ing the rules. No, I forget; that was my easiest work. Oh,
Rolfe," she called over her shoulder, indifferently, "I see your
pocket-knife out on the grass."

Cowperwood, properly suppressed, waited a brief space. "Who won that
exciting game?"

"I did, of course. I always win at tether-ball."

"Oh, do you?" commented Cowperwood.

"I mean with brother, of course. He plays so poorly." She turned to
the west--the house faced south--and studied the road which came up
from Stroudsburg. "I do believe that's Harry Kemp," she added, quite
to herself. "If so, he'll have my mail, if there is any."

She got up again and disappeared into the house, coming out a few
moments later to saunter down to the gate, which was over a hundred
feet away. To Cowperwood she seemed to float, so hale and graceful was
she. A smart youth in blue serge coat, white trousers, and white shoes
drove by in a high-seated trap.

"Two letters for you," he called, in a high, almost falsetto voice. "I
thought you would have eight or nine. Blessed hot, isn't it?" He had a
smart though somewhat effeminate manner, and Cowperwood at once wrote
him down as an ass. Berenice took the mail with an engaging smile.
She sauntered past him reading, without so much as a glance. Presently
he heard her voice within.

"Mother, the Haggertys have invited me for the last week in August. I
have half a mind to cut Tuxedo and go. I like Bess Haggerty."

"Well, you'll have to decide that, dearest. Are they going to be at
Tarrytown or Loon Lake?"

"Loon Lake, of course," came Berenice's voice.

What a world of social doings she was involved in, thought Cowperwood.
She had begun well. The Haggertys were rich coal-mine operators in
Pennsylvania. Harris Haggerty, to whose family she was probably
referring, was worth at least six or eight million. The social world
they moved in was high.

They drove after dinner to The Saddler, at Saddler's Run, where a dance
and "moonlight promenade" was to be given. On the way over, owing to
the remoteness of Berenice, Cowperwood for the first time in his life
felt himself to be getting old. In spite of the vigor of his mind and
body, he realized constantly that he was over fifty-two, while she was
only seventeen. Why should this lure of youth continue to possess him?
She wore a white concoction of lace and silk which showed a pair of
smooth young shoulders and a slender, queenly, inimitably modeled neck.
He could tell