XII

A ROOM IN NEW YORK

We will now leave Peg for a while and return to one who claimed so much
of the reader's attention in the early pages of this history--O'Connell.

It had not been a happy month for him.

He felt the separation from Peg keenly. At first he was almost
inconsolable. He lived in constant dread of hearing that some untoward
accident had befallen her.

All the days and nights of that journey of Peg's to England, O'Connell
had the ever-present premonition of danger. When a cable came, signed
Montgomery Hawkes, acquainting O'Connell with the news of Peg's safe
arrival, he drew a long breath of relief.

Then the days passed slowly until Peg's first letter came. It contained
the news of Kingsnorth's death--Peg's entrance into the Chichester
family, her discontent--her longing to be back once more in New York.
This was followed by more letters all more or less in the same key.
Finally he wrote urging her to give it all up and come back to him. He
would not have his little daughter tortured for all the advantages
those people could give her. Then her letters took on a different
aspect. They contained a curious half-note of happiness in them. No
more mention of returning. On the contrary, Peg appeared to be making
the best of the conditions in which she was placed.

These later letters set O'Connell wondering. Had the great Message of
Life come to his little Peg?

Although he always felt it WOULD come some day, now that it seemed
almost a very real possibility, he dreaded it. There were so few
natures would understand her.

Beneath all her resolute and warlike exterior, it would take a keenly
observing eye to find the real, gentle, affectionate nature that
flourished in the sunshine of affection, and would fret and pine amid
unsympathetic surroundings.

That Peg was developing her character and her nature during those few
weeks was clear to O'Connell. The whole tone of her letters had
changed. But no word of hers gave him any clue to the real state of her
feelings, until one day he received a letter almost entirely composed
of descriptions of the appearance, mode of speech, method of thought
and expression of one "Jerry." The description of the man appealed to
him, he apparently having so many things in common with the mysterious
person who had so vividly impressed himself on Peg.

Apparently Peg was half trying to improve herself.

There was a distinct note of seriousness about the last lett