d with
swift frankness, "or neglects to think kindly in her secret heart of
any one who has told her that story; and I am a woman."

For a brief moment her hand rested warm and throbbing within his own,
and there passed an electric flash of the eyes between them. Then she
withdrew her fingers and opened the door.

"Good-bye," she whispered, the word lingering like perfume, and
vanished, even as he took a step toward her.

CHAPTER VIII

"HE MEANS FIGHT"

Winston remained staring blankly at the closed door behind which she
had so swiftly vanished, his mind a chaos of doubt. He assuredly never
purposed saying what he had said under the spur of deprivation, yet he
regretted no single word that he had uttered. That he earnestly
worshipped this briefly known woman was a fact borne in upon him
suddenly; yet now, the fact once completely realized, he surrendered
unconditionally to the inevitable. For a moment his thought of her
obscured all lesser things; he saw nothing else in the wide world
really worth striving after--every aroused impulse thrilled to the fair
face, the soft voice of Beth Norvell. He was no "quitter," no
faint-heart either in love or in war, and he was now far too deeply in
earnest to accept as final a stingless rejection spoken by lips that
were so openly contradicted by the smiling eyes above. Whatever of
stern necessity might have inspired the utterance of such words of cold
renunciation, it was assuredly neither indifference nor dislike. He
forgave the lips, recalling only the eyes.

With his hand still pressed against the porch railing, the young man
suddenly recalled Biff Farnham, his cool gray eyes as instantly
hardening, his lips pressed together. What possible part in the dusk
of the shadowed past did that disreputable gambler play? What
connection could he hold, either in honor or dishonor, with the
previous life history of Beth Norvell? He did not in the least doubt
her, for it was Winston's nature to be entirely loyal, to be
unsuspicious of those he once trusted. Yet he could not continue
completely blind. That there once existed some connection it was
impossible to ignore entirely. Her laughing, yet clearly embarrassed,
attempt at explanation had not in the slightest deceived him, for
beyond it remained her quick surprise at that earliest unexpected
mention of the man's name, the suddenly blanched cheeks, the
unconcealed fright revealed by the dark eyes. The full trut