bsent) was always giving the high note
to the wrong singer; such and such a manager (absent) never staged the
opera right. It was after one when they returned to the sitting-room,
where the piano stood. The wine was now opened and toasts were drunk.
O'Mally told inimitable stories. There was something exceedingly droll
in that expressive Irish face of his and the way he lingered over his
wine.

[Illustration: O'Mally told inimitable stories]

"There is nothing so good as a glass of champagne," he observed, "unless
it is another."

Worth did not drink, but Hillard did not like his handsome face any the
more for this virtue. He sang remarkably well, however, and with a
willingness Hillard had not believed he possessed. He wondered vaguely
why he disliked the man. He had never met him before, and knew nothing
at all about him. It was one of those inexplicable things which can not
be answered. Otherwise Hillard enjoyed himself vastly. He found these
people full of hope, light-hearted, generous, intelligent, and generally
improvident.

"Mr. Merrihew has been telling me all about you," said Kitty.

"You mean, of course, my good qualities," replied Hillard.

"To hear him talk, one would think that you possessed nothing else. But
I am sure that you have glaring faults, such as a man might pass over
and a woman go round."

"I believed that Merrihew had a serious fault till to-night," he said;
and he made no attempt to disguise the admiration in his eyes.

She looked at him quickly and colored. It was a good sign.

"Has the foolish boy been telling you that I refused to marry him? I
like him very much," she added gravely; "but I shall never marry any man
till I have ceased to love the stage. Just now I can not wisely love
anything else."

"I understand," he said.

"I am not a whit less extravagant than he is. How could the two of us
live on an income which he himself admits that he can not live within?
But that isn't it; a million would not make any difference. I am like a
young colt; I have no desire to be harnessed yet. A month after I am
gone he will forget all about me; or, at least, he will only recollect
me with a sigh of relief. There will be others; only I hope they will
treat him as frankly as I have done."

"Merrihew is the most loyal man I know," Hillard declared, bound to
defend his comrade against this shrewd insight to his character.

"Of course he is loyal! And he is always in earnest--for the momen