and Storm
Springs. The Judge had just been appointed a member of the Brazilian
boundary commission which was to meet shortly in Berlin, and Mrs.
Claiborne and Shirley were to go with him. In the Claiborne garden,
beyond and below, he saw a flash of white here and there among the dark
green hedges. He paused, leaned against a pillar, and waited until
Shirley crossed one of the walks and passed slowly on, intent upon the
rose trees; and he saw--or thought he saw--the sun searching out the gold
in her brown hair. She was hatless. Her white gown emphasized the
straight line of her figure. She paused to ponder some new arrangement of
a line of hydrangeas, and he caught a glimpse of her against a pillar of
crimson ramblers. Then he went back to the Baron.

"How much of our row in the hills got into the newspapers?" he asked,
sitting down.

"Nothing,--absolutely nothing. The presence of the _Sophia Margaret_ off
the capes caused inquiries to be made at the embassy, and several
correspondents came down here to interview me. Then the revenue officers
made some raids in the hills opportunely and created a local diversion.
You were hurt while cleaning your gun,--please do not forget that!--and
you are a friend of my family,--a very eccentric character, who has
chosen to live in the wilderness."

The Judge and Armitage laughed at these explanations, though there was a
little constraint upon them all. The Baron's question was still
unanswered.

"You ceased to be of particular interest some time ago. While you were
sick the fraudulent Von Kissel was arrested in Australia, and I believe
some of the newspapers apologized to you handsomely."

"That was very generous of them;" and Armitage shifted his position
slightly. A white skirt had flashed again in the Claiborne garden and he
was trying to follow it. At the same time there were questions he
wished to ask and have answered. The Baroness von Marhof had already gone
to Newport; the Baron lingered merely out of good feeling toward
Armitage--for it was as Armitage that he was still known to the people
of Storm Springs, to the doctor and nurses who tended him.

"The news from Vienna seems tranquil enough," remarked Armitage. He had
not yet answered the Baron's question, and the old gentleman grew
restless at the delay. "I read in the _Neue Freie Presse_ a while ago
that Charles Louis is showing an unexpected capacity for affairs. It is
reported, too, that an heir is in prospect. T