inning to acquire, he showed more ease. Although he had lost the
fragrance of an untouched youth, he had become altogether a prettier
figure of a man.

He needed all the prodigal youth and the cowboy strength in him to
keep up his social pace and still do his work, but he managed it.
Indeed, he became of distinct value to the office through the business
which he brought in from his wandering and his revelling. It seemed
that he might refurbish that old law practice and find his way to the
partnership which Judge Tiffany foresaw at the end of one path.

Through this consideration and through the partisan friendship of Mrs.
Tiffany, he became gradually a pet and familiar of the Tiffany
household, taking pot-luck dinners with them, joining them once or
twice on their out-of-doors excursions. His big, bounding presence,
his good-natured gambols of the Newfoundland pup order, transformed
that somewhat serious and faded menage, gave it light and interest,
as from a baby in the house. Although Mrs. Tiffany mothered him, gave
him her errands to do, she made no mistake about the centre of
attraction for him. He was "after" Eleanor. That young woman took him
soberly and naturally, laughing at his gambols, accepting his
attentions, but giving no sign to Mrs. Tiffany's attentive eyes that
her interest was more than indifferent friendship.

His wooing, in fact, went on in a desultory fashion, as though he were
following the policy which he had expounded to Kate Waddington--"hang
around and watch." He paid no more compliments to grey eyes; he paid
no compliments at all. When they were alone, he entertained her with
those new tales of his associations in the city, which pleased her
less, had he only known it, than his tales of the ranch and gridiron.
If he showed the state of his feeling, it was no more than by an
occasional long and hungry look.

In one way or another, he saw nearly as much of Kate Waddington, that
winter, as he did of Eleanor. Kate, too, was a ray of light. She--"the
little sister of the clever" her enemies called her--made the Tiffany
house a bourne between her stops at her home in the Mission and her
rangings about Russian Hill. Bertram noticed with sentimental pleasure
that the two girls were a great deal together. He found them
exchanging the coin of feminine friendship in Eleanor's living-room,
he met them on shopping excursions in Post street. When the three met
so, Kate always sparkled with her best wit,