h up, Dr. Thor," Fay said, in that tone of his which
was at once mild and hostile, "that I don't want any Masterman to have
anything to do with me or mine."

Thor tried to control the sharpness of his cry. "Why not?"

"You ought to know why not, Dr. Thor. And if you don't, you've only to
look at my little girl. Oh, why couldn't you leave her alone?"

Lois spoke anxiously. "Is anything the matter with her?"

"Only that you've killed her between you."

Thor allowed Lois to question him. "Why, what _can_ you mean?"

"Just what I say, ma'am--that she's done for."

Lois grew impatient. "But I don't understand. Done for--how?" She turned
to her husband. "Oh, Thor, do see her and find out what's the matter."

"No, ma'am," Fay said, firmly. "He's seen her once too often as it is."

Lois repeated the words. "'Once too often as it is'! What does that
mean?"

"Better ask _him_, ma'am."

"It's no use asking me," Thor declared, "for I've not the slightest idea
of what you're driving at."

"Oh, I know you can play the innocent, Dr. Thor; but it's no use keeping
up the game. You took me in at first; you took me in right along. You
were going to be a friend to me!--and buy the place!--and keep me in it
to work it!--and every sort of palaver like that!--when you was only
after my little girl."

Thor was dumb. It was Lois who protested. "Oh, Mr. Fay, how can you say
such things? It's wicked."

"It may be wicked, all right, ma'am; but ask _him_ how I can say them.
All I know is what I've seen. If you was going to marry this lady," he
went on, turning again to Thor, "why couldn't you have kept away from my
little girl? You didn't do yourself any good, and you did her a lot of
harm."

It was to come to Thor's aid as he stood speechless that Lois said,
soothingly: "But I had nothing to do with that, Mr. Fay. I never wanted
anything of Rosie but to be her friend."

"You, ma'am? You're all of a piece. You're all Mastermans together. What
had you to do with being a friend to her?--getting her to call!--and
have tea!--and putting notions into her head! The rich and the poor
can't be friends any longer. If the poor think they can, the more fool
they! We've _been_ fools in my family, thinking because we were
Americans we had rights. There's no rights any more, except the right of
the strong to trample on the weak--till some one tramples on _them_. And
some one always does. There's that. We're down to-day, but you'll be
down to-