modern."

"You think Jerry was impressed?" I asked. There may have been a deeper
note of interest in my query than I intended, for Jack burst into
laughter.

"There you go. Your one chick is a duckling now, Pope, old boy. You'll
have to let him swim if he wants to. The water's deep there, too--very
deep. Marcia knows her way about."

"It would be a pity if she made a fool of him," I ventured.

He only smiled.

"It would, of course. Perhaps she will. But Jerry's got to cut his eye
teeth. And he might as well cut 'em on Marcia as anybody else. But
there's no danger of her marrying him for his money. She's almost if
not quite as rich as he is. Half the young bloods in town are after
her. It's rather flattering to Jerry. She gave me the impression
yesterday of rather liking him."

"Oh, you called?"

"It was something of a command. When a girl rolls her eyes the way she
did at Jerry and says that he must come to see her, there's nothing
for him but to go. Besides, they're neighbors up in the country, you
know. I went with him. I had an idea what we were in for, but Jerry
didn't, naturally. She expected us and the butler led the way past the
drawing-room into the lady's particular sanctorum, a smallish room in
a wing of the house all hung in black damask, with black velvet rugs
and ebony chairs. Marcia's blonde, you know, and gets her effects
daringly. I must admit that she looked dazzling, like a bit of Meissen
or Sevres in an ormolu cabinet. She was lolling on a black divan
smoking a cigarette and put out her slim fingers languidly. That's her
pose--condescension mixed with sudden spasms of intense interest. She
extended her fingers to be kissed--she had learned that nonsense in
Europe somewhere--and so I kissed 'em. They were dry, cool, very
beautifully tinted, with the nails long and highly polished and had
the odor, very faintly, of jasmine. Jerry kissed 'em too, looking
extremely foolish."

"He would," I growled. "The hussy!"

Ballard shook with laughter.

"Oh, that's rather rough, Pope. She's merely the product of a highly
sensitized _milieu_. Because I don't like girls of that stamp doesn't
argue her unlikable. I've never heard a word against her except that
she has much attention from men. And with her money and looks that's
natural enough."

"What happened?" I put in shortly.

"Oh, she was very languid at first and a little formal, thawing
effectively as she drew Jerry out. You see she had a little