simply
poor and of low estate, he would have brushed aside mere worldly
considerations, and would have bravely sacrificed convention for love;
for his liberality was not a mere form of words. But the one objection
which he could not overlook was, unhappily, the one that applied to the
only woman who had as yet moved his heart. He tried to be angry with
her, but after the first hour he found it impossible. He was a man of
too much imagination not to be able to put himself, in some measure at
least, in her place,--to perceive that for her the step which had
placed her in Tryon's world was the working out of nature's great law
of self-preservation, for which he could not blame her. But for the
sheerest accident,--no, rather, but for a providential
interference,--he would have married her, and might have gone to the
grave unconscious that she was other than she seemed.

The clock struck the hour of two. With a shiver he closed the window,
undressed by the moonlight, drew down the shade, and went to bed. He
fell into an unquiet slumber, and dreamed again of Rena. He must learn
to control his waking thoughts; his dreams could not be curbed. In that
realm Rena's image was for many a day to remain supreme. He dreamed of
her sweet smile, her soft touch, her gentle voice. In all her fair
young beauty she stood before him, and then by some hellish magic she
was slowly transformed into a hideous black hag. With agonized eyes he
watched her beautiful tresses become mere wisps of coarse wool, wrapped
round with dingy cotton strings; he saw her clear eyes grow bloodshot,
her ivory teeth turn to unwholesome fangs. With a shudder he awoke, to
find the cold gray dawn of a rainy day stealing through the window.

He rose, dressed himself, went down to breakfast, then entered the
writing-room and penned a letter which, after reading it over, he tore
into small pieces and threw into the waste basket. A second shared the
same fate. Giving up the task, he left the hotel and walked down to
Dr. Green's office.

"Is the doctor in?" he asked of the colored attendant.

"No, suh," replied the man; "he's gone ter see de young cullud gal w'at
fainted w'en de doctah was wid you yistiddy."

Tryon sat down at the doctor's desk and hastily scrawled a note,
stating that business compelled his immediate departure. He thanked
the doctor for courtesies extended, and left his regards for the
ladies. Returning to the hotel, he paid his bill an