short, in the middle of that court, heedless of the crowd of pushing,
shouting children who at once gathered about me. I had been struck by an
old recollection. My sister used to sing. I remembered where her piano
had stood in the great drawing-room. It had been carted away during
those dreadful weeks and her music all burned; but the vision of her
graceful figure bending over the keyboard was one not to be forgotten
even by a thoughtless child. Could it be--oh, heaven! if this voice were
hers! Her future was certain; she had but to sing.

In a transport of hope I rushed for the dim entrance the children had
pointed out and flew up to her room. As I reached it, I heard a trill as
perfect as Tetrazzini's. The singer was Theresa; there could be no more
doubt. Theresa! exercising a grand voice as only a great artist would or
could.

The joy of it made me almost faint. I leaned against her door and
sobbed. Then when I thought I could speak quite calmly, I went in.

Roger, you must understand me now,--my desire for money and the means I
have taken to obtain it. My sister had the makings of a prima-donna. Her
husband, of whose ability I had formed so low an estimate, had trained
her with consummate skill and judgment. All she needed was a year with
some great maestro in the foreign atmosphere of art. But this meant
money--not hundreds but thousands, and the one sure source to which we
might rightfully look for any such amount was effectually closed to
us. It is true we had relatives--an aunt on our mother's side, and I
mentioned her to Theresa. But she would not listen to the suggestion.
She would take nothing from any one whom she would find it hard to face
in case of failure. Love must go with an advance involving so much
risk; love deep enough and strong enough to feel no loss save that of a
defeated hope. In short, to be acceptable, the money must come from me,
and as this was manifestly impossible, she considered the matter closed
and began to talk of a position she had been offered in some choir. I
let her talk, listening and not listening; for the idea had come to me
that if in some way I could earn money, she might be induced to take it.
Finally, I asked her. She laughed, letting her kisses answer me. But
I did not laugh. If she had capabilities in one way, I had them in
another.

I went home to think.

Two weeks later, I began, in a very quiet way to do certain work for the
man who had helped me in my second sea