urred to me."

CHAPTER XXIX

In one way Howard had been correct in his surmise. It had been Lily's
idea to go to a hotel until she had made some definite plan. She would
telephone Louis then, and the rest--she did not think beyond that. She
called a taxi and took a small bag with her, but in the taxicab she
suddenly realized that she could not go to any of the hotels she knew.
She would be recognized at once.

She wanted a little time to herself, time to think. And before it was
discovered that she had left Cardew Way she must see Louis, and judge
again if he intended to act in good faith. While he was with her,
reiterating his promises, she believed him, but when he was gone, she
always felt, a curious doubt.

She thought then of finding a quiet room somewhere, and stopping the
cab, bought a newspaper. It was when she was searching for the "rooms
for rent" column that she saw he had been attacked and slightly injured.

They had got him. He had said that if they ever suspected him of playing
them false they would get him, and now they had done so. That removed
the last doubt of his good faith from her mind. She felt indignation and
dismay, and a sort of aching consciousness that always she brought only
trouble to the people who cared for her; she felt that she was going
through her life, leaving only unhappiness behind her.

He had suffered, and for her.

She told the chauffeur to go to the Benedict Apartments, and sitting
back read the notice again. He had been attacked by two masked men and
badly bruised, after putting up a terrific resistance. They would
wear masks, of course. They loved the theatrical. Their very flag was
theatrical. And he had made a hard fight That was like him, too; he was
a fighter.

She was a Cardew, and she loved strength. There were other men, men like
Willy Cameron, for instance, who were lovable in many ways, but they
were not fighters. They sat back, and let life beat them, and they took
the hurt bravely and stoically. But they never got life by the throat
and shook it until it gave up what they wanted.

She had never been in a bachelors' apartment house before, and she
was both frightened and self-conscious. The girl at the desk eyed her
curiously while she telephoned her message, and watched her as she moved
toward the elevator. "Ever seen her before?" she said to the hall boy.

"No. She's a new one."

"Face's kind of familiar to me," said the telephone girl, reflectiv