claims and that the man was
referring to his work, and the next minute when Katrine turned her head
to him and said rapidly, "The 'Sally White' is the third in the next
street," he was rather mystified. He came so little into town, and
mixed so little with the uncongenial life and company it offered, that
he was ignorant of its prevailing fashion, pastime, and vice--gambling.
Fortunes were made and lost across the trestle tables of the saloons
quicker and easier than up on the claims. He did not now take much
notice of what she had said, nor ask her for an explanation. The girl
was handsome and a beautiful dancer, but the company at the bar he did
not appreciate at all, and his only idea was to withdraw her from it.

"Are you not ready for another dance?" he said, as the violin began to
squeak out another tune.

Katrine nodded, and they had already turned away, when a voice said over
her shoulder, "You won't quite forget me this evening, will you?"

Katrine, without turning her head, answered, "You shall have the next,
if you come for it."

Then they started, and for the next ten minutes Talbot tried to forget,
to be oblivious of the sordid common scene around him, to get a glimpse
back into his old life, which seemed so far away now, as one tries to
re-dream a last night's dream.

Stephen, sitting in his corner, whence he had never stirred, watched her
sullenly. She was not dancing with Talbot now. Stephen could see that
he, too, was watching her from the other side of the room, standing with
his back to the wall. She was waltzing with a man Stephen had not seen
before, evidently a stranger in every way to the place and the
surroundings. He was a young fellow, sufficiently good-looking, and
danced with as much ease as if he were in a New York ball-room. His left
hand clasped Katrine's and drew it high up close to his neck and
shoulder, his right arm enclosed her waist and drew her to him so firmly
that the two figures seemed fused into one as they glided together over
the imperfect floor. Katrine was giving herself up wholly to the
pleasure of the dance. Stephen saw, as her face turned towards him, that
her eyes were half closed, and a little smile of deep satisfaction
rested on her lips. The young fellow's face showed he was equally
absorbed and lost to his surroundings, and there was something in its
expression, coupled with the peculiar ease and sway of the two blent
forms, which raised a savage and jealous ang