ged jaw, never unclosing that thin line of cleavage which
is his mouth.

"We did not know what he had come for; but we know now. He is _so_
good--so good, Duane! And I, who hated him as a child, as a girl--I
am almost too ashamed to let him take command and untangle for us,
with those knotted, steel-sinewed fingers of his, the wretched,
tangled mess that has coiled around Scott and me.

"Surely, this man Klawber is a very great villain; and it seems that
Mr. Skelton and the wretched Flack creature are little less. As for
Jack Dysart, it is all too sorrowful to think about. How must he
feel! Surely, surely he could not have known what he was doing. He
must have been desperate to go to Delancy Grandcourt. It was wrong;
nothing on earth could have propped up the Algonquin, and why did he
let his best friend go down with it?

"But it was fine of Delancy to stand by him--fine, fine! His father
is perfectly furious, but, Duane, it _was_ fine!

"And now, dear, about Scott. It will amuse you, and perhaps horrify
you, if I tell you that he has not turned a hair.

"Not that he doesn't care; not that he is not more or less
mortified. But he blames nobody except himself; and he's laying
plans quite cheerfully for a career on a small income that really
does not require the austerity and frugality he imagines.

"One thing is certain; the town house is to be sold. My income is
not sufficient to maintain it and Roya-Neh, and live as we do, and
have anything left. I don't yet know how far my fortune is involved,
but I have a very unpleasant premonition that there is going to be
much less left than anybody believes, and that ultimately we ought
to sell Roya-Neh.

"However, it is far too early to speculate; besides, this family has
done enough speculating for one generation.

"Dear, you ask about myself. I am not one bit worried, sad, or
apprehensive. I am _better_, Duane. Do you understand? All this has
developed a set of steadier nerves in me than I have had since I was
a child.

"A new and curiously keen enjoyment has been slowly growing in me--a
happiness in physical and violent effort. I've a devilish horse to
ride; and I love it! I've climbed all over the Gilded Dome and Lynx
Peak after the biggest and shaggiest boar you ever saw. Oh, Duane! I
came on him just at the edge o