rface of the table. Finally the
awkwardness of the prolonged silence moved him to speech.

"A great-grandfather who was a judge of wine is always worthy of
consideration," he murmured amiably, as he lifted the glass to his
lips. "I'm afraid mine was a teetotaller."

But his feeble attempt at humour was not destined to be successful. It
drew a laugh from his host, but it was a laugh that found no echo.

"You're right, James!" Asshlin cried. "By Jupiter, you're right!
Anthony Asshlin was the finest man in the county--and I'm proud of
him."

"He was the worst man in the county--and the greatest fool!"

The words, so sudden and unexpected, came from Clodagh. For several
seconds she had been sitting absolutely still; but now she lifted her
head again, her flushed face glowing, her bright eyes alight with the
quick enthusiasm, the hot temper that she had inherited from her race.
With a swift movement she turned from her father to Milbanke.

"Do you think it great to be a fool--and a gambler?" she demanded.

Asshlin set down his glass noisily.

"Anthony Asshlin was no gambler," he said. "He was a sportsman."

Clodagh's lip curled.

"A sportsman!" she exclaimed. "Is it sport to keep game-cocks, to play
cards, and throw dice? To squander money that belongs to other people?
To mortgage your property and to--to--to kill your brother?"

The last words burst from her impetuously, impulsively; then suddenly
she paused, shocked by her own daring.

The silence that followed was short. With an equal impetuosity, Asshlin
pushed back his chair and rose.

"By Gad, Clo, that's going too far!" he cried. "I'll not hear my
great-grandfather called a murderer."

"All the same, he killed his brother."

"In a duel. Gentlemen had to fight in those days."

"Because of cards! Because they quarrelled over cards!"

Then, with a fresh change of expression, she appealed again to
Milbanke.

"Do you think that's sport?" she asked. "To get no good out of ordinary
things? To get no pleasure out of dogs or horses except the pleasure of
making them fight or race so that you can bet on the one you think
best?"

She stopped breathlessly; and Milbanke, desperately at a loss, gazed
from one angry, excited face to the other. But he was saved the trouble
of finding an answer; for immediately Clodagh ceased to speak,
Asshlin's loud laugh broke in again.

"Bravo!" he cried boisterously. "All the eloquence and all the lack of
logic of your se