s in a factory town with her chin high and her
heart pure--something of an achievement for one as pretty as Beth.

All in all, she had liked Shad Wells better than any of the men she had
met. He was rough, but she had discovered that good manners didn't
always mean good hearts or clean minds.

It was this discovery that had made her look askance at Peter Nichols
when she had first met him on the road, for he was politer than anybody
she had ever met. If her philosophy was to be consistent this new
superintendent would need watching. But his music disarmed her and
captured her imagination. And then came the incident of the jealous
Shad and the extraordinary outcome of Mr. Nichols's championship of her
rights. She had witnessed that fight from the shelter of the bushes. It
had been dreadful but glorious. Peter's chivalry appealed to her--also
his strength. From that moment he was superman.

Then had followed the long wonderful weeks of music at the Cabin, in
which she had learned the beginnings of culture and training. Her
music-master opened new and beautiful vistas for her, told her of the
great musicians and singers that the world had known, described the
opera houses of Europe, the brilliant audiences, the splendid ballets,
the great orchestras, and promised her that if she worked hard, she
might one day become a part of all this. She had learned to believe him
now, for she saw that as time went on he was more exacting with her
work, more sparing in his praise of her, and she had worked hard--in
despair at times, but with a slowly growing confidence in her star of
destiny.

And all the while she was wondering why Peter Nichols was doing this for
her and what the outcome of it all was to be. He spoke little of the
future except to hint vaguely at lessons elsewhere when he had taught
her all that he knew. The present it seemed was sufficient for them
both. His moods of soberness, of joy, of enthusiasm, were all catching
and she followed him blindly, aware of this great new element in her
life which was to make the old life difficult, if not impossible. He
treated her always with respect, not even touching her arms or waist in
passing--an accepted familiarity of men by girls of her social class.
Beth understood that it was a consideration due to a delicate situation,
the same consideration which had impelled her always to call him Mr.
Nichols.

And yet it was this very consideration of Peter's that vexed her. It
wa