an he couldn't talk in that good-humored, witty way if he had
plotted to leave you on the _couloir_?"

"Well," said Lawrence, "I suppose I did feel something of the kind."

"I don't know that it's very logical," Lucy rejoined, hiding her alarm.
"You agreed with Foster's conclusions when he was here."

"I did, to some extent. The way Jake argued out the matter made things
look pretty bad."

"But they look better now? Walters was talking to you in your room?"

"He didn't say much about our climb; just a word or two of regret for
his carelessness in not seeing what had happened to the guide."

"Words that were very carefully chosen, no doubt!"

"Well," said Lawrence, "I'm frankly puzzled; the more I think about our
adventure, the harder it is to decide how much one could hold Walters
accountable for. It _was_ difficult to throw me up the rope without
slipping, and there was only a small, projecting rock, on which he
might have broken his bones, to prevent his tobogganing to the bottom.
If he had slid past it, he would have been killed."

"Walters wouldn't hesitate about a risk. It might have looked like an
accident if you hadn't heard Foster's story."

Lawrence knitted his brows, rather impatiently. "After all, Jake's a
romantic fellow, and his explanation's theatrical."

"You don't like theatrical things," Mrs. Stephen interposed. "You must
admit that they happen, but you feel it's ridiculous that they should
happen to you."

"I imagine I do feel that," Lawrence agreed with a smile. "When they
happen to somebody else they're not so unnatural."

Lucy tried to preserve her self-control, but her tone was sharp as she
said, "Then you feel inclined to forgive Walters the pain and illness
he caused you."

"It would be harder to forgive him your anxiety," Lawrence rejoined,
and his face set hard. "In fact, if I knew he really had plotted the
thing------" He paused and resumed: "One would be justified in killing
a brute who could do what you imagine, but there's a difference between
hating a crime and punishing the man accused of it before you have
proved his guilt. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep an open mind."

"But you will be careful and not trust him far," Lucy urged.

"I'll run no risks; I've some ground for being cautious."

Lucy said no more. Lawrence was not well yet and sometimes got
obstinate if one argued with him. She thought he would be prudent, but
it was comforting to remember tha