ith him across the room, leaving Marcia and Ames standing
together; but she did not stretch out her hand to take the orchids he
offered, but stood looking at him with her dazzling smile, sweetened,
softened with some touch of feeling so deep and yet so evanescent that he
could not fathom it.

"Little brother of the wilds, now that you have won Cinderella and
Eldorado, as I predicted, I wish you a divine unrest. It is the best I
Can hope for you. Eldorado and domesticity mean the fishy eye, the heavy
jowl, and the expanded waistcoat; and remember that although the red gods
may be silent so long that you will forget them, yet there will come a
day when they will call and you will hear nothing else. Then, as you
would keep your happiness, get up and follow--follow 'to the camp of
proved desire and known delight.'"

"Advice from one about to settle down--don't settle." He strove to speak
lightly, but failed.

"I settle! Don't harbor any such vagaries. We may meet again, oh, I don't
mean in this sort of a way, I mean where the open road winds on like a
great river, and the pines go marching up and down hill, and the blue
smoke of the tent-fires curls up to the morning skies. We may meet again,
Bobby, on the outward trail that leads from Eldorado to Arcady."

She swept across the room, pausing to kiss Marcia lightly on the cheek as
she passed her. "Come, Wilfred," she cried. "We are _de trop_. Let us see
how quickly we can vanish."

The door closed behind them, but the room still held the faint echo of
her laughter, the lingering breath of evasive and enchanting perfume.

Marcia had thrown her furs about her shoulders and now she picked up her
muff. It fell to the floor, unheeded, as Hayden caught her hands in his.

"What was Ydo saying to you?" she asked.

"She was giving me some geographical information about the relative
situations of Eldorado and Arcady, and condemning the former as a health
resort."

"Bobby! You're fooling! I can tell by your eyes."

"But her knowledge is incorrect," he announced triumphantly. "For
instance, she is not even aware that the towers and treasures of Eldorado
lie in the very heart of Arcady, and that we will dwell there for ever
and a day, my adored lady of the Silver Butterfly."

THE END

End of Project Gutenberg's The Silver Butterfly, by Mrs. Wilson Woodrow

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SILVER BUTTERFLY ***

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