The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dominant Strain, by Anna Chapin Ray

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: The Dominant Strain

Author: Anna Chapin Ray

Illustrator: Harry C. Edwards

Release Date: August 22, 2009 [EBook #29760]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOMINANT STRAIN ***

Produced by David Edwards, Woodie4 and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

THE DOMINANT STRAIN

[Illustration: "'Beatrix?' he said"]

THE
DOMINANT STRAIN

BY
ANNA CHAPIN RAY

AUTHOR OF "TEDDY, HER BOOK," "PHEBE, HER PROFESSION,"
"TEDDY, HER DAUGHTER," "NATHALIE'S CHUM,"
"EACH LIFE UNFULFILLED"

_ILLUSTRATED BY_
HARRY C. EDWARDS

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1903

_Copyright, 1903_,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

_All rights reserved_

Published May, 1903

UNIVERSITY PRESS . JOHN WILSON
AND SON . CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.

ILLUSTRATIONS

FROM DRAWINGS IN COLOR BY HARRY C. EDWARDS

"'Beatrix?' he said" _Frontispiece_

"'Can't you make any sort of an excuse for
yourself, Sidney?' she demanded" Page 123

"It was so that Thayer liked best to think of her" " 205

"Beatrix still sat at the disordered table" " 245

"'I believe I might as well ask you now'" " 339

THE DOMINANT STRAIN

CHAPTER ONE

Beatrix smiled a little wearily. Intimate friends are sometimes cloying,
and she felt a certain irritation rising within her, as she watched
Sally's bright face under her French toque, and listened to the easy
stream of chatter which issued from Sally's lips. Sally had never faced
such a crisis as the one confronting Beatrix, that day. Moreover, she
had dimples, and it was impossible to believe in the sympathy of a
person whose dimples insisted upon coming into sight, even in the midst
of serious discussion.

"If he hasn't already," Sally persisted; "he is bound to do it before
the season is over. Then what shall y