hould drop him
when he got into hot water.'

'It must have been a great help to find someone who believed in him
notwithstanding everything.'

'I'm afraid it sounds very immoral, but whatever his crimes were, I
should never like Alec less. You see, he's been so awfully good and kind
to me, I can look on with fortitude while he plays football with the Ten
Commandments.'

Julia's emotions were always sudden, and the tears came to her eyes as
she answered.

'I'm really beginning to think you a perfect angel, Dick.'

'Don't say that,' he retorted quickly. 'It makes me feel so middle-aged.
I'd much sooner be a young sinner than an elderly cherub.'

Smiling, she stretched out her hand, and he held it for a moment.

'You know, though I can't help liking you, I don't in the least approve
of you.'

'Good heavens, why not?' he cried.

'Well, I was brought up to believe that a man should work, and you're
disgracefully idle.'

'Good heavens, to marry an American wife is the most arduous profession
in the world,' he cried. 'One has to combine the energy of the Universal
Provider with the patience of an ambassador at the Sublime Porte.'

'You foolish creature,' she laughed.

But her thoughts immediately reverted to Lucy. Her pallid, melancholy
face still lingered in Julia's memory, and her heart was touched by the
hopeless woe that dwelt in her beautiful eyes.

'I suppose there's no doubt that those stories about Alec MacKenzie were
true?' she said, thoughtfully.

Dick gave her a quick glance. He wondered what was in her mind.

'I'll tell you what I think,' he said. 'Anyone who knows Alec as well as
I do must be convinced that he did nothing from motives that were mean
and paltry. To accuse him of cowardice is absurd--he's the bravest man
I've ever known--and it's equally absurd to accuse him of weakness. But
what I do think is this: Alec is not the man to stick at half measures,
and he's taken desperately to heart the maxim which says that he who
desires an end desires the means also. I think he might be very
ruthless, and on occasion he might be stern to the verge of brutality.
Reading between the lines of those letters that Macinnery sent to the
_Daily Mail_, I have wondered if Alec, finding that someone must be
sacrificed, didn't deliberately choose George Allerton because he was
the least useful to him and could be best spared. Even in small
undertakings like that there must be some men who are only food for