's face. Reddening slightly, she
answered:

"Mrs. Quirk is the best and kindest woman I know; if you really wish to
be friends with me, don't say a word against her. I shall quarrel with
anyone who does that."

"Don't quarrel with me, please! I am far too lazy for that. I always
agree with everybody, and for your sake Mr. Denis Quirk shall be
handsome, and Mrs. Quirk as refined as she is rich."

It had been Mrs. Quirk's suggestion that Sylvia Jackson should be
invited to "Layton," and Sylvia, being at the time rather hipped at
home, accepted the invitation readily. Desmond O'Connor, on hearing of
her intended visit, managed to obtain a few days' holiday, and arrive in
Grey Town in time for the club ball. There he had her undivided
attention, an impossible thing to achieve in Melbourne. But the fact did
not make her less elusive. She laughed at him when he became too tender,
allowed him a certain degree of liberty to check him when he approached
the question of love. She was always gracious and kind to him, as to
every other man; in this way she prevented her staff from deserting her;
but, while she loved to be admired, she had expressed her true
sentiments to Kathleen as they sat together after the ball.

For his part, Desmond O'Connor lived in a fever heat of passion. To hint
that Sylvia was not perfection was to make him an implacable enemy. She
so far encouraged him as to make him believe that the barrier between
them was the most fragile and easily broken affair, and that at any
moment it would be shattered by his great love. Relying on this hope,
he came and went at her bidding, filling to perfection the duties of an
obedient staff officer.

On the morning after the dance, Kathleen met Sylvia in a somewhat
hostile spirit. She resented Desmond's devotion to the girl, and she had
been hurt by the allusions to Mrs. Quirk; but Sylvia did her utmost to
dispel this feeling.

"I am sure you are cross with me," she said, "and I want you to like me.
I think you are the most charming girl I have ever met. For your sake I
intend to cultivate even Mr. Denis Quirk, and to make love to that dear
old woman."

This programme she began to carry out scrupulously. To Mrs. Quirk she
was most attentive, and on Denis she exercised her fascinations, to his
intense surprise.

"Do you walk into town?" she asked him.

"Sometimes I do. It depends on the state of my liver. When I feel in a
desperate temper and inclined to destroy