turesome--"

"Her address, please," muttered Lloyd quickly.

"Do be quiet, Chan--" Marcia went on. "Venturesome, modern, moral--"

"It can't be done," muttered the brute again.

"Chan, do be serious. Curiosity overwhelms the girl. Nobody is about.
So, putting her fears behind her, she climbs the wall and enters."

The daring impertinence of this recital had stricken Jerry suddenly
dumb, but the veins at his temples were swelling with the hot blood
that had risen to his face. Una, after a moment of uncertainty, became
strangely composed.

"It is a beautiful spot. No one is in sight," Marcia went on amusedly.
"The girl ventures further, and finds the beautiful young man catching
trout. She talks to him. I think he is amused at her temerity, also
perhaps a little flattered at her marks of confidence--"

"Marcia!" It was Jerry's voice, deep, booming, and I had hardly
recognized it. But there was a note in it that caused a hush to fall
over the room. The girl looked up as though puzzled.

"You interrupt, Jerry--"

"Neither Una nor I are interested in what you're saying," he cried
hoarsely, while the rest of the company stared at him.

"_I_ am, Jerry," said Una's voice very coolly. Except for Marcia,
perhaps, she was the least ruffled person in the room. "I want very
much to hear the rest of the story," she added. "It has
possibilities."

Marcia laughed.

"Possibilities, yes. There isn't much left to tell except that the
girl spent the afternoon and the evening in the cabin with the
beautiful young man and then went over the wall the way she came. Now
what I wanted to know, Una dear, is whether you think that morality,
conventional or unconventional, can stand a test like that."

Una was silent for a moment and then her words came slowly, rather
wistfully.

"Was she a friend of yours?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, a friend."

"And did you know her for any length of time to be honorable,
upright, decent?"

"Oh, yes, quite so."

Una paused another moment and when she spoke her voice was
crystal-clear.

"Then all I would like to say is that the mind that can conceive of
evil in such a piece of innocent imprudence is unclean, beyond words!
Is that all that you wanted to know?"

Marcia leaned back in her chair holding her breath for a moment and
then broke into a peal of laughter.

"There! You see. I knew you would agree with me."

The people in the room looked from one to the other, aware of a hidden
meani