The Thousandth Woman

to be applied by every decent tongue except her own. If, however, it be conceded that she herself had reached the purely mental stage of some self-conscious

old punt. And yet, this wonderful September afternoon, she did somehow look even better than at either or any of those congenial pursuits, and that long before they reached the river; in the emp

all he had about him to see it down again as in the oldest of old days; but there was more gold in her skin, for so the sun had treated it; and there was even hint or glint (in certain lights, be it repeated) of gold mingling with the pure hazel of her e

to reconstruct, quite bitter battles to fight over again, but never a lump in either throat that the other could have guessed was there. And so out upon the leafy lawn, shelving abruptly to the river; round first, however, to the drying-green where the careta

er timber, broken as to every other cobwebbed pane, empty and

-house, quite apart from the house itself; scene of such

ed in ivy, like three matted, whiskered, dirty, happy faces; one, with its lower sash propped open by a

legs inside. But his knife had reminded him of his plug tobacco. And his plug tobacco took him as st

eard and freckled fists) he swore I was charging him for half a pound more than he'd ever had. I was station storekeeper, you see; it was quite the beginning of things, and I'd have had to pay the few bob myself, and be made to

't mean

the moment before; now she was all

od Lord, no; but there w

lambent as soft moonlight, flickered in

a very dangerous pe

mean him to wipe his boots on you. I soon found that out. I'd have given something to have learned

t. Poor Blanche had almost to hold her nose over the primary cause of battle; but the dialogue was delightful, and Cazalet himself made a most gallant and engaging figure as he sat on the sill and reeled it out. He had always been a fluent teller of any happening, and Blanche a ready commentator, capable of raising the general level of the entertainment at any moment. But after all these centuries it was fun enoug

ating. "You couldn't help liking

tly out her window, at the opposite end of the bow to Cazalet's, that a

ent anglers anchored in a punt; they had not raised a rod between them during all this time that Blanche had been out in Australia; b

"Oh, a jolly good sort

nche, just smiling at

she ought to, when she's lived there all her life. The rooms aren't much, but the verandas are what count most; they're better than

irty window on the Middlesex bank of the Thames. It was a shame of the September sun to show the dirt as it was doing; not only was there a great steady pool of sunlight on the unspeakable floor, but a doddering reflection from the river on the disreputa

e somewhere on some gravel. Confound those ca

you'd like it out there, a sportswoman like you!

neither was she watching her little anglers stamped in jet upon a silvery stream, nor even seeing any more of Nelly Potts in the Australian veranda. She had come home from Australia, and come in from the river, and she

e. "And your old lady-in-waiting

ent picture. He did not look the least bit out of it. But Cazalet did, in an instant; his old bush clothes changed at once into a merely shabby suit of despicable cut; the romance dropped out of them

Cazalet was a man again, and making a mighty effort to

on your tracks so soon. It's hog-luck, sir, because I wanted to see you quit

! W

ack with Toye into Cazalet's life; and even in Blanche's presence, even in her scho

it, which set Blanche off trying to remember something he had said at the other house;

?" he ju

s morning," sa

man?" cried Blanche, look

t at the river, seeing nothing in his turn, though

che remembered him, remembered dancing with

w like the police all over! Give a dog a bad name, a

y," said Hilton Toye. "That's more like the police

hear of it?"

I figured to look in at the Kingston Court on my way to call upon Miss Blan

el

As luck and management would have it betw

thought of him yourself

dings opened against him. They were all over in

he a beard?" demanded Cazal

han his usual deliberation in answering or asking questions.

ike, before they come out," said C

Toye. "That would only prejudice his case, if it's going to be one of

he was a dotard in our time; they c

er have it than circumstantial e

idence of identity." He turned to Cazalet, who had betrayed a quickened interest in his views. "Shall I tell you why? Think how often you're not so sure if you have seen a

it all my life, even in the wilds

rcumstantial evidence can't lie, Miss Blanche, if you get enough of it. If the links fit in, to prove that a certain person

garden. "Mr. Toye's made a study of these things," he fired over his shou

ye, laughing. "I may co

ame of tangled greenery.

poor old crook. If you're right, and he's not the man