ed. "You are not afraid of him."

He looked contemptuous for a second; and then his expression changed.

"You are right," he said. "That is my chief safeguard; and, permit me to
say, yours also. It may be worth remembering."

"You think him a coward!" she said.

He considered a little.

"No, not a coward," he said then. "There is nothing mean about him, so
far as I can see. He suffers from too much raw material, that's all.
They call him Brute Mercer in these parts. But perhaps you will be able
to tame him some day."

"I!" she said, and turned away with a mournful little smile.

She might charm him once or even twice out of a savage mood, but the
conviction was strong upon her that he would overwhelm her in the end.

X

For nearly an hour after Curtis had left her she sat still, thinking of
Beelzebub. The afternoon sunlight lay blindingly upon all things. The
heat of it hung laden in the air. But she could not sleep or even try to
rest. Her arm throbbed and burned with a ceaseless pain, and ever the
thought of Beelzebub, lying in the loft "like a sick dog," oppressed her
like an evil dream.

The shadows had begun to lengthen a little when at last she rose. She
could bear it no longer. Whatever the consequences, she could endure
them more easily than this torture of inactivity. As for Curtis she
believed him fully capable of taking care of himself.

She went to the kitchen and was relieved to find him absent. Searching,
she presently found the bowl of soup Beelzebub had refused. She turned
it into a saucepan and hung over the fire, scarcely conscious of the
heat in her pressing desire to be of use.

Finally, armed with the hot liquor, she stole across the yard to the
stable. The place was deserted, save for the horse she usually rode, who
whinnied softly to her as she passed. At the foot of the loft ladder
she stood awhile, listening, and presently heard a heavy groan.

She had to make the ascent very slowly, using her injured arm to support
herself. When she emerged at last she found herself in a twilight which
for a time her dazzled eyes could not pierce. The heat was intolerable,
and the place hummed with flies.

"Beelzebub!" she said softly at length. "Beelzebub, where are you?"

There was a movement in what she dimly discerned to be a heap of straw,
and she heard a feeble whimpering as of an animal in pain.

Her heart throbbed with pity as she crept across the littered floor. She
was beginning t