ng into the chair opposite.
"You show beautiful taste in choosing the right colors. Your ear-rings
go so well with your hair."

Although Aileen feared because of his desperateness, she was caught by
his sleek force--that air of iron strength under a parlor mask. His
long, brown, artistic hands, hard and muscular, indicated an idle force
that might be used in many ways. They harmonized with his teeth and
chin.

"So you came, didn't you?" he went on, looking at her steadily, while
she fronted his gaze boldly for a moment, only to look evasively down.

He still studied her carefully, looking at her chin and mouth and
piquant nose. In her colorful cheeks and strong arms and shoulders,
indicated by her well-tailored suit, he recognized the human vigor he
most craved in a woman. By way of diversion he ordered an
old-fashioned whisky cocktail, urging her to join him. Finding her
obdurate, he drew from his pocket a little box.

"We agreed when we played the other night on a memento, didn't we?" he
said. "A sort of souvenir? Guess?"

Aileen looked at it a little nonplussed, recognizing the contents of
the box to be jewelry. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that," she
protested. "The understanding was that we were to win. You lost, and
that ended the bargain. I should have shared the losses. I haven't
forgiven you for that yet, you know."

"How ungallant that would make me!" he said, smilingly, as he trifled
with the long, thin, lacquered case. "You wouldn't want to make me
ungallant, would you? Be a good fellow--a good sport, as they say.
Guess, and it's yours."

Aileen pursed her lips at this ardent entreaty.

"Oh, I don't mind guessing," she commented, superiorly, "though I
sha'n't take it. It might be a pin, it might be a set of ear-rings, it
might be a bracelet--"

He made no comment, but opened it, revealing a necklace of gold wrought
into the form of a grape-vine of the most curious workmanship, with a
cluster of leaves artistically carved and arranged as a breastpiece,
the center of them formed by a black opal, which shone with an enticing
luster. Lynde knew well enough that Aileen was familiar with many
jewels, and that only one of ornate construction and value would appeal
to her sense of what was becoming to her. He watched her face closely
while she studied the details of the necklace.

"Isn't it exquisite!" she commented. "What a lovely opal--what an odd
design." She went over the separate lea