sion of one of
the splendid traits of her personality,--a genuine love of justice. Poor
Bauer hardly realised that she was defending him, but he said to himself
even then that he had never seen her beauty flame out so magnificently.
And then before Mrs. Van Shaw could reply to Helen, he said to the
astonishment of all in the breathless group:

"I ought to confess to you, Mrs. Van Shaw, that just before your son
fell over the cliff, I had a feeling of hatred for him so strong that
I--I--think I had murder in my heart. I don't pretend to deny that I
came the nearest that night to being a murderer in feeling that I ever
came. But I was at least six feet away. I never put my hands on him. His
fall was a pure accident. May I add that the moment he fell, my hatred
seemed to leave me, and I had no thought except to try to save him."

Mrs. Van Shaw stared at Bauer in astonishment. She had never met anyone
in her circle of acquaintances who possessed such transparent honesty.
But she was a woman who, with all her faults, had some rugged sense of
honour and was more than an ordinary judge of character. She came up to
Bauer closer and put out her hand.

"Mr. Bauer," she said frankly, "I believe what you say. And I can't let
you leave without expressing my great thanks for your brave act. Ross
must have been talking in his delirium. But you know--I remember one
German proverb in my schoolgirl exercises--'Jeder Mutter Kind ist
schon?' 'Every mother thinks her own child beautiful.' And I couldn't
understand how Ross could make such a statement. But why should you have
such a hatred for my poor boy?"

The question was one Bauer could not very well answer, and he did not
even speak a word. Mrs. Van Shaw looked at Mrs. Douglas and Helen.
Helen's cheeks burned. Mrs. Van Shaw was a woman of the world and she
thought she understood some of the reason for Bauer's silence and
Helen's confusion. But she was also convinced that something more than a
jealous rivalry between two young men must account for the depth of
feeling on the German student's part.

She did not ask her question again but gravely said to Bauer as she
turned to go, "Mr. Van Shaw will want to express his thanks to you. What
will your address be?"

"I suppose I shall be at Tolchaco this fall and winter. I would rather
not have you or Mr. Van Shaw feel under any obligation to me at all. Mr.
Clifford certainly did much more than I did. If he had not gone down
there, your