ng to the Plateau if I have to drag
him there by the scruff of the neck."

And he believed that he was thinking of the expedition only.

CHAPTER XVI. WAR

Who, when they slash and cut to pieces,
Do so with civilest addresses.

There is no power so subtle and so strong as that of association. We
have learnt to associate mustard with beef, and therefore mustard shall
be eaten with beef until the day when the lion shall lie down with the
lamb.

Miss Millicent Chyne became aware, as the year advanced towards the
sere and yellow leaf, that in opposing her wayward will in single
combat against a simple little association in the public mind she was
undertaking a somewhat herculean task.

Society--itself an association--is the slave of a word, and society had
acquired the habit of coupling the names of Sir John Meredith and
Lady Cantourne. They belonged to the same generation; they had similar
tastes; they were both of some considerable power in the world of
leisured pleasure; and, lastly, they amused each other. The result is
not far to seek. Wherever the one was invited, the other was considered
to be in demand; and Millicent found herself face to face with a huge
difficulty.

Sir John was distinctly in the way. He had a keener eye than the
majority of young men, and occasionally exercised the old man's
privilege of saying outright things which, despite theory, are better
left unsaid. Moreover, the situation was ill-defined, and an ill-defined
situation does not improve in the keeping. Sir John said sharp
things--too sharp even for Millicent--and, in addition to the original
grudge begotten of his quarrel with Jack and its result, the girl
nourished an ever-present feeling of resentment at a persistency in
misunderstanding her of which she shrewdly suspected the existence.

Perhaps the worst of it was that Sir John never said anything which
could be construed into direct disapproval. He merely indicated, in
passing, the possession of a keen eyesight coupled with the embarrassing
faculty of adding together correctly two small numerals.

When, therefore, Millicent allowed herself to be assisted from the
carriage at the door of a large midland country house by an eager and
lively little French baron of her acquaintance, she was disgusted
but not surprised to see a well-known figure leaning gracefully on a
billiard-cue in the hall.

"I wish I could think that this pleasure was mutual," said Sir John