who, above all else, in his

cking us senseless in an hour of danger. But it's better to let us see and know the danger; we'll recognize it the next time. All I can say is, that

two bookcases, opened it, and too

is?" he asked, handing T

nly at the picture,-"I should say that it

coloring, of course, is lacking. I never saw such glorious hair and eyes. The eyes gave pr

Devant. He felt as if he were in

ess a confidence that he felt, once told, might wield an influence over his own acts, and this

exquisite face. Thornly hoped that would end the matter, but his companion was bent upon his course.

estimates happiness by superficialities. A smile, a la

en the outwar

Have you ever read

ad all he writes in about the same way a ch

to marry the one pure love of his life but stip

rimly. "That was a devi

y spectres and get a deal of comfort from the saner reality of maturer years; I never could. That girl"-he touched the closed book as if it were the grave that concealed her-"has always co

onger shield himself from the undes

matters. My father must have found out, though I was never sure of that. Father was a man who kept a calm exterior under any emotion; but he sent me abroad, and I, not knowing that he had discovered anything, dared not confess. I meant to come back at a year's end and set all straight in some way. Good God! set things straight! How we poor devils go through the world knocking down things like so many ten pins and solacing ourselves with the fancy that when we finish the game we'll set the pins in place again! We never get

slowly. The tale had clutched him in a

ll else, and the one unpardonable sin suffices for them. They grade their society by their attitude toward that. But old Thornd

forward with hands close clasped before him, hi

ndyke

A

she did! The man was good to her; but the city, and other things, were too much, and she lived only a short time. There was a child! I wanted to do something for it; I had a passion of remorse then, but Thorndyke told me that the child's best interest lay in my letting her alo

, and Thornly felt a kind of pity th

ou the true facts?" he asked

nd turned deep eyes

to his life's end as counsellor and friend; but not for the hope of heaven would he have lied! No, that's why I confided in Thorndyke, I could not have trusted

Thornly spoke almost affection

So, perhaps, can I wipe out the wrong in this life and get strength of a better sort for the next trial on beyond, if there is another trial! I suppose every man wants to show, and live the best that is in him; not many get the chance here, from

was holding out his hand in

I sincerely wish that you might some day, well, you un

t, Dick. Can't yo

Hills. I've some las

-morrow

The two men looked keenl

I've business in the city. I always put up at the

. Devant, and a

led me. It was only for a few moments I imagined it, but it gave me quite a jog. I suppose it was the state of my nerves; one can rely upon Davy. He's a great philosopher in his way. His lamp is his duty; his lamp and that poor crippled wife of his who has just died. Davy is one of the few me

raight young figure fade into the night

t in the order of things to trust a man with a new duty, when he failed with

house and sat down before the dullin

e to me. It all depends upon how deep the thing has gone, but, in case he needs any one, I