e of their men--tortured. For every child mutilated,
one of theirs--mutilated. For every woman--."

He stopped. Jean had caught hold of his arm. "Don't, Daddy," she said
thickly, "it makes me afraid of you." She covered her face with her
hands.

He drew her to him and smoothed her hair in silence. Over her head he
glanced at Hilda. She was smiling inscrutably into the fire.

CHAPTER III

DRUSILLA

The thing that Derry Drake had on his mind the next morning was a
tea-cup. There were other things on his mind--things so heavy that he
turned with relief to the contemplation of cups.

Stuck all over the great house were cabinets of china--his father had
collected and his mother had prized. Derry, himself, had not cared for
any of it until this morning, but when Bronson, the old man who served
him and had served his father for years, came in with his breakfast,
Derry showed him a broken bit which he had brought home with him two
nights before. "Have we a cup like this anywhere in the house,
Bronson?"

"There's a lot of them, sir, in the blue room, in the wall cupboard."

"I thought so, let me have one of them. If Dad ever asks for it, send
him to me. He broke the other, so it's a fair exchange."

He had it carefully wrapped and carried it downtown with him. The
morning was clear, and the sun sparkled on the snow. As he passed
through Dupont Circle he found that a few children and their nurses had
braved the cold. One small boy in a red coat ran to Derry.

"Where are you going, Cousin Derry?"

"Down town."

"To-day is Margaret-Mary's birf-day. I am going to give her a
wabbit--."

"Rabbit, Buster. You'd better say it quick. Nurse is on the way."

"Rab-yit. What are you going to give her?"

"Oh, must I give her something?"

"Of course. Mother said you'd forget it. I wanted to telephone, and
she wouldn't let me."

"Would a doll do?"

"I shouldn't like a doll. But she is littler. And you mustn't spend
much money. Mother said I spent too much for my rab-yit. That I ought
to save it for Our Men. And you mustn't eat what you yike--we've got a
card in the window, and there wasn't any bacon for bref-fus."

"Breakfast."

"Yes. An' we had puffed rice and prunes--"

Nurse, coming up, was immediately on the job. "You are getting mud on
Mr. Derry's spats, Teddy. Stand up like a little gentleman."

"He is always that, Nurse, isn't he? And I should not have on spats at
this hou