r criticisms. After he had gone,
the doors were held open. There was no one to bid them stay, and
so they went, in little groups of twos and threes, a curious,
heterogeneous crowd, with the stamp upon their features or clothes or
bearing, which somehow or other is always found upon those who are
seekers for new things. Sallow, dissatisfied-looking men; women whose
faces spoke, many of them, of a joyless life; people of overtrained
minds; and here and there a strong, zealous, brilliant student of the
last of the sciences left for solution.

Pauline would have gone with the others, but Saton touched her hand.
Half unwillingly she lingered behind until they were alone in the
darkened room. He went to the window and threw it wide open. The
scent of the flowers in the window-boxes and a little wave of the soft
west wind came stealing in. She threw her head back with an
exclamation of relief.

"Ah!" she said. "This is good."

"You found the room close?" he asked.

Pauline sank into the window-seat. She rested her delicate oval face
upon her fingers, and looked away toward the deep green foliage of the
trees outside.

"I did not notice it," she said, "and yet, somehow or other the whole
atmosphere seemed stifling. Naudheim is great," she went on. "Oh, he
is a great man, of course. He said wonderful things in a convincing
way. He made one gasp."

"This afternoon," Saton declared slowly, "marks an epoch. What
Naudheim said was remarkable because of what he left unsaid. Couldn't
you feel that? Didn't you understand? If that man had ambitions, he
could startle even this matter-of-fact world of ours. He could shake
it to its very base."

She shivered a little. Her fingers were idly tapping the window-sill.
Her thoughtful eyes were clouded with trouble. He stood over her,
absorbed in the charm of her presence, the sensuous charm of watching
her slim, exquisite figure, the poise of her head, the delicate
coloring of her cheeks, the tremulous human lips, which seemed somehow
to humanize the spirituality of her expression. They had talked so
much that day of a new science. Saton felt his heart sink as he
realized that he was the victim of a greater thing than science could
teach. It was madness!--sheer, irredeemable madness! But it was in
his blood. It was there to be reckoned with.

"It is all very wonderful," she continued thoughtfully. "And yet, can
you understand what I mean when I say that it makes me feel a trifle
hys