nly and with an assertive force that completely mastered him. By
a mere chance he had heard Allis give her recitation, "The Run of
Crusader," in the little church at Brookfield. Crane was not an
agnostic, but he had interested himself little in church matters; and
the Reverend Dolman's concert, that was meant to top down many weeds
of debt that were choking the church, had claimed him simply because an
evening in Brookfield had come to hang heavily on his hands. Now when
the Reverend Dolman received Philip Crane's check for fifty dollars the
next day, to be applied to the church encumbrance, he sought to allay
his surprise by attributing the gift to his own special pleading that
evening, of course backed up by Providence. If anybody had stated that
the mainspring of the gift had been the wicked horse-racing poem of
their denunciation he would have been scandalized and full of righteous
disbelief. It is quite likely that even Crane would have denied that
Allis's poem had inspired him to the check; but nevertheless it had.

The world of feeling and sympathy and goodness that had hung in her
voice had set a new window in his soul slightly ajar--so slightly ajar
that even now, months afterward, the lovelight was only beginning to
stream through. When love comes to a man at forty he is apt to play the
game very badly indeed; he turns it into a very anxious business, and
moves through the light-tripping measure with the pedantic dignity of
a minuet dancer. But Philip Crane was not given to making mistakes; he
knew that, like Crusader, "His best racing days (in the love stakes)
were over"--especially where the woman was but a girl. So he sat down
and planned it all out as he planned to win the Brooklyn Derby months
later. And all the time he was as sincerely in love as if he had
blundered into many foolishness; but his love making was to be
diplomatic. Even now all the gods of Fate stood ranged on his side;
Allis's brother was in his bank, more or less dependent upon him;
Ringwood itself was all but in the bank; he stood fairly well with John
Porter, and much better with Allis's mother, for already he had begun to
ingratitate himself with Mrs. Porter. He would cast from the shoulders
of the Reverend Dolman a trifle more of the load he was carrying. He
would send the reverend gentleman another check.

Why he should think it necessary to prepare his suit with so much
subtlety he hardly knew; in all reason he should be considered