coming from a distance,
increasing gradually until it throbbed into the steady beat of a waltz,
the music recommenced. It was the signal for action and for throwing off
restraint. The man leaned forward; his arm stretched out and closed
about the figure of the woman. His face pressed forward to meet hers,
again and again.

Not Ben alone, but a half-dozen other spectators had watched the scene.
An overdressed girl among the number tittered at the sight.

But Ben scarcely noticed. With the strength of insulted womanhood, the
girl had broken free, and now stood up full in the light. One look she
gave to the man, a look which should have withered him with its scorn;
then, gathering her skirts, she almost ran from the room.

Only a few seconds had the girl's face been clear of the shadow; yet it
had been long enough to permit recognition, and instantly liquid fire
flowed in the veins of Benjamin Blair. His breath came quick and short
as that of a runner passing under the wire, and his great jaw set. The
woman he had seen was Florence Baker.

With one motion he was upon the terrace leading toward the house.
Another second, and he would have been well upon his way, when a hand
grasped him from behind and drew him back. With a half-articulated
imprecation Ben turned--and stood fronting Scotty Baker. The
Englishman's face was very white. Behind the compound lenses his eyes
glowed in a way Ben had not thought possible; but his voice was steady
when he spoke.

"I saw too, Ben," he said, "and I understand. I know what you want to
do, and God knows I want to do the same thing myself; but it would do no
good; it would only make the matter worse." He looked at the younger man
fixedly, almost imploringly. His voice sank. "As you care for Florence,
Ben, go away. Don't make a scene that will do only harm. Leave her with
me. I came to take her home, and I'll do so at once." The speaker
paused, and his hand reached out and grasped the other's with a grip
unmistakable. "I appreciate your motive, my boy, and I honor it. I know
how you feel; and whatever I may have been in the past, from this time
on I am your friend. I am your friend now, when I ask you to go," and he
fairly forced his companion away.

Once outside the crowd, Ben halted. He gave the Englishman one long
look; his lips opened as if to speak; then, without a word, he moved
away.

There was no listlessness about him now. He was throbbing with repressed
energy, like a gr