mendous amount of health. He--"

"I like Wintermill. He is one of my best friends. He is as square as any
man I know and he would be the last person to try to come between Anne and
me. He is too fond of me for that, sir. You--"

"Unfortunately he was not aware of the fact that you and Anne were
engaged. You forget that the engagement was to be kept under cover for the
time being. But all this is beside the question. Mrs. Tresslyn had looked
the field over pretty carefully. No one appeared to be so well qualified
to take your place as Percy Wintermill. He had everything that is
desirable in a husband except good looks and perhaps good manners. So she
began fishing for Percy. Anne was a delightful bait. Of course, Percy's
robust health was objectionable, but it wasn't insurmountable. I could see
that Anne loathed the thought of having him for a husband for thirty or
forty years. Anybody could see that,--even Percy must have possessed
intelligence enough to see it for himself. Finally, about six weeks ago,
Anne rose above her environment. She allowed Percy to propose, asked for a
few days in which to make up her mind, and then came out with a point-
blank refusal. She defied her mother, openly declaring that she would
marry you in spite of everything."

"And that is just what she shall do, poor girl," cried Braden joyously.
"She shall not be driven into--"

"Just a moment, please. When I discovered that young Wintermill couldn't
be depended upon to rescue his best friend, I stepped into the arena, so
to speak," said Mr. Thorpe with fine irony. "I sensed the situation
perfectly. Percy was young and strong and enduring. He would be a long
time dying in the natural order of things. What Anne was looking for--now,
keep your seat, my boy!--what she wanted was a husband who could be
depended upon to leave her a widow before it was too late. Now, I am
seventy-seven, and failing pretty rapidly. It occurred to me that I would
be just the thing for her. To make the story short, I began to dilate upon
my great loneliness, and also hinted that if I could find the right sort
of companion I would jump at the chance to get married. That's putting it
rather coarsely, my boy, but the whole business is so ugly that it doesn't
seem worth while to affect delicacy. Inside of two weeks, we had come to
an understanding,--that is, an arrangement had been perfected. I think that
everything was agreed upon except the actual day of my demise. As y