e for any mother
to take the one for the other, when our hostess rose."

"Mr. Topham must have been disappointed. As a demonstrator of the
obvious he has probably no equal even among the under-secretaries. You
discussed him pretty freely in the drawing room afterward, I may venture
to suggest."

"No; we discussed you, Mr. Courtland."

"A most unprofitable topic. From what standpoint--dynamite massacres?"

"From the standpoint of heredity, of course. Can you imagine any topic
being discussed in a drawing room, nowadays, from any other standpoint?
There was a dear old lady present, Mrs. Haddon, and she said she had
been a friend of your mother's."

"So she was; I recollect her very well. I should like to go see her."

"She told us a great deal about your mother, and your sister--a sister
to whom you were greatly attached."

Phyllis' voice had become low and serious; every tone suggested
sympathy.

"I had such a sister," said he slowly. His eyes were not turned toward
her. They were fixed upon a little model of St. Catherine of Siena,--a
virgin among the clouds,--which was set in the panel of an old cabinet
beside him. "I had such a sister--Rosamund; she is dead."

"Mrs. Haddon told us so," said Phyllis. "She talked about your mother,
and your sister, and of the influence which they had had upon your
life--your career."

"They are both dead," said he.

"They did not live to see your triumph; that is what your tone
suggests," said she. "That is what Mrs. Haddon said--the tears were in
her eyes--last night, Mr. Courtland. I wish you could have heard her. I
wish you could have heard what she said when someone made a commonplace
remark as to how sad it was they were dead."

"What did she say, Miss Ayrton?"

"She said, 'No, no; please do not talk about death overtaking such as
they. The mother, who transmits her nature to the son, renews her life
in him; it is not he, but his mother, who lives.' And then she asked,
'Do you suppose that Herbert Courtland ever sets out on any of his great
enterprises without thinking of his mother and sister, without feeling
that he must do something worthy of them, something for their sake?
And you talk of them as if they were dead--as if they had passed
away forever from the concerns of earth!' That is what she said, Mr.
Courtland."

He had bent forward on his low seat, and was leaning his head on one
of his hands. He had his eyes fixed on the parquet of the floor. He was
mot