hatcher nothing less than sacrilege.

The estate consisted of some sixty acres wonderfully located on
Narragansett Bay with nearly a mile frontage on the sea. A rolling,
close-cropped lawn, bordered on either side by avenues of trees, ran
back three hundred yards from the beach before the stately, old English,
half-timbered mansion was reached, the broad expanse of green carpeting
making a perfect harmony of perspective. The two great end gables of the
house formed a shallow forecourt, filled in by a brick terrace with
balustrade. Between these gables, the central facade, a double-storied
loggia of stone, reminiscent of a Dorsetshire manor house, was
strikingly beautiful with its splendid sculptured decorations.

The opposite front of the mansion faced the road, though removed some
distance from it, and was approached through a gateway and a winding
avenue in keeping with the dignity of the building itself. To the south,
connected by shaded walks, was an unusual garden, the boundaries of
which were marked by rare trees and shrubs so arranged that they formed
a pyramidal mass of verdure, against which perennial blooms of rare and
beautiful plants showed their bewildering colors to the best advantage.
This garden represented what Marian had put of herself into the estate
during the twenty years they had lived there, and to her and to Thatcher
each flower, shrub or tree represented something personal and recalled
some happy experience.

At Sagamore Hall Marian really lived, keeping out of doors most of the
time, entertaining her friends in a manner which made every one feel
that each of the many attractions had been arranged for his own special
enjoyment. Here the Bermuda party was again united. Thatcher still kept
his wife in ignorance of the business complications which now seemed
certain to overwhelm him. Marian noticed that he was tired and worried,
but this had happened so many times before that she had come to look
upon these conditions as deplorable but none the less inevitable factors
in her husband's business life. In fact he had so explained on earlier
occasions when she questioned him, and had discouraged her from showing
too much concern. She recognized that he was scarcely in a mood for the
reunion she had planned, but justified her insistence on the ground that
he needed the relaxation; while he deemed it wise to yield rather than
attempt an explanation.

Edith Stevens had been their guest for a fortnight