to prove anything, while the one story I was sure of was not in
the game. And then, you see, he wanted to make you his wife, which
brought about the real complication. I haven't much use for him; but I
must be fair, and Bower's only break was when he misrepresented my
action in subsidizing 'The Firefly.' I don't deny he was pretty mad at
the idea of losing you, and jealousy will often drive a man to do a
mean thing which might otherwise be repugnant to his better
nature----"

"Jealousy!" shrilled Helen, her woman's wit at last finding a joint in
his armor. Yet never did woman err more than she in thinking that her
American suitor would flinch beneath the shaft.

"That is the word," was the quiet reply.

She flared into indignant scorn. "Pray tell me why he or any other man
should feel jealous of you where I am concerned," she said.

"I am going to tell you right away--Helen. But that is the last
chapter. There is quite a long record as to the way I hit on your
track in St. Moritz, and heard of you by telephone last night. Of
course, that part of the story will keep----"

"Is it necessary that I should hear any portion of it?" she
interrupted, hoping to irritate him, and thus lessen the strain
imposed by his studiously tranquil manner.

"Well, it ought to interest you. But it has humorous points to which I
can't do justice under present conditions. You are right, Helen--you
most always are. The real question at issue is my position in the
deal, which becomes quite clear when I say that you are the only woman
I have ever loved or ever shall love. More than that, you are the only
woman to whom I have ever spoken a word of love, and as I have set
about loving the dearest and prettiest and healthiest girl I have ever
seen, it is safe to figure that you will have sole claim on all the
nice things I can try to say to any woman during the remainder of my
life."

He hesitated a moment. He did not appear to notice that Helen, after a
rebellious gasp or two, had suddenly become very still.

"I suppose I ought to have fixed up a finer bit of word painting than
that," he continued slowly. "As a matter of fact, I don't mind
admitting that ever since eleven o'clock last night, when the
proprietor of the hotel below there telephoned to me that Miss
Trenholme had gone to the Mortel hut with two guides, I have been
rehearsing X plus Y multiplied by Z ways of telling you just how dear
you are to me. But they all vanished like s