sured her, bowing.

He passed on to greet Herman, and was presented to others in the rapidly
growing throng. Wherever he went Olga heard exclamations usually of
surprise or dismay from her women guests, and the number that invariably
gathered around him at first rapidly diminished. He seemed bent on
making himself disagreeable, as he had promised.

One elderly spinster to whom he was presented greeted him with an
affected lisp, drooping eyes and an inane remark about the terrible
cold.

"Yes, mademoiselle, your teeth will chatter to-night--on the dresser."

To another--a portly lady who affected the airs of a girl--he said in
his most silken tones:

"My dear madam, I must tell you of a splendid remedy for getting thin."

"I don't want to get thin," the portly one replied indignantly as she
flounced away from him.

Olga waited impatiently for an opportunity to withdraw with Millar into
a secluded place, where she might listen to him while he told her the
things that she did not dare tell herself. The evening had grown late,
however, and Karl had arrived before she could get away from her guests.

Karl had tried to avoid a tete-a-tete with Olga, and she took the first
opportunity of introducing him to Elsa. She rebelled in her soul now at
the thought of their marriage, but her will drove her to the fulfilment
of her purpose, to that extent at least. But it was with a heart torn
with jealousy that she watched Karl and Elsa move off together, and
turned to meet Millar, standing beside her with his cynical, sinister
smile.

Elsa Berg was a brilliant, vivacious girl, rarely beautiful, with lively
blue eyes, chestnut hair and a tall, slender, willowy figure. The
romance and excitement of her meeting with Karl made her seem doubly
beautiful, and she gladdened the artist in him, but he helplessly
confessed to himself that she made no impression on his heart. His
thoughts were with Olga, and he was abstracted, almost to the point of
rudeness, while Elsa tried to talk with him.

"Who is that terribly rude person who seems to be frightening every
one?" she asked.

"He? Oh, that is Dr. Millar, a friend of mine," Karl replied.

"Pooh! I don't see why every one seems so afraid of him," Elsa said with
a note of challenge in her tone. "I think I shall meet him just to see
if he will make me run."

"No, no; don't go near him," Karl begged.

"And why not? Has he such a sharp tongue or an evil mind? I can take
care of mys