his is
what your accomplishments have accomplished.'

"She rose an' walked across the room, with trembling lips. She had
seized her parachute an' jumped from her balloon and was slowly
approachin' the earth. I kept her comin', 'These clothes an'
jewels that you wear, Lizzie--these silks an' laces, these
sunbursts an' solitaires--don't seem to harmonize with your
father's desire to borrow money. Pardon me, but I can't make 'em
look honest. They are not paid for--or if they are they are paid
for with other men's money. They seem to accuse you. They'd
accuse me if I didn't speak out plain to ye.'

"All of a sudden Lizzie dropped into a chair an' began to cry. She
had lit safely on the ground.

[Illustration: Lizzie dropped into a chair an' began to cry.]

"It made me feel like a murderer, but it had to be. Poor girl! I
wanted to pick her up like a baby an' kiss her. It wasn't that I
loved Lizzie less but Rome more. She wasn't to blame. Every
spoilt woman stands for a fool-man. Most o' them need--not a
master--but a frank counsellor. I locked the door. She grew calm
an' leaned on my table, her face covered with her hands. My clock
shouted the seconds in the silence. Not a word was said for two or
three minutes.

"'I have been brutal,' I says, by-an'-by. 'Forgive me.'

"'Mr. Potter,' she says, 'you've done me a great kindness. I'll
never forget it. What shall I do?'

"'Well, for one thing,' says I, 'go back to your old simplicity an'
live within your means.'

"'I'll do it,' she says; 'but--I--I supposed my father was rich.
Oh, I wish we could have had this talk before!'

"'Did you know that Dan Pettigrew was in love with you?' I put it
straight from the shoulder. 'He wouldn't dare tell ye, but you
ought to know it. You are regarded as a kind of a queen here, an'
it's customary for queens to be approached by ambassadors.'

"Her face lighted up.

"'In love with me?' she whispered. 'Why, Mr. Potter, I never
dreamed of such a thing. Are you sure? How do you know? I
thought he felt above me.'

"'An' he thought you felt above him,' I says.

"'How absurd! how unfortunate!' she whispered. 'I couldn't marry
him now if he asked me. This thing has gone too far. I wouldn't
treat any man that way.'

"'You are engaged to Alexander, are you?' I says.

"'Well, there is a sort of understanding, and I think we are to be
married if--if--'

"She paused, and tears came to her eyes again.

"'Y