ething of the
sort?"

"Well"--Barry bit his lip--"since you know so much--yes."

"And possibly this marriage was in the nature of a reprisal? Intended to
show the jilting lady that--to put it plainly--there were still good
fish in the sea?"

"Yes--in a way it was."

"Ah! Now I understand. And you, having doubtless been forced into the
position of an accessory before the fact, are anxious that as little
harm as possible shall be done to either party?"

"Yes--but principally to the girl."

"Of course, seeing that she was probably unconscious of the reason
behind the match. Well, it seems hard that she should have been used as
a catspaw, doesn't it?"

"Oh, it wasn't as bad as that. Rose really liked the girl----"

"In spite of her want of--soul?"

"Yes. And I thought," said Barry eagerly, "that if you and I, and one or
two more--Olive, for instance--could give her a helping hand now and
then, show her how to make the best of herself and so on, things might
turn out all right."

"Ah, Barry!" Herrick looked at him with a half-humorous, half-sad smile.
"You're very young--and youth is always--or should be--courageous. Do
you really think that I, or you, or even Miss Lynn, can alter by a
fraction the destiny marked out for that pretty child across the river
there?"

"Destiny--no, perhaps not," said Barry, taken aback by the big word.
"But we might help her--help her to find herself, as the Ibsenites call
it--realize her soul, and all the rest of it. The soul's _there_, all
right, but somehow it seems to be hidden, undeveloped, or something of
the sort."

For a second the older man said nothing, though his square white teeth
clenched themselves on the stem of his pipe. Then, removing the latter,
he said slowly:

"Do you remember what Browning says, Barry?

'Tis an awkward thing to play with souls
And matter enough to save one's own!'

Well, don't you agree with him--and me--that one's own soul takes a vast
deal of salvation?"

"Yes, of course--but still--I thought you would be ready to help...."

His accent of dejection touched the other man's heart.

"Come, don't look so disappointed. Of course I'll help, as much as I
can! It ought to be an interesting task, anyway, helping a woman to find
her soul. And if I can help her in any way, I will."

"Good! But how?" He wanted to clinch the matter.

"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to make the lady's
acquaintance. I know Rose, slightly, and