that he could face the problems of
life unassisted, unadvised and was making a dreadful hash of it in
consequence. He little knew that his kindness to Tootles had made Joan
believe that he had exchanged his armor for broadcloth and put her in a
"who cares?" mood far more dangerous than the one which had sent her
into the night life of New York, or that, owing to Tootles, she was, at
that very moment, for the fun of the thing, driving Gilbert Palgrave to
a state of anger and desperation which might lead to tragedy. Poor
young things, misguided and falsely proud and at a loose end! What a
waste of youth and spring which a few wise words of counsel would
retrieve and render blessed.

And as for Tootles, with her once white face and red lips and hair that
came out of a bottle, Martin was to her what Joan was to Palgrave and
for the same reason. Irene's hints and innuendos had taken root. Caring
nothing for the practical side of her friend's point of view,--the
assured future business,--all her energies were bent to attract Martin,
all that was feminine in her was making a huge effort to win, by hook
or crook, somehow soon, an answer, however temporary, to her love.
Never mind what happened after these summer weeks were over. What
matter if she went mad so that she had her day? She had never come
across any man like this young Martin, with his clean eyes and
sensitive soul and honest hands, his, to her, inconceivable capacity of
"being brother," his puzzling aloofness from the lure of sex. She
didn't understand what it meant to a boy of Martin's type to cherish
ideals and struggle to live up to a standard that had been set for him
by his father. In her daily fight for mere self-preservation, in which
joy came by accident, any such thing as principle seemed crazy. Her
street--Arab interpretation of the law of life was to snatch at
everything that she could reach because there was so much that was
beyond her grasp. Her love for Martin was the one passion of her sordid
little life, and she would be thankful and contented to carry memories
back to her garret which no future rough-and-tumble could ever take
away or blot out.

For several days after the first of many dinners with the boys, Tootles
played her cards with the utmost care. The foursome became inseparable,
bathing, sailing and motoring from morning to night. If there was any
truth in the power of propinquity, it must have been discovered then.
Howard attached himself