ocks lining their portion of the coast. Here they found
a retreat where they could hide themselves (often when they were thought
to be abed and asleep) and play together for money or for a supper in
the city or for anything else that foolish fancy suggested. This was
while their little son remained an infant; later, they were less easily
satisfied. Both craved company, excitement, and gambling on a large
scale; so they took to inviting friends to meet them in this grotto
which, through the agency of one old servant devoted to Roger to the
point of folly, had been fitted up and lighted in a manner not only
comfortable but luxurious. A small but sheltered haven hidden in the
curve of the rocks made an approach by boat feasible at high tide;
and at low the connection could be made by means of a path over the
promontory in which this grotto lay concealed. The fortune which Roger
had inherited from his mother made these excesses possible, but many
thousands, let alone the few he could call his, soon disappeared under
the witchery of an irresponsible woman, and the half-dozen friends who
knew his secret had to stand by and see his ruin, without daring to
utter a word to the one who alone could stay it. For Homer Upjohn was
not a man to be approached lightly, nor was he one to listen to charges
without ocular proof to support them; and this called for courage, more
courage than was possessed by any one who knew them both.

He was a hard man was Homer Upjohn, but with a heart of gold for those
he loved. This, even his wary daughter-in-law was wise enough to detect,
and for a long while after the birth of her child she besieged him with
her coaxing ways and bewitching graces. But he never changed his first
opinion of her, and once she became fully convinced of the folly of
her efforts, she gave up all attempt to please him and showed an open
indifference. This in time gradually extended till it embraced not only
her child but her husband as well. Yes, it had come to that. His love no
longer contented her. Her vanity had grown by what it daily fed on, and
now called for the admiration of the fast men who sometimes came up
from Boston to play with them in their unholy retreat. To win this, she
dressed like some demon queen or witch, though it drove her husband into
deeper play and threatened an exposure which would mean disaster not
only to herself but to the whole family.

In all this, as any one could see, Roger had been her sla