part, the rising hills
showed only one ruined brick foundation after another, broken flights of
stone steps leading down to broken sidewalks, twisted, discoloured
railings smothered in rank, dry grass. Through this wreckage cable cars
moved, brightly lighted, and loaded with passengers, and to-night, in
the dusk, a steady wind was blowing, raising clouds of fine, blinding
dust.

Jim stared at it all heavily, his mind strangely attuned to the dreary
prospect. He felt puzzled and confused; he wanted to see Julia again, to
have her forgive and comfort him. When he thought of the old times, of
the devotion and tenderness he had taken so much for granted, a sort of
sickness seized him; he could have groaned aloud. Only one thought was
intolerable: that she would not forgive him, and let him make up to her
for the lost years, and show her how deeply he loved her still!

He mused upon the exactions she might make, the advantages that would
appeal to her. Not jewels--she must have more jewels now than she would
ever wear, safely stored away somewhere. He remembered giving her a
certain chain of pearls, with a blinding vision of the white young
throat they encircled, and the kiss he had set there with the gift. No,
jewels were for such as Senta, not for grave, stately Julia.

Nor would position tempt her. She was too wise to long for it; the glory
of a London season meant nothing to her; position was only a word. She
was happier in the Shotwell Street house, clipping roses on a foggy
morning; she was happier far when she scrambled over the rough trails of
the mountain with Richie than ever London could make her. Position and
wealth might have their value for Ivy, but Julia cared as little as a
bird for either.

And now it came to him that she was infinitely more fine, more
beautiful, and more clever than Senta, and that her pure and fragrant
freshness, her simple directness, her candid likes and dislikes, would
make Ivy seem no more than a jaded sophist, a quoter of mere words, a
worshipper of empty form.

To have Julia in London! To take her about, her bright face dimpling in
the shadow of a flowered hat, or framed in furs, or to see her at the
tea table, a shining slipper showing under the flowing lines of her
gown, the lovely child beside her, at once enhancing and rivalling the
mother's beauty--Jim's heart ached with the pain and rapture of the
dream.

He was roused by Richie, who came limping into the club library, a