isit closed he sought opportunity to
tell her, in hypocritic sadness, that Mart was a doomed man, and that
she would soon be free of him. Bertha was disturbed by his gaze and
repelled by his touch, but tried to like him on Mart's account. His
mouthing disgusted her, and the good-will with which Haney greeted his
brother turned into bitterness as the boaster and low wit began to
display himself.

"We all grew up in the street or in the saloon," Haney sadly remarked,
"and you finished your education in the variety theatre, I'm thinking."

The actor took this as a joke, and with a grin retorted: "That's better
than running a faro-layout."

"I dunno; a good quiet game has its power to educate a man," replied the
gambler.

That night, as she was preparing the Captain for bed, he remarked, with
a sigh: "Life is a quare game! I mind Charley well as a cute little
yellow-haired divil, always laughing, always in mischief, and me chasin'
after him--a big slob of a boy. I used to carry him up an' down the
tenement stairs. I learned him to skate--and now here he is drinkin'
himself puffy, whilst I am an old broken-down hack at forty-five." He
looked up at her with a sheen of tears in his eyes. "Darlin', 'tis a
shame to be leanin' on you."

She put her arm around his big grizzled head and drew it to her.

"You can lean hard, Mart. I'm standin' by."

"No, I'll not lean too hard," he answered. "I don't want your fine,
straight back to stoop. I make no demands. I'll not spoil your young
life. I'm not worth it. You're free to go when you can't stand me any
longer."

"Now, now, no more of that!" she warned. "When I have cause to knock,
you won't need no ear-trumpet. Put up your hoof." He obeyed, and,
stooping swiftly, she began to unlace the shoe which he could no longer
reach. Her manner was that of a daughter who tyrannizes over an
indulgent father. Her admiration and gratitude, so boyish once, were now
replaced by an affection in which the element of sex had small place,
and his love for her sprang also from a source far removed from the
fierce instinct which first led him to seek her subduing.

CHAPTER VII

BERTHA REPULSES AN ENEMY

Charles Haney had no scruples. From the moment of his first meeting with
his brother's young wife he determined to make himself "solid" with her.
Convinced that Mart was not long for this world, he set to work to win
Bertha's favor, for this was the only way to harvest the golden fort