rugged his shoulders.

"Even if you succeeded it would be----"

"You mean that I am not worthy of her?"

"You know that yourself."

Leicester laughed.

"You see you rush to whisky the moment you get back."

"Well, she knows all about it."

"How?"

"You told her--and you told her father too."

Purvis's eyes dropped.

"Oh, don't be downcast, my dear fellow," said Leicester mockingly. "I
gave you liberty to tell them, and you took advantage of my permission.
And you told her all the rest, too. Oh, I know you well enough for that,
and on the whole I'm glad. But mind," and he rose to his feet like a man
in anger, "if you let on about the rest----"

"You mean the wager?"

"Call it what you like--if you or Sprague let on about that, then, to
quote your Bible, it were better that a millstone were hanged about your
neck, and you were cast into the depths of the sea."

Purvis shrank before the savage gleam of the man's eye.

"You--you surely don't mean that--that you are going on with--with this
business?"

"Yes, I am," replied Leicester. His voice was quiet, but he spoke like a
man in anger. "I am going on, and--and--if you do not play the
game--well, you know me, Purvis."

"Of course a promise is a promise," said Purvis; "all the same----"

"Go to bed, my son," said Leicester mockingly. "I think you'll be all
right now."

If Purvis had remained he would have been almost frightened at the look
which came into Leicester's eyes.

CHAPTER V

THE STRENGTHENING OF THE CHAIN

For the next few days following the night of the dinner at John
Castlemaine's house, a change seemed to have come over Radford
Leicester. He became less hopeless, and he did not drink so freely. It
might seem as though an evening spent in the society of a good woman had
a beneficial effect upon him. He did not take any further steps to carry
out his avowed intention, but when he spoke of women it was with less
bitterness.

Both Sprague and Purvis noticed this, and both wondered what it
portended. Could it be that Leicester meant to reform, or did it mean
that he was simply playing a part, in order to win the woman he had
boasted he could win?

Nevertheless he was moody, and seemed unhappy. He met these men
sometimes at the club, but spoke little. Moreover, in public he was very
abstemious, so much so that even the waiter noticed it.

"Is he turning over a new leaf?" asked Purvis of Sprague.

"If he is, he is not playing