t a close observer
might have seen in the fading of the color in his cheeks, the beating
of his clenched fist on the arm of his chair, something of that which
was stirring within him.

"And this has been going on ever since she went there. She has had it
in mind to wear your mother's jewels--" Derry had graphically described
Bronson's watch on the stairs--"to get your father's money. I knew she
was cold-blooded, but I had always thought it a rather admirable
quality in a woman of her attractive type."

Before his eye came the vision of Hilda's attractiveness by his
fireside, at his table. And now she would sit by the General's fire,
at his table.

"She didn't say a word," Derry's young voice went on, "when he told me
that I was no longer--his son. I can't tell you how I felt about her.
I've never felt that way about anyone before. I've always liked
people--but it was as if some evil thing had swooped down on the old
house."

The lad saw straight! That was the thought which suddenly illumined
Dr. McKenzie's troubled mind. Hilda was not beautiful. So beauty of
body could offset the ugliness of her distorted soul.

"And so I am poor," Derry was saying, heavily, "and I must wait to
marry Jean."

The red surged up in the Doctor's face. He jerked himself forward in
his chair. "You shall not wait. After this you are my son, if you are
not your father's."

He laid his hand on Derry's shoulder. "I've money enough, God knows.
And I shan't need it. It isn't a fortune, but it is enough to make all
of us comfortable for the rest of our days--and I want Jean to be
happy. Do you think I am going to let Hilda Merritt stand between my
child and happiness?"

"It's awfully good of you, sir," Derry's voice was husky with feeling,
"but--"

"There are no 'buts.' You must let me have my own way; I shall
consider it a patriotic privilege to support one soldier and his little
wife."

He was riding above the situation splendidly. He even had visions of
straightening things out. "When I go back I shall tell Hilda what I
think of her, I shall tell her that it is preposterous--that her
professional reputation is at stake."

"What will she care for her professional reputation when she is my
father's wife?"

The thought of Hilda with the world, in a sense, at her feet was
maddening. The Doctor paced the floor roaring like an angry lion. "It
may not do any good, but I've got to tell her what I think of her."

Der