beckoning to him with her fan. There was nothing to do but to go to
her. He frowned but went, still watching for Judith. Marcia wanted
him to meet some of her friends. He shook hands with Hampton, was
introduced to Rogers. Marcia explained that Mr. Lee was the gentleman
who achieved perfect wonders in the education of his horses. She
turned to introduce Farris, the artist. But Farris broke into Marcia's
words with a sudden exclamation.

"Dave Lee!" he cried, as if he could not believe his eyes. "You!
Here!"

"Hello, Dick," Lee answered quietly. "Yes, I'm here. I didn't know
that you were the artist fellow Hampton had brought up with him."

Farris's hand went out swiftly to be gripped in Lee's. Marcia,
mystified, looked from one to the other.

"You two know each other? Why, isn't that----"

She didn't know just what it was, so stopped, looking frankly as though
she'd like to have one of them finish her sentence for her.

"But," muttered Farris, "I thought that you----"

"Never mind, Dick," said Lee quickly. And to Marcia's mystified
expression: "You'll pardon us a moment, Miss Langworthy? I want to
talk a little with Mr. Farris."

His hand on the artist's elbow, Bud Lee forced him gently away. The
two disappeared into the little room off the library where Jose was
placing a great bowl of punch on the table.

"_Que hay_, Bud," grinned Jose. "Your ol' nose smell the booze damn'
queek, no?"

He set down his bowl and went out. Farris stared wonderingly at Lee.

"Bud, is it?" he grunted. "Breaker of horses; hired man at a dollar a
day----?"

"Ninety dollars a month, Dick," Lee corrected g him, with a short
laugh. "Give a fellow his true worth, old-timer."

Farris frowned.

"What devil's game is this!" he demanded sharply. "Isn't it enough
that you should drop out of the world with never a word, but that you
must show up now breaking horses and letting such chaps as Mrs.
Simpson's Black Spanish chum with you? Not a cursed word in five
years, and I've lain awake nights wondering. When you went to
smash----"

"When a Lee goes to smash," said Bud briefly, "he goes to smash.
That's all there is to it."

"But there was no sense, no use in your dropping out of sight that
way----"

"There was," said Lee curtly, "or I shouldn't have done it. It wasn't
just that I went broke; that was a result of my own incompetence in a
bit of speculation and didn't worry me a great deal. But other thi