No Hero

ough; it was my intrusion, and nothing else, which had fanned his boyish flame into this premature conflagration. Of that I felt convinced. But Bob would not believe me if I told him so; and what el

e question upon other groun

s. Lascelles, to betray C

as useless to speak to the lad; it was impossible to speak to the woman. To be sure, she might not accept him; but the mere knowledge that she was to have the chance seemed enormousl

tangled w

we practise

that it should. I put myself back into the fascinating little room in Elm Park Gardens. I saw the slender figure in the picture hat, I heard the half-humorous and half-pathetic voice. After all, it was for Catherine I had undertaken this ridi

f dinner. There was only one chance now of saving the wretched Bob, or rather one way of setting to work to save him; and that was

ave married the dear young idiot on the spot. Not that my own marriage (with Mrs. Lascelles) was an end that I contemplated for a moment as I took my cynical resolve. And now I trust that I have made both my

or the face to thrust myself upon them. Everything was altered since Bob had shown me his hand; there were certain rules of the game which even I must now observe. So I left him in undisputed possession of the perilous

Teale, fit for Church Parade, or for the afternoon act in one of his own fashion-plays, took round the offertory bags, into which Mr. Justice Sankey (in race-course checks) dropped gold. It was not the sort of service at which one cares to look about one, but I was among the early comers, and I could not help it. Mrs. Lascelles, however, was there before me, whereas Bob Evers was not there at all. Nevertheless, I did not mean to walk back with her until I saw her walkin

ked, in her own natural fashion, when w

ldn't expect to see

ic) key, "I suppose it is you who are much more surprised at seeing me. I can't help it if you are, Captain Clephane. I am not real

agined her, and was it really a dilemma to her? New hopes began to chase my fears, and were gaining upon them when a flannel suit on the sunlit steps caused a temporary check: there was Bob

asked my companion, her step slowin

she knows all ab

" exclaimed Mrs. Lascelles, "for I know nothing and believe a

ther on the previous Sunday; but I guessed almost as much on the spot, and it put out of my head both the unjust assumption of

ggested, eagerly; but we were close to the steps, and before she could re

form, for I've got a scheme: instead of putting in another chapel I p

as pointedly excluded me, but she stood between the two

Clephane was in the very act

instant in spite of Et

," I cried before he c

d his suit in my presence, while I should certainly have done my best to retard it; still,

well as I can; you can't miss it; besides, I've seen it, and I really ought to sta

betrayed no signs of desperate impulse, only those

uide," said I, "Zerm

angs out up here in the season. They expect him back from a big tri

the spurious ring his laugh had now; it was like the death-knell of the simple and the single heart that it had been my lot, if not m

fidential in single file; or the noise of falling waters drowned our voices, when we stood together on that precarious platform in the cool depths of the gorge, otherwise such an admirable setting for the scene that I foresaw. Then it was a beautiful walk in itself, with its short tacks in the precipitous pine-woods above, its sudden plunge into the sunken gorge

he first and worst catastrophe on the Matterhorn, and were looking in silence upon the primitive portraits of the two younger Englishmen who had lost their lives on that historic occasion. It appeared that they had both been about the same age as Bob E

Captain Clephane; do

time while I considered what to say; for

on't let him go up the Matterhorn to-night, or to-mor

o am I to prevent that young gen

were more or

less tha

very intimate

a pretty pen

as o

you ought to do your best to keep h

did so with only too much interest; no doubt I was equally clumsy of

t to keep the lad out of harm's way. He is the apple of her eye; they are simply all the world to one another.

leased; but Mrs. Lascelles only looked at me with her mouth tight shut and her eyes wide op

ent chains and things where there used to be polished precipices. It makes the real mountaineers rather scornful; anyone w

he danger,

the s

, "and the sport, of cour

n my veiled warning; it never occurred to me that Mrs. Lascelles might be indulging in a veiled retort. I thought she was annoyed at the hint that I had given her. I began to repent of that myself. It had quite spoilt our

to Mrs. Lascelles, straightway followed me to my room. He was pale with a suppressed anger which flared up even

se sticks of yours," he said, qui

nded, thinking for the momen

m now at once, when the post comes in, and there are plenty of people about to s

rt sinking within me. "W

altered and softened to a veritabl

e good use of his time! I only got wind of it an hour or two ago, of course quite by accident, and I haven't seen the fellow since; but he's particularly keen on his letters, and either he explains himself to my satisfaction or I make an example of him before the

r he was actually holding out his hand: "you

ephane, the fellow says she was divorced in I

his face. It

g to thrash Quinb

ertainly am," said Bob, the f

wice about it, Bo

you suppose I have been thi

a fresh scan

't hel

s mouth with a

good wil

t's all! It's no use talking,

y it at last, reluctantly enough, yet with a wretched feel

You don't know what pals we've been. Of course I never asked questions, but she's t

ge to myself until now. "I could not give her away even to you, Bob, nor yet tell you that I had known her before

e spoke his whole manner changed toward me. His face had darkened at my unexpected confirmation of the odious rumour, but already it was beginning to lighten toward me, as though he found my attitude the one redeeming feature in the new

uncan-you won't mind my telling you now-as a bit of a deliberate interloper! But all the time you knew her first

horr

d, "do you mean to say t

s off him, I suppose, though to my mind

an you at your age seriously think of marrying a woman

oing to let it make a difference now. Do you suppose I would stand away from her becaus

erent, with as much conviction as tho

the very last thing you're

was quite different in my case-that I was a good te

fened on

you don't mind. And I hope you won't, for you've been most awfully good to me, you know! I never th