lourishing artist, a rich man (in her enthusiasm Helene exaggerated
slightly), and not three minutes afterward the very piano on which he
made his living was taken away from him because he had not sufficient
money to pay for its hire. It was the most pitiful thing I ever saw; I
simply can't forget it!"

"Poor chap! Can't we do anything for him?" asked Beverly, now
thoroughly interested.

"He is very proud. I took one of our mission boys there, a lad who has
great talent for music, and this strange individual refused to take any
compensation for teaching him. He insisted on taking him for nothing,
and said he loved children."

"I should say he was a strange individual," commented Beverly. "He
ought to feel highly flattered at the interest you are taking in him."

"You want to look out for these _distingue_ foreigners, Helene! You're
an heiress, you know," said Octavie, who was an omnivorous newspaper
reader.

"Yes," said Helene, and then she was silent. Beverly Cruger looked at
her. Her face, usually happy and smiling, was sad and thoughtful.

"This stranger has made quite an impression on her," he thought. "What
is his name?" he asked, a strange sense of annoyance creeping over him
in spite of himself.

"Herr Von Barwig," replied Helene.

"Oh, a nobleman," broke in the irrepressible Octavie, who read novels
as well as the newspapers; "a German nobleman! It is a romance, isn't
it? Is he a count, or a baron; or a--prince, perhaps?"

"He didn't tell me," replied Helene, who could not help smiling at the
curiosity she had aroused. They were all looking at her very anxiously
now, even Mrs. Van Arsdale, the girls' chaperone, was interested.

"He didn't tell me," repeated Helene; "really he didn't."

"Oh, well, he will!" said Beverly, forcing a smile. He did not like to
admit to himself that he was not exactly enjoying Helene's romance.

"I am going to see him to-morrow, and I'll make it a point to ask him,"
said Helene, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She rather enjoyed
Beverly's obvious consternation.

"To-morrow? You see him to-morrow?" asked Beverly, and his heart sank.
The lights were lowered and the next act had begun before she could
make any reply, and then it was too late. He had known her only a few
months, but in that brief time he had seen a great deal of her. He
loved her; of that he was quite sure. It was her immense wealth that
prevented him from asking her to be his wife.