rnished us by our Hebe-like hostess" (he lifted a glass of whiskey and
water to his lips while he bowed to Mrs. Brant gracefully), "has led
the gentleman to such a deduction. But when I suggest to him that our
meeting was of a business, or private nature, it strikes me that the
question of intrusion may be fairly divided between him and ourselves.
We may be even justified, in view of that privacy, in asking him if
his--er--entrance to this house was--er--coincident with his appearance
among us."

"With my front door in possession of strangers," said Clarence, more in
reply to a sudden contemptuous glance from his wife than Starbottle's
insinuation, "I entered the house through the window."

"Of my boudoir, where another intruder once broke his neck," interrupted
his wife with a mocking laugh.

"Where I once helped this lady to regain possession of her house when
it was held by another party of illegal trespassers, who, however, were
content to call themselves 'jumpers,' and did not claim the privacy of
gentlemen."

"Do you mean to imply, sir," began Colonel Starbottle haughtily,
"that"--

"I mean to imply, sir," said Clarence with quiet scorn, "that I have
neither the wish to know nor the slightest concern in any purpose that
brought you here, and that when you quit the house you take your secrets
and your privacy with you intact, without let or hindrance from me."

"Do you mean to say, Mr. Brant," said Judge Beeswinger, suppressing the
angry interruption of his fellows with a dominant wave of his hand, as
he fixed his eyes on Clarence keenly, "that you have no sympathy with
your wife's political sentiments?"

"I have already given you the information necessary to make you quit
this house, and that is all you have a right to know," returned Clarence
with folded arms.

"But I can answer for him," said Mrs. Brant, rising, with a quivering
voice and curling lip. "There IS no sympathy between us. We are as far
apart as the poles. We have nothing in common but this house and his
name."

"But you are husband and wife, bound together by a sacred compact."

"A compact!" echoed Mrs. Brant, with a bitter laugh. "Yes, the compact
that binds South Carolina to the nigger-worshipping Massachusetts.
The compact that links together white and black, the gentleman and the
trader, the planter and the poor white--the compact of those UNITED
States. Bah! THAT has been broken, and so can this."

Clarence's face paled. But befor