e, but
a prophet as well. Concerning him her store of information had
increased.

Toward the end of May her father spoke to her about him and about his
success with the mine. He seemed pleased, yet nervous. "I saw him this
afternoon," he said; "he is to be here shortly. H'm! I am obliged to go
to the club for a moment. Will you--would you mind seeing him in my
absence?" For a moment he moved uneasily about and then left the room.
Eden looked after him in wonder, and took up the _Post_. And as her eyes
loitered over the columns the bell rang; her face flushed, and presently
she was aware of Usselex' presence.

"What is this my father tells me?" she asked, by way of greeting.

"What is it?" he echoed; he had found a chair and sat like Thor in the
court of Utgarda.

"About the mine and all that."

The man eyed her enquiringly for an instant and picked at his cuff.
"Let me ask you a question," he said: "Did your father say nothing
except about the mine?"

"No, not that I remember, except to imply that you--that he--no, he said
nothing worth repeating."

"In finding you alone I supposed he had told you that--"

"That the mine--"

"That I love you."

In the corner of the room was a great colonial clock. Through the
silence that followed it ticked sleepily, as though yawning at the
avowal. Mr. Usselex had bent forward; he watched the girl. She was
occupied in tearing little slips from the paper which lay in her lap.
She did not seem to have heard him at all.

"Miss Menemon," he continued, "I express myself badly. Do not even take
the trouble to say that you do not care for me. It is impossible that
you should. You know nothing of me; you--"

"Oh, but I do though," the girl exclaimed. "The other day, a month or
two ago, I have forgotten, someone said your father was a shoemaker, and
what not about you beside. Oh, I know a great deal--"

"Then, Miss Menemon, you must know the penalty which is paid for
success." He straightened himself, the awkwardness had left him, and he
seemed taller than when he entered the room. "Yes," he continued, "the
door to success is very low, and the greater is he that bends the most.
Let a man succeed in any one thing, and whatever may be the factors with
which that success is achieved, Envy will call a host of enemies into
being as swiftly as Cadmus summoned his soldiery. And these enemies will
come not alone from the outer world, but from the ranks of his nearest
friends. Ruin a m