o the ideal of service
for no reward; to beseech her to leave Cramier and come to him--and he
made each many times.

At Hyde Park Corner he got down, and went into the Park, thinking that to
walk would help him.

A great number of people were sitting there, taking mysterious anodyne,
doing the right thing; to avoid them, he kept along the rails, and ran
almost into the arms of Colonel and Mrs. Ercott, who were coming from the
direction of Knightsbridge, slightly flushed, having lunched and talked
of 'Monte' at the house of a certain General.

They greeted him with the surprise of those who had said to each other
many times: "That young man will come rushing back!" It was very
nice--they said--to run across him. When did he arrive? They had
thought he was going on to Italy--he was looking rather tired. They did
not ask if he had seen her--being too kind, and perhaps afraid that he
would say 'Yes,' which would be embarrassing; or that he would say 'No,'
which would be still more embarrassing when they found that he ought to
have said 'Yes.' Would he not come and sit with them a little--they were
going presently to see how Olive was? Lennan perceived that they were
warning him. And, forcing himself to look at them very straight, he
said: "I have just been there."

Mrs. Ercott phrased her impressions that same evening: "He looks quite
hunted, poor young man! I'm afraid there's going to be fearful trouble
there. Did you notice how quickly he ran away from us? He's thin, too;
if it wasn't for his tan, he'd look really ill. The boy's eyes are so
pathetic; and he used to have such a nice smile in them."

The Colonel, who was fastening her hooks, paused in an operation that
required concentration.

"It's a thousand pities," he muttered, "that he hasn't any work to do.
That puddling about with clay or whatever he does is no good at all."
And slowly fastening one hook, he unhooked several others.

Mrs. Ercott went on:

"And I saw Olive, when she thought I wasn't looking; it was just as if
she'd taken off a mask. But Robert Cramier will never put up with it.
He's in love with her still; I watched him. It's tragic, John."

The Colonel let his hands fall from the hooks.

"If I thought that," he said, "I'd do something."

"If you could, it would not be tragic."

The Colonel stared. There was always SOMETHING to be done.

"You read too many novels," he said, but without spirit.

Mrs. Ercott smiled, and mad