ses to reveal it, the One Woman's identity should always remain a
secret. Get on with your tale, old chap. I will not interrupt."

"I will state it as simply and as shortly as I can," began Garth. "And
you will understand that there are details of which no fellow could
speak.--I had known her several years in a friendly way, just staying
at the same houses, and meeting at Lord's and Henley and all the places
where those in the same set do meet. I always liked her, and always
felt at my best with her, and thought no end of her opinion, and so
forth. She was a friend and a real chum to me, and to lots of other
fellows. But one never thought of love-making in connection with her.
All the silly things one says to ordinary women she would have laughed
at. If one had sent her flowers to wear, she would have put them in a
vase and wondered for whom they had really been intended. She danced
well, and rode straight; but the man she danced with had to be awfully
good at it, or he found himself being guided through the giddy maze;
and the man who wanted to be in the same field with her, must be
prepared for any fence or any wall. Not that I ever saw her in the
hunting-field; her love of life and of fair play would have kept her
out of that. But I use it as a descriptive illustration. One was always
glad to meet her in a house party, though one could not have explained
why. It is quite impossible to describe her. She was just--well, just--"

The doctor saw "just Jane" trembling on Garth's lips, and knew how
inadequate was every adjective to express this name. He did not want
the flood of Garth's confidences checked, so he supplied the needed
words.

"Just a good sort. Yes, I quite understand. Well?"

"I had had my infatuations, plenty of them," went on the eager young
voice. "The one thing I thought of in women was their exteriors. Beauty
of all kinds--of any kind--crazed me for the moment. I never wanted to
marry them, but I always wanted to paint them. Their mothers, and
aunts, and other old dowagers in the house parties used to think I
meant marriage, but the girls themselves knew better. I don't believe a
girl now walks this earth who would accuse me of flirting. I admired
their beauty, and they knew it, and they knew that was all my
admiration meant. It was a pleasant experience at the time, and, in
several instances, helped forward good marriages later on. Pauline
Lister was apportioned to me for two whole seasons, but she