nged by mistake as
a spy in South America--a mistake which would certainly have had fatal
results if he had not had the presence of mind to hold his breath during
the performance. In yet another corner you might see his favourite
mascot--a tooth of the shark which bit him off the coast of China.
Spears, knives, and guns lined the walls; every inch of the floor was
covered by skins. His flat was typical of the man--a man who had _done_
things.

"Introduce him to me," commanded Jocelyn. "Where is he?"

She looked up suddenly and saw him entering the ball-room. He was of
commanding height and his face was the face of a man who has been
exposed to the forces of Nature. The wind, the waves, the sun, the
mosquito had set their mark upon him. Down one side of his cheek was a
newly healed scar, a scratch from a hippopotamus in its last
death-struggle. A legacy from a bison seared his brow.

He walked with the soft easy tread of the python, or the Pathan, or some
animal with a "pth" in it. Probably I mean the panther. He bore himself
confidently, and his mouth was a trap from which no superfluous word
escaped. He was the strong silent man of Jocelyn's dreams.

"Mr. Worrall Brice, Miss Montrevor," said Freddy, and left them.

Worrall Brice bowed and stood beside her with folded arms, his gaze
fixed above her head.

"I shall not expect you to dance," said Jocelyn, with a confidential
smile which implied that he and she were above such frivolities. As a
matter of fact, he could have taught her the Wogga-Wogga one-step, the
Bimbo, the Kiyi, the Ju-bu, the Head-hunter's Hug, and many other
cannibalistic steps which, later on, were to become the rage of London
and the basis of a _revue_.

"I have often imagined you, as you kept watch over your camp," she went
on, "and I have seemed myself to hear the savages and lions roaring
outside the circle of fire, what time in the swamps the crocodiles were
barking."

"Yes," he said.

"It must be a wonderful life."

"Yes."

"If I were a man I should want to lead such a life; to get away from all
this," and she waved her hand round the room, "back to Nature. To know
that I could not eat until I had first killed my dinner; that I could
not live unless I slew the enemy! That must be fine!"

"Yes," said Worrall.

"I cannot get Freddy to see it. He is quite content to have shot a few
grouse ... and once to have wounded a beater. There must be more in life
than that."

"Yes."

"I