turned over and over in the
air and catching it deftly by the hilt in his right hand as it
descended. His hand and wrist were firm and supple as of old; they had
lost none of their vigor during the long years he had wandered aimlessly
about the world. Again that cold smile, cruel and cutting as the edge
of his knife, lit up his face as he at length sheathed the blade in its
leathern case and returned it to its resting place in the drawer of his
dresser.

XXVI

Conviction is one thing, decision another. Any one who has been taught
from earliest childhood to regard black as white could hardly be
expected to distinguish in a moment the virtue of the latter.

Daily Bessie resolved to follow the promptings of her heart; usually at
the close of the day when the cool of the evening set in, when the stars
again took up their procession across the heavens and she walked and
chatted with Dick in the garden. But when morning dawned and she thought
of her father's awful prognostications and the dire consequences which
must inevitably ensue should she take the step, her ardor cooled and she
as often changed her mind. Her father spent hours arguing with her,
trying to impress her with the importance of the duty she owed society
which consisted in obeying to the letter the behests of the set in which
she had always moved.

Greatly to the Colonel's astonishment and disgust, his daughter seemed
strangely lacking in this particular moral quality. How had her insight
become so obtuse? He could not understand it, especially as he had taken
particular pains while bringing her up to steel her heart against the
insidious longings of maudlin sentiment and to teach her to despise
everything outside of her particular world. He and his wife had not
regarded love the chief essential to marriage, so why should his
daughter? That she, under the circumstances, should hesitate between
happiness and a life of regret, was a thing unique, almost
incomprehensible to him. That she should question his authority, his
right to choose for her, and his superior knowledge of the world, was
still more surprising. Her disaffection was strongly suggestive of
disrespect, a lack of faith in his infallibility in which he, the
Colonel, firmly believed, if nobody else did.

The thought that the efforts of years might come to naught was bitter as
wormwood to him. It was bad enough that his nephew should besmirch the
family escutcheon, but that his daughter