flashing and changing, as the groups shifted, before the
eye could take in the composition of the picture. A sudden thrill of
exhilaration rioted in John's pulses, and he trembled like a child
before the gay disclosure of a Christmas tree. Meredith swore to himself
that he would not have known him for the man of five minutes agone. Two
small, bright red spots glowed in his cheeks; he held himself erect with
head thrown back and shoulders squared, and the idolizing Tom thought he
looked as a king ought to look at the acme of power and dominion. Miss
Hinsdale's word in the hallway was the geniuses touch: a bent, gray man
of years--a word--and behold the Great John Harkless, the youth of elder
days ripened to his prime of wisdom and strength! People made way for
them and whispered as they passed. It had been years since John Harkless
had been in the midst of a crowd of butterfly people; everything seemed
unreal, or like a ball in a play; presently the curtain would fall and
close the lights and laughter from his view, leaving only the echo of
music. It was like a kaleidoscope for color: the bouquets of crimson or
white or pink or purple; the profusion of pretty dresses, the brilliant,
tender fabrics, and the handsome, foreshortened faces thrown back over
white shoulders in laughter; glossy raven hair and fair tresses moving
in quick salutations; and the whole gay shimmer of festal tints and rich
artificialities set off against the brave green of out-doors, for the
walls were solidly adorned with forest branches, with, here and there
amongst them, a blood-red droop of beech leaves, stabbed in autumn's
first skirmish with summer. The night was cool, and the air full of
flower smells, while harp, violin, and 'cello sent a waltz-throb through
it all.

They looked rapidly through several rooms and failed to find her
indoors, and they went outside, not exchanging a word, and though
Harkless was a little lame, Tom barely kept up with his long stride.
On the verandas there were fairy lamps and colored incandescents over
little tables, where people sat chatting. She was not there. Beyond
was a terrace, where a myriad of Oriental lanterns outlined themselves
clearly in fantastically shaped planes of scarlet and orange and green
against the blue darkness. Many couples and groups were scattered over
the terrace, and the young men paused on the steps, looking swiftly from
group to group. She was not there.

"We haven't looked in the d