n
the eye.

"Our mutual friend, the enemy," he replied.

"Mr. Percival?"

"Certainly."

"But I thought he was beneath our notice."

"We can't very well help noticing him when he goes to such extreme
lengths to attract attention."

"You think he did it to attract attention?"

"Not so much that, perhaps, as to get back into the lime-light. You
see, he was rather out of it for as much as half an hour, and he simply
couldn't stand it. So he went off and staged a little sideshow of his
own."

She walked on in silence for a few moments, torn by doubts and
misgivings. Landover's sarcastic analysis was like a douche of cold
water. Perhaps he was right. It had been a spectacular, not to say
diverting, exhibition. Her eyes darkened. An expression of pain lurked
in them.

"I can't believe it of him, Mr. Landover," she said at last, in a
slightly muffled voice.

"I thought it was understood you were to call me Abel, my dear."

"If he did it deliberately,--and with that motive,--it was unspeakable,"
she went on, a faint furrow appearing between her eyes.

"Of course, I may be wrong," said he magnanimously. "It may have been
the result of an honest, uncontrollable impulse. But I doubt it."

"Men do queer, strange things when under the influence of a strong
emotion," she said, a hopeful note in her voice.

"True. They are also capable of doing very base things. You don't for an
instant suspect Percival of being a religious fanatic, do you?"

"Please don't sneer. And what, pray, has religion to do with it?"

"I dare say Morris Shine is again lamenting the absence of a motion
picture camera. He is always complaining about the chances he has missed
to--"

"Stop!"

"Why, Ruth dear, I--"

"We have no right to judge him, Mr. Landover."

"Are you defending him?"

"I don't believe he had the faintest notion that he was
being--theatrical, as you call it. I am sure he did it because he was
moved by an overpowering desire to make all of us happy. He couldn't
bear the thought of that evil thing out there, pointing at us while we
worshipped and tried to sing with gladness in our hearts. No! He did
it for you, and for me, and for all the rest of us,--and he made every
heart lighter when that thing toppled over and fell. Did you not see
the change that came over every one when they realized that it was
destroyed? There were smiles on every face, and every voice was
cheerful. The look of uneasy dread was gone--Oh, you mu