the story came, set to the wild strains of the
mountain storm.

"She was one of those little creatures born to be the plaything of
Fate. When she was seventeen she married Jack Spaulding--he was part
genius, but more fool. He was caught by the girl's spirituality and
brightness and he couldn't any more comprehend her than a raw-boned
Indian could understand a water sprite. To him she was a woman he
wanted--nothing more. He got her and when he wasn't lost in the maze
of invention he permitted her--Good God!--he permitted her to supply
the needs and yearnings of the--the man in him. Poor, little entrapped
soul! She struggled between duty and loathing until her Guardian Angel
saved her. When Spaulding was going through his ups and downs of
fortune she stood by him. His downs were oftener and longer than his
ups and she was pure grit and a bully little sport. Then he got on his
feet with a vengeance. He could give her anything and, like a big,
blundering savage he began to load her down with _things_ and make his
demands for payment and she--up and left him!"

Sandy felt that the heat of the room was oppressive, but he held his
position and flinched not.

"Poor, little white-souled girl! She left him and tackled life with
her wits and her two pretty hands. I met her during my senior year.
She was reporting for a Boston paper, getting starvation wages; living
like a bird in two rooms of a high-pitched house off in a desolate
corner of town and thanking God for her--escape and freedom. Well, I
lost my heart to her and you know how I and my set feel about certain
things. Laws are all right for the--herd; a present help for the
helpless; protection for the happy, and all the rest, but they should
be handled wisely and discriminately by the intelligent minority.
She--Marian Spaulding held the same views!"

"Why--didn't she divorce him--her husband?" Somehow the question
sounded crude and unnecessary on Sandy's lips.

"For form's sake, she tried. Spaulding would not let her. He was an
ugly devil and he just couldn't understand any woman snapping her
fingers at his big money. He meant to starve her out, but he--well, he
got left!

"I took rooms out near Cambridge. At first we were--friends! I wanted
her to have time and quiet to think it out her own way. Learn to trust
me; come to me of her own accord and because she was large enough to
choose the braver course."

The heat was stifling Sandy, but he